The Crawley Irish Festival has been awarded National Lottery Funding for the 2008 Crawley Irish Festival.

This year’s festival is the first time the Celtic and Irish Cultural Society has received funding from the National Lottery’s community fund and will allow additional entertainment and progress on the professionalisation of our events.

AWARDS FOR ALL now joins a number of other funding partners that began funding the event this year including the Crawley Town Centre Partnership, the Gatwick Airport Community Trust, West Sussex County Council and Crawley Borough Borough.

To find out more details on our funding partners, corporate and stage sponsors can be found at http://www.celtic-irish.co.uk/festival/sponsors.

Venue: 7 Yarmouth Close, Furnace Green, Crawley
Cost: £3 - When: Wednesday 2 July at 8pm

This week’s Irish Language Class takes place at a new venue.

For more information call Shannon on 07815 055281

Venue: The Emerald Club, Southgate Avenue, Crawley, RH10 6HG
Cost: £3 - When: Every Second Wednesday at 8pm

The Celtic & Irish Cultural Society offer the opportunity to learn Irish Gaelic in Crawley. The classes are aimed at beginners to the Irish language but experienced Gaelic speakers are encouraged to participate, give assistance and learn more.

Irish Gaelic is spoken principally in small rural communities known as the Gaeltacht. Until the 1850s it was spoken by the vast majority of Ireland’s population, today it is spoken by a small collection of communities as a first language but taught extensively in Irish schools. Recently, it has seen a resurgence thanks in part to the Irish language television channel, TG4.

The class is taught by Marie Aine Dhrainne who teaches at schools throughout London. The class is aimed at beginners to the Irish language and experienced Gaelic speakers are encouraged to participate and give assistance.