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Barr na gCnoc

Introduction

Barr na gCnoc: University Assisted Community Schools Initiative

Barr na gCnoc is a community partnership that marries UCC’s commitment to community engagement with our research and teaching missions, to bring academic, human, and material resources in the Irish language into action for the benefit of the community.

Background

In 2017 a community partnership was formed between UCC and Terence MacSweeney Community College, Knocknaheeny, Cork, to support the establishment of an Aonad Lán-Ghaeilge in the school, where all subjects would be taught through Irish from first year to Leaving Certificate. The proposal to establish the Aonad came from the local community’s demand for educational choice in an area of high socio-economic exclusion. An invitation to UCC to become involved resulted in the collaboration titled Barr na gCnoc, led by Professor Pádraig Ó Macháin, Head of Ionad na Gaeilge Labhartha. The Aonad (Gaelcholáiste Mhic Shuibhne) opened its doors in 2019, and UCC support is ongoing.

Our Approach

Prominent aspects of this support include:
  • Advocacy through engagement with parents and key stakeholders at public meetings and other fora, and hosting visits by parents and students to UCC campus.
  • Teacher Support is provided through upskilling classes in the English-speaking parent-school to enable transfer of teachers, when required, to the Aonad Lán-Ghaeilge, and continuing this support within the Aonad itself. These classes are sponsored by An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta agus Gaelscolaíochta.
  • Student Support consisting of
    • a scholarship scheme, sponsored by UCC, for first year entrants to the Aonad. An annual scholarship award ceremony is hosted by UCC.
    • sponsorship of Gaeltacht residency courses for pupils in UCC’s external campus, Dún Chíomháin, in the Kerry Gaeltacht.
    • sponsorship of an undergraduate student-volunteer programme (event organisation, homework clubs).
  • Parent Support including engagement through information nights, and support for language acquisition/upskilling through evening classes in Irish.

As it progressed, Barr na gCnoc drew on international evidence from the University-Assisted Community Schools programme at the University of Pennsylvania’s Netter Center for Community Partnerships to develop a theoretically and empirically informed education-improvement model.

This model embraces the idea that those learners who have access to culturally appropriate language-learning, holistic community resources, and equal opportunities, are better equipped to develop and flourish in society.

This initiative is firmly based on community demand and community engagement, and responds to national DEIS school baseline data on educational disadvantage.

 

Barr na gCnoc created a mutually beneficial partnership that is improving the quality of life and learning in the school and the community and empowering the community while advancing UCC’s community engagement. Noteworthy outcomes to date are:

Academic Performance

The 2019-2020 cohort were the first group from Knocknaheeny to sit state exams through Irish. The Junior Certificate results of 2022 matched non-DEIS schools, overcoming a trend where DEIS schools show lower attainment scores in State exams (S.M. Nelis et al., Beyond achievement (2021); E. Smyth et al. Learning from the Evaluation of DEIS (2015).

Increased Social Capital

Community participation was crucial to the establishment and growth of the Aonad, which originated in parents’ advocacy for educational choice as a human right. The establishment and continuous development of the school was supported by strong community participation, leading to improved levels of social capital – the gelling of societal connections for the betterment of all.

Educational Aspirations

Improved educational aspirations was an outstanding impact of Barr na gCnoc as the beneficiaries of the project now see higher education as a realistic future possibility. A study commissioned in 2021 stated that

. . . parents and pupils of this new Irish-medium school, without exception, expressed the view that third-level education, and specifically UCC, had now become an aspiration of parents/guardians and an ambition of all pupils . . . It seems clear that one of the reasons for this remarkable shift in attitude is the presence of University College Cork . . . throughout the establishment process of this new school, and their continued presence and involvement as the school develops”.

National and International Recognition

There have been many achievements from the Barr na gCnoc project including a range of awards for Gaelcholáiste Mhic Shuibhne:

  • The President’s Gaisce Award
  • Foras na Gaeilge’s Gaelbhratach
  • Euroscola at European Parliament for pupils to be MEP for a day
  • National Ríomheolaíocht Award at the Kinia Tech Féile

A major achievement for the students in 2023 was winning The Virgin Digital Innovators Award for the bilingual book and app written and designed by the pupils of the Gaelcholáiste, Códú 4 U.

Who Are We?

Barr na gCnoc is a community partnership co-ordinated by Professor Pádraig Ó Macháin, Centre for Spoken Irish, University College Cork, with staff in Terence MacSweeney Community College, Knocknaheeny led by Principal, Phil O’Flynn. 

Events and Courses

Information on events and courses that are part of the Barr na gCnoc project will be available here shortly.

News

 

Steering Group

Professor Pádraig Ó Macháin
Director of the Centre for Spoken Irish
E: p.omachain@ucc.ie

 

Committees

The following committees will form part of Barr na gCnoc

  • Steering Committee
  • Advisory Committee
  • Implementation Committee

Participating Schools

Terence MacSwiney Community College
Knocknaheeny
Cork

Contact Details

Centre for Spoken Irish
ORB G02, O'Rahilly Building
University College Cork
E: g.labh@ucc.ie

Ionad na Gaeilge Labhartha

Centre for Spoken Irish

Room G02, O'Rahilly Building, College Road, Cork

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