Cúpla Focal sa Tally Ho brings ceol agus craic to Longford for first birthday

There are only seven counties on the island of Ireland with State recognised Gaeltachtaí. Longford, alas, is not one of them.

In the county town, once a week, a tiny enclave of culture becomes a portable region where the Irish language is the primary means of communication.

What started as an excuse to get together to use the “cúpla focal” has blossomed into a weekly celebration of the Irish language.

Cúpla Focal sa Tally Ho is an Irish conversation group that emphasises participation over fluency. Even if the nuances of the tuiseal ginideach or the modh coinníollach are lost to the mists of time this group will, nonetheless, welcome new members prepared to make an effort.

“We're one year in existence,” Eamonn Brennan said of the gathering, “Marion (O’Reilly) and I had a notion that we'd like to chat to practice our Irish. We decided we'd go to a pub rather than a library or anything like that. We finally got together in the Tally Ho.”

The timing of the gathering was not entirely haphazard. The nascent group used Seachtain na Gaeilge as a deadline inducing incentive.

This year the 'week' runs from Friday, March 1, to Sunday, March 17. Founded as part of the Gaelic Revival by Conradh na Gaeilge in 1902 Seachtain na Gaeilge is about promoting our native language, an ethos that the members of Cúpla Focal sa Tally Ho align to.

The first flyer

“We gather in the pub every Tuesday at half seven. We feel this emphasis that we are taking the language away from the school environment, into a more informal setting,” member Padraig Loughrey says.

Building the group has been a combination of word or mouth, social media and the happenstance of Irish speakers being in the pub on any Tuesday night.

Eamonn says there has been a good level of engagement: “From week to week we have had people drop in and chat, then we may not see them for a month. We have had evenings where there were just two, and others where we've had 10. In all about 20 people participate in an informal way. John (Duignan- Tally Ho proprietor) was very supportive of the idea from the very beginning.”

Gerry O’Doherty grew up in Northern Ireland and did not learn his native tongue in school. His first brush with Irish came from an evening class while living in Belfast.

Gerry now lives in Mostrim: “I was in a pub one evening and it came up in conversation that I was looking for an Irish language class. A woman told me about this group. I just appeared in the pub last summer, and I have been coming regularly since.”

As a Midlands group there is a deal of diversity in the dialects spoken by the participants, Gerry's Ulster, Eamonn's Kerry and a good smattering of Connemara are all accommodated; it even adds to the sharing of words and phrases new to other members.

Eamonn says the ambition of the group is to be as welcoming as possible to, particularly to members who don't feel confident in their language skills: “Most of us have a bit of Irish, or school Irish. Anybody who comes for the first time, we'll help them along. They'll get to know if it suits them if they come in.”

John McGagh emphasises the inclusiveness of the group: “I hadn't spoken Irish in 30 years. And I saw an advert for it on Facebook. I thought I'd give it a go. I found like-minded people who wanted to try and speak in Irish.”

Another founding member, Marian O’Reilly, said as Seachtain na Gaeilge commences the group are hoping Cúpla Focal sa Tally Ho will see an influx of new additions: “We cater for all kinds of people, all different standards of Irish. All we ask people to do is just make a bit of an effort. We recently had an American person who just called in. He had very little Irish, but he was interested in the Irish language and wanted to learn a bit more.”

Supporting the effort made by others is something Caitríona Doyle enjoys about the gathering: “We speak at a level that is easy for casual users, a slower level than a native speaker. In Connemara, they can speak very quickly, sometimes I don't understand them, even though I've Connemara Irish. We facilitate people to speak and enjoy the language.

“It's tailored to the level they are at. People whose Irish was weak enough at the start are now much more fluent. They don't stop to think about what they are saying,” Caitríona explains.

Kitty Carberry believes this Tuesday night's assemblage will be a bit special: “We gather every Tuesday, but the pub has traditional music on the first Tuesday of every month, so there is an added cultural incentive to come along.

“We're one year old and because it's Seachtain na Gaeilge we want to mark the occasion. We hope new people will come along to see what it's like. We'll definitely have a cake,” Kitty laughs.

The first anniversary meeting of Cúpla Focal sa Tally Ho takes place in the New Street pub this Tuesday, starting at 7:30 with traditional music from 9:00pm agus beibh cáca milis ann.