Emmett McIntyre's blog

Significant gains are being made by the Irish Language in Ulster. The Tyrone Times is reporting that the advance of Gaelic medium education is continuing. Under the headline “The rise of Mid Ulster’s Gaelscoils is dramatically changing the face of local education, according to the latest figures from the Department of Education”, the article cites a 500% increase in the number of students enrolled in Irish language medium schools in some districts in County Tyrone over the past five years. This is the highest rate of increase in Northern Ireland.

In February of last year Transceltic reported on the significance of action taken by Welsh Language Commissioner Meri Huws to enforce the provisions of the “Welsh Language (Wales) Measure – 2011” as it applies to the private sector.

The resurgence of Gaelic culture and language in Nova Scotia serves as an inspiration in our efforts to preserve, protect and promote the Celtic culture of the Six Nations. We at Transceltic salute the efforts of the Gaelic Language Society of Halifax.

The following are excerpts from the web site of the The Gaelic Language Society of Halifax

Media Release - Kernow Matters To You

Cornwall’s newest campaigning organisation was launched on the first day of the Celtic New Year, Sunday November 1st, 2015 following a packed meeting held in Redruth.

Known as ‘Kernow Matters To Us’, the group gathered and elected a steering group of eight people and adopted a written constitution before appointing  a Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer.

The number of “Cornish Speakers” is reported to be somewhere between 300 and 1500 depending on the source. The Cornish Language Board puts forward the number of 300 Cornish Speakers, according to the Guardian, who claim the language of the Celtic Nation to be their “primary tongue”.   No matter, this language is taking root and beginning to thrive in what until very recently could only be described as a hostile environment.

What would the Druids think of this?  The Otherworld is opening tonight in Japan.

Halloween, the modern celebration of the Celtic new year of Samhain, has taken hold in Japan and according to multiple media reports is now experiencing explosive growth expecting to generate the equivalent of over 1 Billion dollars in related sales in 2015.

“We want all of Scotland’s children to have the best start in life. That includes providing opportunities for children to learn and improve Gaelic in their early years. Our support for Gaelic medium education is encouraging and enabling more children to learn the language and has helped to slow the decline in our population of Gaelic speakers. I am determined to do all I can to support the future of the language in Scotland" - Nicola Sturgeon

The Welsh Language Society (Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg) have endorsed a campaign calling on the Powys County Council to ensure Welsh medium education be made avaialable to every student in the county. Powys is a county which sprawls north to south along the central section of the Welsh border with England. If universal welsh medium eduction should be introduced in the county it would form a language bulwark supporting the Celtic tongue in east central Wales.

Dr. Jenny Butler, a folklorist based at University College Cork's Folklore and Ethnology Department with a PhD thesis on the topic of Irish Neo-Paganism, has narrated an award winning documentary on the origins of Halloween. Dr Butler’s principal interests are in the areas of mythology, belief narratives, folk religion, ritual and festival. A member of The Irish Society for the Academic Study of Religions (ISASR), she has numerous articles to her credit. Dr Butler is currently working on a book about Irish contemporary Paganism. A friend and contributor to Transceltic, we congratulate Dr.

After a tenure that spanned 4 years concurrent with the strengthening revival of Celtic culture and the Gaelic tongue in his native Nova Scotia, Lewis MacKinnon has stepped down as the distinguished Bardic Crown of Scotland’s Royal National Mòd .  In October 2011, he was honoured as the first non-Scot Gaelic poet laureate.