“Peig ruined the Irish language for so many people,” Amanda Brunker says towards the end of Réaltaí na Gaeltachta (RTÉ One, Tuesday, 7pm). She’s talking to influencer Lauren Whelan who, at 20, is too young to have experienced the joys of an old-school, fun-is-for-sinners Irish education. “Peig ... what’s Peig?” wonders the TikTok star. Bunker smiles: “I’m delighted they got rid of Peig.”
Irish language programming is still a turn-off for many but this unassuming travelogue will charm even those who wouldn’t recognise a fada in a police line-up. The premise is that five celebs – only four feature in part one – are sent to Irish school in the Gaeltacht, where they hope to build a working knowledge of the language.
Brunker, an author and former Miss Ireland, and Whelan, who has 1.6 million TikTok followers, are joined by comedian Fred Cooke and sports presenter Des Cahill. A fifth celebrity, Mayo footballer Oisín Mullin, will be parachuted in at a later date, Love Island style. Hopefully, the producers will go all in and force him to arrive dancing in slow motion from the back of an open-top jeep.
In terms of their Irish ability, they’re a mixed mála. Cooke, whose wife speaks fluently, struggles with anything more complicated than “is mise Fred”. Whelan, by contrast, was educated in Irish and wants to brush up on her skills rather than start from scratch.
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They’ve been packed off Coláiste Bhríde, Rann na Feirste in Donegal. Once upon a time, a documentary about a quartet of media types going to the Gaeltacht would have had fun with the fish-out-of-water dynamic, the city slickers pitted against true Gaels. But Réaltaí na Gaeltachta is too grown up for that. It is respectful to both the Irish speakers in Donegal and the celebrities and their desire to connect with the language. While the tone is jolly, nobody is turned into a joke.
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Of the four Brunker’s experience feels the most typical. As a teenager, she considered the language moribund – why bother taking it seriously? Now, in her 40s, she wishes she’d given it more time in school. “I was one of those stupid kids who thought there was no point in learning Irish,’ she says. “I’m really devastated that I did that.”
There was a time when learning the language was seen as one more way of being punished for being Irish (along with the rain, the religiosity, etc). Yet the vibe here is upbeat. The teachers, if stern, appreciate that the celebrities vary wildly in their grasp of Irish. There’s space for fun too. During a group singalong, Cooke plays the opening line from Maniac 2000 and everybody joins in. It’s not Peig – and, as Brunker would no doubt agree, thank goodness for that.
