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Gaelscoil

School in which Irish is the working language

School in which Irish is the working language

A Gaelscoil (; plural: Gaelscoileanna) is an Irish language-medium school in Ireland; the term refers especially to Irish-medium schools outside the Irish-speaking regions or Gaeltacht. Over 50,000 students attend Gaelscoileanna at primary and second levels on the island of Ireland. Additionally, more than 13,000 students are receiving their primary and second level education through Irish in the Gaeltacht. Gaelscoileanna and Irish-medium schools in the Gaeltacht are supported and represented by Gaeloideachas and An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta & Gaelscolaíochta or COGG in the Republic of Ireland and by Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta in Northern Ireland. The largest patron body of Gaelscoileanna in the Republic of Ireland is An Foras Pátrúnachta, although the vast majority of schools under their patronage are at primary level.

Students in the Gaelscoileanna acquire the Irish language through language immersion, and study the standard curriculum through it. Gaelscoileanna, unlike English-medium schools, have the reputation of producing competent Irish speakers. English-medium schools, in contrast, produce relatively few fluent Irish speakers, despite the Irish language being an obligatory subject in the Republic of Ireland in both primary and secondary school. This has been attributed in part to the lack of Irish-language immersion programs.

Gaelscoileanna and Irish language-medium schools in the Gaeltacht are supported and represented by Gaeloideachas and An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta & Gaelscolaíochta or COGG in the Republic of Ireland and by Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta in Northern Ireland.

Gaelscoileanna have undergone a striking expansion over the last few decades, although there are now concerns that rules limiting the founding of new schools are affecting the establishment of new Irish-medium education in areas where there is competition amongst educational patrons. Their success is due to effective (though limited) community support and an efficient administrative infrastructure. They are distinguished by being the product, not of state policy, but of a genuine community movement.

In 1972, there were only 11 such schools at primary level and five at secondary level in the Republic of Ireland. As of September 2023, there were 188 gaelscoileanna at primary level, attended by over 40,000 students, and 32 gaelcholáistí and 17 aonaid Ghaeilge (Irish language units) at secondary level, attended by over 12,000 students in non-Gaeltacht areas across Ireland. 35 of these primary schools, two of the postprimary schools and four of the postprimary units operated are in Northern Ireland. Additionally, some 4,000 children attend Irish-medium preschools or Naíonrai outside the Gaeltacht with around 1,000 children attending Naíonraí within the Gaeltacht. There is now at least one gaelscoil in every county in Ireland with over 50 in County Dublin; 30 in County Cork and 13 in County Antrim included.

Social status and function

Gaelscoileanna have acquired a reputation for providing excellent academic results at a moderate cost. They have been described as a system of "positive social selection" giving better than average access to tertiary education and the social and employment opportunities which follow. An analysis of "feeder" schools which send students on to tertiary level institutions shows that 22% of Irish-medium schools send all their students on to tertiary level, compared to 7% of English-medium schools.

Supporters argue that the bilingualism resulting from early acquisition of another language is of general intellectual benefit and helps children to learn still other languages. Irish-language advocates of the immersion approach sometimes refer to studies showing that bilingual children have advantages over monoglot children in other subjects.

Statistics

Primary levelRepublic of IrelandNorthern Ireland
Gaelscoil (primary) students35,8505,113
Gaelscoil (primary) schools14335
Total primary students536,747168,669
Total primary schools3,137827
Percentage Gaelscoil students6%2.1%
Percentage Gaelscoil schools8.6%4.4%
Sources:

By province (primary level)

  • Leinster – 19,331 primary students attend 71 gaelscoileanna.
  • Ulster – 6,801 primary students attend 45 gaelscoileanna.
  • Munster – 11,332 primary students attend 44 gaelscoileanna.
  • Connacht – 3,509 primary students attend 18 gaelscoileanna.

Post-primary education through Irish

A secondary-level Gaelscoil located in a non-Gaeltacht area is commonly known as a Gaelcholáiste. There are 32 Gaelcholáistí and 17 second-level Irish language units (aonaid Ghaeilge) on the island of Ireland, attended by over 12,000 students. Close to 4,000 further students receive their second-level education through Irish in the Gaeltacht.

