Chair's Corner - Notes from the Ottawa Irish Arts (CCE Ottawa) Chair, September 2017

Over the summer we were slightly more busy than usual. On June 16, myself, the Irish Officer (D. Doyle), the PRO (Oscar), the Social Media Officer (Pat), and guests Mary Muckle (harp), Pat Marshall (harp), Tim Robinson (pipes) spent the day (and lead up days, preparing) at the Ottawa Irish Arts booth at the "Ireland Welcomes the World" day at the Landsdowne park Horticulture building, which was also Bloomsday! The booth was prepared with instruments, Troir samples, Danny’s book on the Irish language in Canada, cds and sheet music for sale, the trifold, and up to date pamphlets. 

There was a lot of interest in the harps, the language, and interest in our events. The estimate was about 4000-5000 people came through over about 12 hours. It was clearly the best public outreach the Irish community has had in many years, that was not on St. Patrick’s, which tends to get more attention for partying. It was very successful and I hope that the outreach is noticed at our events.

On August 2nd there was a spectacular concert at St Brigid’s Centre, Kildare Room, with Pierre Schryer, Dermot Byrne, and Adam Dobres. Special guests included several locals and the Shryer brothers, who had not played on stage together for many years. It was well attended by about 100 people. It was a fundraiser for Pierre’s brother Dan, whose house was destroyed by fire earlier in the summer. The Old Sod Society provided most of the advertising, and got many people to come. It was billed as a joint Old Sod and Ottawa Irish Arts effort, and we got recognition for that. 

OIA was also invited to the exhibit opening in the Byward market hosted by the NCC and the Irish Embassy, "The Irish Diaspora in Canada: A History." It was also Liz Keogh’s last event as the 2nd Secretary of the Embassy. We bid her and Niall a fond farewell. Her new posting is in Limerick. We also met the incoming 2nd Secretary. at this event, Laura Finlay.

I attended the Irish ambassador's residence reception for the 2017 Eastern Regional GAA Championship participants, where I met the incoming ICUF Scholar, Sheila Concannon (we had said farewell to the previous scholar Kate Jordan earlier in the summer at a reception held by Margaret Moriarty).

Sadly, Branch member, Laurie Kelly, wife of Pat Kelly, died suddenly while visiting Ireland with Pat on Aug 30 at age 75. Patricia Avendano and I attended the funeral reception, and left a card on behalf of the branch. The branch made a donation to the St. Patrick’s Home of Ottawa Foundation.


Respectfully || Le meas,

Craig Hamm 
Chair || Cathaoirleach

2014 Oireachtas Gaeilge Cheanada: Tamworth & Dún Laoghaire

Oireachtas Gaeilge Cheanada

Once again this past June (27-29 June), the 2014 Oireachtas Gaeilge Cheanada (Gaeltacht Thuaisceart An Oileáin Úir) was held both in Tamworth and at the Days Inn and Conference Centre in Kingston (Dún Laoghaire), Ontario. This year the weather was sunny and hot, and the competitors had to seek refuge under the tents as the Saturday temperature was well over 30°C!

There were competitions held on the Saturday on the field location of Tamworth. The categories are as follows:

Speaking: Oration, Story Telling, Poetry Recitation, Pair Dialogue

Writing: Poetry, Prose, Learning Books and Aids

Singing: Sean Nós Singing, Singing in Irish (not Sean Nós), Individual, Choir, Lúibíní

Music: Harp, Uilleann Pipes, Céilí Bands

Dancing: Sean Nós, Set Dancing

Oireachtas Gaeilge Cheanada, Celtic Choir.

Several CCE Ottawa members actively participated at the Oireachtas, in music, speaking, Sean Nós dancing, Singing, and Set Dancing.  

CCE Set Dancers

Oireachtas Gaeilge Cheanada, Ottawa Céilí Band

CCE member Ellen MacIsaac’s Celtic Choir, took the first place (Gold medal) on the Choir competition, the Ottawa Céilí Band took the first price in their category. In the Sing in Styles other than Sean Nós, CCE members were quite successful, Ellen MacIsaac took the 1^st place (gold medal), Síle Scott, the 2nd place (Silver medal), and Oscar Mou was tied for the 3^rd place!  Shadyn Proctor took 2nd place on Sean Nós dancing, and the CCE Ottawa Set Dancers took the first place on Set Dancing for a second year running!

Oireachtas Gaeilge Cheanada, Sean Nos, 2nd place

Oireachtas Gaeilge Cheanada

Check the list of Winners in all categories: http://www.oireachtas.ca/pdfs/Buaiteoiri.Bearla.2014.pdf

Oireachtas Gaeilge Cheanada

Oireachtas Gaeilge Cheanada

Congratulations to everyone who competed, regardless of the result!

Ceilidh at the Hill - 21 June

This worldwide ceilidh, which starts in New Zealand and concludes in Hawaii 24 hours later, is in celebration of the 20th Commonwealth Games being held in Glasgow Scotland in 2014. Lively music and simple instruction will enable participants with no previous dance experience to master and enjoy the dances in no time. No kilts, no swords, no partner, no charge! Come as you are and stay for a good time. A Ceilidh is a party and you are invited!


More details here: http://rscdsottawa.ca/commonwealth%20ceilidh/commonwealth%20ceilidh.html

Come one, come all!
Bring your family and friends.

