Intermediate Irish Language Group at Dundalk Library

What to Expect

Dundalk Library runs an Irish language group at intermediate level every Tuesday at 4pm. It is listed on the branch’s standing programme rather than as a course with a start and end date, so it runs week to week through the year and you join whenever you are ready. The next session falls on Tuesday 18 August 2026. It is free, like everything else in the library’s public programme.

The intermediate label is the important detail. This is a conversation group for people who already have Irish and want to keep it moving, not a beginners’ class, which means the hour runs in the language rather than about it. That suits the large number of adults in Louth who came out of school with functional Irish and have had nowhere to use it since, along with parents whose children are in one of the county’s gaelscoileanna and who want to keep pace. Dundalk has a decent base for this: the town has an established Irish-language community, Louth’s place names and the Táin material give plenty to talk about, and Gaeltacht Uladh in south Armagh and Omeath’s own Irish-speaking history are close at hand. Turn up a few minutes early on your first week and say hello at the desk so the group knows to expect you.

Good to Know

• Every Tuesday at 4:00pm, year round; next session Tuesday 18 August 2026
• Venue: Dundalk Library, Roden Place, Dundalk
• Free, no charge and no course fee
• Intermediate level: for people who already have conversational Irish
• Contact the library first if you are unsure whether your level fits: 042 9353190 or libraryhelpdesk@louthcoco.ie
• Ardee Library runs a separate conversational Irish group on Thursday mornings for anyone closer to that end of the county
• Library membership is free and gives access to Irish-language material and online learning resources

Getting There

Dundalk Library is on Roden Place in the centre of town, beside St Patrick’s Cathedral and a couple of minutes from Market Square and Clanbrassil Street. The bus station on the Long Walk is a short walk away and Dundalk Clarke rail station on the Dublin to Belfast line is about fifteen minutes on foot. Drivers coming off the M1 at junction 16 or 18 should follow the town centre signs; the Marshes Shopping Centre multi-storey and the Park Street car parks are the nearest options for a 4pm start.