The North American Gaeltacht () is a gathering place for
Irish speakers in the community of
Tamworth, Ontario, in Canada. The nearest main township is
Erinsville, Ontario
Stone Mills is a lower-tier township north of Greater Napanee in Lennox and Addington County, Ontario, Canada. According to the 2016 census, the township has a population of 7,702.
The Township of Stone Mills was formed on January 1, 1998 throug ...
. Unlike in Ireland, where the term "" refers to an area where Irish is the traditional language, this part of Ontario has no resident native Irish speakers. The name refers instead to its being a meeting place for Irish speakers from North America and elsewhere.
History
Erinsville was settled by the Irish, and its first five mayors were Irish.
It is from this area that the Gaeltacht received its name of "" or "Erinsville/Town of Ireland Gaeltacht". As of early 2021, the organisation's website referred to it as the North American Gaeltacht or .
This site was the first and only officially sanctioned (or "designated Irish-speaking area") to exist outside Ireland. The 's opening ceremony was attended by the Irish ambassador to Canada,
Declan Kelly, and by Helen Gannon of .
A statement was also released by the then
Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs,
Éamon Ó CuÃv. In this, dated 29 May 2007, he stated: "''I would like to congratulate the Canadian people for establishing a Gaeltacht in Canada, the first outside Ireland.''"
Ó CuÃv also approved the funding of €20,000 (C$28,835) for teacher training.
Following its launch, the project received some news coverage, primarily for the claim that it was the first of its kind outside Ireland, including by
RTÉ
(RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...
and
TG4
TG4 ( ga, TG Ceathair, ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television network. The channel launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond.
TG4 was formerly known ...
in Ireland, the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
in the UK,
and the ''
Globe and Mail'' in Canada.
Aims and activities
The project's stated aim is to "restore and maintain the language by having a place where speakers can make connections with each other, learn and practice Irish". The site is intended to be used for Irish language immersion weeks and to build a learning centre. Other objectives are to arrange exchanges with families, to provide an Irish-language summer camp for children and to bring teachers from Ireland.
As of 2021, cultural events and "
language immersion" courses were happening virtually and at the site.
See also
*
Neo-Gaeltacht
A Neo-Gaeltacht ( ga, Nua-Ghaeltacht) is an area where Irish has a strong presence as a spoken language but is not part of the officially defined or traditional Gaeltacht areas. It has been argued that non-Gaeltacht activist groups wishing to esta ...
References
External links
*
{{Gaeltacht
Gaeltacht places
Culture of Ontario
Lennox and Addington County
Irish diaspora in Canada
Linguistic geography of Canada