Café in Tallaght says Irish is becoming more popular due to An Cailín Ciúin and TikTok

Attitudes towards the Irish language are changing, according to one Dublin café which is encouraging customers to use their cúpla focal.

Dawn McKeever, who works at Aon Scéal in Tallaght, believes the language has become more popular in recent times as more people look to connect with their culture.

“There are a lot more people who speak as gaeilge now. The café grew from there and we opened in 2019,” she said.

“In the ‘70s and ‘80s there was a good push for Irish in the area, but we didn’t have any Irish schools. There was a group of parents and teachers who formed Gaelphobal Thamhlachta.

“From that, we got funding for a space where people could come in. It was originally meant to be a book shop, but I worked in some cafés before as a manager and I’d use my cúpla focal.

“I love chatting as gaeilge, so we came up with the idea of opening an Irish café. I thought it was a great way for people to get that bit of confidence to speak Irish.”

Dawn believes that some people are still nervous about speaking Irish because of the experience they may have had in school.

“Some people are nervous, but having the café gives them the opportunity to make speaking the language a normal thing,” she said.

“It can be fun; it doesn’t have to be like homework. It doesn’t matter what level you have, people come here from all over the world.

“Even if you don’t speak it, it’s nice to hear it in the background. We’ve had customers from other countries, students, and older people coming in.

“They mightn’t have the cúpla focal, but they say it’s so nice to hear it being spoken in a normal setting.

“We want it to be a thing where it’s not unusual to hear it, especially in somewhere like Tallaght. You wouldn’t think you’d have it in an area of Dublin.

“People are afraid to talk in Irish sometimes because it’s not natural to them. It’s important to have the confidence to use your cúpla focal. If there were more places like Aon Scéal in Ireland, it’d give them the opportunity.

“But it’s become kind of trendy now to speak it on the likes of TikTok, it’s a little bit more popular and people are less afraid to speak it,” Dawn added.

With the growing love for the Irish language, Aon Scéal is providing everyone with the opportunity to learn it, and most importantly, enjoy it.

“This is another way to promote the language and benefit the customer. It’s important to maintain the language for the next generation. It’s about making it popular and having stuff in the media like An Cailín Ciúin.

“We’ve events during the week. Irish classes, an arts class in Irish and a bingo night as gaeilge. We’re running music in the café and we’re working on some other stuff too for Seachtain na Gaeilge.

“It’s a real community hub, people with intellectual disabilities come in because it’s a really relaxing space, we’ve a garden space too.”