OTwo Co-Editors Alice Keegan & Laura Molloy sat down with Gaeilgeoir Éamonn Ó hAdhmaill, committee member of the craobh BÁC 7.
Éamonn Ó hAdhmaill grew up in Belfast, Co. Antrim, and is an active member of the craobh BÁC 7. “I did all my education through Irish, I'm married to a Gaeilgeoir and we are raising our kids with Irish as well. So it's very much front and centre and has always been in my life. Irish is my first language, and so I learned it before English”.
Ó hAdhmaill explained that a craobh is a branch which anyone can set up. BÁC 7 refers to his local craobh in Dublin 7. The aim of the branch is to bring together people who speak Irish. He said,"it's great having your kids doing Irish in an Irish language school, it's brilliant, but in order to speak Irish, to keep Irish alive as a living language, you have to be able to live your life in Irish”.
He continued, “We organise events for people, families and young children, so that they can speak in Irish because often, if I speak Irish and you speak Irish, and we don't know that, and we speak in English to each other first, we just naturally speak in English after that. It's very hard to go to Irish, so if you can get kids with Irish to speak with other kids in Irish from a very young age, that becomes natural to them. So that's one of the reasons why we do this, but we also do events for people who don't have children, who are maybe in their 20s and 30s and want to have a bit of craic”.
If I speak Irish and you speak Irish, and we don't know that, and we speak in English to each other first, we just naturally speak in English after that.
Ó hAdhmaill also spoke to us about how the craobh, BÁC 7, was set up. “I send my kids to the local school, and I was speaking to the principal, and he was telling me that his daughter wanted to do something with the Irish language in the area, to try and bring more people together. So myself, herself, and two other friends of ours, the four of us got together and had a meeting, and from that meeting - it was just over a year ago in February 2025 - and from then we have been providing Irish language events”.
“We've organised social events, and different social events - like we've done dancing ones for older people, so we're trying to cater to all demographics of Irish speakers in the area. And we're trying to move around - I'm based in Cabra, we've done events in Stoneybatter, we've done events in Phibsborough, and we're trying to hit every area around Dublin 7,” he continued.
When asked about numbers of members in the branch, Ó hAdhmaill replied, “It started with four of us, and I'd say there might be, there's probably about 10 to 20 people who are active in the craobh, and then we have a wider group who will turn up for events and help us, and stuff like that, so like there are maybe 100 people in the WhatsApp group, but that doesn't always translate to 100 people who are active, so about 20 who are active, and then you can maybe call upon another 20 after that - maybe about 40 for a big festival.”
In order to join the craobh or to get involved, Ó hAdhmaill explained that it is very simple. “You can find us on social media, come to any of the events, and talk to any of our team that are there, and we'll be able to cater to anything that you want to provide. I mean, there are people who are, for example, there are people who I know who are older, who are in full-time employment, who don't have the time or the energy to be organising events…so you can become a paying member.” This “means that you can contribute without giving us your time, and the money will then go into providing support for the cost for events and things like that.” The committee rotates every year, and they just had their latest AGM. “It’s a volunteer organisation, we all give our time willingly, no one’s putting pressure on anyone else to do anything… we’re trying to have a bit of craic as well.”
It’s a volunteer organisation, we all give our time willingly, no one’s putting pressure on anyone else to do anything… we’re trying to have a bit of craic as well.
We then asked Ó hAdhmaill on whether he thinks students are showing more or less interest in Irish. “Definitely, people say the Irish language is having a moment, it’s definitely prevalent amongst students, people in their early twenties, and there are loads of different reasons for this. I’m in my early forties, the worry was always that the Irish language is going to die out, I’m raising my kids with Irish…but will the Irish language always be there? I mean, the latest figures aren’t great for the Gaeltacht areas, and we need the Gaeltacht areas to survive, but amongst young people . . . there is kind of a movement, an interest in the language.”