See you at the ceilidh on the Hill!

Irish Language - Part 3

Celtic Language Revival

Language revitalization, also referred to as language revival or reversing language shift, is the attempt by interested parties to halt or reverse the decline of a language or to revive an extinct one. Those involved can include parties such as linguists, cultural or community groups, or governments.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_revival

A well-known exercise in language revival is that of the Irish Language in Ireland, notably being spoken in certain areas called called Gaeltachtaí. The Gaelic language was banned several times by governments who created cultural stigmatism.  Furthermore, the constant emigration of speakers during, and after, the potato famine fostered the loss of native speakers.  Attempts to revitalize the Gaelic language began in the mid-1800s, with strong efforts in the last few years, due to support from the Irish government and the recognition from the European Union of Irish Gaelic as an official language of the EU on 1 January 2007.

However, the language still has many obstacles to surmount, since those involved with the language revitalization have mostly focused on Irish teaching only in schools, but not in language immersion, necessary for a lasting viability of any language, the day-to-day use of a language, not just in the classrooms. 

Linguist Andrew Carnie in his paper “Modern Irish: A CaseStudy in Language Revival Failure” MIT Working Papers in Linguistics 28:99–114, 1996, indicated that people resent being forced by school curriculums to learn languages, therefore giving the taught language, a negative experience. 

If you are interested in learning what is the strategy of the Irish government in relation to the Irish language, check their publication "20-year Strategy for the Irish Language, 2010-2030."

Irish Language - Part 2

Wikipedia tell us that the Irish language (Gaeilge) has been historically spoken by the Irish people. It is spoken as a first language by a small minority of Irish people, and as a second language by a rather larger group. It enjoys constitutional status as the national and first official language of the Republic of Ireland. It is an official language of the European Union and an officially recognised minority language in Northern Ireland.

Irish was the predominant language of the Irish people for most of their recorded history, they brought it with them to other countries, such as Scotland and the Isle of Man, where it gave rise to Scottish Gaelic and Manx.

Irish speakers in Ireland congregate in areas collectively known as the Gaeltacht (Irish speaking region where the government recognises Irish as the predominant language). North America has the first permanent and officially recognized Gealtacht outside Ireland, and can be found in Tamworth, Ontario. The Permanent North American Gaeltacht, was established on 16 June 2007. One of the founders of the North American Gaeltacht is a Comhaltas member, Aralt Mac Giolla Chainnigh.

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Irish Language

The Irish Language is one of the six Celtic languages, the others being Scottish Gaelic, Manx, Cornish, Welsh, and Breton. In pronunciation, Irish most closely resembles its nearest relatives, Scottish Gaelic and Manx.

Gaeilge, also known as Irish Gaelic or Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family (Indo-European → Celtic → Insular Celtic → Goidelic → Irish), historically spoken by the Irish people. 

Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of the population. Around the turn of the 21st century, estimates of native speakers ranged from 20,000 to 80,000 people. In the 2011 census for the Republic, 94,000 people reported using Irish as a daily language outside of the education system, and 1.3 million reported using it at least occasionally in or out of school. Currently the UNESCO has classified the Irish language as “Definitely Endangered.”

There are also thousands of Irish speakers in Northern Ireland, and a comparable number of fluent speakers in the United States and Canada. Historically the island of Newfoundland had a dialect of Irish Gaelic, called Newfoundland Irish.

Listen to a documentary that explains all disappearing languages in the world. The Irish part starts about 05:40 of the 12+ minutes. Here is the link to the France24 program: http://www.france24.com/fr/20130119-intelligence-economique-disparition-des-langues-les%20degats-de-la-concurrence-irlande-gaelique


If you are interested in learning the Irish language, here in Ottawa, join us for our weekly classes. For more information, check: http://www.ottawacomhaltas.com/events.php

Two Irish poets at Ottawa poetry festival VERSeFest 2014

When: Saturday 29 March at 9:00PM

Where: Knox Presbyterian Church, 120 Lisgar Street, Ottawa.



Two Irish poets, Stephen James Smith and Sarah Clancy, will perform at the Ottawa poetry festival VERSeFest 2014 with support from the Irish Embassy. 

Stephen and Sarah will take part in “Capital Slam” at 9pm on Saturday 29 March. The VERSeFest 2014 runs from the 25 to 30 March 2014. More details, including tickets which can be purchased online or at the door, are available here: http://www.versefest.ca/2014/schedule/saturday

2014 Student Lecture Series in Celtic Studies - University of Ottawa

When: 18-19 January 2014

Where: University of Ottawa (more details to follow)

Cost: $65.00 (price may drop according to the number of people registered). Fees include all meals, snacks, and entertainment during the days of the Series.



2014 Student Lecture Series in Celtic Studies


The University of Ottawa Celtic Club presents an opportunity for all students of subjects related to Celtic Studies to meet and discuss issues that interest them.


The Series will take place 18-19 January, 2014 and feature student presenters as well as professional guest speakers. We would be glad to hear what you have to say! Just send in a presentation proposal along with your registration form!


Registration rates are presently $65 per person, and may drop as we get more participants. Fees include all meals, snacks, and entertainment during the days of the Series. Entertainment includes the CCÉ Ottawa ceili (Saturday 18 January).


Please email Celtic Club at celtic.uottawa@hotmail.ca for further details and registration forms.