Moving to Spiddal or surrounding area

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118126373#Comment_118126373

And how is that working out for you? Given the length that these policies have been going on one would have expected to see a very sizeable increase, except well it has not happened and instead the Irish speaking population continues to decline and the failures are celebrated as successes!

I spent three weeks in Spiddal a few years ago and I was shocked at just how little Irish was actually used in daily life. Sitting in the car with the window down you'd hear the odd group of older people speaking Irish, but the rest.. not a world of it. If I interrupted a group of kids or young people they'd switch to Irish alright, so they were not foreigners. My kids were really stoked planning for the big trip, 6 months going to Irish classes over here, talking Irish instead of English at home and so on. And in the end we were disappointed, the real clanger was the girl in the supermarket who not only could not speak Irish, but her English was not great either, so my wife ended up talking German to her!

[Deleted User]

@Jim2007 English speakers moving into the area is a problem especially in Spiddal as it’s within commuting distance of Galway. Planning laws help. There is still a strong Irish speaking community there but the language is under pressure. It’s still a great place to bring up kids as an Irish speaker. The culture is great regarding language, music and sean-nós. People do move into the area too to bring their kids up with Irish. There are lots for Irish speakers in the area which is great.

Andrea B.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058190137/moving-to-spiddal-or-surrounding-area

I have always felt that north Connemara region (Moycullen and north of that) was more accepting of blowins than west Connemara ( Furbo and west of that). North Connemara has no where near the levels of Irish language usage compared to west Connemara.

Not saying that those points are connected. Just my opinion.

u2fanatic

@gleanntrasna learning to speak irish would be a priority for my kids and my wife.. I currently have a moderate level of irish and could hold a conversation.

i do hope you are not a representative for the whole of the gaeltacht area but thanks for the advice anyway. I'm gonna ask can a moderator close this thread now as I feel like it's just focusing on the irish language instead of the quality of life that could be gained form living in these areas.

Mrs OBumble

I'd say that @gleanntrasna is likely on the mark for what many think, but don't say.

tackbeer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117315259#Comment_117315259

I'd say your children should have no problem living it up but the eldest one would need extra support and some preparation to ease them in as there would be no English outside of it as a subject, and that doesn't start until first class.

tackbeer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117315736#Comment_117315736

Good advice, especially about trying a place outside of the summer, spend a few months in a place you don't know before buying or else it could get the start of an expensive upset for a family.

tackbeer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118131319#Comment_118131319

Good to hear the positive attitude to the language. As some wrote above you could live in the area without Irish but then that's the same guff heard from ex-pats in nice parts of Spain/France/etc, not untrue but showing a certain lack of knowledge of what it is to be part of a community with a different language than your own. Stands to reason that communities that has kept their own language that close to a city must value it highly and expect anyone moving in to respect that rather than adopting that old colonial approach to natives having to switch or be seen as unfriendly or uncivilised or whatever. If that sounds like too much work most of the coast of Ireland doesn't place such an obvious demand on 'blow-ins', although there's always some efforts that need to be made to move beyond the 'family from x who bought y's old place, don't know much about them' description. Go n-éirí libh ar aon chaoi cibé áit bhur dtriall!