The American Scottish Gaelic Society

Gillebrìde MacMillan, Rachel Walker to adjudicate ACGA Online Mòd

| | National Mòd

Plans are quickly taking shape for ACGA’s first Virtual US National Mòd on Saturday, Nov. 7. Two of Scotland’s leading Gaelic singers and educators, Rachel Walker and Gillebrìde MacMillan, will judge competitions in Gaelic storytelling, poetry, and song, and each will offer workshops as well.

The entire event will be conducted through the Zoom video conferencing app, just like ACGA’s Grandfather Mountain Song and Language Week ...

Read More
The American Scottish Gaelic Society

ACGA to hold Virtual National Mòd in November

| | Gaelic Song, National Mòd

Mark your calendars — An Comann Gàidhealach Ameireaganach (ACGA) will hold its 31st US National Mòd entirely online the weekend of Nov. 7-8. The Mòd Committee is contacting adjudicators and making plans for the competitions and any other events, and more information will be available soon.

The coronavirus has pushed all types of events online this year, including ACGA’s Grandfather Mountain Song and Language Week. That ...

Read More
The American Scottish Gaelic Society

James Graham named CEO of An Comunn Gàidhealach

| | National Mòd, Organization

James Graham (Seumas Greumach), a Royal National Mòd Gold Medal Winner and a frequent instructor and adjudicator at ACGA events, will become the new chief executive officer of An Comunn Gàidhealach in Scotland in March, after the current CEO, John Morrison, retires.

Graham has been An Comunn’s Mòd manager since 2010, tackling the varied management challenges of national and provincial mòds throughout Scotland. He won the ...

Read More
The American Scottish Gaelic Society

Registration Open for Gaelic Singers, Storytellers at Mòd Ligonier 2019

| | Events, Gaelic Song, National Mòd

The Ligonier Mòd will take place in the town of Ligonier, Pennsylvania, at the Ligonier Highland Games Sept. 13-15, 2019, as it has many times in the past!

We will gather Friday night, Sept. 13, for those who wish, for a cèilidh at the Ramada Ligonier, situated in the heart of the town near Fort Ligonier. The competitions will take place at the Ligonier Highland Games ...

Read More
The American Scottish Gaelic Society

Rachel Walker coming to Ligonier Mòd in September

| | Events, Gaelic Song, National Mòd

Acclaimed Scottish Gaelic singer Rachel Walker is returning to America, this time to judge the Gaelic song competition at Mòd Ligonier 2019 in September.

The Mòd is a celebration of Scottish Gaelic song, music, poetry and storytelling based on Scotland’s Royal National Mòd and provincial Mòds. ACGA has held 30 National U.S. Mòds, many of them at Ligonier in western Pennsylvania.

Mòd Ligonier will be held Sept. ...Read More

The American Scottish Gaelic Society

ACGA ‘Mini-Mòd’ Coming to Ligonier Sept. 21-23

| | Events, Gaelic Song, National Mòd

ACGA’s National Mòd in Pennsylvania is on hiatus for 2018 as we re-tool for an expanded event in 2019, but we’ve gotten a large number of inquiries and requests to get together in Ligonier again this year, to have a smaller, informal Mòd.

We just can’t let the year go by without keeping the tradition of singing, storytelling, poetry, and good times going in some form! ...

Read More
The American Scottish Gaelic Society

Briathrachas nan Cèilidhean: Cèilidh Talk!

| | ACGA Fèis, Events, Gaelic Learning Communities, National Mòd

Going to a cèilidh? You may want to learn or brush up on these phrases, selected and recorded by Fèisean nan Gàidheal.

This vocabulary list teaches you to say where you or someone else is from in Gaelic, how to welcome people, and how to talk about the music that’s being played or songs being sung. And there are some very important incidental phrases thrown in ...Read More

Harper James Ruff to teach at ACGA Fèis

| | ACGA Fèis, Events, National Mòd

Last year, James Ruff won the men’s gold medal for Gaelic song at the U.S. National Mòd. This year, he will return to Ligonier, Pennsylvania, to lead a special harp workshop at the inaugural ACGA Fèis, a one-day program of workshops in Scottish Gaelic culture.

Ruff will lead a workshop Sept. 22 on the role of the clàrsach, the wire-strung harp, in Scottish Gaelic and Irish ...

Read More

Margaret Stewart, Murdo ‘Wasp’ MacDonald to Adjudicate 30th Annual US Gaelic Mòd

| | Events, National Mòd, Organization

Famed Scottish singers Maighread Stiùbhart (Margaret Stewart) and Murchadh Dòmhnallach (Murdo “Wasp” MacDonald) will be adjudicators at the 30th annual U.S. National Mòd, a three-day festival of Scottish Gaelic song, poetry, storytelling and music this Sept. 22-24 in Ligonier, Pennsylvania.

This is the first time in several years that the Mòd will feature two adjudicators, and An Comunn Gàidhealach Ameireaganach is delighted to welcome Margaret and ...Read More

The American Scottish Gaelic Society

US Mòd Prescribed Songs for Men and Women

| | Events, National Mòd

Two classic Scottish Gaelic songs — Gillean Ghleann Dail for men and A Fhleasgaich Òig as Ceanalta for women — were chosen as prescribed songs for the Gold Medal competition at the U.S. National Mòd this September. These are both highly popular songs that have been recorded by several artists, including Arthur Cormack, Flora MacNeill and Maggie MacInnes.

The men’s prescribed song, Gillean Ghleann Dàil (“Lads ...

Read More