Game of Thrones star: ‘Irish is a huge part of my life’

Game of Thrones star Art Parkinson leads a busy life. Fresh from the 44th Annie Awards in LA where his latest film, the Oscar-nominated fantasy action animation “Kubo and the Two Strings” was up for 10 awards, the 15-year-old actor was in Dublin on Thursday to help launch the annual Irish language festival Seachtain na Gaeilge.

The Donegal-born actor, whose next stop is London for the 2017 Bafta Awards at the Royal Albert Hall this weekend, joined fellow Seachtain na Gaeilge ambassadors Miriam O’Callaghan and TG4 Snapchat personality Mícheál Ó Ciaraidh at Facebook’s Dublin HQ for the launch of the festival.

Last year, over 30,000 events were organised and over 750,000 people are estimated to have taken part in Seachtain na Gaeilge. This year, the Energia-sponsored event takes place from March 1st - 17th.

Parkinson, best known for his part as Rickon Stark - the third son of Ned Stark - in the HBO hit series Game of Thrones, attends a Gaelcholáiste in Buncrana and he is not shy when it comes to talking about his love of Irish.

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“Irish is a huge part of my life. I travel an hour every morning instead of walking 5 minutes over the road to go and learn through the medium of Irish in Coláiste Chineál Eoghain in Buncrana,” he said.

“It is a huge part of my life and it is something I am very proud of. It is an honour to be able to speak the language,” he added.

A film set full of household names from the world of acting might not be where you would expect to hear Irish spoken often but Art says his fellow actors react with interest whenever they hear him speaking in Irish.

“Sometimes it is with intrigue, and then other times they want to learn a bit of it and want to know the history of it. That is something I have a huge interest in - the history of Ireland and the history of the Irish culture and language - so I am always happy to share a bit of that.”

While most 15 and 16 year-olds will be battening down the hatches with just a few weeks left to go before the mocks, Parkinson, whose own exams start in two weeks time, is accompanied on his travels by a full-time tutor.

“I do a lot of work one-to-one with my tutor. If I don’t understand something we can spend a week looking at it. We can make sure I’ve done it right. Instead of doing the same questions ten times over as you would do with a class as soon as I understand it we can move on. A lot of the time, whenever I go back to school, I am ahead in my education.

“My teacher Ruaidhrí Mac Manus is from Belfast. He’s a fluent Irish speaker and he is brilliant.”

Fellow-ambassador Miriam O’Callaghan spoke of the important part Irish plays in her life and said people should not be shy when it comes to speaking it in public. Her message was ‘Go for it - bain triall as!’

“I think it is important. I think it is a beautiful language. I get annoyed sometimes when I hear some of my co-presenters questioning its importance!

“My father’s from Kerry and my mother’s from Laois - and they both believed passionately in the importance of our language. It is part of who we are. I think if you are not líofa (fluent) it doesn’t mean you should be afraid to speak it.

“And sometimes, if you are not líofa (and) you’re embarrassed when you are talking to people from the Gaeltacht who are incredibly fluent I always say... don’t be embarrassed! Go for it - bain triall as!”

One of the festival’s flagship events takes place on March 16th when the public is being encouraged to update their social media status in Irish.

TG4’s Mícheál Ó Ciaraidh said “It is a really direct, non-intrusive and non-threatening way of using the language. Through social media people are able to use whatever (Irish) they have. It is a freer space to be able to use whatever tools you have in a language and it also brings a bit more meaning to our daily lives.

“There’s nothing wrong with learning poems - and there are some lovely poems in the Irish language on the Leaving Cert syllabus - but at the same time - sometimes you might want to send a picture of the sneachta (snow) outside.

“That to me is where we should be going and where we probably are going with the language. I think there is a real resurgance because of some of those apps and because of some amazing people out there who are dedicating their social media in Irish only.

“On the 16th of March for Lá na Meán Sóisialta (Social Media Day) we are going to try and promote widespread usage ‘as Gaeilge’.

“I think it is a great idea and people will surprise themselves when they see how much they can use. Hopefully we’ll see the Irish language trending that day.”

For more information on Seachtain na Gaeilge, visit snag.ie.