Teacht le Cheile na gCiorcal Comhra: Irish Language Drop-in at Corlea Trackway

What to Expect

This is a come-as-you-are Irish language session on the opening Saturday of National Heritage Week, bringing the county’s conversation circles together at Corlea Trackway. The invitation is straightforward: drop in and share your cupla focal, or talk at length with the Irish speakers present. It is explicitly open to complete beginners as well as native speakers, so nobody is being tested at the door.

Ciorcail comhra work best when there is a mix of fluency in the room and a reason to be there beyond the language itself, and the setting supplies that. The centre is built around an 18 metre section of Iron Age oak trackway, laid across the bog in 148 BC and preserved indoors under controlled humidity, and there is an audio-visual show and picnic area on site.

It is the first item in Eigse Lughnasadh, Corlea’s Heritage at Risk programme, which runs bog walks, talks, children’s art workshops, a photography exhibition and two music evenings across the nine days to 23 August.

Good to Know

• Saturday 15 August 2026, 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM.
• Corlea Trackway Visitor Centre, Keenagh, Co. Longford, N39 XT18.
• Drop-in format. No booking was listed for this session, though other events in the programme do require booking.
• Admission was listed as to be confirmed. General entry to Corlea Trackway is free in 2026.
• Open to fluent speakers, rusty speakers and absolute beginners alike.
• Enquiries to corlea@opw.ie or 043 332 2386, daily 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
• Longford Library also runs a weekly Ciorcal Comhra on Thursday afternoons at its St Mel’s Road branch if you want to keep it going after Heritage Week.
• Also at Corlea the same day: a foraging walk at 2:30 PM, plus the Bogland photography exhibition and the Colouring the Past children’s competition, both open from 10:00 AM.

Getting There

Corlea Trackway Visitor Centre sits on the bog road west of Keenagh village, about 15 kilometres south of Longford town. From Longford, take the R397 or R392 towards Keenagh, then follow the brown heritage signs. From Ballymahon it is roughly ten minutes north on the R392, and from Athlone take the N55 north and turn off at Ballymahon.

Parking on site is free and there is plenty of room. There is no scheduled bus service to the trackway, so drive or book Local Link in advance. Allow around 20 minutes from Longford town, 15 from Ballymahon and about 35 from Athlone or Roscommon town.