Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Old East Church: First lessons held in new Gaelic centre in Inverness

There is an open day planned at Cultarlann Inbhir Nis in May.

The Gaelic lessons are helping to keep the language alive.
The Gaelic lessons are helping to keep the language alive.

The first lessons have been held at a new Gaelic cultural centre being developed in the centre of Inverness.

Cultarlann Inbhir Nis bought the landmark former East Church in Academy Street in November from the Church of Scotland to promote Gaelic language, music and arts.

The B-listed building closed in March 2023 and was on the market for offers over £230,000.

The take-over deal was sealed with the outgoing congregation handing over the 200-year-old key to the charity last month.

Unique venue focusing on Gaelic

A class of 18 advanced language students from as far away as London took part in the first Gaelic lessons in the new facility.

Tutor Padruig Moireach said: “It’s so exciting to be teaching the Gaelic weekend courses in Cultarlann’s own building.

‘It’s fantastic to have this unique venue focussing on Gaelic language and culture.

“I believe this will be the first of many courses catering for learners and enthusiasts at all levels of ability.”

Gaelic learners as far afield as London took part in the lessons

One of the students, Maggie Trevelyan, from Kiltarlity, said the central location makes the centre easily accessible.

“Gaelic is such a fundamental part of the culture of this area and we all know the language is in danger.

“We need to support it and protect it. The Cultarlann is a great chance to promote the language and let it grow. “

Helping to maintain the language

Lynn Brown, from Perth, said the centre allows people to come together and speak in Gaelic which helps to maintain the language.

“My daughter is doing Gaelic medium education and I want to be able to speak to her in Gaelic.”

Amanda NicChoinnich, from Ullapool, said it can be difficult to get chances to speak Gaelic.

“There are people in the Ullapool area who have Gaelic but they are reluctant to use it.

‘The Cultarlann is fantastic because it will be a place to come in and chat to others in Gaelic.

“In many ways it’s ridiculous that we didn’t have this long ago.”

East Church in Inverness
The centre is being developed in the former East Church in Inverness. Image Sandy McCook/DC Thomson

As work on the inside of the building continues, Cultarlann Inbhir Nis plans to hold an open day on May 11 to outline its vision.

Chair Maggie Mullholland said: “It will take a while to get all the funding, permissions and plans sorted, and then for the actual building and renovation work to be done.

“At the moment, we are working with architects, the local authority and Highlands and Islands Enterprise on taking forward some of these developments.

Maximising the benefits for the community

“But after the long campaign to get the building, we’re keen to maximise the benefits for the community immediately.”

As well as the Gaelic course, step-dancing workshops and traditional music classes are now taking place.

Discussions are also taking place with a number of Gaelic organisations about future events.

Join our Facebook group for the latest news and updates from Inverness.

Conversation