Teistimeireachtai

“I just wanted to say ‘Míle Buíochas’ to you for the fantastic 3 weeks my daughter L.N. spent with you in Coláiste Chamuis recently. L.N. returned home on Sunday last, ‘líofa le labhairt Gaeilge’ and full of the joys from the fun, craic and fabulous people she had met and experienced while attending the Gaeltacht with you all.

Seán, I believe this year was your first year leading the Gaeltacht and from day one, L.N. was impressed by your approach and respected the boundaries, expectations and ‘fun while learning’ ethic which you instilled in every element of her Gaeltacht experience.

Shona, what a talented young woman you are! L.N. has been telling us so much about you where you are an absolute inspiration to young people with your achievements and talents. And her bean-an-tí was so kind and welcoming and caring, we just couldn’t ask for more.

Overall, I feel lucky and blessed that L.N. had the opportunity to hang out, work with and have fun with you guys in Coláiste Chumais and can only express my sincere thanks to you and your team for a fantastic 3 weeks in L.N.’s life. She just seems to have a love of the culture and the Gaeltacht vibe in her bones! Hope you all have a well-earned rest now. Many many thanks”

Lisa N.

“I just wanted to drop you a line to let you know what a brilliant time our kids (F.A. and P.A.) had in Colaiste Chamuis these last few weeks.  Beforehand, P.A. was adamant that she’d hate it and that her Irish was rubbish. Three weeks later and they were on at me to book immediately for next year (I have) and were chattering away to each other as Gaeilge.

It’s been wonderful to have them experience how much fun speaking another language can be, and to show them that a language is so much more than just a Junior Cert subject. As an English Mammy my Irish is rudimentary, but they, at least, can aspire to fluency.

Thank you and see you next year.”

Dr Louise A.

“ B.O’D. attended Chamuis 3 years ago as a 14 year old and thrived down there. She was very disappointed that Covid kept her away for 2 years. Finally 3 years later she got the opportunity to return as a 17 year old to An Tulach. A different person in so many ways. I was interested to see if her perspective had changed. Well if anything her experience over the past 3 weeks surpassed that of 3 years ago. She is almost fluent in Irish and literally didn’t want to come home.  Go dilis “

Padraig O D.”

“When we spoke last week, I promised that I’d write a few lines about D.W.’s experience in Colaiste Chamuis.

D.W. is a lovely young man (needless to say, I am biased) but he lacks confidence, and his worst fear is to stand out from the crowd.  Like all teens, he is surgically attached to his phone or other devices.  He didn’t want to go to the Gaeltacht.  He’d never stayed away from home before and was dreading not knowing anyone and being so far outside of his comfort zone.  It was a tough decision to send him in the face of such resistance, but we felt in our hearts that it would be good for him.

There is no other way to describe what happened to D.W. during his three weeks in Coláiste Chamuis, other than to say that he blossomed.  This self-conscious young lad sang, danced, and chanted with his housemates and took great pride in representing his house.  He threw himself into the activities and on his Sundays out, he talked so enthusiastically about the people and the course.  Much to our shock, his phone was not taken out at all during his time off.  It was like he realised that there is life and people outside of the digital world.  Today he is teaching his younger brother how to play Spioc (probably spelt wrong but it is a card game).  On his second Sunday out he told us that there was talk of leas cinnire’s being chosen for next year and he said that he would love to do that.  It is very hard to explain why this is such a big deal.  Not only that he himself would suggest going back but for him to seek out a position of responsibility of his own accord.

I know that the purpose of sending a child to the Gaeltacht is to improve their Irish and I can see how D.W. is so much more comfortable with Irish now.  But in this day and age (I’m sounding like my Mam now), I think that the Gaeltacht gives teenagers a chance to be themselves and to take a break from the technological jungle that they are growing up in.

It makes me emotional and so happy for D.W. to have experienced that and for the fire that has been lit in him. Thanks, and best of luck with the Colaiste in the future”

Siobhán W.

“Just a little note to thank you sincerely for your kindness regarding K.L.’s visit to Coláiste Chamuis. She had a great time, met loads of new friends, improved her Irish significantly and thoroughly enjoyed the wonderful home she was placed in. A lot of the “un-understandable” aspects of Irish have been made clear, i.e.: grammar etc.”

Mary L.

“E.R.’s Irish has improved out of bounds, and she had a fantastic time.  We are so impressed at how well she was looked after, and how wonderful the team there were.  Everybody from Cian and Orla, to her fabulous bean an Tí- were so good to her.  She loved her teachers, her house and all of the new friends she made and has come home with a renewed love of the Irish language.  The whole experience has exceeded both our and her expectations.  She will be back again next year and will be bringing her younger sister with her.

We would be very grateful if you could pass on our thanks to your wonderful team and we look forward to meeting everybody again soon”

Ornaith R.

“My daughter came back last sat after Cúrsa B. I’d just like to say she had a fantastic 3 weeks and learned lots of gaeilge and could barely talk Béarla to us. So, thanks to Coláiste Chamuis for everything she will definitely be back, and I would recommend to anyone”

Breffni L.

“I would like to say “go raibh míle maith agaibh” to everyone at Coláiste Chamuis.   T.K. has had a wonderful time staying in Ros a Mhíl.  The Ban an Tí is truly fantastic and T.K. speaks very highly of her and of the college, itself.  He said the “Irish” is brilliant and he has thoroughly enjoyed his three weeks there, so thank you.

I look forward to sending T.K. and his siblings again, in the future.”

Muriel K.

“I just wanted to say a big thank you for looking after him so well and for making his Gaeltacht experience one of the best 2 weeks of his life (his words). His Bean on Tí was so kind and caring to him. She is also an incredible cook! He loved being a cinnire and really hopes to be back next year.”

Suzanne D.

“I just wanted to send a huge thanks to you and the other members of the Coláiste Chamuis community for the wonderful experience you gave to our daughter S.C.

It was her first time away from home and she was a reluctant Irish scholar! She was born in London and was 9 when we moved the family back to Ireland. Her confidence has soared in Irish, and she has made friends from many new places around the country.

We are so grateful to you and to her lovely Bean an Tí, for making this experience so fantastic for her. Congratulations on running such a wonderful course. Thanks for all your support from booking through to the info session for parents- most useful.

S.C. will be back!”

Oonagh C.

“First and foremost, many thanks from all of us here.

You should know that the Bean an Tí has been fantastic to K.O. and that she has thoroughly enjoyed the A1 course and the interaction with all the coláiste team leaders over the past 2 weeks.  Most importantly, it has really helped K.O. to recover and develop her conversational skills ‘as Gaeilge’ and she had a fantastic and enjoyable experience.  Well done to all of you.”

Joseph O.

“I just wanted to send a message of appreciation for your kindness, professionalism, and support whilst my son C.D. was in your care for the past 3 weeks.  C.D. had a wonderful time, learnt a lot, made great friends and was sad leaving. C.D.’s ” Bean an Tí ” was kind and caring, home away from home. Táim cinnte go mbeidh sé ar ais arís.”

Fiona D.

“Thank you for having our son P.M.  He has just returned home following a wonderful three-week experience and we are very grateful for this. He was lucky to have met very good people and to have learned plenty of Irish on the way. He also had the fortune of being in a very nice house and told us of the kindness and care given him and others by his bean on ti and family. With many thanks again for the last three weeks of care and attention and fun given to P.M.”

Anne O’M.