Sam Young’s Inspiring Irish Language Journey

Community & Background

“My name is Sam Young (Somhairle De Siun as Gaeilge!). I have been learning Irish properly since November 2019. I am from County Derry and, as you can possibly tell from my name, I’m not from the community background in the North of Ireland that normally speaks Irish. You can also call the place Northern Ireland, whatever suits is ok with me.” 

“Irish wasn’t offered to me in school as I attended a state primary and then grammar school but I was always intrigued by seanscéalta, even though I didn’t know the Irish name for them. I grew up knowing about the O’Cahan clan and how their dog’s feat gave the name to my home town, Limavady. So I don’t think I was averse to a bit of Irishness growing up and even though my family had an Orange tradition there was no dislike of all things Irish in my upbringing. My grammar school was pretty mixed and I had friends from both sides of NI’s community.”

“I did an Irish conversation course around 1997 and had a bodhran in the house that I can kind of play but that was about it. Growing older I developed an interest in place names, local history and folklore. As I read about these things, and visited places, I was always looking up place names so it made sense to learn a little Irish to help me with this.”

Placenames & Classes

“I started going to classes at my local Cultúrlann, Glor Léim an Mhadaidh. My earlier conversation class from years before did me no good and I was starting from scratch. Even though Limavady was largely untouched by the troubles and the community is very integrated by NI standards, I wasn’t sure what kind of welcome I would get, coming from my perceived Community Background but I went anyway. My teachers Ann, Liam and Mary and other class members were welcoming and interested in helping me develop. My background was not a barrier and the Irish language community in Limavady, if anything, were delighted to have someone new, from ‘the other side’ as it showed that there is no sectarian bias within this community.” 

Inclusive, Diverse & Welcoming

“At this stage I need to clarify that at no time have I ever witnessed any activity within my Cultúrlann, or any other, which is anything other than inclusive, diverse and welcoming. The Gaeilgeoirí I have met are keen to spread the use of and access to our language, there are no barriers, there is no snobbery, either become líofa or just learn your cupla focal, it’s all valuable and it’s all good.”

“Anyway, after starting classes we hit COVID lockdown, I started using online resources, I bought children’s books in Irish to translate and I studied for myself. We had a WhatsApp group to use a bit of Gaeilge Gach Lá and I did online lessons with Ian Malcolm which were really useful.”

Qualifications & Plans

“After COVID I prepped for my Fáinne Airgid, followed by my Fáinne Óir. I got both and wanted to get a qualification so I found online lessons for Irish TGMO / GCSE which I did with Glór na Maoile in Ballycastle, taking my exam at Gaelchúltur i mBeal Feirste. I put the work in, had an excellent teacher in Deirdre Goodlad and got an A*.” 

“I’m still far from líofa but I’ve got a good grasp of the basics. I am currently a Registrar with my local council and have to offer registrations in English, Irish and Bilingually in both, I feel my Irish allows me to do this better. What is most fun is when I have to do an Irish themed wedding and I’m able to offer to do part of the ceremony as Gaeilge for the Bride and Groom. I like to think that every now and then someone at one of these weddings will hear me speaking Irish and be encouraged to either return to the language or to try it for the first time.”

“I’m a qualified Tour Guide and aspire, one day, to be able to offer turais dhátheangacha, but I’m not there yet. This is the first year since 2019 that I haven’t been enrolled on some kind of Irish Language Course as I’m doing a further qualification in Tour Guiding so I’m hoping to use #100daysofGaeilge to get my fix until I have more time to devote to the language again during summer 2025.”

Míle buíochas le Sam! Tá an scéal seo spreagúil! Irishlanguagematters.com Nollaig 2024