Gaelchultúr was once again awarded the prestigious title of 'Best Language School in Ireland' at the Education Awards ceremony in the Crowne Plaza hotel on 27 April. The Education Awards recognise, support and celebrate excellence in the third level education sector on the island of Ireland. This is the second year in a row that the Irish-language course and resource provider, Gaelchultúr, has won this esteemed award.

Gaelchultúr is the only Irish-language institution to win this accolade in the history of the event. This is a great cause for celebration, not only for the college but for the Irish-language sector as a whole.

'It is a great achievement to be named the “Best Language School in Ireland” again this year', says Darren Ó Rodaigh, Executive Chairman of the college. 'The award places Irish-language educational services ahead of educational services for other languages in the country. Education plays an integral role in future-proofing and promoting the language. It's a source of great pride for us to be at the centre of this movement'.

Gaelchultúr is the largest provider of Irish-language courses in the world and the first all-Irish third-level institution. We’re committed to providing language courses and learning resources of the highest quality to learners all over the world.

The number of people who are interested in learning Irish continues to soar with the likes of Joe Biden, President of the United States, and Oscar Nominee Brendan Gleeson using their ‘cúpla focal’ in the media recently. People all over the world are developing an interest in our enchanting language and Gaelchultúr’s team are delighted to nurture the international Irish-speaking community through the face-to-face and online Irish courses that we offer.

The team at Gaelchultúr are constantly creating and developing effective, innovative ways for learners all over the world to experience and acquire Irish. In just the past year, since the college was first selected for this award, we’ve successfully launched a range of exciting Irish courses and services for the public at home and abroad. For instance, in recent months we’ve been offering beginners’ level Irish courses through German and Spanish to cater to the ever-growing number of Irish learners native to those languages.

At Gaelchultúr we understand that Irish is much more than just an academic subject; it is a living and vibrant language that exists outside the classroom and that shapes the unique history, heritage, and culture of the Gaelic people. To gain a holistic understanding of the language and the culture associated with it we recently launched two new folklore courses. These unique courses offers an alternative perspective on the language and have been greatly received by their participants since their launch at the beginning of the year.

Since 2011, Gaelchultúr has been selected by the state body Foras na Gaeilge to develop and provide Irish-language training courses for that sector. The college recognises the integral role of the Irish language in the public sector and local government and has developed numerous courses to assist State organisations in meeting their obligations under the Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021. These courses include a five-week course for Elected Councillors, an intensive half-day programme which focuses on giving speeches in Irish, as well as a half-day course for those working in customer-facing roles and who are required, on occasion, to provide services through Irish.

In addition, we firmly believe that Irish-language learning resources should be available to anyone interested in learning the language, regardless of their schedule or budget. We understand that a weekly class is not feasible for all learners and so we’ve developed an e-learning platform, called Ranganna.com, to provide learners with the opportunity to learn the language independently and at their own pace. The site got a facelift recently and is now even more interactive and engaging than ever before.

'This accolade is testament to the great work the college is doing in developing relevant learning experiences for the public’, explains Ó Ródaigh. 'We’ve a renewed excitement to advance the range of courses we offer in the coming years and continue to fulfil our role in strengthening the Irish-language community'.

The awards’ judges believed in the college's mission to provide high-quality Irish-language courses and resources to learners around the world. They were particularly interested in the steps we’ve taken to increase the accessibility of Irish-language education opportunities for learners outside of Ireland.