#27: Breandán Ó Cionnaith (Gaelscoilis)

Breandán is an inspirational, rising TikTok star in the Gaeltok, who is ensuring that Gaeilge has its place on the global app. My favourite creator on Tiktok by far! He believes that the accessibility of TikTok and its high usage among our youth is key to the revitalisation of our beautiful language. He brings us right back to his school days in Athenry where he was immersed in the language in his youth and how that has had such a positive effect on his love for the language today. Breandán's energy is refreshing as he avidly believes that Irish should be spoken as a living, thriving language as opposed to getting caught up on "cruinneas" or rigid accuracy. This bilingual conversation includes acúpla focal (a couple of words) as they naturally weave through our conversation. This effortless shift between the languages is representative of Breandán's relaxed, innate approach to Irish. He speaks to me about his complicated relationship with An Caighdeán (The Standard) and how it was something he had to learn to navigate during his time in DCU studying Irish at university level. Breandán is a fun, practical advocate for Irish language but he is adamant that he is not a Garda na Gaeilge (language guard) and rather, a person who is speaking and living our language by choice. Breandán warmly reminds us, "remember - it doesn't have to be cruinn, it just has to be Irish!" Absolutely loved chatting to you, a chara! Míle buíochas! Many thanks! I encourage you all to check out Breandán on Tiktok @gaelscoilis