Below
is Fiona Donnelly's article which appeared in THE ATHLONE TOPIC for
Thursday February 14th 2002. The pictures were taken by P.J. Murray.
Click on to the
athlone.ie website to discover the Irish initiative which was launched
in February 2001 by a small group of people wishing to restore some
of our native culture to the town. And what has developed in the last
year is a congregation on the first Tuesday of every month in Carty's
Bar, 26 Mardyke Street, where Gaeilge is practised in music and conversation.
The men responsible
for the Irish event are Pól Ó Casaide, Mícheál
Pléamoinn and Jeff Foy. Among them they decided that this Irish
evening would be a great advantage to people who are interested in the
Irish language and who love céilí sessions. It is a form
of learning in a sociable way and having a bit of craic while doing
it.
"The Irish night
is an outlet for people to use whatever Irish they have," says Pól.
"Whether it be that they are fluent Irish speakers or that they only
have a few words of Irish. All are welcome."
The idea is for
people to talk to their friends in Irish, as much as they can, and encourage
each other along. And after a few pints the tongue tends to loosen up
and you suddenly realise that you know more of what you learned in school
than you thought!
"I think it is good
to get something like this going in Athlone and the interest that has
been shown over the year has been tremendous," says Pól.
"There is usually
a good crowd here every month."
Indeed there was
a large crowd there on Tuesday when we visited and I was surprised at
the amount of young people that were there. The atmosphere was relaxed
and cheery while musicians entertained with ballads, airs, jigs and
reels. And it was a chance for anybody with a musical talent to join
in. Some people were chatting away in Irish while others struggled with
broken sentences but everybody, young and old, shared in the craic.
One group of people
who appeared to be really enjoying themselves was Erin Sprouse, Cathy
Ellis and Rita Appleby. Erin is from Ohio, Cathy from upstate New York
and Rita from the Isle of Man.
"We are visiting
family here and tonight is our last night in Ireland," Erin tells me.
"Because it's our last night we wanted to make sure we got some Irish
music in so we came here. And it's great fun. We really enjoyed our
trip and I am looking forward to my next one already. I can't believe
the changes in Ireland since I was here 14 years ago. It has advanced
so much and is so modern."
Paul Breen is the
man responsible for the website...
"I set up the website
because I wanted to raise people's interests about the night," he says.
"It's a great idea where people are using Irish, listening to Irish
music and having a bit of craic. Try getting young people into Irish
classes and it is almost impossible. But they enjoy this."
So if you are interested
in reviving the Irishness of our culture, or if you are just looking
for a good night's entertainment, bring yourself and your friends along
to Carty's. The night starts to kick off at about 10.00 p.m. So make
sure you're in early to get a seat!
Damien Johnston and
Edel Moriarty.
