Meet the teacher, podcaster, actor and presenter keeping the Irish language alive and well on our social media feeds.
We’ve always been an extremely patriotic people, us Irish, but in the last couple of years, there has been a real and tangible strengthening in our country’s influence on the global stage across film, music, fashion and beyond. As an island with a population of less than 5.5 million, the breadth and scope of our power to be seen and heard deserves pause for applause.
We may be small, but we are absolutely and abundantly mighty.
Last year, An Cailín Ciúin made history as the first Irish-language feature film to be nominated in the ‘International Feature Film’ category at the Oscars. This year, Kneecap’s part-fiction, part-biopic has been shortlisted in the ‘Best International Feature Film’ category. Their song, ‘Sick in the Head’ has also been shortlisted for ‘Best Original Song’.
With the increased ubiquity of the Irish language on the sound and airwaves, it’s only natural that Irish society wants to firm up their grip on their mother tongue, flex their cúpla focal and become more confident in their abilities to chat as Gaeilge. Maybe even get around to learning the Modh Coinníollach? One step at a time.
This is being encouraged and fostered in a myriad of ways, from coffee shops offering discounts to those who order in Irish, to community groups carving out an hour or two in their local pub to sit and talk to one another as best they can, learning a few more words and phrases as they go. Is fearr Gaeilge bhriste, ná Béarla cliste.
This grá for the Irish language is also evident on our social media feeds thanks to a number of creators posting their regular content as Gaeilge. Talking us through their outfit of the day, chatting about their week, and captioning aesthetic monthly photo dumps in Irish — it all serves to make learning to use the language in small ways every day feel more accessible. Here, we meet four creators doing exactly that…
Megan O’Connor
@muinteoirmeg on Instagram
Influencer, secondary school teacher and Irish enthusiast Megan O’Connor is perhaps better known online by her Instagram handle, Múinteoir Meg. First beginning to post publicly back in 2018, Megan spent the past six years building up her community to some 21.5k followers and was named among Meta’s ‘Creators of Tomorrow’ back in 2022.
Speaking on her demographic, Megan says: “The majority of my followers are people that are out of school, which is amazing to see there is still such a willingness to learn. I’ve made so many friends through posting online, it’s wonderful to have my own community.”
Like anyone else, Megan first started learning Irish at school and admits that she initially struggled with the language to the point that she was about to drop down to Ordinary Level when she was in second year. “Luckily, my mam sent me to an Irish course in the Gaeltacht that summer and I fell in love with the language. It’s hard to put into words the experience one has in Irish college, it’s nothing short of magical. I spent three summers attending Spleodar courses in Connemara and I would give anything to go back to that time.”
“I think it is such a privilege to teach Irish to the young people of today,” Megan says of her role. “I didn’t grow up with Irish and I didn’t attend a Gaelscoil. I think this helps to encourage the kids because people usually think you have to go to a Gaelscoil to be ‘good’ at the language.”
Citing her Leaving Certificate Irish teacher— Clare Grealy—as one of her greatest inspirations, Megan went on to study Irish and History in Trinity before completing her Masters of Education in UCD. More recently, Megan returned to UCD to complete a Masters in the Writing & Communication of Irish and has kept her language skills sharp by studying more and by meeting other Irish speakers online.
“When I was first put in front of a classroom during my teaching placement I realised what a big responsibility it is to have the future of the language in your hands,” Megan tells me. “I truly believe that you can never be finished with learning. I’ve completed many Gaelchultúr courses over the years, and I highly recommend the classes and they have something for every level.”
When asked why it’s so important that we keep the Irish language alive on modern digital media, Megan says: “The Irish language is our culture and our heritage. I do not understand why we wouldn’t make every effort to keep her alive. You’ll often hear people say she is a dead language, but she is alive and flourishing. It’s fantastic to see Irish on social media so that those interested can learn in an indirect way. As an Irish speaker, I want to consume Irish media.”
Megan’s recommendations
Firstly, watch the Kneecap movie, it’s now available on Prime. It explores language loss, and if you aren’t currently learning Irish — you will want to after watching this movie.
Podcasts I would recommend are na Gael Gals, How to Gael and Beo ar Éigean. My favourite podcast was the Motherfoclóir podcast, they are no longer releasing new episodes but there are 180 available to listen to. I would recommend the episode ‘The Orthographic Depths’ in which Gearóidín talks about her experience learning Irish with dyslexia. The Motherfoclóir podcast is about all things Irish but it’s in English so it’s super accessible for learners!
In relation to classes for learners, Gaelchultúr is fantastic. They have classes for every level both in person and online. They also have online classes running for different time zones, you can learn even if you are based in America.
Megan’s favourite phrase
Anyone who knows me will know my favourite phrase and will have heard this a million times! It was my first tattoo and I still love it. The word I have on my arm is ‘draíocht’, and if you search it in a dictionary you will see that it is a feminine noun and that it means magic. I got it is because of the phrase ‘táim faoi dhraíocht agat’, which is something you might say if you really fancy someone, if you’re mesmerised by them. It pretty much means ‘I am under your magic’. It’s such a beautiful phrase. There are so many lovely ways for me to express myself in Irish that English just doesn’t have.
