A 9-week immersive journey into the heart and soul of Irish culture, heritage and language.
Join our global online learning community and explore how language can shape how we see and sense the world and our place in it.
Course Price: €225
Thursdays, Oct 05 - Nov 30 2023
7pm Ireland | 2pm ET | 11am PT
Tickets available now at the button below. Places are limited - book early to secure your spot.
Bígí linn - Join us.
Scoil Scairte is sponsored by Foras na Gaeilge. This edition is also part-funded by Dublin City Council through the Arts Office and Corporate Services.
Please ensure you have read our Terms & Conditions before purchasing from The Trailblazery
Scoil Scairte is the Irish School you always dreamed of. Following the sell out success of our first four immersions in Sep ‘21, Feb ‘22, Oct ‘22 and Mar ‘23, we are thrilled to announce a brilliant line-up for the upcoming fifth edition. Táimid ar bís - we are so excited to shine a spotlight on the inspirational people, places, songs and stories of Dublin (Baile Átha Cliath) for this Scoil Scarte journey.
We will be guided by a host of inspiring bilingual multidisciplinary artists, activists, creatives, educators, culture makers and indigenous language keepers including Kathy Scott (Founder, Host, Creative Director of The Trailblazery), Manchán Magan (Writer, Presenter, Bee Keeper, Documentary-Maker), Mairéad Ní Chonghaile (Presenter, Actor, Múinteoir), Siobhán O’Kelly (Actor, Gaeilgeoir, Mama), Colm Mac Con Iomaire (Composer, Musician, Turner of Tunes), Irish with Mollie (Teacher, Influencer, Gaeilgeoir), Niall Morahan (Social Entrepreneur, Designer, Researcher), Roxanna Nic Liam (Actor, Writer, Singer), Colm Bairéad (Film Director of OSCAR & BAFTA-nominated An Cailín Ciúin, Screenwriter), Cleona Ní Chrualaoí (Producer of OSCAR & BAFTA-nominated An Cailín Ciúin, Reporter, Presenter), Prof. Michael Cronin (Researcher, Lecturer, Author Eco-Translation: Translation and Ecology in the Age of the Anthropocene), Jenny Ní Ruiséil (Musician, Teacher, Writer), Tiokasin Ghosthorse (Member of the Cheyenne River Lakota Nation of South Dakota, Speaker, Founder First Voices Radio), Mary Kennedy (Irish TV Presenter, Writer, Former Eurovision Host), Deirdre Ní Chinnéide (Psychotherapist, Composer, Singer), Fay’d (Rapper, Musician, Gaeilgeoir), Rising Appalachia (Sisters, Songwriters, Musicians), Liam O’Connor (Fiddler, Director of the Irish Traditional Music Archive), Róisín Chambers (Sean-nós singer, Fiddler), Mícheál Ó Nualláin (Director of BÁC le Gaeilge, Footballer, GAA Manager), Sinéad Ní Uallacháin (Journalist, Presenter, Actor), Macdara Yeates (Singer, Producer, Filmmaker) and Osgur Ó Ciardha (Co-founder of Pop Up Gaeltacht, Hotelier, Presenter).
Created in 2021 by The Trailblazery in collaboration with Manchán Magan and supported by Foras na Gaeilge, this series is also part-funded by Dublin City Council through the Arts Office and Corporate Services. Scoil Scairte is a dynamic Irish cultural experience that weaves creativity, language, heritage, folklore and indigenous wisdom with individual, social and ecological wellbeing. The programme was awarded the 2022 European Language Label by Léargas and recognised by nomination for Best Arts and Cultural Award with the Irish Sponsorship Awards.
Scoil Scairte is a 9-week voyage of discovery that invites people to gather together online to explore, experience and learn about Irish culture in a global learning community. This Autumn series will shine a spotlight on the Dublin region on the east coast of Ireland. We will meet a host of guides from, in and of Dublin who will explore ideas about cultural heritage including place, language, identity and wellbeing.
More than an Irish class, Scoil Scairte is an immersion in the psyche and soul of a powerful language, culture and place. It creates a supportive environment to inspire people to connect with themselves, each other and the living world through the potency of this ancient living language.
Scoil Scairte provides a platform to engage in a soulful and structured way with the Irish language as a rich cultural treasure. It taps into a growing cultural desire for new ways of learning (and unlearning), connecting and sharing at this extraordinary time on our planet. Join Scoil Scairte and explore how language can shape how we see the world and our place in it.
We would like to acknowledge our friends Sonya and Nina Montenegro of The Far Woods, whose beautiful ‘Against Forgetting’ print shares a similar motif to our logo at The Hedge School.
