ÁR SCÉAL · OUR STORY
Founded in 1910 — reimagined in 1985
As a branch member of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, Scoil Acla as an organisation promotes the traditional arts and supports local artists throughout the year.
Our origins date back to 1910. While we have broadened the scope of our activities over those decades, our founding principles and core values remain unchanged.
Informed by our commitment to our culture and heritage, Gaelig' Acla, and island traditions; we proudly embrace our story as we confidently look forward to growing our programme, to reflect our desire to push creative boundaries in all that we do.
We embrace and value all forms of creative contemporary and traditional arts practices.
Allowing time for reflection helps us all to become stronger — both individually and collectively. We aim to continue to work closely with artists, musicians and tutors to help them excel. We seek to continue to share the best learning experiences with participants, while actively engaging with new and established audiences.
At our heart, we work to enable all those who share our love of traditional music, the arts, and our Achill culture and heritage and language, from the professional to enthusiast, to achieve their creative potential.
Mar chroí lár Scoil Acla, oibrímid le cur ar chumas gach duine a roinneann ár ngrá don cheol traidisiúnta, na healaíona, chomh maith lenár gcultúr Acla, ár noidhreacht agus ár dteanga, más duine gairmiúla ná díograiseoir atá ann, a gcuid poitéinseal cruthaitheacha a bhaint amach.
The backbone of what we do is the annual Scoil Acla Summer School. This is an established festival week focused on traditional music learning and sharing, and celebrates the arts, culture and heritage of the island.
A proud, actively engaged voluntary committee run the organisation throughout the year, and give freely of their time to advance the music, culture and history of our Island. The guiding aim of the organisation is to ensure the next generation achieve their full potential.
Our vision is of an Ireland where traditional music embodied through our culture and heritage is valued and is vibrantly, actively and confidently part of people's lives.
Scoil Acla engages at home and abroad to forge the relationships, find opportunities and create the connections that inspire artists, participants and audiences. We enable people, places, ideas, communities and genres of music to come together with our Island community — to ignite action, provoke thought or, simply, for the sheer enjoyment of our cultural, musical and artistic identity that Achill and Co. Mayo is so famous for.
Coiste Scoil Acla
Scoil Acla Committee
Scoil Acla is managed and organised by a community-based voluntary committee elected annually by AGM. Many of the committee play and teach traditional music, having themselves learned music through Scoil Acla. Tap a name to read their bio.
Please do not hesitate getting in contact with any of our committee or volunteers should you require assistance throughout the week.
Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann
Scoil Acla (CCÉ) is a proud branch of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann.
Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann is the largest group involved in the preservation and promotion of Irish traditional music. We're a non-profit cultural movement with hundreds of local branches around the world, and as you can read in our history we've been working for the cause of Irish music since the middle of the last century (1951 to be precise). Our efforts continue with increasing zeal as the movement launches itself into the 21st century.
What we do
Because we're so many different things to different people, it can be hard to keep track of the true scope of our activities! You might have been involved with a Comhaltas event and not even known it.
If you're a student of Irish music, you might know about the music, dance and language classes that we teach through our network of branches. If you're interested in learning the music, you might want to find which one of our 1,000 weekly classes is closest to you.
For musicians who like to play socially, you might be interested in finding a local Comhaltas music session. And if you're not sure, how about just going along to listen?
Audiences around the world have seen our touring groups bringing Irish music, dance and storytelling on annual tours.
We also run the definitive system of competitions for Irish music, called the "Fleadh Cheoil" (literally "feast of music"). Musicians compete in a series of qualifying rounds, culminating in the annual All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann.
We've collected an archive of thousands of hours of Irish music recordings, a large print library and a growing collection of videos. You can get a sample of some of this material in the Music section of our website.
In an effort to promote the music of Ireland, we publish recordings, books and tutorials of Irish traditional music. You might want to take a listen over in our shop.
Where we are
We're an international movement with our headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. You would be more than welcome to stop by for a visit to our home base, Cultúrlann na hÉireann, or to visit a local Comhaltas branch close to where you live.
Comhaltas also reaches into local communities around Ireland with our Regional Centres.