Glasgow Celebrates One Thousand Years of Gaelic Poetry | Lauren Cairnie

Promotional Graphic on Glasgow Life

1,000 years of Gaelic poetry will be celebrated at a contemporary arts venue in Glasgow on 10th September ahead of the world’s biggest Gaelic language festival.

The Royal National Mòd, Scotland’s premier Gaelic festival, returns next month and is launching with an event to honour a millennium of Gaelic verse.

The ‘Night of the Poets’ will be held at Tramway in Glasgow’s southside for an evening of spoken word and music for Oidhche nam Bàrd - Poetry in Art and Sound.

Fans of poetry and live performances are welcome to enjoy historic and contemporary pieces being recited by an award-winning line-up of Scotland’s most published poets in Scottish Gaelic.

Tramway Studio

This line-up includes the Gaelic poet laureate for Glasgow, Niall O’Gallagher, and others such as Meg Bateman, Anna Frater, and Scotland’s Makar (national poet), Peter MacKay, who promises that the night will be a “glorious, evocative celebration of Gaelic poetry”.

MacKay added: “Poetry and song have been central to Gaelic culture for over 1,000 years and are still a crucial and vibrant part of Gaelic life; I'm looking forward to the echoes and resonances from past poems and how they sit alongside some of our best living writers.”

The recited poetry, as well as Gaelic literature read aloud by actors, will be accompanied by on-screen English translations so both Gaelic and non-Gaelic speakers can appreciate the performances.

Peter MacKay- Scotland’s Makar (national poet)

Rona MacDonald, Glasgow Life senior arts producer, said: “Glasgow is home to the biggest concentration of Gaelic speakers outside the Western Isles and has five Gaelic schools, so Gaelic is an important part of the city’s cultural identity.

“Our aim is to give everyone in Glasgow, whether they speak the language or not, the opportunity to engage with and experience Gaelic’s rich cultural traditions and creative expression.”

The event also includes performances by clarsach player, pianist, and recording artist Ingrid Henderson, and Glasgow-based, Scottish-Icelandic percussionist Signy Jacobdottir, who was a former Musician of the Year nominee in the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards.

The Royal National Mòd, organised by An Comunn Gàidhealach, will take place in Glasgow from 9 to 17 October.

To book tickets for the event and to see the complete list of performers taking part in Oidhche nam Bàrd - Poetry in Art and Sound, visit the following link: https://www.tramway.org/event/92566702-3c0b-4861-b502-b44e01077967/