Cúán de Búrca
@cuan.deburca on TikTok
Providing a well-needed breath of fresh air whenever he appears on my For You page, Cúán de Búrca posts a little bit of everything on his TikTok account, all as Gaeilge. On his page, you’ll find ‘fit checks, days in the life, travel vlogs, book hauls, and plenty of fun sketches. Aside from his content creation, Cúán makes short films and music, hosts the Dúchas podcast, which explores Irish mythology and folklore, and performs poetry at Seanchoíche, REIC and Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann events.
He was a radio presenter as Gaeilge for about five years, has just started doing stand-up and as chairman of Craobh 1916, helps to organise gigs and events for young people interested in Irish. He’s a multi-hyphenate creative who is passionate about the Irish language. From the Naíonra right up through to the Leaving Cert, Cúán’s education was all through Irish, he studied it in college and as he puts it: “Irish isn’t a side note or a hobby for me. Insofar as I’m able, I try to live my life through Irish.”
When asked what made him decide to start posting on socials through Irish, Cúán tells me that it would feel unnatural not to. “Like I said, Irish is so central in my life that I can’t imagine posting any other way. It shouldn’t be a novelty or a gimmick to post in Irish on social media. I want to work towards an Ireland where whatever you can do in English, you can do in Irish. A large part of that is normalising the use of the language. Just showing people, you can do an OOTD, you can do a vlog as Gaeilge, it’s not a big deal.”
“I think the perception of the language amongst people my age has gotten a lot more positive. It’s become kind of cool to speak Irish, it’s not as fringe anymore and people want to see casual content in the language.”
Speaking on the community aspect of speaking and learning Irish, Cúán says: “We’re the only country in the world where we have the Irish language! It’s easy to write it off as dead or irrelevant, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. There’s plenty of people who live through Irish, but it’s very easy not to see that if you’re not part of the bubble. I could wax lyrical about the beauty of the language, the connection with our past, or the importance to our cultural identity but one great reason to get into it is the community aspect. There’s such a welcoming circle of Irish speakers and it’s a delight to be part of it.”
“If you’re not living in the Gaeltacht, it’s trickier to bring Irish into your day-to-day life. There are plenty of events as Gaeilge in Dublin, but I think having a vibrant online landscape in Irish helps you feel connected to the community as well. It’s easy too, you can see the language every day on Instagram or TikTok and it helps you keep it up,” he continues. “I will say, I worry about the tendency of social media to encourage passive consumption. It’s a nice way to see more Irish but the best thing you can do for the revival and for your own learning is to speak it as much as you can. People get very shy but it’s okay to make mistakes. You’ll never improve if you don’t start trying to talk! Talk to your friends that are interested in Irish, find a local ciorcal comhrá, even throw in a word or two where you can.”
Cúán’s recommendations
TG4 makes some fantastic shows and they always have English subtitles available.
Molscéal is a fun account to follow on Instagram, they do little slice of life stories from the Gaeltachtaí and the subs are all in Irish which is handy.
I think one of the most useful things to get your standard up if you already have some Irish is listening to Raidió na Gaeltachta as much as possible — even if you have it on in the background, you pick up a bit, and the standard of Irish is impeccable. Especially the news: it plays regularly through the day and you’ll already have a sense of what’s going on in the world (hopefully) so you can piece it together more easily.
If you have a fairly high standard of Irish but you want to top it off, there’s a book called Cruinneas by Antóin Mac Lochlainn that looks at common mistakes and helps you get your Irish really exact.
Aerach Aiteach Gaelach are a queer Irish language writers’ group that organise events all around the country, they’re well worth looking into, they’re so talented and welcoming.
Anna Nic Gafraidh and Iseult Nic Con Iomaire are some of the people on TikTok I enjoy watching.
Another way to bring some Irish into your life is through music. There’s an absolutely incredible circle of people making music through Irish at the moment. Kneecap are one group that have obviously broken through into the mainstream, but there’s a whole scene of musicians like Súil Amháin, Róis, Grooveline, Huartan, and IMLÉ putting out some seriously creative music.
Cúán’s favourite phrases
- I use ‘mar dhea’ a lot, great for inserting some subtle derision into your day.
- ‘Ná bac leis’ you can say instead of ‘never mind’. I read once that Big Jim Larkin was a fan of that particular phrase.
- ‘An rud a scríobhann an púca, léann sé féin é’ – ‘What the pooka writes, the pooka will read’; for that person in your life with awful handwriting.
- ‘Chonaic mé cheana thú, arsa an cat leis an mbainne te’ – ‘I’ve seen you before, says the cat to the hot milk’. Fool me once…
- Finally, a word that we don’t have any English for: ‘Foiseach’. The part of your lawn the mower can’t quite reach.
