Feis Charn Tóchair 13th June 2009

Feis Charn Tóchair took place on Saturday 13^th June at An Carn. The Feis was an opportunity for children from Maghera and the surrounding areas to celebrate the Irish language and Culture. It was a fantastic occasion for children to use their Gaeilge and also to hear the language spoken in public. There was a wide variety of competitions catering for all age groups and abilities. The Feis also included a poetry recital section, with poems as Gaeilge especially selected for children not attending Irish Medium Education.

The Feis was a great success, with even young Naíscoil (pre-school) children taking part in the poetry recital and conversation competitions. Many parents who send their children to Irish Medium Education rarely get to hear their children speaking in Irish and this was a fantastic opportunity for them to see their children conversing with the adjudicator Lynette Fay on their likes and dislikes and to talk about their schools, their families and their friends.

There were approximately 250 entries to the various competitions on Saturday; the poetry recital competitions, conversation competitions, scholarship award competitions and also the traditional music competitions.  A further 140 entries were received for the various categories within the Art competition. The artwork was judged prior to the Feis enabling all of the entries to be displayed on the day of the Feis. Winners will be notified through their schools in due course.

There was a good turn out for the scholarship award competitions and the adjudicator, Fearghal Mag Uiginn, was impressed with the standard of Irish of all the students who took part. All students will be notified in due course of the results of the Scholarship competitions.

Coiste Forbartha Charn Tóchair (Carntogher Community Association) would like to express a heartfelt ‘Go Raibh Maith Agat’ to Bunscoil Naomh Bríd (St Brigid’s PS) for the use of the school hall for the Traditional Music competitions and also the use of their display boards. The Feis committee would also like to thank everyone who made the day a great success; Sleacht Néill CLG,  everyone who helped out on the day, all the teachers and parents for their support and of course, all the children who participated in the competitions.  Coiste Forbartha Charn Tóhair would like to acknowledge all the funders for this event, Foras na Gaeilge, Roinn na Gaeltachta and Comhaltas Uladh.