Two new second-level gaelscoileanna opened in Ireland in 2014: Coláiste Ghlór na Mara in Balbriggan and Gaelcholáiste an Phiarsaigh in Rathfarnham (both in County Dublin). Gaelcholáiste Charraig Uí Leighin opened in Carrigaline and Northern Ireland's second gaelcholáiste Gaelcholáiste Dhoire opened in Dungiven Castle in 2015. Gaelcholáiste Mhic Shuibhne opened in Knocknaheeney in 2019. Gaelcholáiste Mhaigh Nuad opened in Maynooth in September 2020.

Gaelcholáistí are supported and represented on a practical day-to-day basis by Gaeloideachas (who also support Irish-medium schools in the Gaeltacht) and An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta & Gaelscolaíochta (whose name translates into English as "The Council for Gaeltacht and Gaelscoileanna Education") or COGG in the Republic of Ireland and by Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta in Northern Ireland.

In 2023 An Foras Pátrúnacha revealed that there is a demand for 7 new Gaelcholáistí in the Republic of Ireland and in 2021 Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta revealed that there is a demand for 3 new Gaelcholáistí in Northern Ireland.

List of Gaelcholáistí

School nameLocationCountyRegionRef.
Coláiste AilighLetterkennyDonegalRepublic of Ireland
Coláiste ChilliainClondalkinDublinRepublic of Ireland
Coláiste Cois LifeLucanDublinRepublic of Ireland
Coláiste EoinBooterstownDublinRepublic of Ireland
Coláiste FeirsteBelfastAntrimNorthern Ireland
Coláiste Ghlór na MaraBalbrigganDublinRepublic of Ireland
Coláiste MhuireCabraDublinRepublic of Ireland
Coláiste RáithínBrayWicklowRepublic of Ireland
Coláiste an EachréidhAthenryGalwayRepublic of Ireland
Coláiste an PhiarsaighCorkCorkRepublic of Ireland
Coláiste de hÍdeTallaghtDublinRepublic of Ireland
Coláiste na CoiribeGalwayGalwayRepublic of Ireland
Coláiste na TulchannClonsillaDublinRepublic of Ireland
Coláiste ÍosagáinBooterstownDublinRepublic of Ireland
Gaelcholáiste Charraig Uí LeighinCorkCorkRepublic of Ireland
Gaelcholáiste CheatharlachCarlowCarlowRepublic of Ireland
Gaelcholáiste ChiarraíTraleeKerryRepublic of Ireland
Gaelcholáiste Chill DaraNaasKildareRepublic of Ireland
Gaelcholáiste ChéitinnCTI ClonmelTipperaryRepublic of Ireland
Gaelcholáiste ChoilmCorkCorkRepublic of Ireland
Gaelcholáiste DhoireDungiven[County LondonderryLondonderryNorthern Irelanddate=30 November 2017title=GAA – Gaelcholáiste Dhoire coming of ageurl=https://www.derrynow.com/sport/gaa-gaelcholaiste-dhoire-coming-age/197192work=Derry Nowarchive-date=5 April 2019access-date=21 December 2023archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190405101804/https://www.derrynow.com/sport/gaa-gaelcholaiste-dhoire-coming-age/197192url-status=dead }}
Gaelcholáiste LuimnighLimerickLimerickRepublic of Ireland
Gaelcholáiste Mhaigh NuadMaynoothKildareRepublic of Ireland
Gaelcholáiste Mhic ShuibhneKnocknaheenyCorkRepublic of Ireland
Gaelcholáiste Mhuire (A.G.)CorkCorkRepublic of Ireland
[Gaelcholáiste ReachrannDonaghmedeDublinRepublic of Ireland
Gaelcholáiste na MaraArklowWicklowRepublic of Ireland
Gaelcoláiste an PhiarsaighRathfarnhamDublinRepublic of Ireland
Meanscoil GharmanEnniscorthyWexfordRepublic of Ireland
Scoil ChaitríonaGlasnevinDublinRepublic of Ireland

Strategy proposals

The function and future of Gaelscoileanna in the Republic of Ireland falls within the scope of the 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010-2030, published by the then-Irish government in December 2010. This report emphasises the importance of offering all children in primary schools in Ireland the opportunity to experience partial immersion in the formative years of primary education. It calls for primary teachers to have additional immersion classes to improve their competence in the language. This would involve teaching some subjects such as Mathematics and Science in Irish.

