Learning Irish Gaelic

This is a back blip. The last week of my holiday in Ireland was spent on an Irish Language learning course. Who goes on holiday and spends it in a classroom! I’m not normal. :-)

Although I was well and truly out of my comfort zone, I enjoyed it immensely. There were people from all over the world on the course: Irish, American, Canadian, Australian, Japanese, Russian, English etc.  We were split up into small groups of around 10 and spent most of the day until 3.30 pm in the classroom. We were back in the evening for all sorts of activities: Yoga, dancing, a quiz night, a talk on the local history, geology and archaeology, and a music concert. A very full week.  

This photo was taken on an after-class afternoon walk. We split up into different groups and did separate activities that afternoon.   We walked up the hill to see some standing stones and the remains of an old church and settlement. The lady in light blue near the centre of this photo is my tutor. The Russian girl with red hair was in my class, but all the others were from different groups. We were all at different levels in our learning.

The course took place in the small Gaeltacht (Irish speaking) village of Ballyferriter, County Kerry on the Dingle Peninsula.

Just before I was due to come home, I got news that my son had been admitted to hospital. He is okay now but receiving ongoing treatment.