Scoil Scairte Beo
song & storylines
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.
Scoil Scairte Beo is the Irish School you always dreamed of. Following the sell-out success of our first six live immersions, we are thrilled to announce a brilliant line-up for the upcoming seventh edition.
This 9-week journey into the heart and soul of Irish culture brings together some of Ireland’s greatest poets, philosophers, writers, dancers, storytellers, singers and cultural luminaries.
Táimid ar bís - we are so excited to shine a spotlight on the artists who are weaving the golden threads of the Irish language into a broader web of creative relationships for this Scoil Scairte journey. We will be guided by a host of inspiring bilingual multidisciplinary artists and language keepers including:
Kathy Scott {Host, Founder of The Trailblazery}, Theo Dorgan {Poet, Writer, Lecturer}, Annemarie Ní Churreáin {Poet, Editor}, RÓIS {Composer, Vocalist, Multi-instrumentalist, Electronic Artist}, Joseph Jones {Actor, Model, Múinteoir}, Siobhán O’Kelly {Actor, Gaeilgeoir, Mama}, Professor Kevin Whelan {Scholar, Author}, Jenny Ní Ruiséil {Musician, Teacher, Writer}, Ciara O’Donnell aka Domhan {Artist, Multi-instrumentalist & Songwriter}, Michael Gallen {Irish Composer, Writer, Performer}, Dónal Ó Céilleachair {Filmmaker, Founder of Anú Pictures}, Caít Ní Riain {Traditional Singer, Multi-instrumentalist, Member of The Weaving}, Lillis Ó Laoire {Sean-nós Singer, Lecturer in Irish language, Folklore and Celtic Civilisation}, Michael Keegan-Dolan {Director, Choreographer, Teacher}, Edwina Guckian {Dancer, Teacher, Author}, Ciara Ní É {Bilingual Irish Writer, Performer, Podcaster, Presenter}, Ella Noah Bancroft {Bundjalung woman, Writer, Educator and CEO/Founder of The Returning}, Leah Song {Singer-songwriter, Multi-instrumentalist, Storyteller, Poet, Artist, Activist, Rising Appalachia} and Duncan Wickel {Violinist, Composer, Rising Appalachia}.
Ticket price: €276 incl. VAT
Payment plan available: pay in 2 installments
Bígí linn - Join us.
Scoil Scairte is sponsored by Foras na Gaeilge.
Please ensure you have read our Terms & Conditions before purchasing from The Trailblazery
Course Dates & Times:
Thursdays, Apr 03 - May 29. 7pm Ireland | 2pm ET | 11am PT
Meitheal Community Meet-ups every Tuesday, Apr 08 - May 27
All hosted via Zoom
“An Irish drumbeat with a global resonance”
Scoil Scairte is an award-winning, online cultural learning experience connecting the Irish language, heritage and indigenous wisdom with individual, social and ecological wellbeing. Scoil Scairte: Song and Storylines invites the Gaeilge-curious on a 9-week odyssey that will shine a spotlight on the song and storylines inspired by An Ghaeilge.
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.
Supported by Foras na Gaeilge, this unique programme invites participants on a voyage of discovery with cultural guides and ambassadors from the comfort of their own home, bringing a sense of intimacy and authenticity to each weekly gathering.
The guides are keepers of the flame, who honour the old ways, in new ways.
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.
We all descend from ancestors who told stories and sang songs. If you are one of the 80 million diaspora who claim Irish heritage, or live on the island of Ireland, then Scoil Scairte is for you.
Together we will reclaim our dúchas, finding community and kinship along the way. Join Scoil Scairte and explore how language can shape how we see the world and our place in it.
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 and bonus resources for exploration
✦ 2 Immrama Immersions led by Kathy Scott & produced by Brian Crosby
✦ 8 weekly Irish-language practice circles. Optional conversation circle, hosted by Siobhán O’Kelly on Zoom via our community space Meitheal (Tuesdays starting Week 2, 60-mins each). Beginners and Intermediate classes available.
✦ Curated Field Notes & Resource List
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.
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 €276 to €133.
We really appreciate your support in these times. Thank you for walking this path with us.
We have also created an instalment payment plan splitting the course price into 2 monthly payments of €138 for those who may need alternative options to access this course.
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 Seosamh Mac Seoin, 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 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 intermediates.
What people are saying about Scoil Scairte
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
meet our guides
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.
Joseph Jones (Seosamh Mac Seoin)
Joseph Jones (Seosamh Mac Seoin) an Ulster Irish teacher, actor & filmmaker who teaches at the Irish Arts Center in Manhattan and has also taught at the New York Irish Center in Queens. Dedicated to promoting the Irish language, Joseph is also a presenter on TG4/Cúla4, the first Irish-language kids' TV station.
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.
