Gaelic Classes Attract Learners of All Ages

In a makeshift classroom, three grade-schoolers are fidgeting in their seat, eager to call out the correct answer in a fun animal guessing game. The instructor offers clues about the animal's color and how many legs it has.

Breandán Pollard, a towheaded eight-year old from East Islip, can't hold it in any longer and calls out, "is it a sheep?"

"Sa Ghaeilge," the instructor good-naturedly prompts, because this lighthearted game is actually an Irish language lesson for beginning learners.

The three children attending on a recent night were able to follow basic conversation and questions in Irish Gaelic thanks to a free language program offered at the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) Division #2 hall in Babylon Village.

Instructor Peggy Murano, who prefers to go by the Irish version of her name, Peigí Breathnach Murano, first became interested in Gaelic on a trip to Ireland, where she heard it referred to as "an impossible language."

She took that as a challenge, and years later, after taking advantage of the free courses offered by the Gerry Tobin Irish Language School at the AOH hall, now leads a lively "Mommy and Daddy and me" class for children every Thursday night.  

Murano, who is three-quarters Irish, says there are various reasons why learners come to her classes but she believes keeping the language alive is the only way to preserve a crucial link to Irish culture and a vibrant Gaelic literature.

Lawrence and Cynthia McCourt travel to Babylon every week from Ronkonkoma as the class is the only Irish language instruction for kids they've found.

"We like them to stay connected to their heritage," says Lawrence McCourt.

His children Lawrence and Caitlyn, who are able to sustain an impressive level of conversation in Irish, have been coming for four years, starting when Caitlyn was arriving at class in a stroller.

In the intermediate class next door, AOH member Michael O'Connor, of Bay Shore, is studying at a table with Irish-born instructor and Lindenhurst resident Pat Clifford. Clifford, who taught himself a level of fluency in Irish as an adult, is leading O'Connor through an exercise book.

"It's the most difficult language," opines O'Connor. "I see a lot of people start and then give up. I just stuck with it."

Clifford, who remembers growing up in Ireland at a time when speaking Gaelic was stigmatized, says the younger generations are now embracing the link back to their ethnic heritage, and that the Internet is helping to bring learning materials and speakers together.

"Now that we have the European Union in Ireland," he says, "the only things left that are uniquely Irish are our music and our language."

The Gerry Tobin Irish Language School maintains a website with information on course offerings.