The four-day An tOireachtas Irish-language festival has officially opened in Killarney, Co Kerry and began by going back to its 1897 roots with a celebration of new creative writing as Gaeilge.
The first president of Ireland Douglas Hyde was the first Uachtarán of An tOireachtas and the event set about promoting and reimagining creative writing in the language.
The winners of Oireachtas awards over the decades is a real whos who of the Irish landscape spanning three centuries now: Pádraic Pearse, Douglas Hyde, Seán Ó Ríordáin, Máirtin Ó Direáin and Máire Mhac an tSaoi ar but a few of those names, now familiar to most post-primary pupils.
But the four-day festival has broadened its agenda to include a wider range of language-based arts, all on show across the 167 different competitions and events running from today until Saturday night.
"We are a language-based community arts festival," says Máirín Nic Dhonnchadha, the dynamic, Conamara-based Ceannasaí of An tOireachtas, "and we try to promote and give a platform to the arts that come from the language community, both the traditional and the new".
One of these is sean-nós singing, an art form that is almost unique to the Gaeltacht.
The solo, unaccompanied singing is distinguished by its use of intricate ornamentation and each Gaeltacht area has its own unique style and store of songs.
There are sean-nós competitions for all ages, but Saturday night sees the adult final, where competitors vie for Corn Uí Riada, the cup named for Seán Ó Riada, the renowned composer and arranger who was a driving force behind the revival of traditional and folk music in the 50s and 60s.
In recent decades, sean-nós dancing has taken this festival by storm and the competition, called "Steip" is now televised live on TG4 on the Saturday of the festival.
Indeed, most of the events can be viewed online and both TG4 and RTÉ have a strong presence at the Oireachtas with live broadcasts on radio and television.
Other competitions cover writing, recitation, satirical duologues, comedy and sketches, as well as instrumental competitions for individuals and groups.
Outside of the competitions, An tOireachtas is known for its spontaneous sessions which can pop up just any place throughout the venue, the Glengeagle and INEC in Killarney.
"We celebrate the traditional", Máirín Nic Dhonnchadha said, "but it is just as important to encourage the creative and the new, and with a record number of entries for our competitions this year I think that we are succeeding".
