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.