“An Irish drumbeat with a global resonance”
What people are saying about Scoil Scairte
What you will receive:
✦ 9 weekly Zoom events with cultural guides, live music & language teaching (Thursdays, 90-mins each)
✦ 9 weekly digital care packages with Field Notes PDF slides, Language Lab playlist to support pronunciation and bonus resources for exploration
✦ 2 Immrama Immersions led by Kathy Scott & produced by Brian Crosby
✦ 8 weekly Irish-language practice circles. Beginners and Intermediate classes available, hosted on Zoom via our community space Meitheal (Tuesdays starting Week 2, 60-mins each)
✦ Bonus Interview Specials hosted by Manchán Magan
✦ Curated Field Notes & Resource List
scoil scairte is for you if
✦ You have lost your comfort with the Irish language
✦ You are keen to explore the Irish language for the first time
✦ You are seeking new ways of engaging with nature, landscape and the inner realms through the Irish language
✦ You would like to meet like-hearted people in the company of a global learning community
✦ You are drawn to discover more about Irish culture and heritage
✦ You feel pulled to revisit the Leaving Cert Irish you learned at school
✦ You are called to engage with indigenous ways of seeing, sensing and knowing
✦ You would simply like to enjoy an cúpla focal
What people are saying about Scoil Scairte
"The Irish language allows for a more magical way of seeing the world. It reveals the underlying connections that our ancestors saw between all things; from fields and flowers to hawks and waves. The purpose of Scoil Scairte is to offer a lyrical reminder of Ireland’s lost words and the different ways they offer of seeing the world. In a time of disconnection and unease there is potent healing to be found in using language and lore to reconnect to the land and the nonphysical realms that are embodied within it”.
- Manchán Magan
Why Scoil Scairte?
Back in the 1700s Irish education was outlawed and the process of learning took to the land. Hedge Schools or Scoil Scairte gathered wherever people could find shelter, in hedgerows, in fields, by rivers and under the stars. In this time of global uncertainty, there is a call to reconnect with some of the traditions and practices that supported and nourished our ancestors.
Irish is one of the oldest living vernacular languages in Europe. It has shaped the cultural identity of the people on the island of Ireland for thousands of years. If a language dies we lose access to meaning, memory and our ways of being human. Despite a turbulent history the Irish language has survived and is encoded with a wisdom that can help us today. Rooted in Ireland, this online learning programme is designed for people living on the island of Ireland and for the millions of people all around the world who feel a call to engage with indigenous ways of seeing, sensing and knowing.
What people are saying about Scoil Scairte
What's Involved
Scoil Scairte offers a roadmap to help reorient and root people back into relationship with the language and the wild world around them. A key element of the programme is a focus on holistic learning, so that participants will come away with a direct experience of the language both in the head and the heart.
Each week, a new guide will take us on a journey into the soul of the Irish language through a broad range of shared experiences from storytelling and music to dancing, folklore, hip hop, hurling, knitting, sean nós singing and other creative practices.
The creative syllabus features weekly 90-minute bilingual learning sessions with inspiring teachable moments, live music by internationally renowned artists and a language learning component led by our resident teacher (múinteoir). There are break-out sessions, homework, care packages, resources and special weekly bonus treats.
We are passionate about creating a methodology that provides a range of root pathways into the language (featuring visual, auditory and experiential practices) to include all kinds of learners. Offerings include our bilingual interviews with Manchán Magan and guests, as well as our Language Lab to support pronunciation (blas) and the Immrama Immersions listening experiences.
Participants also gain 3-months free access to our private community membership space: Meitheal, where we can gather together outside of the classroom to connect with each other and nurture our relationship with the Irish language. This space is also home to weekly guided conversation circles for both beginners and intermediate speakers.
Investment
We believe that Scoil Scairte should be available to people from all walks of life especially in our current circumstances so we have created sliding scale payment options via partial scholarships for people who need support. Sliding scales are a tool of economic justice. We ask that people who have the means to pay at the top of the scale do so, supporting others, for whom cost may be a barrier, to have the opportunity to participate in Scoil Scairte. Partial and full scholarships will be made available after all general admission tickets have been claimed. Note: with partial scholarships the ticket price is reduced from €225 to €108.
We really appreciate your support in these times. Thank you for walking this path with us
Kathy Scott
Kathy is a cultural activist and creative entrepreneur dedicated to creating provocative experiences that animate the spirit of our times. Her greatest mission in this life is to nudge humanity forward by inspiring people to rise and lift each other up along the way. She is the creative director of The Trailblazery which was founded as a response to a need for deeper human connection and belonging in our world.