References

References

  1. "Statistics". Gaeloideachas.
  2. (1999-02-22). "What is Immersion Education". Gaelscoileanna.ie.
  3. http://www.comhairle.org/uploads/publications/Immersion%20Education%20Policy%20SGIP.pdf {{dead link. (May 2012)
  4. (2009). "Language and Occupational Status: Linguistic Elitism in the Irish Labour Market". The Economic and Social Review, Vol. 40, No. 4, Winter, 2009.
  5. Bialystok and Hakuta. (1994). "In Other Words: The Science and Psychology of Second-Language Acquisition". [[Basic Books]].
  6. (December 2017). "School enrolments – school level data 2015/16 {{!}} DE".
  7. "Statistics : Gaelscoileanna – Irish Medium Education".
  8. "Key Statistics".
  9. "Oideachas Trí Mheán na Gaeilge 2015/2016".
  10. (2018-12-08). "Teenagers trade personal stories: 'It's great to find you are not alone'". [[The Guardian]].
  11. "Gaeloideachas- statistics".
  12. "Gaelcholáiste Mhaigh Nuad- School History".
  13. (2023-05-17). "26 Gaelscoil, 5,800 dalta – gaelcholáiste ar bith - Tuairisc".
  14. (2021-08-09). "Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta agus an Gaeloideachas @ 50 i dTuaisceart Éireann- Raidió na Life (2021))".
  15. "COLÁISTE AILIGH". [[Department of Education and Youth]].
  16. "COLÁISTE CHILLIAIN". [[Department of Education and Youth]].
  17. "COLÁISTE COIS LIFE". [[Department of Education and Youth]].
  18. "COLÁISTE EOIN". [[Department of Education and Youth]].
  19. "Eitheas/Ethos".
  20. "COLÁISTE GHLÓR NA MARA". [[Department of Education and Youth]].
  21. "COLÁISTE MHUIRE". [[Department of Education and Youth]].
  22. "COLÁISTE RAITHÍN". [[Department of Education and Youth]].
  23. "COLAISTE AN EACHRÉIDH". [[Department of Education and Youth]].
  24. "COLAISTE AN PHIARSAIGH". [[Department of Education and Youth]].
  25. "COLÁISTE DE HÍDE". [[Department of Education and Youth]].
  26. "COLÁISTE NA COIRIBE". [[Department of Education and Youth]].
  27. "Coláiste na Tulchann".
  28. "COLÁISTE ÍOSAGÁIN". [[Department of Education and Youth]].
  29. "GAELCHOLÁISTE CHARRAIG UI LEIGHIN". [[Department of Education and Youth]].
  30. "GAELCHOLÁISTE CHEATHARLACH". [[Department of Education and Youth]].
  31. "GAELCHOLÁISTE CHIARRAÍ". [[Department of Education and Youth]].
  32. "GAEL CHOLAISTE CHILL DARA". [[Department of Education and Youth]].
  33. "CENTRAL TECHNICAL INSTITUTE". [[Department of Education and Youth]].
  34. "CTI Clonmel".
  35. (30 November 2017). "GAA – Gaelcholáiste Dhoire coming of age". Derry Now.
  36. "GAELCHOLÁISTE LUIMNIGH". [[Department of Education and Youth]].
  37. (5 September 2019). "New Knocknaheeny school opening 'an historic event for education'". [[University College Cork]].
  38. "GAELCHOLÁISTE MHUIRE". [[Department of Education and Youth]].
  39. "GAELCHOLÁISTE REACHRANN". [[Department of Education and Youth]].
  40. "GAELCHOLÁISTE NA MARA". [[Department of Education and Youth]].
  41. "GAELCHOLÁISTE AN PHIARSAIGH". [[Department of Education and Youth]].
  42. "School Detail".
  43. "SCOIL CHAITRIONA". [[Department of Education and Youth]].
  44. "20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010-2030 (English Version)". Department for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.
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gaelscoil irish-language-education medium-of-instruction celtic-medium-education irish-words-and-phrases minority-schools school-types language-immersion
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