Scoil Scairte Blas: A Taste of Ireland

PART 1: Monday|Sept 8

PART 2: Thursday|Sept 11

An Invitation

BLAS is our FREE, two-part online taster course

Discover why Scoil Scairte, our award-winning immersive learning experience, has captured the hearts and minds of people all over the world.

Scoil Scairte is more than a course.

It’s an Irish drumbeat with a global resonance weaving the Irish language with land, lineage and lore.

▽ If you live on the island of Ireland…

▽ If you’re curious about Irish culture…

▽ If you’re among the 80 million in the Irish diaspora…

This journey is for you.

In the Irish language, blas means taste and the unique flavour of someone’s speech or accent as gaeilge.

Start Your Free Taste of Ireland Course

What You’ll Receive in BLAS

This free two-part course invites you to savour the essence of Irish cultural heritage without any shamrocks, shillelaghs, or shenanigans in sight.

You’ll experience:

A rich initiation into cultural homecoming and belonging
Fresh pathways into language, land, lineage & lore
Resources to help you revitalize your connection to Ireland’s wild spirit
Practices to rewild what it means to be Irish and a global citizen

Meet Your Guides on the BLAS Journey

You won’t walk this path alone. Scoil Scairte BLAS is carried by a collective of artists, activists

and storytellers who embody Ireland’s living culture.

At BLAS you will meet our dream team:

Kathy Scott

Founder, Curator, Cultural Activist, Trauma-informed Facilitator

Manchán Magan

Writer, Presenter, Documentary-maker, Beekeeper

Joseph Jones / Seosamh Mac Seoin

Ulster Irish Teacher, Actor & Filmmaker

Áine Tyrrell

Guest Artist: Singer, Songwriter, Multi-instrumentalist & Pirate Queen

Featured

Ismahane Meliani

Ismahane Meliani is French-Tunisian creative producer from Paris. She is a graduate of the University of Edinburgh with a degree in Scottish Studies and of the MA in Arts Management and Creative Producing at University College Cork. She was Finance Officer of the once-off Rebound Arts Festival (2022). Being from a bi-cultural family, Ismahane has always been passionate about foreign cultures and languages. She actively pursues this passion through cultural project management for arts institutions in France, South Africa and in Ireland as Company Administrator and Content Developer for The Trailblazery.

Tom Lawlor

Tom has worked in the arts since 2007, across marketing, sponsorship, audience development, and programming. He has connected hundreds of thousands of people nationally and internationally with memorable cultural experiences and steered brands to meaningful engagements with those audiences. He has worked with The Trailblazery, Thisispopbaby, Schweppe Curtis Nunn, Dublin City Council, Fáilte Ireland, Body & Soul Festival, Waterways Ireland, Macnas, The Douglas Hyde Gallery, Kilkenny Cat Laughs, Universal Pictures Ireland, Airbnb and many others. Since 2015, Tom has brokered or managed sponsorships to the value of €1.8m. He has sat on the Board of Directors of GAZE International LGBT Film Festival. His career started with Dublin Fringe Festival, followed by two years at Element Pictures before going freelance in 2015.

Sandra Kwiatkowska

Sandra Maria is a Polish vocalist, vocal coach and healing music creator who has lived in Ireland for 18 years and currently travels the world in a DIY camper van. With an Honours Bachelor of Science degree from DCU, she left her scientific career to pursue a more creative path. Sandra's passion for social media has led her to her current role as a Digital Officer for The Trailblazery, where she channels her excitement and experience.

Sandra's love for Ireland and Clannad music drew her to move there in 2004, where she learned to connect with the land's spirit, experiencing it as a goddess. During her time in Ireland, she discovered a deep affection for the land, formed meaningful connections with the locals, and learned to appreciate its unique culture and traditions. Through exploring the country's breathtaking landscapes and sacred places, participating in its vibrant spiritual community events, she gained a profound understanding of Ireland's soul, which fostered her love and respect for the country and its people.

Maedhbh Mc Cullagh

Maedhbh Mc Cullagh is a New York City-based multidisciplinary producer, arts programmer, creative consultant, and cultural strategist from Ireland. She has been developing, producing, and managing artistic programs, presentations, productions, and cultural special events in Europe and the US for over two decades. She is currently the Director of the Capital Irish Film Festival in Washington, DC, presenting one of North America's largest programs of Irish film. She consults and produces with The Trailblazery strategizing and developing interdisciplinary cultural projects and events in the US. Previous NYC positions include Deputy Director of Irish Screen America, the US screening showcase of the best of Irish film, animation, and other media; and Managing Director of the contemporary interdisciplinary Abrons Arts Center at the Henry Street Settlement, NYC. Before moving to the US she was the Program Manager of the international Dublin Fringe Festival and Associate Producer of the award-winning Aurora Nova international program of physical theatre, dance, and cross-disciplinary performance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Why Join?

This free taster course is an invitation to reclaim your dúchas — a potent Irish word for ancestral wisdom, cultural heritage and the untamed essence of who you are.

The wild spirit of Ireland is stirring. It’s time to answer the call. Let’s rise, rooted and resilient, together…

Start Your Free Taste of Irish Course

What You’ll Experience

In these two free online sessions, you’ll meet the core Scoil Scairte team and get a real taste of how we approach the Irish language.

An Ghaeilge is not just as a subject to study, but a living portal to identity, culture and connection.

Here’s what we’ll explore together:

▽ How reconnecting with Irish culture can awaken ancestral memory and deepen your sense of belonging

▽ A trauma-informed, body-based way of (un)learning that brings the language alive through breath, movement and sound

▽ What it means to unravel colonial patterns and rewire old stories around shame, silence, and separation

▽ How the Irish language invites us into a web of relationship with land, lineage, and the more-than-human world

▽ The importance of community, creativity and craic in reclaiming what was lost and reimagining what’s possible

If you’re curious about Scoil Scairte and wondering if it’s for you, these sessions will offer clarity, inspiration and a strong sense

of why so many people around the world have joined the Scoil Scairte family.

The Journey

Remember - Reawaken the knowledge that lives in your bones.

Reweave - Stitch together the story of language, land & lineage.

Rewild - Root into belonging with love, courage & joy

Rise - Revitalise your connection to the wild spirit of Ireland

Start Your Free Taste of Irish Course

This Is For You If…

▽ You’ve been afraid to speak Irish in case you “get it wrong”

▽ You feel called to reconnect with the Irish language, culture, or ancestry

▽ You sense what was lost is still alive inside you

▽ You carry grief, silence, or longing around belonging

▽ You long for community rooted in ritual, reclamation, and kinship

What You’ll Get From This FREE Course

▽ Confidence speaking and embodying a little Irish language in everyday life

▽ Somatic tools to dissolve shame and speak with ease

▽ A felt sense of belonging to your heritage and the land

▽ Ancestral connection that supports resilience and joy

▽ A community and kinship with others on the same journey

A Collective Act of Remembrance

Imagine yourself speaking a little Irish each day, feeling rooted in your cultural heritage and embraced by a community that celebrates you as an ancestor-in-training.

In a world shaped by rupture, this is an act of cultural repair.

Reclaim your dúchas. Let your wild essence rise.

Start Your Free Taste of Irish Course