Considering why the design ethics of my entire final year had been dedicated to positively changing people’s perceptions of the Irish language and its cultural significance, I came to the realisation that at the core of my project was a very personal journey. I felt that I had lost touch with the language that had encompassed nearly my entire life. At the time of this realisation, my family and I had moved to my mother’s childhood home in the north of Donegal, due to the Coronavirus Lockdown. Being locked down in the countryside helped me understand how disconnected I had become from the land, and more importantly, from my family’s heritage. I knew I wanted to create something that reconnected me with my family’s land while also building a space that would stand as a safe-haven for the Irish language, and contribute to its survival.
The space was an area where my mother’s family played throughout their childhood, but lay dormant for over 30 years. My hope in using the Irish language as a tool to repurpose a forgotten space was to lease new life to both the derelict site and the Irish language.