Manchán Magan
Manchán Magan writes regularly for The Irish Times, presents The Almanac of Ireland on RTÉ Radio 1 and has presented dozens of documentaries on issues of world culture for TG4 & RTÉ. His book Thirty-Two Words for Field explores the insights the Irish language offers into the landscape, psyche and heritage of Ireland. www.manchan.com
Mairéad Ní Chonghaile
Mairéad Ní Chonghaile was born and raised in the Conamara Gaeltacht and is a native Irish speaker. Her career in the Arts spans over 25 years, during which time she has presented television programmes with TG4 (Charts i gCeart, Síbín) and acted on stage, television and film (Ros na Rún, Aifric, The Royal, Jonathan Creek).
Siobhán O’Kelly
Siobhán O’Kelly trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Theatre work includes Fiach, Cogadh na Saoirse and Twelfth Night. She has appeared in TV shows like London Irish, Paddywhackery and Na Cloigne. Her film credits include High Rise, Arracht and The Daisy Chain. In 2015 Siobhán won Best Actress at the European Independent Film Festival for her role in Sophie At The Races and in 2016 was nominated for an IFTA for her work on the TV series An Klondike. Having lived in London for many, many years Siobhán is delighted to be back in Ireland reconnecting with its people and language.
www.spotlight.com
Colm Mac Con Iomaire
Dublin born, Wexford based Colm Mac Con Iomaire is a well-known violinist, composer, film score arranger, and a founding member of hugely successful Irish bands ‘The Frames’ and ‘Kíla’. Colm has spent over three decades travelling the World playing music.
Michael Cronin
Michael Cronin is 1776 Professor of French and Senior Researcher in the Trinity Centre for Literary and Cultural Translation in Trinity College Dublin. Among his recent published titles are Irish and Ecology: An Ghaeilge agus an Éiceolaíocht (2019). He is a former Irish Language Literature Advisor to the Arts Council and Director of Poetry Ireland.
Irish with Mollie
Mollie, a visionary Irish language educator, weaves storytelling and etymology into her innovative teaching methods, celebrating and nurturing identity and heritage connections. She offers accessible, relatable resources with infectious enthusiasm. Mollie’s creative workshops and courses demystify the language and explore the healing and soulful path of effective learning. Rethink and revitalise Irish!
Fay'd
Fay'd is a rapper and a musician from Tallaght. He writes lyrical and melodic music blending the two sharply contrasting phases of his life. His unique style mixes the traditional Irish sean-nós music with today's modern hip-hop.
Niall Morahan
Blue Niall, is an artist, designer and musician from Dublin. His sound blends traditional Irish music with bilingual rap and contemporary club music. Niall hosts a biweekly radio show called 'Athbheochan' on Dublin Digital Radio and is currently working on "Oisín," an audiovisual project which is a modern retelling of the legend of Tír na nÓg. In addition to his music career, Niall is a designer and social entrepreneur. He is a cofounder of Project UnBound, a partnership for systemic change in Ireland through design.
Roxanna Nic Liam
Roxanna is an actor and spoken word artist who has performed in English and in Irish for over 15 years. She has performed all over Ireland and the UK and is currently on Fair City. Her bilingual short film Siúcra went viral during the pandemic and is used in Irish classrooms all around the country.
Tiokasin Ghosthorse
Tiokasin Ghosthorse seeds from the Mnicoujou and Itazipcola Lakota as an educator, musician, and international speaker on peace and the global issues facing Native people. Tiokasin is a 2016 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee of the International Institute of Peace Studies and Global Philosophy. He is also the Host and Executive Producer of “First Voices Radio National/International, a one-hour live weekly radio program he founded in 1992 and is now syndicated on 110+ public and community radio stations.
Colm Bairéad
Colm is a writer-director with a diverse filmography in both narrative and documentary film. Colm’s first narrative feature was An Cailín Ciúin (The Quiet Girl) which received two BAFTA nominations and an Academy Award nomination for International Feature Film. It is the highest-grossing Irish-language film of all time.
Cleona Ní Chrualaoi
Cleona Ní Chrualaoi is a film and television producer, best known for the Irish-language film, An Cailín Ciúin (The Quiet Girl), which garnered worldwide acclaim and was nominated for two BAFTAs and an Academy Award in 2023. Cleona was selected as one of Screen International’s Stars of Tomorrow in 2022.
