A grassroots Gaeilge movement is growing around Ireland and a revival of sorts is happening in our towns and villages.
The rising popularity of the Irish language in recent years has been attributed by some to the arts, with the Oscar-nominated film An Cailín Ciúin and the so-called "Kneecap effect" often referenced, along with the desire to connect with our national identity and the recent Presidential Election also bringing the language issue to the fore.
Whatever the reasons behind the revival, many people are discovering a newfound grá for Gaeilge, or are rekindling a past love.
In Monaghan town, that love is being nurtured in An Nead (The Nest), a recently opened Irish language café.
Courtney Nic Uilis is the manager, and the Irish Language Development Officer with Muineachán Le Gaeilge, a community-based Irish language group.
She said the café was opened from a need for more space for the group's activities, and now it's "flat out" every day.
"An Nead, the nest, this space is a nest for us to come together and use our native language in a comfortable environment. People leave school and say you'll never use Irish again, but this is their excuse," she said.
"It's open for the pobal, the ethos behind An Nead is the language, our native tongue. Everything is bilingual. Whenever someone comes in, we greet them as Gaeilge, and if someone looks a bit nervous, we change to Bearla. Every single person is welcome in An Nead."
They've already had visitors from all over the country and great community support, and the café is run with the help of a team of volunteers.
"People come in, who are maybe a wee bit nervous saying the first cúpla focal, and then they just go with the flow, then they're delighted. I would say a good 85% of people come in here and just use Gaeilge," she said.
Seán O'Murchadha, Chairman of Muineachán Le Gaeilge, said the café was building on the already strong use of the language in the county, stemming from the high percentage of pupils attending gaelscoileanna and the strength of Irish in all schools.
He said that local businesses in the area have told him that they have noticed an increase in people saying "Dia dhuit" and "go raibh maith agat" to them.
"I'm thinking we're having an impact both on the street here and the wider community," he said.
One of those having lunch in An Nead when we visited, was Brendan Ó Dufaigh, a former principal of Coláiste Oiriall in Monaghan.
"I think this was the next step for Irish in Monaghan. There are a lot of particularly young people who are fluent Irish speakers who like the opportunity to use it," he said.
On the question of popularity, Mr Ó Dufaigh said maybe people were now thinking of their roots and their identity.
"It seems to be cool, the 'Kneecap effect' etc. Gaelscoileanna around the country as well produce a new generation of Irish speakers, and I think we see that in Monaghan as well. They are not carrying any baggage; they're not concerned with Peig Sayers as previous generations were. They just learn Irish, they use it, full stop," he said.
While formal Irish classes have long been available, school friends Paddy Ó Faircheallaigh and Aisling Ní Fhionnagáin from Dundalk saw a gap in the market for informal daytime events where people can speak and learn Irish.
They set up a "pop-up Gaeltacht" in the Co Louth town in recent months, called "Caife agus comhrá".
Mr Ó Faircheallaigh said the idea was to just bring people together during the day to develop confidence and make the language more naturally spoken in Dundalk.
"I'd sometimes go to Galway or Donegal to speak Irish, but there is so much Irish in Dundalk I thought it was a good idea."
The events have attracted people of all ages, including children, and of all abilities too.
"It's open to everybody. The whole idea is to come in here, if you don't have any Irish, you can listen to the conversations. If you're líofa, fluent, you can speak at your leisure. It's great we have such an array of ages and levels here. The mix really helps to bring people on.
"Confidence is the whole aim. There is no judgement here in terms of your level of Irish. There's no grammar police here, just tóg tú féin agus lig do scíth ann".
Aisling Ní Fhionnagáin said she attended Cearta, a major national protest for Irish language rights back in September, having followed a lot of Irish influencers on TikTok over the past year.
"Irish is becoming so trendy at the minute, but it's putting your money where your mouth is," she said.
Ms Ní Fhionnagáin said that the pop-up Gaeltacht meant people could "do something about it".
"Instead of just saying, I wish I spoke more Irish, or giving out and saying you didn't learn Irish properly in school, Ok, you can go and learn it now".
She said just a couple of months ago she wasn't able to have a conversation in Irish, and this has come about from practicing.
The pop-up event has been hosted at various events since it started, the most recent one was in a kitchen showroom in Dundalk, owned by David McCarthy.
He said while he had a love of Irish in school, he hadn't spoken the language for 22 years.
His children now attend a gaelscoil and he started to attend the pop-up events with his son.
"I want to promote Irish and get everyone involved, share it around local businesses, open up spaces for people to come and speak Irish," Mr McCarthy said.
Each event has grown in size, attracting people living in neighbouring counties of Monaghan and Meath as well.
Friends James Durnin and Leah McMahon came from Drumconrath. They said it was a good opportunity to learn in a conversational way, "not the type you learn in school".
Colette Dolan from Dundalk said she returned to learning Irish over the past two years.
"I love the language, the culture and the people. It's great to have a place to come and speak again," she said.
