{"id":90550,"date":"2026-07-26T09:23:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T09:23:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/90550\/"},"modified":"2026-07-26T09:23:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T09:23:24","slug":"were-partying-dating-creating-and-living-as-gaeilge-how-expats-are-keeping-the-irish-language-alive-in-london-one-pint-at-a-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/90550\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We\u2019re partying, dating, creating and living as Gaeilge\u2019: How expats are keeping the Irish language alive in London one pint at a time"},"content":{"rendered":"

On a summer evening at a pub in south London, conversations drift between English and Irish<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Some speakers grew up with Gaeilge<\/a>, others learned it as adults. A few are attending their first Irish-language event. <\/p>\n

Yet all have gathered hundreds of miles from Ireland<\/a>, to the The Queen Adelaide.<\/p>\n

In London, learners and fluent speakers gather in pubs, parks and community spaces to keep Gaeilge alive. <\/p>\n

\"Dublin<\/a>\"Disneyland<\/a>\"HavingHaving completed their 5km run through Victoria Park, the Run Club treated themselves to some well-deserved pints. <\/p>\n

Emily de B\u00farca founded Cro\u00ed na Gaeilge<\/a>, an organisation that creates online and in-person spaces for Irish speakers and learners across London. The group\u2019s name translates roughly as \u201cThe Heart of Irish\u201d and reflects its aim of building community around the language.<\/p>\n

At a recent Queercal Comhr\u00e1 event celebrating Pride Month at The Queen Adelaide in Wandsworth, the pub buzzed with conversation in both Irish and English.<\/p>\n

Amid the crowd, the organiser, 27-year-old Emily de B\u00farca from Borrisoleigh in Co Tipperary<\/a>, explained how she became involved in the city\u2019s growing Irish-language scene, having moved to London four years ago.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cI was having a bit of an existential crisis. I was working in a studio in 2023, at the beginning of my time in London and not having a good time with my mental health. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was really thinking about what is important to me going forward in life and I kept coming back to the Irish language, how much I adored going to the Gaoth Dobhair Gaeltacht as a teenager and how that completely changed my life in so many ways that I only could only understand fully now as an adult looking back.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Run Club after their 5km in Hyde Park. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo the idea of setting up casual meetups came to me – both as a way to reconnect to the language, and as a creative outlet where I could use my design and artistic skills.\u201d <\/p>\n

De B\u00farca explained that the language is seeping into their everyday lives.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cWe\u2019re partying, dating, creating and living as Gaeilge. People are wearing Irish language designs, there are Irish language social media apps – she is flourishing and thriving. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we\u2019re stronger together, inspiring and encouraging each other along the way. That\u2019s really been the most important aspect for me personally, I think – learning from my community and always being kind to each other no matter what point someone is at on their learning journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

De B\u00farca is far from alone. Across London, a growing network of speakers, teachers and learners have transformed a personal love of the language into a wider community movement. <\/p>\n

Kilkenny\u2019s Kevin McQuillan established a run club in September of last year. <\/p>\n

He told The Irish News<\/a> that after moving from Dublin just under five years ago, he found that he missed his connection with the language.<\/p>\n

\"ImbolcImbolc gathering, February 2026 Curve Garden Dalston <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen living in Dublin<\/a>, I played hurling<\/a> for a couple of years with Na Gaeil \u00d3ga, a GAA<\/a> club that operates solely through Gaeilge. Despite being from Kilkenny, I put the hurl down aged around 14 and was very nervous about playing again, let alone as Gaeilge, a language I hadn\u2019t used informally outside of a school environment in many years, if ever.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlaying with Na Gaeil \u00d3ga was the first time in my adult life where Gaeilge was at the beating heart of everything. Win or lose, we\u2019d celebrate or commiserate as Gaeilge. The socials were as Gaeilge, I\u2019d cycle to training and think as Gaeilge, and I formed friendships entirely through Gaeilge.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I moved to London that was one of the things I missed most about Ireland. <\/p>\n

\u201cHaving a social outlet for Gaeilge, and in particular one where you were outside and being active. I love a ciorcal comhr\u00e1 as much as the next person, but l also think speaking as Gaeilge when you\u2019re outdoors, side-by-side with someone can ease the pressure of perfection that so many people have with the language.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what gave me the idea to start R\u00ed R\u00e1 & Rith, I just wish I had the idea sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n

The running group typically finds itself in Hyde Park but has ventured out to Finsbury Park, Victoria Park, Clapham Common and Brockwell Park.<\/p>\n

Kevin added: \u201cI think people enjoy having a regular outlet to use their Gaeilge in an informal setting, and I like to think we have a bit of craic while we\u2019re at it too.\u201d<\/p>\n

London isn\u2019t known for its cheap coffee – but a c\u00fapla focal can help at F.Mondays Caf\u00e9 in Brixton.<\/p>\n

Owned by Ken Nally, who was born and raised in the Wicklow Mountains. He runs F. Mondays Coffee with his partner Ciara.<\/p>\n

He told The Irish News: \u201cI\u2019m learning Irish again and I was trying to think of ways to expose myself to more day-to-day conversations in order to improve my Irish and to hopefully aid me in becoming fluent, and the other reason is I want to do what I can to help the resurgence and growth of the language. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe Run Club after completing a fundraiser 5km through Hyde Park for Acla\u00ed Palestine, raising \u00a3500. They finished the event with a discounted coffee from FMonday Caf\u00e9 in Brixton, which incentives Londoners with a discounted price if they order in Irish <\/p>\n

\u201cI feel by giving a common space for people to mingle and interact in Irish that friendships can be formed and Gaeilge can be spread farther. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s what inspired me to pick up the language again, one day about three years ago I was working in the Coldharbour Lane shop and a big bunch of Gaeilgoirs came in (they were having a coffee before attending a wedding at Lambeth town hall) and they spent 20 minutes in the shop chatting in Irish.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy heart was full of pride and I made a promise to myself to pick the language back up again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On a summer evening at a pub in south London, conversations drift between English and Irish. Some speakers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90551,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[26],"tags":[956,667,19856,27],"class_list":["post-90550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-london","tag-culture","tag-ireland","tag-irish","tag-london"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116985554887229743","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}