Kate Brady
@heyitskate98 on TikTok
If you’re a fan of second hand or vintage clothing being styled to perfection, allow me to introduce you to Kate Brady. An actor from Cavan based in Dublin, Kate studied at Bow Street Academy, Kate is the star of RTÉ’s The Unreal, which has been described as Bosco meets Stranger Things, and all episodes are currently available on the Player. Aside from screen and stage performances, Kate has also been posting on TikTok for the past two years, sharing style inspiration and alternating videos between English and Irish.
“When I was trying to brush up my Irish, I thought it would be nice to start using it in my videos as a way of practising,” Kate explains. “I was interested to see if I could, and it made me see that even when we think we might have lost our cúpla focal, there’s a lot more hanging around the recesses of our brain than we might have thought. The response to the videos has been really lovely! There was so much more interaction when I started posting in Irish and I think it shows that there is a new wave of people who don’t want to let the language go and want to see more Irish in their daily lives.”
Thinking back to secondary school, Kate admits that she didn’t think much from it (aside from being perplexed by the Modh Coinníollach) and viewed learning the language as more of a task than anything else. “I remember feeling pretty happy with my level of conversational Irish for the Leaving Cert but once I went to college, I let it slip and didn’t really utter a word of Irish again until last year. I decided to make an effort to rejig my brain and see how much Irish I had retained. It was surprisingly more than I thought, so I started listening to Irish radio and podcasts. I have a few friends who are also trying to use more Irish, so we text each other in Irish and I think that really helps to keep my brain clued into the language on the daily.”
Kate tells me that when she first began posting through Irish, she didn’t consider herself to be at a high enough standard. Crucially, however, she posted anyway. “It’s become clearer to me that it’s much better to try than to sit around and wish that I was fluent. I feel it’s so important to keep the language alive because it’s who we are, and it would be the biggest shame to not carry it forward. I love learning from and watching other videos in Irish and I feel that the bitesize way in which we can consume them has made learning and using Irish less intimidating and more fun and conversational.”
Kate’s recommendations
I love listening to the podcast How To Gael because they switch between English and Irish so it’s easier not to get confused! Gafa le Sinéad agus Rút is another great podcast that chats about pop culture, so I find it easier to follow and recognise words! Radio Na Gaeilge is always great too. There are so many people on TikTok posting as Gaeilge now, @aoifeceara is great!
Kate’s favourite phrase
One of my favourite phrases is ‘An rud is annamh is iontach’ which means, ‘what’s rare is beautiful’ and I couldn’t agree more.
Síomha Ní Ruairc
@siomhaniruairc on Instagram
Broadcaster and co-host of the country’s biggest bilingual podcast, How to Gael, Síomha Ní Ruairc landed on the Irish media scene in 2018 and has since presented an annual family talent show for TG4. Last year she fronted Virgin Media’s Grá ar an Trá and is now most known for presenting the country’s hit morning show, Ireland AM, since 2023.
Having grown up in a bilingual home with Irish fluency on her mother’s side, Síomha was raised as Gaeilge and did all her education through Irish right up to third level and continues to use it every day. As she says: “Some of the most important relationships of my life happen through Irish, so she’s a daily feature!”
Back in 2023, Síomha and fellow broadcasters Doireann Ní Ghlacáin and Louise Cantillon decided to start their podcast, How to Gael, and it’s already Ireland’s biggest bilingual podcast with a cult following at home and abroad. The hosts represent a new generation of Irish speakers that are living, working, socialising and reviving as Gaeilge in a way that is súimiúil, spraoiúil agus just good craic.
Thinking back to its beginnings, Síomha says that How to Gael was about representation: “I’m a 30-something-year old woman who chats and yaps and Whatsapps and DMs in both English and Irish. And our listeners are the same,” she tells me. “So, we wanted to create a community where people could connect to that, as well as their language and culture.”
Speaking on the importance of keeping the language alive through modern media, Síomha says: “I don’t think a podcast is keeping the language alive — I think the 80,000+ people speaking Irish everyday outside the education system are doing that themselves! But obviously the more representation and normalisation of the language the better. Our own native tongue has been “othered” for centuries. It should be seen and heard alongside everything else we’re doing in 2025, whether that be online, in media or in real life.”
Síomha’s recommendations
Beo Ar Éigean is a gas Irish language podcast. Raidió Rí-Rá is a chart music station where you hear all the same music as the other stations but the presenters do all the chat in Irish. Following as many creators who use Irish as possible is a great way to normalise Gaeilge and see it on your daily scroll(s).
Síomha’s favourite phrases
‘N’fheadar’ is a great one. It kinda means “I wonder/who knows”. ‘Gafa‘ – ‘obsessed’. I probably use that a bit too much. And then ‘céad faoin gcéad’ is the Irish for ‘100%’, which I also overuse when agreeing zealously with people – proof of this is on the podcast!
How to Gael: Ar an mBóthar kicks off in Limerick on February 2, with dates across the country, in New York, Vancouver and Boston, as well as Dublin’s Ambassador Theatre on March 14.
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