Aberdeen University Celtic Society

 

 

 

 

  

 

    Many people are not aware of the historic and current presence of Gaelic in the North-East of Scotland. In fact, there was an Aberdeenshire Gaelic dialect in existence until 1984. The University of Aberdeen has been a central hub for Gaelic for much of its existence as an institution. Students have come to study Gaelic from the Gàidhealtachd, as well as from across the world. The Celtic Society was formed both by students from Celtic backgrounds, and by those who had taken an interest in the Celtic languages and cultures.  

 

    The Celtic Society is one of the oldest societies at the University, and was once the largest. The large number of Gaels coming to study at the University helped the society to thrive and grow in membership. It is difficult to say when the society first began, as students from Gaelic backgrounds had already been meeting together as a group due to their shared culture, but officially the society was founded in 1853. Gaelic has been taught at the University since the eighteenth century, showing its long-standing importance here. During this time, numerous notable scholars have passed through the Celtic department, such as Ruaraidh MacThòmais and Iain Mac a’ Ghobhainn. Many people have come to Aberdeen to study Gaelic, and became inspired through their studies to pursue a career in the field. University of Aberdeen alumni have worked in supporting Gaelic communities, creating new works of literature or music, and have contributed to language planning efforts. Many Gaelic speakers have come to the University to gain other skills, leading to a career with the language or bringing their skills to a Gaelic community. While students were together in Aberdeen, the society allowed them to be immersed in Gaelic culture, to speak Gaelic with others, host ceilidhs, help each other with studies, and to attend other Celtic music or sporting events. 

 

    As we all know, the Covid-19 pandemic caused mass disruption and during that time the society was unable to run. However, with help from our University’s Gaelic staff and the Gaelic Development Officer, we reaffiliated the Celtic society in 2023. The society aims to promote all of the Celtic languages, and we have attracted a diverse membership. Our members include Gaelic learners, native and fluent Gaelic speakers, Irish learners, Welsh speakers, and many others who were just interested in the cultures of the Celtic nations. By the end of the first year, the society had over 25 members and a handful of honorary members. Honorary members were picked by the society to be gifted a membership due to their exemplary aid to the society. 

 

    Unfortunately, the University’s senior management recently tried to cut all degrees and most of the staff within the Modern Languages department, which included Gaelic. As students, we reacted quickly to their plans, and started the #SaveUoALanguages campaign. This campaign received massive support from the local and wider Gaelic community and took tremendous effort from campaigners. We received constant media attention at a local and national level, and even brought the debate to the floor of Scottish Parliament. Student representatives met with and were supported by the Minister for Higher and Further Education. After months of campaigning, we successfully stopped the closure of the Modern Languages department, saving joint honours degrees and many jobs! This campaign occupied much of the time we had hoped to spend further developing the society and hosting events. However, it also showed that Gaelic has immense support from the community. 

 

    Despite the dual challenges of post-covid reaffiliation and the campaign to save our degrees, the society is fully active again. Right from the beginning, we organised weekly socials at a local trad music session. This is popular, as many of our members play trad music, and everyone else just enjoys getting together to listen to the tunes. We also had a weekly cearcall-còmhraidh (speaking circle) which was a great opportunity for our learners and fluent speakers to use their Gaelic. We also hosted a Scrabble Gàidhlig game night, which was good fun and something we hope to regularly host. To celebrate the end of term, we had a bonfire social on the beach and we were blessed by a stunning display of Na Fir-Chlis (The Northern Lights) on the night. 

 

    We also made connections with other societies throughout the year. We hosted a joint event with Aberdeen University Shinty team, and some of our members went to try the sport. Aberdeen University Shinty is the oldest shinty team in Scotland, being founded by Highlanders in 1861. It has always had a strong Gaelic connection, which is why we feel it is important to co-host events with them. This was a strong year for shinty at the University—Famous Gael, shinty broadcaster, and academic Hugh Dan MacLennan was given an honorary degree by the University this year, and gave a presentation on shinty, its history, and its importance to Gaelic. Hugh Dan was also a strong supporter of our campaign to save language degrees. He was outspoken against the University’s decisions, and gave a moving speech at one of our campaign rallies.

