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

7pm Ireland | 2pm ET | 11am PT

Created by The Trailblazery in collaboration with Manchán Magan and supported by Foras na Gaeilge, Scoil Scairte is the Irish School you always dreamed of guided by a host of inspiring bilingual multidisciplinary artists, activists, creatives, educators, culture makers and indigenous language keepers.

Previous Guides include Kathy Scott (Host, Creative Director The Trailblazery), Manchán Magan (Writer, Presenter, Bee Keeper), Mairéad Ní Chonghaile (Múinteoir, Presenter, Actor), Colm Mac Con Iomaire (Composer, Musician, Turner of Tunes), Colm Bairéad (Film Director of OSCAR & BAFTA-nominated An Cailín Ciúin, Screenwriter), 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), James Riordan (Writer, Theater-Maker), Eithne Verling (Director of Galway City Museum), Liam Ó Maonlaí (Musician, Singer), Máire Ní Chonláin (TG4 Editor, Exec Producer An Cailín Ciúin), Kneecap (Hip Hop trio), Dr. Louis de Paor (Poet and Director of the Centre for Irish Studies at NUI Galway), Rising Appalachia (Musicians, Songwriters), Bob Quinn (Filmmaker, writer, photographer), Diarmuid Lyng (Hurler, Wild Irish Retreats), Bayo Akomolafe (Poet, Philosopher, Activist), Annemarie Ní Churreáin (Poet), Fearghus Ó Conchúir (Choreographer, Dance Artist and Artistic Director), Delta Kay (Arakwal Bumberbin Bundjalung woman, Advocate), Iarla Ó Lionáird (Singer, Producer), Emma Dabiri (Author, Broadcaster, Advisor), Úna-Minh Kavanagh (Journalist, Multimedia content creator), Ola Majekodunmi (Journalist, Creator, Presenter), Séamus Barra Ó Súilleabháin (Rapper, Poet, Musician), Colm Ó Snodaigh (Singer, Musician, Writer), Darach Ó Tuairisg (Fíbín, resident at An Taibhdhearc - the national Irish language theatre), and Dr. Margaret A. Noodin (American poet, Anishinaabemowin language teacher).

an Irish drumbeat with a global resonance

Scoil Scairte is a dynamic cultural learning experience that weaves heritage, creativity, language, folklore and indigenous wisdom with individual, social and ecological wellbeing. This 9-week voyage of discovery invites people to gather together online to explore and experience Irish culture and learn the Irish language in a global learning community. 

Is modh cumhachtach é Scoil Scairte chun Gaeilge a fhoghlaim. Mar chuid den chúrsa seo, pléitear gnéithe den chultúr, cruthaitheacht, dúchas, seanchas, agus críonnacht dhúchais i dteannta le sláinte an duine aonair, an pobal agus an timpeallacht. Thar tréimhse 9 seachtainí tugann muid cuireadh do dhaoine chun teacht le chéile agus dul i mbun iniúchadh, foghlaim agus cleachtadh ar an nGaeilge mar chuid de phobal foghlama domhanda.

More than an Irish class, Scoil Scairte is an immersion in the psyche and soul of a powerful people and place. It provides a supportive environment to inspire people to connect with themselves, each other and the living world through the potency of this living language. The purpose of Scoil Scairte is to provide a modern, multi-faceted platform to engage in a soulful and structured way with ancient and emerging Irish cultural heritage. 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.

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.

✦ 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'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 come away with a direct experience of the language both in the head and the heart. A host of creative bilingual guides take us on a journey into the soul of the Irish Language, through a broad range of shared experiences from storytelling and music to 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 múinteoir Mairéad Ní Chonghaile. There are break-out sessions, homework, care packages, resources and special weekly bonus treats. Each live session is recorded so if you miss one, you can access afterwards. The video content and bonus resources will be available for 21 days for catch up after the course finishes.

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 exclusive Focail agus Fís film teaching series shot in stunning locations around Ireland as well as our múinteoir’s Language Lab playlists to support pronunciation & ‘blas‘.

We have also newly commissioned the Immrama Immersions guided meditation series by Kathy Scott in collaboration with composer Brian Crosby. The immrama are infused with Irish cultural motifs, images, words and phrases with an immersive ambient soundtrack to enhance the experience of this ancient culture and language in a unique embodied way. These practices blend the realms of science and spirit and navigate the terrain of psyche and soma - mind, body and soul. Check out the teaser below.

Participants also gain 3-months free access to Meitheal - our private community membership space. This is where our global community gathers together outside of the classroom to connect and nurture our relationship with the Irish language. This space is also the home to weekly 60-minute guided conversation circles for both beginners and intermediate speakers. These sessions are optional for those who want more time and space to practice the language.

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 including 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.

We really appreciate your support in these times. Thank you for walking this path with us.

Scoil scairte FAQ’s

Each Scoil Scairte Spiral is a standalone series and we introduce a host of new guides and learning opportunities to each spiral.

Note for attendees of series since Spring 2022: The dazzling Mairéad Ní Chonghaile is returning to teach in the main session every Thursday. As this is a beginner-friendly programme, her syllabus will follow a similar path as before so look out for the Meitheal language-practice circles which will provide new avenues into the language every Tuesday for the duration of this semester.

The programme is beginner and refresher friendly as many of our participants are totally new to Irish or have been out of practice since school. We teach bilingually, in Irish and English, so everyone can follow. 

For those with intermediate Irish, our programme features language surrounding many niche areas, such as foraging and traditional craft making, that can deepen your connection with and conversations in Irish.

You can also join a Beginners or Intermediate level circle via the community space. The circles are organised by level of Irish so you can practice with others who are in a similar place in their learning journey.

Each live session takes place from 7-8.30pm (Irish Time) over nine consecutive Thursdays. The Opening Session for this edition will begin at 7pm on 5 October, 2023.

All live sessions are broadcast over Zoom. We record each one and they will be available by streaming only and are not downloadable.

You can watch or listen to the Scoil Scairte sessions online via any connected device — or listen audio-only by phone.

Playback is available for 21 days after the course ends.

Yes! All live sessions will be recorded and made available each Friday (the day after the live session). 

Playback is available for 21 days after the course ends.

We release a care package each Friday containing course materials relevant to the weeks’ topics and teaching. Materials include the live session recordings, bonus videos, Field Notes and resources.

Course materials will remain available for 21 days after the date of the final live session to give you plenty of time to review.

You will receive sign-up details for the community space after our first live gathering.

We believe that Scoil Scairte should be accessible to people from all walks of life.

However, we understand that due to life circumstances, many people do not have the privilege to participate in a learning experiment like this, so we will offer a limited number of partial scholarships after all general admission tickets have been claimed. 

If you or someone you know would like access to this work but circumstances are holding them back, please apply. Individuals from BBIPOC, LGBTQ+ and marginalised communities are encouraged to apply also. 

In service of those in greater need, if you are in a position to be able to pay the full tuition, we kindly ask that you do not apply for a scholarship. 

Note: with partial scholarship, the cost is reduced from €225 to €100.

If you have any further questions please contact hello@thetrailblazery.com