Annemarie Ní Churreáin
Annemarie Ní Churreáin is a poet from the Donegal Gaeltacht. Her books include Bloodroot (Doire Press, 2017), The Poison Glen (The Gallery Press, 2021) and Ghostgirl (Donegal County Archives, 2023). Her awards include the Irish Arts Council’s Next Generation Artist Award, The Markievicz Award, The Kavanagh Fellowship and a Hawthornden Residency Award (NYC). Ní Churreáin is the UCD/Arts Council Writer in Residence for 2025. She is the poetry editor at The Stinging Fly Magazine.
Theo Dorgan
Theo Dorgan is a poet with ten collections published, the most recent being ONCE WAS A BOY, which received the accolade of One City, One Book 2024 in his native Cork. He is also a novelist, documentary screenwriter, translator, essayist and editor. In 2022 he devised the script for ANU's production of STAGING THE TREATY, and he scripted and presented the multi-award-winning Alan Gilsenan documentary for TG4, AN BUACHAILL GEALGHÁIREACH/THE LAUGHING BOY. Two of his long poems, SAPPHO'S DAUGHTER and ÉRIU & AMERGIN, have been set to music by Colm Mac Con Iomaire and a CD of the latter is due to be released later this year. Translations of his work have been published in Greek, Italian and French, with a second collection in Spanish due in 2024. He is a member of Aosdána.
Edwina Guckian
Dancer Edwina Guckian hails from outside the village of Drumsna in Co. Leitrim. Coming from a family steeped in the tradition of music and dance, her style is greatly influenced by the style of local music she grew up with across Leitrim and Roscommon. She set up Áirc Damhsa Culture Club for youths in her area to have a space to be immersed in traditions and cultures from home and all across the world in a fun and non – competitive environment. Now in its 20th year, the club has over 500 members in 9 counties. Edwina is the artistic director of Leitrim Dance Project annually hosting events in the county such as Leitrim Dance Festival and the Effrinagh Crossroads Dance.
Dr. Kevin Whelan
Kevin Whelan is a native of Johnstown, near Clonegal, in County Wexford, attended school at FCJ Bunclody and played for Kildavin GAA club. He has been Director of University of Notre Dame Dublin since 1998. He has lectured in fifteen countries, and at the Sorbonne, Cambridge, Oxford, Torino, Berkeley, Yale, Dartmouth and Louvain. He has written or edited over twenty books and over one hundred articles on Ireland’s history, geography, literature and culture. During his tenure as the face of Notre Dame in Ireland, Kevin has taught over 3,000 ND undergraduates. From 1999 to 2011, he directed the annual Irish Seminar, the leading seminar in the field of Irish Studies. Kevin, a native of County Wexford, is the father of four children. His passions include hurling, poetry, book-collecting, the Irish language and travel.
RÓIS
RÓIS is a composer, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and electronic artist from Fermanagh, whose songs breathe new life into a forgotten Ireland. Blending elements of folk, sean-nós, electronics, and jazz harmony, RÓIS’ genre-bending sound transports listeners to a different realm. With shapeshifting sets, no two performances are ever the same, as audiences accompany RÓIS into her sound world. Expect twists and turns of tempo and genre, and moments of sheer magic, as she conducts the energy of the room. This is a place where the ancient meets the new.
Michael Gallen
Michael Gallen is an Irish composer, writer, director and performer. Recent works of note include Bád ón Alltar (2024), a new large-scale orchestral work co-commissioned by the Orchestre Nationale de Bretagne, Ulster Orchestra and the Irish National Symphony Orchestra. Michael founded the Straymaker company in 2018 with the goal of creating innovative opera and music-theatre projects rooted in an Irish idiom. His opera Elsewhere, the company’s maiden production, premiered at the Abbey Theatre to critical acclaim. Other Straymaker projects in development include multiplatform music-theatre work The Curing Line, which Michael is composing and directing, and which is currently one of the final three nominees for the 2025 Fedora Prize for Opera. Michael was the lead vocalist and songwriter with Irish band Ana Gog and performs as a solo artist under the moniker Sudden Wells, with a new album due for release in Autumn 2025.
Cáit Ní Riain
Cáit Ní Riain is a singer and multi-instrumentalist from Upperchurch in Co. Tipperary. She is deeply rooted in Irish traditional music and song, and influenced by folk musics the world over that have grown from the ground up, from the human’s relationship with land. She is particularly passionate about the traditional songs of Ireland, the keening tradition, the deep embodiment of voice, and voice as a potent healing tool. She also composes her own music and songs which are rooted in themes of wildness, love, and the need to decolonize our minds, hearts, and bodies. She plays piano and sings in ‘The Weaving’, alongside accordionist and singer, Méabh Begley and Leeds’ fiddler, Owen Spafford.
