National campaign calls on the public to use Irish placenames in everyday life
A new campaign, AthGhaelú, was launched last night at the Third-Level Student Irish Language Awards, marking a major step towards reclaiming and restoring the use of Irish place names across the country.
AthGhaelú aims to encourage individuals, businesses, and organisations to use Irish place names instead of English ones in all aspects of life - from sending post, to interacting with public bodies, to everyday conversations. At the heart of the campaign is a simple but powerful call to action: use the original Irish names of the places where we live.
As part of the initiative, the public is invited to sign up to the Placenames Pledge, committing to using Irish placenames in their daily lives.
Ireland’s placenames are among the oldest in Europe, and it is estimated that 95% of them originate from Irish. Rich in meaning, they reflect landscape, history, and stories - meanings that are often lost in English. While names like Béal Feirste or Cill Airne tell us about the land and its history, their English versions tend to obscure this.
AthGhaelú aims to bring those meanings back into everyday use and to make the Irish language more visible, relevant, and widespread in modern Ireland. The campaign also connects with a growing global movement to restore indigenous placenames and challenge the legacy of colonial naming practices.
Speaking about the campaign, Aodhán Ó Deá, Director of Development and Deputy General Secretary of Conradh na Gaeilge, said:
“More than 100 years after independence was achieved in the south of this island, isn’t it shameful that we are still widely using colonial, gibberish placenames? It is well past time for us to take inspiration from other countries that are decolonising their placenames, such as India reclaiming names like Bombay → Mumbai and Calcutta → Kolkata. With that in mind, we are extremely proud to launch AthGhaelú. This campaign is about more than just using Irish - it’s about identity, ownership, and reconnecting with the meaning of the places around us. Using Irish placenames is something everyone can do, and it’s a powerful way to keep our heritage alive.”
The President of Conradh na Gaeilge, Ciarán Mac Giolla Bhéin, said:
“Our placenames were not translated - they were changed through a colonial process that separated people from the meaning of their own landscape. AthGhaelú is about bringing those names back into everyday use and recognising them as a living part of our identity. We have witnessed other minortised language communities, in Wales and other places, taking measures to give prominence to their native placenames and we should do the same. By using Irish placenames in our daily lives, we reconnect with the language, the landscape, and the stories that shape us all.”
The campaign builds on ongoing efforts across the island to promote the use of Irish place names, from Gaeltacht areas to community campaigns advocating for bilingual signage in the North.
To learn more about your own place name, visit logainm.ie or PlacenamesNI.org. To sign the Placenames’ Pledge or get involved in the campaign, visit cnag.ie/athghaelu or contact
