‘Beatha teanga í a labhairt’
Gaelcholáiste Mhaigh Eo will be an immersive all-Irish, non-fee paying, co-educational secondary school. It is our mission to provide an excellent education and to guide our students to engage with their individual strengths and to develop a broad range of skills. Through a commitment to delivery of high standard tuition in key subjects including languages, the humanities, arts, technologies, the sciences, music, sports and culture, Gaelcholáiste Mhaigh Eo will provide a strong, inclusive, friendly, respectful and caring environment in which students can thrive.
OUR ETHOS
Gaelcholáiste Mhaigh Eo promotes an all-Irish ethos where there is a fully immersive approach to speaking Irish as a natural, daily language and an emphasis on promoting the unique, deeply enriching elements that define our culture and our values. Gaelcholáiste Mhaigh Eo's ethos embodies inclusivity of all outlooks, religious and non-religious as part of the cultural spirit of the school.
THE CAMPAIGN
In 2020, Emer Mayock and Frainc Ó Clochartaigh launched a campaign to establish an immersive Irish-medium secondary school in Castlebar. Both have children attending Gaelscoil Raifteirí, an immersive Irish primary school in the town. As matters stand, children from the area who receive their primary education through the medium of Irish do not have the opportunity to receive their secondary education in a similar way in Mayo’s county town.
In February 2020, a well-attended inaugural meeting took place in Castlebar where Emer and Frainc presented and discussed the rationale for the campaign, the benefits of Irish-medium education and the need to make this form of education available in the community.
The meeting created positive discussion around the introduction of a Gaelcholáiste - second level immersive Irish-medium education - in Castlebar and demonstrated a healthy public interest in pursuing the initiative. This meeting took place just before the onset of the pandemic.
Since then, Emer and Frainc have been joined by Freda Nic Giolla Chatháin and Thérèse Ruane and the four have worked to advance the campaign, gathering knowledge on similar initiatives in other locations around Ireland where delivery of excellence in immersive Irish secondary school education is positively contributing to the cultural fabric of the towns and cities where they have been established.
A number of key national organisations are standing in support of the campaign, among them An Foras Pátrúnachta, Conradh na Gaeilge, Foras na Gaeilge and Gaeloideachas.
The campaign has been successful in advocating for the inclusion of the Gaelcholáiste in the Irish language plan for the town which will see the implementation of initiatives that align with the role of Castlebar as a Baile Seirbhíse Gaeltachta - Gaeltacht Service Town.
A public meeting will take place on February 22nd, 2023 in The Linenhall Arts Centre, Castlebar. Open to all, the meeting will provide parents, key organisations, local government and the wider public with vital information regarding the establishment of second level Irish education in the town.
