Kilkenny hurling star James “Cha” Fitzpatrick joined students at Trinity College Dublin yesterday to launch Éigse na Tríonóide, the college’s annual Irish language festival.
TCD's Cumann Gaelach has promised an “exciting week” of activities ranging from live concerts, debates, poetry readings and choral recitals.
The programme began yesterday with the launch of Tuathal, the Cumann Gaelach journal, and was followed by a gathering of students in Front Square, dressed in red T-shirts in the shape of a "Gaelic heart".
Highlights of the five-day festival, which runs until Friday, include a free concert to celebrate the links between Ireland and Scotland and a rock concert featuring Dublin rock band Aslan.
A section of Rith 2010, a running festival held to encourage the speaking of Irish, will set off from the Lincoln Gate at 8pm on Thursday and will be followed by a formal “Ball na Gaeilge” at the Russell Court Hotel.
The week will culminate with “ceol agus craic” when the Ciorcal Comhrá meets in Trinity’s Pavillion bar on Friday afternoon.
A full timetable of events for the Éigse is available on the website of An Cumann Gaelach at www.cumann.ie.
