A number of students who attended Irish language classes in Donegal plan to set up the first permanent Gaeltacht in the world outside of Ireland.
Cumann na Gaeltachta in Kingston, Canada, recently purchased a 60-acre parcel of land to establish their permanent Gaeltacht site.
The Cumann na Gaeltachta was set up in 1995 by Belfast native Séamus Mac Com Charraite and has flourished since. In September they purchased the lush green site with river frontage in South East Ontario near the US border for $60,000 (€46,000).
Mr Mac Com Charraite and other members of the cumann regularly attended Irish-language and cultural programmes with Oideas Gael in Glencolmcille, south Donegal. Teachers from Oideas also travelled to Canada twice a year to teach Irish classes.
Aralt Mac Giolla Chainnigh is also a leading member of the cumann in Kingston and he explained the rationale behind the land purchase.
"We always had the intention of buying land. We organised Irish weekend programmes which were very good but we wanted a place to call our own," Mr Mac Giolla Chainnigh said.
He also stressed that they were not using the word Gaeltacht "frivolously" and that their ideas were deeply formed. "We want a place people can come to all year around and speak Irish. At first, there will be no one living there on a full-time basis, however, that could all change in the future," he said.
The land is a half an hour's drive from Kingston near Erinsville (Tamworth) and is situated close to Lake Ontario. Kingston's first five mayors were Irish and there is a very deep Irish historical connections there, Mr Mac Giolla Chainnigh said.
He is a teacher of physics and astronomy in the Royal Military College of Canada and his ancestors hail from Sligo and Derry.
Nothing has been built on the land yet and Mr Mac Giolla Chainnigh says it is located in a beautiful area with more than 800 metres of frontage along the Salmon River.
He says they want to develop the site at "the rate of demand" and build 16 cabins and a cultural centre as they go along. They hope to start construction within five years. However, in the meantime, the cumann plans to run Irish-language and cultural weekends on the property by using large marquees.
Mr Mac Giolla Chainnaigh is a fluent Irish speaker and says that he does whatever business he can using the language, adding that he rarely speaks English during their Irish language weekends.
He says that they plan to "officially open" the Gaeltacht on June 15th and plan to invite Minister for the Gaeltacht Éamon Ó Cuív and Liam Ó Cuinneagáin, director of Oideas Gael.