Celebrating the Irish language during St. Patrick's Festival 2021

The National St. Patrick’s Festival takes place will take place from March 12 to 17 with the theme of Dúisigh Eire! Awaken Ireland! – a clarion call to the Irish across the world to throw off the long, dark months and rise to embrace the brighter days ahead.

It promises to be a positive and uplifting celebration of our incredible people, our beautiful island, our community bonds, our young people, artists, creators and makers, and our diaspora across the world.

More than 100 events will be available to watch on St. Patrick’s Festival TV (SPF TV), an online TV channel which will broadcast globally from March 12 to 17 at stpatricksfestival.ie. Most of the programmes will also be available in 1.1 million homes across Ireland on the Oireachtas TV channel, which can be found on all TV provider platforms.

St. Patrick’s Festival is commissioning and supporting a host of events celebrating and promoting the Irish language. Highlights from the programme include Seanfhocail, presented by Féile Pádraig in association with Hen’s Teeth creative studio and gallery, a specially commissioned series of six stunning prints using proverbs drawn from our rich Irish language such as ‘An donas amach is an sonas isteach’ and ‘Maireann croí éadrom a bhfad’.

These pieces aim to present and promote the Irish language by using proverbs to look at our contemporary times, a reflection on the past year, a look to the future and to celebrate the resilience and community spirit of the Irish people at the time of our national holiday celebrations. Hen's Teeth are working with six designers – Jonny Costello (Adult Art Club), Keelin Coyle, Niall Sweeney, M&E Studio, One Strong Arm and Annie Moriarty – to create this stunning run of limited edition prints, which will be available from hensteethstore.com.

For those with an interest in language and the origins of words, be sure to watch Sea Tamagotchi by Manchán Magan. In February 2020, Manchán set out along the coast roads of Mayo, Donegal and Galway seeking out sea words, maritime terms and coastal customs as part of Galway 2020.

Now, for St. Patrick’s Day, he has created 19 short films featuring the voices of the fishermen intercut with film footage of the Irish coastline. Learn about where certain words come from and gain rich insights into coastal practices, navigation systems, seasonal calendars, psychological aspects of sea life, migratory routes and fishing techniques.

For a hands-on festival experience, discover your creative streak with two Ceardlanna Trádisiúnta le Cleas, Inis Oírr – Aran knitting and willow weaving. The Aran Islands are steeped in Ireland's rich heritage and history. Learn how to create your first Aran stitches and maybe go on and knit your very own fisherman's sweater, or master the skill of crafting items with sally rods in the traditional Inis Oírr manner to make a beautiful hanging basket. Don’t forget to check the event pages at stpatricksfestival.ie in advance to see what you’ll need for each workshop.

Elsewhere, An Féileacán agus An Rí – A Reading will see author Máire Zepf read from her award-winning book The Butterfly and the King, a retelling of one of Ireland’s most ancient myths, for our younger gaeilgeoirí.

The spellbinding tale of Mír and Éadaoin has been told in Ireland for over a thousand years, but in this contemporary retelling Éadaoin has been given the reins to her own story for the first time ever. Máire will also be giving young writers at home some story starter ideas to write their own stories inspired by the themes of the myth.

Also, join the book’s illustrator Shona Shirley Macdonald for An Féileacán agus An Rí – Illustration Workshop. Taking inspiration from mythological creatures and illuminated manuscripts, she’ll be showing you how to invent your own fantastical and imaginary animals, how to create your own ‘Bestiary’.

Speaking about the festival’s programme of Irish language events, the Minister of State for Sport and the Gaeltacht, Jack Chambers, said: “There is a really exciting programme of immersive events planned for the St. Patrick’s Festival which will celebrate and embrace the Irish language. The festival offers a wonderful opportunity to reflect on our native language and the role it plays in our society, our culture and in our arts.

“I hope people of all ages and from all backgrounds will fully participate in the festival. While the pandemic has meant there are more online and virtual events for this year’s festivities, I am pleased this will allow so many Irish abroad and people all around the world to participate and celebrate the Irish language and Irish traditions during this St. Patrick’s Festival.”

For the full festival programme and more information, see stpatricksfestival.ie.