Oireachtas na Gaeilge
Encyclopedia
Oireachtas na Gaeilge is an annually held arts festival of Irish
culture, which has run since the 1890s. Based on the Welsh Eisteddfod, Oireachtas na Gaeilge runs for one week, featuring performances, demonstrations and competitions. The festival is held in two portions: a visual arts
festival in April/May and the festival proper on the last weekend of October or the first of November, when more than 10,000 people attend the seven-day event. In 2007, the festival was held at Westport. The 2008 festival took place in the Cork city suburb of Douglas, the local support committee was under the chairmanship of Peadar Ó Riada, son of the composer and founder of the male choir Cór Chúil Aodha, Seán Ó Riada
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, one of the largest halls in the city at that time. It was just a half-day festival, but the attendance still exceeded a thousand people, an unexpected level of interest.
In contrast to today's festival, there was little emphasis on the performing arts. The competitions included two for poetry, five for prose essays, one for poetry compilations; a competition for unpublished songs or stories in Irish; a competition for new song compositions and a recitation competition.
The popularity of the Oireachtas waned in the early part of the twentieth century, and the festival was cancelled for a number of years in the 1920s and 1930s. In response, the organisers, under the Directorship of Liam Ó Maolaodha attempted from the 1990s on to market the festival to younger speakers of Irish via outings, discos, and other youth-oriented events.
The festival was originally held in Dublin, but since the 1970s, it has been held in different cities and towns around Ireland. The festival culminates in four major competitions over the weekend: Comórtas na mBan, a Sean-nós
singing competition for women, Comórtas na bhFear, for men, Corn Uí Riada
, for all age and gender categories, and the Comórtas Damhsa ar an Sean Nós ("Steip"), a free-style dancing competition based on the Conamara individual step style now popular around the country. Past winners of Corn Uí Riada
include Áine Uí Cheallaigh, Lillis Ó Laoire, Máirtín Tom Sheánín Mac Donnchadha, Mícheál Ó Confhaola and 2008 winner Ciarán Ó Con Cheanainn
from An Spidéal
. Contae na Gaillimhe
.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
culture, which has run since the 1890s. Based on the Welsh Eisteddfod, Oireachtas na Gaeilge runs for one week, featuring performances, demonstrations and competitions. The festival is held in two portions: a visual arts
Visual arts
The visual arts are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, and often modern visual arts and architecture...
festival in April/May and the festival proper on the last weekend of October or the first of November, when more than 10,000 people attend the seven-day event. In 2007, the festival was held at Westport. The 2008 festival took place in the Cork city suburb of Douglas, the local support committee was under the chairmanship of Peadar Ó Riada, son of the composer and founder of the male choir Cór Chúil Aodha, Seán Ó Riada
Seán Ó Riada
Seán Ó Riada , was a composer and perhaps the single most influential figure in the revival of Irish traditional music during the 1960s...
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History
The first Oireachtas na Gaeilge festival was held in 1897 in the Round Room of Dublin's RotundaRotunda (architecture)
A rotunda is any building with a circular ground plan, sometimes covered by a dome. It can also refer to a round room within a building . The Pantheon in Rome is a famous rotunda. A Band Rotunda is a circular bandstand, usually with a dome...
, one of the largest halls in the city at that time. It was just a half-day festival, but the attendance still exceeded a thousand people, an unexpected level of interest.
In contrast to today's festival, there was little emphasis on the performing arts. The competitions included two for poetry, five for prose essays, one for poetry compilations; a competition for unpublished songs or stories in Irish; a competition for new song compositions and a recitation competition.
The popularity of the Oireachtas waned in the early part of the twentieth century, and the festival was cancelled for a number of years in the 1920s and 1930s. In response, the organisers, under the Directorship of Liam Ó Maolaodha attempted from the 1990s on to market the festival to younger speakers of Irish via outings, discos, and other youth-oriented events.
The festival was originally held in Dublin, but since the 1970s, it has been held in different cities and towns around Ireland. The festival culminates in four major competitions over the weekend: Comórtas na mBan, a Sean-nós
Sean-nós song
Sean-nós is a highly ornamented style of unaccompanied traditional Irish singing. It is a sean-nós activity, which also includes sean-nós dancing...
singing competition for women, Comórtas na bhFear, for men, Corn Uí Riada
Corn Uí Riada
Corn Uí Riada is the premier sean nós singing competition at Oireachtas na Gaeilge, an annually held arts festival of Irish culture, It is named in honour of the composer and founder of the legendary male choir Cór Chúil Aodha, Seán Ó Riada...
, for all age and gender categories, and the Comórtas Damhsa ar an Sean Nós ("Steip"), a free-style dancing competition based on the Conamara individual step style now popular around the country. Past winners of Corn Uí Riada
Corn Uí Riada
Corn Uí Riada is the premier sean nós singing competition at Oireachtas na Gaeilge, an annually held arts festival of Irish culture, It is named in honour of the composer and founder of the legendary male choir Cór Chúil Aodha, Seán Ó Riada...
include Áine Uí Cheallaigh, Lillis Ó Laoire, Máirtín Tom Sheánín Mac Donnchadha, Mícheál Ó Confhaola and 2008 winner Ciarán Ó Con Cheanainn
Ciarán Ó Con Cheanainn
Ciarán Ó Con Cheanainn Irish scholar, teacher and youngest winner of the Corn Uí Riada.Ó Con Cheanainn was born in Galway, and was a descendant of the Kings of Uí Díarmata...
from An Spidéal
Spiddal
Spiddal is a village on the shore of Galway Bay in County Galway in Ireland. It is west of Galway city on the R336 road. Spiddal is on the eastern side of the county's Gaeltacht near Connemara, and is a tourist centre with a scenic beach, harbour, and shore fishing.-The village:The Mac...
. Contae na Gaillimhe
County Galway
County Galway is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the city of Galway. Galway County Council is the local authority for the county. There are several strongly Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county...
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Media coveraage
RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta has been covering the bigger Oireachtas events live since 1973 and these broadcasts are in considerable demand from internet audiences around the globe, particularly Corn Uí Riada and the sean-nós stage competitions. Steip, the Sean nós dancing competition, on TG4 has consistently attracted the station's highest annual audience figures. Its success is due to the hard work of Festival administrator Máirín Nic Dhonnchadha who effectively revived the competition from 2000 onwards. In 2008, for the first time, the station broadcast live segments of the Corn Uí Riada competition.External links
- Festival website
- An Irishwoman's Diary Preview in Irish Times 2008 by Catherine Foley