Dr Conchúr Ó Giollagáin from NUI, Galway, has been appointed as Gaelic Research Professor at the University of the Highlands and Islands and director of Soillse, the National Research Network for the Maintenance and Revitalisation of Gaelic Language and Culture. Dr Ó Giollagáin has an international reputation in language planning, minority language culture and sociology and has written extensively on issues concerning the sustainability of cultures, especially the Gaeltacht communities in Ireland.
Currently a researcher in Galway, Dr Ó Giollagáin will take up his new roles at the start of April and will be based at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig UHI on Skye, which is part of the University of the Highlands and Islands and is the National Centre for Gaelic Language and Culture.
As director of the Soillse project, he will help to co-ordinate and extend research into crucial areas for the growth of Gaelic in its various social and institutional settings, including its intergenerational transmission, practice and policy in Gaelic-medium education and the assessment of Government policies on the revitalisation of the language. He will lead a national research team of four research fellows, one lecturer and ten PhD students, who are based at partner institutions across Scotland, including Sabhal Mòr Ostaig UHI and Lews Castle College UHI, and at the Universities of Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Professor Ian Bryden, vice-principal (research) at the university, said: “We are very pleased to welcome such an eminent international scholar into our team. Conchúr is joining the university, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig UHI and Soillse at an exciting time and his experience and drive will benefit Gaelic research, scholarship and culture.”