Jenny Ní Ruiséil
Jenny is an Irish speaker, musician and yoga teacher originally from Kildare who has spent years also working for Irish-language college Coláiste Lurgan (TGLurgan). She is committed to exploring, practicing and living a heart-based, creative life, using the traditional teachings of the Himalayan Masters combined with the deep roots of her Irish and Celtic lineage as guides and frameworks. Her fascination with all things music, sound, language and energy-based has led her to explore the connections between these ancient spiritual practices (particularly mantra) and their relation to the body, heart and mind of today's practitioner, and how rooting ourselves deeply in a practice, lineage or tradition can help to facilitate an even deeper sense of home.
Mícheál Ó Nualláin
Mícheál is the Director of Baile Átha Cliath le Gaeilge, a joint initiative between Conradh na Gaeilge and Dublin City Council with the mission of having Irish more seen and heard around the Dublin City. He is a founding member of Irish Speaking Dublin GAA Club, Na Gaeil Óga.
Mary Kennedy
One of Ireland’s most popular broadcasters, Mary Kennedy came to national prominence as an RTÉ Newscaster and presented the Eurovision Song Contest in 1995. Since then, Mary has presented many programmes including a successful six year run of Open House, People of the Year, Up for the Match, Nationwide, Guaranteed Irish and RTÉ’s Christmas Carols. She has published five books and writes a monthly column for two magazines, Ireland’s Own and The West Cork Opinion.
Deirdre Ní Chinnéide
Deirdre Ní Chinnéide is a composer, singer, psychotherapist, spiritual director and workshop facilitator presenting throughout Ireland, the United States, Australia and Europe. The Aran islands off the west coast of Ireland provides a special setting for her retreat work and was the place of inspiration for her music. Her CD Celtic Passage won Celtic Album of the Year on its US Release.
Liam O’Connor
Liam O’Connor, one of Ireland’s leading fiddle players, was born into a musical family in Dublin. His father Mick O’Connor is a flute player and researcher of music who was a founder member of the Castle Céilí Band. During his youth, Liam was taught by Séamus Glackin and won several All-Ireland and Oireachtas fiddle titles. He was awarded TG4 Young Musician of the Year in 2002. He has performed as a soloist and in duets with Liam O’Flynn, Noel Hill and Harry Bradley among others. In 2009, he released a critically acclaimed CD entitled “Dublin Made Me” with uilleann piper Seán McKeon and in March 2017 he released this long-awaited solo album, “The Loom”.
Sinéad Ní Uallacháin
Sinéad Ní Uallacháin is a radio and television broadcaster who hails from the West Kerry Gaeltacht. She presents the award winning podcast Beo ar Éigean with her friends and colleagues Siún Ní Dhuinn and Áine Ní Bhreisleáin. She recently presented the TG4 travel show, ‘Beidh mé ar Ais', with Osgur Ó Ciardha.
Macdara Yeates
Macdara Yeates is a traditional singer, cultural producer and filmmaker from Dublin, with an interest in folk music and its role in communities. Recent projects include: My Father’s Kind, a collaboration of traditional Irish music and poetry with poet Dermot Bolger; Sing a Song of Docklands, a songwriting and community outreach project celebrating the work of Dublin’s dock workers; and ABAIR, an annual programme of song, story and oral history at the St. Patrick’s Festival, drawing collaborations from artists in Ireland, Andalusia, Samiland and more.
Rising Appalachia
Rising Appalachia is an American folk music group led by multi-instrumentalist sisters Leah Song and Chloe Smith. As world travellers for nearly two decades, Rising Appalachia have merged multiple global music influences with their own southern roots.
Osgur Ó Ciardha
Osgur Ó Ciardha is the general manager of Locke Hotels. With Peadar Ó Caomhánaigh, he founded Pop-Up Gaeltacht in 2017, a project to encourage Irish speakers to socialise in the community, in order to normalise the use of Irish in non-traditional settings.
Róisín Chambers
Róisín Chambers is a sean-nós singer and fiddle player. From a family of musicians, she grew up surrounded by Irish music, language and culture. Having lived in Glasgow for many years, she also played a huge part in the promotion of Irish culture in the city through teaching at Irish Minstrels Branch of Comhaltas Ceoltóiri Éireann and being an active member of Conradh na Gaeilge, Glaschú. Róisin has performed with many artists over the last 15 years including The Bonny Men, Gerry O’Connor, Salsa Celtic, At First Light and many more.
meet our guides
MORE ABOUT HEDGE SCHOOL
Hedge School is a virtual homeschool rooted in Ireland that invites people around the world on a collective learning experience to find our shared humanity and resource our possibility as global citizens. Hedge School is an Irish drum beat with a global resonance. Back in the 1700’s, Irish education was outlawed and the process of learning took to the land. Hedge Schools gathered wherever people could find shelter; along hedgerows, fields, mountains, by rivers and under the stars. Out at these wild edges, our culture was kept alive...
