BBC NI is celebrating Seachtain na Gaeilge on television and radio between March 1-17, starting this evening. Among the highlights over the next two week is the TV premiere of feature film Doineann.
Blas
Blas will mark Seachtain na Gaeilge with a variety of programmes, guests and voices from the world of Irish language from Tuesday 1 March.
In the lead up to St Patrick’s Day, Blas will hit the road again for two special outside broadcasts. The first one will be Blas Ón Taobhlíne on Monday 14 March with Fearghal Mag Uiginn who will be in Kilcoo with the All-Ireland Club Football Champions. The following evening (Tuesday 15) Dáithí Ó Muirí will be in Skainos in East Belfast with Turas and East Belfast GAA.
Máire Bhreathnach presents a special programme connecting with the vibrant Irish-speaking community in Brussels where an increasing number of Irish language translators and interpreters are joining the melting pot of the multicultural European institutions.
On Thursday’s Blas local universities have the chance to prove they’re top of the class when it comes to their knowledge of the Irish language. Caoimhe ‘Chats’ puts questions to the Irish language societies in local universities as they pit their wits against each other.
Caoimhe Ní Chathail ar Blas
With the theme of ‘Is leatsa í’ (it belongs to you), during Seachtain na Gaeilge, Blas will be talking to Gaeil Úra from all backgrounds and nationalities who have chosen to learn the Irish language during Seachtain na Gaeilge with a special programme on St Patrick’s Day. Barra Best will join Dáithí Ó Muirí on Blas on Tuesday 8 March to share his own experiences of learning Irish.
BBC Gaeilge set a challenge to an Irish slam poetry winner, Sinéad Ní Thuamáin, to write a new poem in time for Seachtain na Gaeilge this year about her love for the Irish language and the joys of learning the language. BBC Gaeilge audiences will be able to catch up with Sinéad’s work when it appears across its platforms.
Ceol na Síog
BBC Gaeilge audiences will get the chance to experience Ceol na Síog (Music of the Fairies) again. Originally broadcast on Christmas Eve, Ceol na Síog is a radio podcast supported by four lyric videos exploring the magic of the world around us. Presenter Cormac Ó hAdhmaill, accompanied by five children, sets out to explore Tollymore forest in County Down and talk about the sights and sounds there, the trees, animals and plants that inhabit this beautiful part of the world.
Ceol na Síog le Cormac
The children learn about native trees such as the Irish oak, animals such as the red squirrel and the measures being taken to ensure their survival, the fish of the Shimna river which runs through the forest and the many birds who live among the trees. The programme will be broadcast on BBC Radio Ulster at 7pm on Tuesday 1 March. The podcast is currently available on BBC Gaeilge and BBC Sounds and is produced by Corcra Media for BBC Gaeilge with support from Northern Ireland Screen’s Irish Language Broadcast Fund.
Doineann
Sunday 13 March, BBC Two, 10pm, sees the premiere of Doineann, a feature film debut from Damian McCann.
With the screenplay penned by Aislinn Clarke it stars Peter Coonan, Bríd Brennan, Clare Monnelly and Sean T. Ó Meallaigh telling the story of the disappearance of a woman and her baby on a remote Irish island. Tomás, her husband (Coonan), must put his trust in the island’s retired policewoman (Brennan) to help find his family before a storm hits the island.
Produced by award-winning production company, DoubleBand Films, with support from Northern Ireland Screen’s Irish Language Broadcast Fund, BBC Gaeilge and TG4, Doineann is the first Irish-language feature film to be shot entirely in the North.
Buachailí Ón Éirne
Old friends Cormac Ó hÁdhmaill and Antaine Ó Donnaile undertake an epic kayaking adventure on the River Erne. It is challenging, inspiring and more than 100 miles long.
In this new three-part series made by Macha Media for BBC Gaeilge with support from the NI Screen’s Irish Language Broadcast Fund, our two intrepid paddlers begin at the source of the Erne River in Co Cavan, and travel through counties Cavan, Fermanagh and Donegal all the way to the Atlantic Ocean at Ballyshannon.
Cormac Ó hÁdhmaill agus Antaine Ó Donnaile 
This is an incredible journey, one that has never been done for television before. Stunning aerial photography follows the paddlers and showcases every type of landscape, from inland lakes to the ocean, from rural to urban settings.
The programme is broadcast on Monday 14 March on BBC Two at 10pm.
Ceiliúradh na Féile Pádraig
Brian Kennedy, Liam Ó Maonlaí, Fiachna Ó Braonáin and Clare Sands are among the cast of singers and musicians coming together for a special St Patrick’s concert on BBC Two Northern Ireland.
Recorded in Basil Shiels’ Pub in Armagh at the end of February, Ceiliúradh na Féile Pádraig, will bring viewers an hour of great music and chat.
Hosted by John Toal and Caoimhe ‘Ceol’ Ní Chathail, the concert is produced by Big Mountain Productions for BBC Gaeilge and TG4 with support from Northern Ireland Screen’s Irish Language Broadcast Fund.
There will also be performances from The Keane Family, Cathal McConnell (from Boys of the Lough, Fermanagh), Clann Mhic Ruairí among others.
Ceiliúradh na Féile Pádraig is on BBC Two Northern Ireland on Thursday 17 March at 9pm.
