But it wasn’t until his daughter, Irene – now a television personality with TG4 – attended the Gaeltacht in Connemara during her teens that Matt was driven to learn more about the Irish language. He threw himself, body and soul, at Mullingar’s thriving Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann branch, augmenting his love of Irish culture, music and the language. Dominick’s Community Council, and local sporting and cultural groups. He became very much involved with the Junior Chamber of Commerce, St. Matt settled in well, and quickly became a part of the local community.
He now has responsibility for coordinating fisheries activities in the Upper Shannon region, working with angling and environmental groups in the Midlands. Relocated to Mullingar later that year, and here ever since, Matt started off as a junior fisheries officer locally. “Of course, I didn’t realise the Gardaí were watching everybody going across the border!” After Bloody Sunday happened, I joined the group, and we went up to Derry and finished the march,” Matt said, describing his part in reaction of hundreds of Irish south of the border who were shocked at the massacre of thirteen people in Derry. “It was around the time of the Bloody Sunday incident, and there was a civil rights group in Cavan. One of Matt’s first postings with the Inland Fisheries Trust was in Cavan Town.
#Peig sayers grandchildren full#
The river itself is rich, and full of the finest salmon and trout.” It runs through the middle of a rich Munster valley, with the Knockmealdown Mountains dominating the landscape. “It’s different to what you’d see in the Midlands. “I always think that the Munster Blackwater is the greatest fishing water in the country,” he said. He became a fisheries officer, and worked on waters in Cavan, Monaghan the canals of Dublin and Kildare, and as far afield as Cork and other parts of Munster. Matt attended both primary and secondary school in Ballygar – a town about the size of Kilbeggan – and went to work in forestry, before obtaining a dream job in the Inland Fisheries Trust. We thought the Suck was something like the Danube!”
“I have great memories of catching bream, tench and roach. “I was reared on the banks of the River Suck, so I always had an interest in fishing myself,” Matt said.
“My people always had a huge interest in fishing,” he said. Galway, Matt’s earliest memories of the rural life involve cutting turf, saving hay and bringing cattle to the fair. It’s a resumé fit for a native-speaking Gaelgóir, but what’s remarkable is that Matt has only been speaking Irish fluently for around twenty years.īorn on a farm in Ballygar, Co. He is also a broadcaster, bringing snippets of local history ‘as Gaeilge’ to listeners of Raidió na Gaeltachta. Whether he likes the title or not, Matt Nolan is Mullingar’s point of contact when it comes to Irish language and culture.Ī fluent speaker, he is intimately involved with Mullingar’s Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann branch, and has played a leading role in furthering gaelscoil education in this part of the county. Posted by clare | Filed Under In the Media | Leave a Comment Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam…
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