If you’re Irish, you’ve probably seen Colaiste Lurgan‘s music videos before. But if you’re not, the title of this post might have you stumped! But trust me, I think this is going to perk up your Monday! Colaiste (pronounced colash-ta) Lurgan is an intensive Irish language school for high school kids in Galway that’s known around the country for its incredibly well-produced music videos. The kids translate popular songs into Irish, then perform them, with Irish dancing and instrumental interludes throughout. I got such a kick out of binge watching the videos and it looks like such an awesome learning experience for the students to work on them.
In Ireland, you take Irish like we in America would take English classes, you have it every day as one of your main subjects. And in order to get a high school diploma in Ireland, you need to pass your Irish exam at the very end. A lot of kids in high school get sent to the gaeltacht areas, or the all-Irish-speaking neighborhoods around the country, for “Irish camp” so they can polish their Irish skills. Colaiste Lurgan is one of those schools, and probably the one with the biggest reputation – at least on YouTube! They even have their own channel!
These kids are so talented and it’s fun to hum along even if you don’t know the words as Gaeilge!
I played these for my 8-year-old nephew Jalen last week becuase he listens to that “Cheerleader” song as many times as he can get adults to play it for him! He was skeptical that his dad ever had to learn that language and I’m not sure he quite understood the festival-beach theme, but it was fun to show him nonetheless. I think if Colaiste Lurgan did Silento’s Whip and Nae Nae, he might be impressed, although I don’t think any of those words would translate!
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As a past pupil of Coláiste Lurgan – yes it’s ancient like me. I love to see the innovation in how they teach their students to love the language. It certainly worked for me as we’re a bilingual household with the kids attending an Irish-language school and we speak both languages easily at home. x
Ahh, how fun that you went there! It must be even more exciting for you to watch these videos then! Have to admit I wished I could go myself ha! They look like they’re having such a blast. xx