Advance ticket sales have ended but plenty of additional tickets remain available at the door.
Profs and Pints Northern Virginia presents: “Ireland 101,” an introduction to the Emerald Isle’s language, poetry, stories, and songs, with Seán Ó Coistealbha, Fulbright foreign language teaching assistant at Catholic University, and former chief executive officer of a non-governmental organization providing human-resource development in Ireland’s Irish-speaking regions.
Come to Sterling, Virginia's Crooked Run Fermentation for a crash course on Ireland’s language and culture from Seán Ó Coistealbha, a native of An Spideal and accomplished poet and actor currently working with the Catholic University of America’s Irish Studies program.
He’ll start by familiarizing you with the origins and current use of the Irish language, teaching you basic sounds and words. You’ll learn common phrases and sentences in the Irish language pertaining to traditional sayings, greetings, and simple questions that might be posed by a tourist.
From there the real fun begins as Ó Coistealbha uses poetry, story and song to immerse his audience in the sound of the language and introduce Irish place names, history, folklore, and mythology. Everyone will get involved in learning the refrain of one of the most popular Gaelic Language songs, “Oro se do bheatha abhaile,” memorably covered by Sinead O’Connor and many others.
You’ll emerge well-prepared for next year's Saint Patrick’s celebrations and with knowledge you'll find useful in traveling to Ireland or honoring any Irish heritage you might have. Ticketleap makes it easy to transfer tickets to others in case you'd like to give someone a Saint Patrick's Day gift this year. (Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. Talk starts 30 minutes later.)
Image: The huge Irish flag outside the Boston Harbor Hotel. (Photo by John Hoey / Wikimedia Commons.)