 

    For Seachdain na Gàidhlig we hosted a series of events along with the University. This included the shinty give-it-a-go session, as well as a Scottish traditional dancing class co-hosted with the Scottish Traditional Dance Society. They provide weekly classes in Scottish country dancing and Scottish cèilidh dancing, allowing home students to practice their dancing for events, and international students to learn. They have merged with our society this year, and we are encouraging members to enjoy both our dance and language events, as language and culture are inseparable. Historically our society had a cèilidh every fortnight, so hopefully with the merge, we can bring that much-loved tradition back.

 

    Our Gaelic Development Officer also hosted numerous music events for Seachdain na Gàidhlig. These included a Gaelic song workshop with singer and storyteller Donna Dale, a talk on “Seinn Spioradail” by Dr Frances Wilkins, and a clàrsach class taught by our Gaelic Development Officer, Carola MacCallum, in partnership with Fèis Obar Dheathain. Many of our members are actively involved with Fèis Obar Dheathain. They aim to promote Gaelic arts, specifically for children, within Aberdeen. All three music events were a success, and we hope to host something similar in the coming year.

    The keynote event for Seachdain na Gàidhlig was a talk about Scottish poet, lexicographer, and academic Ruaraidh MacThòmais (Derek Thomson). Petra Johana Poncarova, Derrick McClure and our Gaelic department’s very own Michelle MacLeod delivered the talk. We received three enlightening perspectives about this important figure in Gaelic literature, who studied and taught at the University of Aberdeen in his historic career.

    Over the last year, we have also worked to connect with the wider Gaelic community in the North-East. Club Gàidhlig Obar Dheathain works to promote and teach Gaelic in Aberdeen. They host weekly online classes and a monthly in-person srùbag, which many of our society members attend. The srùbag is a relaxed environment for conversation with all different levels of Gaelic, from complete beginners to native speakers. It is opportunity for our members to practice their Gaelic with someone at their level or have natural conversation with a native speaker. There are also classes available at the srùbag for beginning—upper intermediate level learners. It has been fantastic to be a part of building the Gaelic community in Aberdeen by getting involved in the club. Some of our committee members also sit on the Club Gàidhlig committee, providing a strong connection between our organisations. We hope to get more of our society members involved, and to invite the club to the University wherever possible. For the coming year, we are excited to be co-hosting a Gaelic ‘play in a day’ with Club Gàidhlig, to be followed by a more rehearsed production.

    As well as Club Gàidhlig, Coisir Gàidhlig Obar Dheathain (the Aberdeen Gaelic Choir) is another excellent opportunity for our members to practice their language skills and get involved with the local community. We have several society members who sing in the choir, and we hope that more will follow them next semester. They will be representing us at the National Mòd in October, and in September, Aberdeen will be hosting its own local Mòd for the first time in over 50 years! This will provide the opportunity for junior and senior choirs to perform and compete in the North-East. The local Mòd is an exciting event for the entire Aberdeen Gaelic community, and hopefully it will inspire people in the North-East to get actively more involved with the language and culture.

    This year, some of our students joined other Gaelic students from Comann nan Oileanach at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig. While in Skye, they spent the weekend in full Gaelic immersion, participating in song workshops, ceilidhs, concerts, socials, and walks around the island. It was an immensely valuable opportunity for our members to strengthen their spoken Gaelic, and to connect with other students from around the country. We look forward to encouraging more of our members to attend these events this year.

    In the next year we hope to strengthen and expand previous connections with other Gaelic groups. This can allow for larger and more memorable events. We plan to organise a trip to the Gàidhealtachd where we can have an immersive experience. We also hope to have more talks looking at Celtic cultures, folklore, and history, which are topics many students are interested in. We also plan to expand our conversation groups and chances to speak Gaelic. Now that we are solidly re-established, we will continue to increase the visibility of Gaelic at the University, and welcome more students into our society. It is important that Gaelic is increased in the linguistic landscape, and that people are aware that it does indeed have a presence in the North-East of Scotland.

Jordan Duncan

University of Aberdeen