Index...for not getting completelly lost! :)

Friday 23 October 2015

In the heart of the Irish culture

West of Belfast, and more specifically the area around Falls Road, is a Gaeltacht Quarter (An Cheathrú Ghaeltachta).

A Gaeltacht Quarter is a quarter where Irish is widely spoken and where the diffusion of the Irish culture is promoted.

The same name of "the Falls Road" (as usually it is called) comes from Irish and means 
"Bóthar na bhFál", meaning "the road of the hedgerows", and reminds the fact that originally the road was a country lane leading from the city centre.

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the area expanded rapidly with the construction of several large linen mills (all of those now closed). The employment of thousand of local men and women led to the construction of back-to-back houses for their accommodation.
Read more on the history of the Falls Road here.

The heart of this Gaeltacht Quarter is the Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich. This is the centre dedicated to the Irish culture, which promotes its diffusion through music sessions, poetry reading, concerts, expositions.

Hosted in a former Presbyterian church, inside you can find an excellent restaurant, book and gift shops, theatre and gallery. It is also the home of the official Irish touristic information point: it was here that I found the so useful and needed map with the location of all the murals, as already described in a previous post. The person responsible for giving information was Gerard, and he was so kind and helpful :).

I had my lunch there, a fantastic Chicken Caesar salad (probably the best that I never had) and home-made brown bread.

Lunch at the Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich (photo taken with the compact camera)
I also loved the tap water that I could drink as much as I wanted (they brought me a jug after the moment of the picture where I had 'only' a glass ;))...and this for a person coming from a country where it is not well seen if you ask tap water and where a litre of bottled water costs 6 euro,..is inspiring....:)

So stop there if you will be around. You will not be disappointed! :)

Finally, as last but not least information that I am delighted to give you, as supporter of both the Irish culture and of the European Union, Irish is an official working language of the EU since 1 January 2007.

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