He also points to the impact of Irish-language rappers Kneecap - “[They] are edgy, unapologetic, very proud, and they're also very talented musicians and performers. I think what they've done is shown people that the Irish language is amazing, and it's something that we all need to protect and preserve, and they can do it in a way that nobody else that I’ve seen has been able to engage young people.” He remembers his own experience growing up in Belfast speaking Irish, “It wasn't cool or whatever, but Kneecap are, and they're really bringing a whole group of Irish language speakers together and making them proud of it.” They are bringing together “people who aren't native speakers and want to engage in the language.” Additionally, they are “more revolutionary in their demands for the Irish language . . . That’s what you need.”
[Irish] wasn't cool or whatever, but Kneecap are, and they're really bringing a whole group of Irish language speakers together and making them proud of it.
Ó hAdhmaill then reflected on the importance of preserving Irish culture and language. “The Irish culture is so enriching, that I live my life through Irish is a privilege…even the way I speak to my kids, the vocabulary that they use, there are ways to say things in Irish that you just cant say in English. Irish is so poetic, it’s something that we own, it’s native to us, and we should try to hold onto it for as long as possible.” He pointed out that minority languages die out every day, “but we have something that’s alive, that we can keep alive, and it’s so valuable for us. It’s more than a language, its cultural, its who you are, who our identities are. Its ancient…but it’s something worth preserving.” He continued, “I'm incredibly proud of being a Gaelgóir, I'm so proud of being an Irish language speaker, I'm so proud that my kids' first language is Irish…I actually see no downsides to having a second language, your native language.”
On the advice he would give to people trying to learn Irish, “No effort you can make can be too little. In Belfast, there's some people that I know who, when you're getting in and out of a taxi, they say go raibh míle. Any use of the language . . . Where I'm from in Belfast, there are loads of people who don't speak Irish, but they're loyal to the language, they appreciate its significance, they appreciate its worth.” This is becoming true for the rest of the country too. “There needs to be an understanding that even if you don't speak the Irish, that you think that it's valuable, and I think recently, the latest polling on this has shown that to be, where a lot of people who don't speak Irish, who aren't going to learn Irish, but they respect it, and they think it's of national importance. I think as well, the new President’s love of the language, and how she's trying to promote the language is brilliant.”
“We all have a part to play in the preservation of the language, and if you're trying to learn Irish, there are loads of classes available, and you can contact us if you want to get to learn Irish . . . Don't be afraid of it, and try to learn it. There are things like Coircal Comhrá, where you can go in, and you can have the chance to learn. I'm certain that there are so many people who have done Irish in school, maybe they didn't like it in school, but it's in there, and if you go to a Coircal Comhrá, or you go to Tae Agus Plé, or you go to the Réabh, and have a couple of pints, I'm sure your Irish will come back to you, so give it a go, and don't be afraid.” Ó hAdhmaill also points out that these are events for people with any level of Irish.
Ó hAdhmaill also spoke to us about what he thinks the state should do to promote the Irish language. “The state has to provide a framework for the protection and the survival of the language.” The main concern is “the hollowing out of Gaeltacht areas, where people who have Irish, who are native speakers, their Irish has a richness to it, that you can't get with learned Irish - but they're forced to leave the Gaeltacht areas.” The current housing crisis is “acute in those areas, where if we lose the Gaeltachters, we lose the direct connection, because their Irish is the original Irish…I think that you can throw money at any problem, but you need to have an actual plan . . . to get the result, the preservation of the language.”
Craobh BÁC7 organise a number of different events, catering to young children and families with Tae Agus Plé, pub quizzes for older members, and their biggest is the festival Splanc, which they held last October. This included set dancing classes, céilís, an oíche airneáil - a night of storytelling, singing, and music, poetry. Additionally, they have organised a rave at Bohemian’s football grounds, Dalymount, which features a mixture of techno and trad music. “I don't know why it works, but it works…it shows you the importance of having different people, in our craobh, there are a variety of ages and people from different backgrounds, which is so important, because different perspectives in any organisation are good.”
There are many more events to come from all at Craobh BÁC7. You can keep up with them on their social media, @craobhbac7.