Baile Gib in 1963

My father was a Welsh man and Welsh was his first and favoured language.I often heard him speak it on the phone of the next door neighbour,the Rosses,to his mother in Wales. He died before his mother did and even at 100 years of age she spoke Welsh fluently and English haltingly.He lived in Ireland since I was less than a year old and had little opportunity to speak his native tongue,except on his rare holidays back to see his Welsh parents.
He did encourage us to speak Irish and because we had a school teacher that was good on this subject we picked up a reasonable grasp of it,although we never spoke it at home.I would class the Irish we spoke as a Dublin version of it with Clare bias and it had no affiliation with any of the recognised dialects.
Going to Irish college in the summer was not on for us.We just couldn't afford it.But the DA was a rabid trade union man and the Union .I cannot remember which,put up a scholarship each year for one child of its electrician members,which was the occupation of my father.
In my last year in national school I applied for the scholarship.There were a number of applicants for the  one position and we were all interviewed in the Union premises ,as Gaelige, by a man with a Donegal blas which I had great difficulty understanding,it being the first time I heard it.I remember thinking that he had even greater difficulty understanding me.
To my great surprise I won it and was packed off to a college in Gibbstown for two weeks .I cannot remember having any money going and cannot remember the precise location of the college.
It was boys only and there was a small tuck shop.Irish exclusively was actually spoken and we all enjoyed our time there .as far as I can remember.ON the first Sunday a sports was held.I was a fair athlete then and won a goodish number of events.The prizes were vouchers for the tuck shop.I was well set for the following week.
Each morning we sang the following song:-
"Sinne Clann brea og na hEireann,taimid laidir,feariul gcroi,
Ni labhairimid ach Gaelige ,ar nos ar gcinnire,
Ma thaistin uaitse saoire tar anseo go Bru na Mhide,
Sinne Clann na hEirean n o,sinne Clann na hEireann O,
Anseo, i Bru na Mhide."
What brought this back to me was a recent trip through Gibbstown when I found myself humming this song to myself.
Happy days indeed.