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
Our upcoming Spring Semester ~ Seimeastar an Earraigh ~ will be announced soon.
Bígí linn.
Please join the waitlist below to be notified when doors open.
Please ensure you have read our Terms & Conditions before purchasing from The Trailblazery
As Seen In
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), Hala Alyan (Palestinian-American, Professor, Author, Poet & Clinical Psychologist), Moya Brennan (“The First Lady of Irish Music” and voice of Clannad, Harpist), 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.
"The Irish language allows for a more magical way of seeing the world. It reveals the underlying connections that our ancestors saw between all things; from fields and flowers to hawks and waves. The purpose of Scoil Scairte is to offer a lyrical reminder of Ireland’s lost words and the different ways they offer of seeing the world. In a time of disconnection and unease there is potent healing to be found in using language and lore to reconnect to the land and the nonphysical realms that are embodied within it”.
- Manchán Magan
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
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. 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.
What people are saying about Scoil Scairte
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
Should I have completed a previous Scoil Scairte to join the upcoming series?/I've attended before, can I come back?
What level of Irish will the course be taught from?
What date & time does Scoil Scairte begin?
How do I access the live Scoil Scairte sessions?
I can't make all of the live sessions, will they be recorded?
When can I expect to receive the course materials?
How long will I have access to the course materials once the program has ended?
How will I gain access to the private community space?
What are the conditions to apply for a Partial Scholarship?
I have a question regarding Scoil Scairte, how can I contact you?
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...