IRISH-LANGUAGE SPORTS clubs are hoping to become one of the next big steps in Irish preservation by providing an enjoyable outlet for people to use it.

“There are thousands of people coming out of the education system every year, fluent in Irish”, according Daithí de Buitléir, a member of Na Gaeil Óga in Dublin. “The problem is that there’s nowhere for them to speak it.”

Na Gaeil Óga are a Dublin GAA club, based in Lucan, that operate solely through Irish, from training sessions to matches to team nights out.

The club was started in 2011 to give people a chance to use their Irish in an environment outside the usual classroom setting, and has members from all over Ireland and even further afield. One of their footballers originally hails from Wolverhampton in England.

The model is being followed around the country with an Irish-language club operating in Galway City too, and there’s also talk about clubs being started in Belfast and Cork.

“People are looking at what we’re doing here and saying to themselves: ‘Well, there’s a future here for the language”, said De Buitléir, who thinks that the movement of Irish-language clubs is the next step for the preservation of the Irish language.

I would be just as happy if rugby clubs were being started, or soccer clubs, or running clubs. It only takes five people to start a basketball club.

The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!