Adventure #10 An Irish Evening
Friday 13th February Ballincollig, Co. Cork
Picture, if you will living in WIT accommodation during RAG week, working 9-5 on an internship and playing sessions 10-12 every night. That was me in the second week of February busy, exhausted and sleep deprived. Sleep had to wait however because somehow Eugene from Gaelscoil Uí Ríordáín in Ballincollig Co Cork had persuaded me to come and represent GIY at the launch of their school garden. I’ll be honest I was most looking forward to sleeping during the 2 hour bus journey but also to meet Eugene a funny and ridiculously persuasive man who’d managed to get me and Kitty Scully (the famous gardener) to travel hours across the country to help him out.
The bus was busy and late but Kitty and Eugene were waiting for me at the bus station and we headed off to Ballincollig. I had assumed that Eugene who finishes emails ‘bier bua’ (be victorious) would be a Cork man who taught at the Gaeilscoil so I was intrigued to find a Derry man with a Masters in Organic Gardening who is a parent from the school. Kitty was her bubbly, multi-coloured self and we were both relived and grateful to find that beautiful homemade soup and fruit salad was waiting for us when we arrived.
I should have realised that an event in a Gaelscoil would be in Irish and that I’d be pretty unhelpful given that the only words I know in Irish are cupán tae (cup of tea). So it was quite a bewildering evening for me even if Kitty and Eugene spoke in English. I mostly had no idea what was going on and sat in the corner feeling like an alien but that’s not a new sensation to me and I enjoyed being surrounded by something completely different.
It intrigued me that as I watched people chat I could understand all their mannerisms and body language but not a word of they were saying. Our two cultures are similar but the languages are so different. It’s great that Irish is reviving as a language and that people are really proud of it. I just need to learn so I don’t feel like a rude and culturally ignorant English plonker next time.
The only vaguely useful thing I did that evening was persuading people to sign up for GIY and to get them interested in being part of GIY Ballincollig. It went really well and loads of people signing up so it was really successful night and Eugene seemed really pleased.
I stayed with Eugene and his lovely family that night so there was time for chat/silly faces and tin whistle fun with his lovely kids and Norn Iron memories. Spending time with him made me really missed the North he was a perfect reminder of what I learned about people up there. They are, in general, generous, welcoming and big hearted and really want to make their communities better.
Next day my ‘day off’ Eugene had me giving out prizes at the school for the winners of the garden drawing competition. I enjoyed it even if all I could do was nod encouragingly while they chatted away in Irish to me . It was great to be in the school, it was onesie day so all the children (and staff!) were in their onesies. The head teacher in his tiger costume with matching face paint stole the show in my mind.
Eugene told me the Gaelscoil started above a shop and had just a handful of children and got bigger and bigger until they got their beautiful brand new building a couple of years ago. You could smell the newness which was odd for me given that my primary school was over 100 years old and black and white (opposite the Cadbury factory in Brum (mmm Dairymilk0). It was a lovely school, it made me almost want to be a teacher again (there’s a sentence I never thought I’d write) because everybody seemed to be having such fun. The teachers were easy going and patient and the children (mostly) were doing what they were supposed to.
After some time in Cork city at the English market and (possibly) the world’s best hot chocolate I got home to prepare for next day and sleeep…
