Téigh siar Go Back Seol go dtí cara Tell a Friend Priontáil Print Seol chuig Facebook Share on Facebook

History of Oireachtas

The inaugural Oireachtas na Gaeilge festival was held Monday, 17th May 1897, in Dublin, Ireland. The location was the Round Room in the Rotunda, one of the largest halls in the city at that time. It was a half-day festival and the attendance exceeded a thousand people, stunning the organisers. The level of interest was totally unanticipated. English was the primary language used in organising Oireachtas na Gaeilge in the early years.

It was at a meeting of Conradh na Gaeilge in August 1896 that the decision to host the event was originally made. It was agreed that the Eisteddfod festival in Wales and the Mòd festival in Scotland would provide excellent models upon which Oireachtas na Gaeilge could be based. The following motion gave rise to Oireachtas na Gaeilge: ‘That an Oireachtas, or public assembly, on behalf of the Irish language, be held annually by the Gaelic League, at which prizes would be offered for readings, recitations, songs and dramatic sketches in Irish.’

Nine competitions featured on the programme of the first Oireachtas - two poetry competitions; five prose essay competitions (one of these competitions permitted submissions in English!); a competition for poetry compilations; a competition for unpublished songs or stories in Irish; a competition for new song compositions suitable for recitation at Conradh na Gaeilge meetings; and a reacaireacht (recitation) competition. One hundred and two (102) entrants took part, ninety (90) of whom entered the literary competitions. Prizes were awarded during the concert.

The first Oireachtas na Gaeilge consisted solely of a series of competitions held in the afternoon and a concert in the evening. Despite this, it was an event of considerable significance in Irish life. The railroad authorities provided a return ticket at a reduced rate to people attending the festival.  Telegrams and messages of goodwill arrived from far and wide - one in particular was from Father Eoghan Ó Gramhnaigh in Prescott, Arizona - the first trans-atlantic telegram in the Irish language!

From this fateful first event onwards, considerable importance was attached to the social and community dimension of Oireachtas na Gaeilge. The event enabled native speakers and learners of Irish to meet and ineract in a social, festive environment, resulting in many long standing friendships and even the occasional romance!

With the passing of the years Oireachtas na Gaeilge has grown in size - an Art Exhibition was established in 1905 which for many years was the exhibition with highest profile of its kind in the entire country; a resurgence occurred in Irish language writing, the traditional Arts attained a new platform through the medium of the Irish Language; the success of Oireachtas na Gaeilge demonstrated that the language was worthy of respect and clearly showed also that it enjoyed considerable popularity amongst the people of Ireland.

Oireachtas na Gaeilge had its share of difficult years, with the festival canceled for a number of years prior to world war II. Despite this however, the festival has flourished over the years, adapting and re-inventing itself as required, resulting in the format we have today.

Currently, Oireachtas na Gaeilge hosts Ireland's foremost Irish-medium annual festival, Oireachtas na Samhna, and also organises The Oireachtas Literary Competitions, The Oireachtas Media Awards and The Annual Oireachtas Lecture.

RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta broadcasts the major sean-nós singing competitions live garnering a considerable following within internet audiences worldwide. We often receive correspondence from groups in England, the United States of America, Canada and in other farflung places where a ‘Cóisir Uí Riada’ is held whilst tuning in to the main sean-nós singing competition, Corn Uí Riada, on the internet.

TG4 has brought Oireachtas na Gaeilge to the entire population of Ireland through the live broadcast of  the sean-nós dancing and the sean-nós singing finals and multiple other programmes broadcast from the festivals. RTÉ & BBC are also central in broadcasting various Oireachtas events throughout the year.

The word Oireachtas in the 7th century meant 'a meeting or congregation of ruling authorities'. To this day, Oireachtas na Gaeilge follows the tradition established by our ancestors hundreds of years ago, welcoming young and old, welcoming the writer, the poet, the singer, the dancer, the artist, the storyteller, the actor, the impersonator, the composer of music and songs, the musician and all the people of Ireland.

Useful Books:

  • Leabhair ar stair an Oireachtais:- Scéal an Oireachtais 1897 - 1924 le Donncha Ó Súilleabháin (An Clóchomhar Tta., BÁC, 1984)
  • Réamhchonraitheoirí le Máirín Ní Mhuiríosa (Clódhanna Teo., BÁC, 1968) ISBN 0950126403
  • Oireachtas na Gaeilge 1897 - 1997, Eag: Proinsias Mac Aonghusa (Conradh na Gaeilge, BÁC, 1997)
  • Cuimhní Cinn ar an Oireachtas, Eag: Seán Mac Mathúna (Conradh na Gaeilge, BÁC, 1997)