Hello all,
I’m in a bit of an odd situation at the moment: I’m on standby for my usual summer job (if someone drops out, I’m in…it has a tendency of happening but this year there have been funding cuts etc so people might be hanging onto this job a little more tightly than in previous years…but who knows?), which means that I may or may not have to look for another job…sigh. Anyway, plan B if plan A doesn’t work is to just throw all common sense to the wind and take a three-month working holiday (through SWAP) in Ireland.
-I would be looking for a job sometime from the end of May (25th-ish) to the mid-end of August (20th-ish).
-I would be aiming for the west coast–maybe in Donegal, or near Galway. I’d like to be near some Gaeltachts.
-I am in music education and would love the opportunity to hang out in some Irish classrooms (observing, leading sectionals, etc).
-I think I’d rather not work with food if possible, though the idea of working in a music-filled pub is a bit appealing–I’m thinking retail as a last resort, though it’d be really cool if I could get on at a music camp or something (classical music–I play flute). I do a lot of art, so a retail job in an art or music store would be cool. I also like animals, so working in a zoo/pet store/farm would also be fun.
I have a few questions for you all (particularly those of you actually living in Ireland):
When does the secondary school year tend to end in Ireland? Does anyone know of any schools in western Ireland that have good music programs and would be willing to let me hang out for a few weeks?
I know that Ireland is in a pretty bad recession at the moment–how tricky is it going to be to get a job, particularly as a foreigner? Is anyone, or does anyone know, someone who would be hiring for the time I would be in Ireland? In particular, are there any music camps that are looking for a flute sessional instructor?
What are some good Irish music workshops to attend? (This might be a silly question, since I’m sure Ireland is full of awesome music workshops in summer). When are they? For how long? I’d be looking to attend sessions for Irish flute and whistle.
I’m trying to learn Irish. I’d like to be near a Gaeltacht to practice, but are there any other summer workshops that would be good to go to as well?
I’m just doing some information-gathering at the moment, trying to get a few ideas as to what my summer might look like–I’m going to give that job until the end of the month to hire me before I start applying for this SWAP thing. Thanks in advance for your advice!
For Irish language the best place to go is Oideas Gael in Donegal, but it’s a bit far away from pretty much everything else in the country. Their website is http://www.oideas-gael.com/ . There are other adult language schools too but that is the only one that I have experience with. It’s very intensive so they recommend that people do a maximum of three weeks (it’s weekly sessions) before taking a break and doing something else - but three weeks will get you a very good start in the language.
Workshops I went to were the Willie Clancy festival and the Feakle Festival, both in Co. Clare. I took concertina workshops but there were also flute/whistle at both. (I also went to Kilrush but I think that one has been discontinued now.)
As avanutria says, OG is a bit off the beaten path, but it’s not too long a drive to Killybegs or Donegal Town, as I recall, and their are busses, so if you were working in one of those places you could probably still manage to do a session or two at OG. And, of course, you’d be learning the beautiful, the melodious, Ulster dialect.
If you’re looking to be closer to Galway, there is a summer language school in Carraroe as well.
You might want to post this question at www.irishgaelictranslator.com. There are several people there who are teachers in Ireland, who might be able to answer your questions about schools and their proximity to various Gaeltachtaí (also, if you’re serious about learning Irish, it’s about the best spot on the web for support in that activity).
As it turns out, I’ve been re-hired–back to Ottawa, where I will be making more money than I ever would in Ireland!
However, I checked out Oideas Gael and had to refrain from jumping up and down and squealing excitedly and waking up my family…it looks amazing, and I’ve heard nothing but good things about Donegal. I’m going to plan on going next summer (2011). I was thinking three weeks of Irish language and one week of flute and whistle…unless their flute/whistle stuff is more geared to beginners. I’ve definitely got the basics down. Anyways, I’ll think more about it this time next year. Thank you so much for the input!
Also, in terms of Donegal being removed from everything else…I live in Saskatchewan, where the next city is a couple hours’ drive away, and anything besides that is a good five hours away (we will frequently take weekend workshop trips to those various cities and think little of it). Canada is much bigger than Ireland!
Unless they’ve changed the curriculum significantly, the whistle/flute class is geared toward absolute beginners. I enrolled in it in 2003 but was in a class with people who were being taught the scale. I asked to be moved to language for the week, and not only did Liam arrange this but he also arranged private afternoon lessons with the whistle teacher so I could learn something at my level. The people at Oideas Gael are so nice!
There were two tunes on the curriculum as well, as jig and a reel, but I have no idea how much progress toward them the class made in the allotted week.
