About
Leathchéad bliain ó shin bunaíodh an eagraíocht Gaeloideachas, nó Comhchoiste Náisiúnta na Scoileanna Lán-Ghaeilge mar a tugadh air nuair a tháinig sé ar an bhfód i gColáiste Mhuire, Baile Átha Cliath in 1973.
Lasmuigh den Ghaeltacht, ní raibh ach dornán scoileanna lán-Ghaeilge ann ag an am agus an líon sin ag titim de shíor a bhuíoch le béalghrá an stáit ó dheas agus naimhdeas an stáit ó thuaidh. Ach d'éirigh le hoideachasóirí agus gníomhaithe teanga deonacha an taoide a iompú agus bunaíodh beagnach 200 gaelscoil ó shin. Tá na céadta míle páiste ar fud na tíre imithe tríd an earnáil nach bhfuil an nimh san fheoil acu don teanga dá bharr. Sa seoladh leabhair seo, cíorfar fás agus forbairt an tionscadail fhorásaigh dhíchoilínithe seo le caoga bliain anuas agus na dúshláin éagsúla ab éigean do ghníomhaithe, do mhúinteoirí agus do phríomhoidí dul in adharca leo chun go mbeadh rath ar an ngluaiseacht.
Is staraí é an Dr Kerron Ó Luain, as Ráth Cúil, Co. Bhaile Átha Cliath. Chaith sé tréimhsí ag múineadh na staire agus na Gaeilge in ollscoileanna in Éirinn agus i Meiriceá.
Beidh an imeacht dátheangach agus beidh sólaistí ar fáil.
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Fifty years ago, the organisation Gaeloideachas, or the National Joint Committee of Irish-medium Schools as it was known when it was founded in Coláiste Mhuire, Dublin in 1973, was established.
Outside the Gaeltacht, there were only a handful of Irish-medium schools at the time, and that number was steadily declining thanks to the state's lip service in the south and the state's outright hostility in the north. But voluntary language educators and activists managed to turn the tide and almost 200 Irish-medium schools have since been established. Hundreds of thousands of children across the country have passed through the sector and emerge without any resentment for the language as a result. This book launch will examine the growth and development of this progressive decolonisation project over the past fifty years as well as the various challenges that activists, teachers and principals had to face in order for the movement to succeed.
Dr Kerron Ó Luain, from Rathcoole, Co. Dublin, is a historian. He has spent time teaching history and Irish at universities in Ireland and America.
This event will be bilingual and refreshments will be provided.
