Abstract:

The Irish Language is one of the six Insular Celtic Languages in Europe. As a minority language it enjoys the unique status of being the first national language of a sovereign state: The Republic of Ireland. In spite of its growing popularity across both Irish jurisdictions, however, English remains the majority language in the country as a whole. An Ghaeltacht, the regions of Ireland where Irish is the vernacular are mainly small communities along the Western and Southern seaboards. These communities have a population of 80,000 and must implement vigorous language policies in order to maintain funding from government.

Since the 19th Century, An Ghaeltacht has played a central role in connecting learners to the language at its primary source. Ireland's universities have been to the fore in drawing on this rich resource to ensure students and staff can establish a direct link to the language in its native environment. University College Cork (UCC) maintains a mini campus in Corca Dhuibhne, the principal Kerry Gaeltacht region, 160 kilometres from the main campus in Cork. Originally a shop and a dance hall through the 1950s and 1960s, the campus consists of two buildings: the main house which caters for up to 20 students and staff, and a state of the art teaching and learning space known as An Halla (The Hall).

As previously stated, An Halla was the local ballroom of romance and was also the venue for the first cinema show in this remote region of Ireland. Since being acquired by UCC in the early 1970s it has undergone various transformations reflecting the current state of learning and technology at the time. In its early days it funcioned as a combined social and learning zone, but with the growing importance of the connected computer in teaching and learning it was partitioned into a seminar room and an online computer lab in 2001. As emphasis shifted from fixed computers to phones and tablets, it was decided in 2016 to totally revamp an Halla into a next generation learning space. It reverted to a single multi-functional space with the emphasis on both a place of study and social interaction.

Ireland's Official Languages Act was legislated for initially in 2003 and subsequently amended in 2021. In 2022 the Identity and Language (Northern Ireland) Act 2022 was legislated for in the UK Parliament. The 2021 amended act in the Republic stipulates that by 2030 20% of new recruits to the Public Service will be proficient in Irish, something which has added impetus to a growing trend in third level education for Irish to be taught within disciplines which had hitherto neither taught nor credited it.

UCC has been quick to respond to this need with Ionad na Gaeilge Labhartha (The Centre for Oral Irish) developing modules across the University's four colleges aimed at preparing our graduates for 2030. The most successful initiative to date has been in Medicine where three modules are currently running across First and Second Year. All modules include a spell in the Campus in Corca Dhuibhne where students interact with local doctors who carry out their clinical work through the medium of Irish.

In addition to outlining the various uses we make of An Halla, this paper will report on research carried out amongst the most recent groups of Students who have visited An Halla with a view to determining how central they see these visits in light of the growing importance of Irish to their future careers.

Keywords:

Learning Space, Indigenous languages, Irish Language.