Dónal Ó Céilleachair
Dónal Ó Céilleachair is a multiple-award winning filmmaker with 30 years of experience in cinema, broadcast television and the arts. His work has been shown in cinemas, museums, galleries, film festivals and on broadcast television and streaming services worldwide.
Jenny Ní Ruiséil
Jenny Ní Ruiséil 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 how rooting ourselves deeply in a practice, lineage or tradition can help to facilitate an even deeper sense of home.
Lillis Ó Laoire
Lillis Ó Laoire grew up in Gort an Choirce, County Donegal. Lillis won Corn Uí Riada on two occasions at the annual Oireachtas festival and in 2020 he was conferred with the TG4 Amhránaí na Bliana – Singer of the Year Award. He is Professor in the Department of Irish, National University of Ireland, Galway. He has published books and articles, in Irish and in English on singing and ethnology in addition to many other aspects of folklore and folkloristics. His best known publications include On a Rock in the Middle of the Ocean and Bright Star of the West: Joe Heaney, Irish Song Man.
Ciara O’Donnell
Ciara O’Donnell is the creative artist under the name “Domhan” channeling music and songs inspired by the Earth and the Divine. Domhan’s voice (pronounced “Dow-an” in Gaelic) has captivated audiences in both her native Ireland and abroad, showcasing her undeniable virtuosity as a multi-instrumentalist, potent songwriter and vocalist. Ciara is a Shamanic Practitioner, Pranic Energy Healer, Music and Language teacher and Vocal coach and facilitator of women’s circles. She is also a member of transcendental band “Bog Bodies”, here she allows the spirit of Ancient Ireland to move through the music in a bid to help activate and empower the ancient memory embedded in all of our DNA.
Michael Keegan-Dolan
Michael Keegan-Dolan was born in Dublin in 1969. He founded his own company, Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre in 1997 and rose to acclaim as its artistic director creating three Olivier Award-nominated productions: Giselle (2003), The Bull (2005), and The Rite of Spring (2009). Michael Keegan-Dolan founded his new company Teaċ Daṁsa in 2016. Its first production, Swan Lake / Loch na hEala, won the Irish Times Theatre Award 2017 for Best New Production and the UK Critics’ Circle National Dance Award for Best Production 2018. In 2024 Teaċ Daṁsa moved into its own building on the cliffs of the West Kerry Gaeltacht in a townland called Glaise Beag. Michael plans to devote the next part of his working life feeding and growing a dynamic relationship with this place, its language and culture. He believes that it is important for an artist to work with their own history as this history is carried in their body.
Ella Noah Bancroft
Ella Noah Bancroft is a proud Bundjalung woman. She is a descendant of the Bundjalung peoples of Northern NSW, and also has bloodlines to Scotland and Poland. She is a Indigenous born artist, published author, mentor, consultant and founder/CEO of “The Returning Indigenous Corporation”. Ella is an experienced speaker and facilitator advocating for the environment, social justice and system change. She is passionate about decolonising the world and the rise of feminine force.
Ciara Ní É
Ciara Ní É is a bilingual poet, performer, broadcaster and filmmaker. Founder of REIC and co-founder of AerachAiteachGaelach, she was named as one of the Irish Examiner’s 100 Women Changing Ireland in 2022. She’s toured internationally, written and directed her first film, and presented award-nominated documentaries. Expect bold poetry, Gaeilge, and unapologetic queer creativity.
Duncan Wickel
Award-winning bowed-string instrumentalist, world class musician, singer, writer, and inventor, Duncan Wickel is “A considerable talent…as persuasive in a traditional ballad as he is country fiddling or ripping through cascading classical flourishes or atonal double stops” (The Boston Globe). Along with his band, Rising Appalachia, he was featured on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series. He has toured with major folk artists including IBMA guitarist of the year Molly Tuttle, Grammy nominees The Duhks, The Wood Brothers, Irish music greats John Doyle and Karan Casey, Ruth Moody, The Stash! Band, and many others.
Leah Song
Leah Song is a storyteller, song-catcher, musician, poet, and activist primarily known for her role as front-woman of Rising Appalachia, alongside her sister Chloe Smith. As a soloist she incorporates sultry vocals, folklore, boleros and the blues into her troubadour performance. Her music is based in the traditions of Southern soul, the diasporic music of the Celtic Isles and her deep studies of traditional folk music from across the Americas. She has studied and worked alongside some of the greatest teachers and tradition keepers of our time including Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Bobby McFerrin, Martin Shaw, Joanna Macy, Charles Eisenstein, Winona LaDuke, Guadelupe Urbina, Sobunfu Some, and Rosemary Gladstar to name a few... Gathering tools and teachings of resilience, music, mythology, and ritual through sound.
We would also 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.
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...
