Comhluadar Ard Mhacha was founded in June by young Irish speakers with the goal to reunite other young Irish speakers and allow them to speak Irish in an informal setting through fun events.
Their launch event, a pub quiz held at The Woodville in Lurgan on Friday, attracted more than 50 Irish speakers, while the group’s WhatsApp community has already grown to 100 members – and the group has gained over 400 followers on Instagram.
Thomas Edwards, founder of Comhluadar Ard Mhacha, said the group was established to address what he described as a “gap” in Irish language events and social opportunities for young people.
“The amount of people coming to us from school saying they wanted a place to reunite with old school friends and speak Irish again as they were losing it was really concerning and it motivated us to change things,” he said.
“While there is a significant number of events to accommodate older people and children who speak Irish, we noticed there was a huge gap in Armagh for people aged 18-35 and that is why we young people created it so that we can put on events that resonate with other young people,” he added.
Thomas acknowledged that, while the group is primarily aimed at fluent young people, older members of the community and people with “cúpla focal” are “more than welcome” to attend and take part in the events.
He said: “I think an informal setting is a very good place to learn on top of a classroom setting because you do learn new words from meeting new people. It is a vital component of any language.
“If we want Irish to be a living language, we must give it opportunities to live especially outside the classroom and that is why Comhluadar Ard Mhacha is so important as it puts on fun, normal events like pub quizzes, bingo loco, sea dips and so much more that people will actually enjoy while using the language.”
James McEnery, co-founder of Comhluadar Ard Mhacha, said he is “hopeful” about the future of the Irish language in Armagh and the opportunities the group can create for its growth.
He said: “A lot of people see Irish as a school subject, but it is not a school subject, it is a living language, and we are going to create those opportunities in places for people to actually speak it and learn it.
“The response we have received has been crazy. The number of local businesses who have donated vouchers and gifts towards our events has been amazing and we are so grateful. It makes you realise how much people want to see the Irish language thriving in Armagh.
“We hope we can build a stronger Irish language community and influence people to speak more of the language. People don’t want to speak Irish and feel like it is forced, they want to do it through social events which makes us unique from any other group.
“We have many more events happening in the future and we are excited to see how much of a difference we can make around Armagh.”
For more information, please visit Comhluadar Ard Mhacha (@comhluadar_ard_mhacha) on Instagram.
