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Are non Irish speaker welcomed in the Gaeltacht community?

chrisngo

I m a Malaysian, my husband is a Dubliner. We live in North Roscommon. We are thinking of buying and moving to somewhere between Spiddal and Lettermullan so it'll be a shorter commute to my husband's weekly medical treatment at the Galway Hospital.

I've been advised by our Dr that the Gaeltacht region is a very tight knit community and can be an isolating place to live permanently if we dont speak Irish (which I m wiling to learn to fit in).

We are now living in a tight knit community but the effort I put into transforming the 3acres chest high rushes into a lush green smallholding are beginning to earn me nods from the local farmers when we meet along the road.

Unfortunately someone is still stealing our geese and robbing our orchard every time we take the 6hrs drive to Galway and back and that upsets me quite a bit.

I like to move to a place that isnt like that in Galway and would appreciate some guidance. We are an elderly couple, we work our land to the best of our ability and share our bounty with our neighbour. We are not looking for a welcoming party but it would be nice to live in a place not having someone smile at your face and steals at your back.

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chrisngo

Is it safe to assume from the lack of response that non Irish are not welcomed in the Gaeltacht region then?

Kintarō Hattori

I don't ever post in the Galway forum OP but I wanted to highlight that some forums on Boards are quite busy while others get posted in rarely. From looking here quickly it appears that the Galway forum isn't a very busy place.... hence the lack of a reply.

I wouldn't take that as meaning the natives aren't friendly.

Eilis Plasticpaddy

Hi, we are a couple of Italians living near Clifden, but for our job we are in South Connemara (Carraroe, Casla, Lettermore) very often. We work with locals and of course we don't know Irish language, but in general we have no problem with people there. They are very welcoming (with some exceptions, as in every other nation), but it may take a short while to overcome some feeling of ....well, it is not really distrust, it looks like sometimes they aren't sure about what they may expect from you.
Irish is a very difficult language, and it's very hard to learn it: it takes a lot of dedication, hard work and good memory... anyway, speaking in general, it shouldn't be so hard to be part o f a community, especially if you join to some local activity on voluntary basis (fundraising, helping in charity shop etc.)
If you are compelled to live near Galway for medical reasons, you may also consider villages such as Moycullen or Oughterard, where the English language is generally spoken more than Irish; moreover these towns are easily connected to Galway by Citylink and BusEireann buses.
Hope all this help and good luck with your moving!
PS what about adopt a rescued dog for keep an eye on your geese? The kennels of "Madra" have plenty of adorable nice pets just waiting to find a forever home ;-)

chrisngo

Thank you Eilis Plasticpaddy! Appreciate the advise, we'll check out Moycullen and Oughterard next week. We already have 2 rescue dogs and 2 rescued feral cats

Eilis Plasticpaddy

;) !! All the best for your research!

Discodog

You will be fine. Spiddal is a really nice, friendly village. It's always attracted foreign residents.

GerardKeating

chrisngo wrote: »

Is it safe to assume from the lack of response that non Irish are not welcomed in the Gaeltacht region then?

Not safe to assume, it is a very friendly area, and welcome to outsiders (speaking as a Dub, married to an Asian lady living in the area).

But there is not a lot of properties to rent or for sale in the area.

raemie10

I moved to Spiddal just before Christmas and LOVE it! (Was living in
My partner and I fell in love with the village last summer (was in Dublin city centre for almost six years before I moved to Galway) and bought a house shortly after.
My Irish isn't great and I wouldn't be confident in speaking it in a conversational way.. this hasn't made a bit of difference in getting to know the locals at all.
The vast majority of people I have met and got to know are so friendly and welcoming.
It's not a huge village but like everywhere, you get what you give:)
All my neighbours adore Spiddal, we have a great quality of life and wouldn't want to live anywhere else

Soldier

Spiddal is a beautiful spot and the locals are very friendly. I would jump at the chance to live there :)I live the other side of Galway but we visit Spiddal all the time mostly in summer it is stunning. Best of luck