Former UCC student takes on huge cultural project

A long-closed hotel on Inis Meáin, Óstán Inis Meáin, is set to be reopened and reconstituted as a cultural centre thanks to a former UCC student.

As part of this, a €1,000 voucher for the centre is being offered as part of a public competition to choose its name. The entries should “reference cultural connection, education, heritage, environment, and Inis Meáin’s unique identity”.

“My dream is for the centre to be a place for deep, meaningful, and equal connection for everyone here.” Speaking from a crag overlooking the site as she helps with renovations, Úna Ní Fhlannagáin, the centre’s custodian, said the plan to create a cultural centre on the island is one that has been years in the making.

“I want to see people develop skills - cultural, linguistic, and practical - at this centre that they can use to contribute to Ireland as a whole,” she said.

Originally from Craughwell in south Galway, Úna, a professional harpist and composer, graduated from UCC in 2005. She moved to Inis Meáin - one of the three islands that make up the Aran Islands in the mouth of Galway Bay - in 2020.

During the Covid pandemic, while spending more time than usual at home, she was able to take a deep dive into Gaelic culture and practice as far back as the medieval period. What she found made Inis Meáin a natural choice for her.

“Inis Meáin is like a jewel of cultural activity in Ireland. There are practices and a culture here that you won’t find anywhere else in Ireland,” she said.

“I came here to stay for a week and I absolutely fell in love with the place, so I decided to stay,” she said.

In her first week there she went for a walk, and saw something she said “filled her with sadness”.

“I saw the building. It was derelict, and I just thought it was such a beautiful building, and such a waste to see it sitting there not being used.

“After that I got a bit obsessed,” she said. “I started to read about it, to find any information about the building and its history that I could. It became something I would dream about.”

In 2024, the building came on the market, and Úna was perfectly placed to put in a bid, which was successful. Her period of research was also not wasted, as she was quickly able to put together a business plan and secure investment for her planned cultural centre.

Already, plans for the centre’s programme are looking promising. Úna says that she has been able to take advantage of the broad network she has developed over her musical career.

“Music is going to be central to what we’ll offer at the centre. I have been able to secure commitments from 22 top Irish musicians to come to the island and teach at the centre when it opens in 2027, among them six TG4 Gradam Ceoil winners.”

Students will be able to come to the island and learn from these musicians, and also be exposed to a range of complimentary activities, including cultural and language workshops, or nature walks and classes along the island’s coast.

The reaction on the island to the building being sold has been extremely positive, said Úna. “The shopkeeper on the island, she told me that everyone coming in to her was so excited that the building had finally been sold, especially because it’s been sold to someone who lives on the island and speaks the language,” she said.

The question around outsiders moving into remote locations like the Aran Islands and having a fraught relationship with locals whom they never fully integrate with is one that Úna is acutely aware of. “I’m an outsider on the island, I’m not a native speaker, I learned my Irish at a gaelscoil. But I’m someone who is extremely passionate and committed to Irish culture, and I think that people here have a sense of that,” she added.

“When I first moved here I started a session at the local pub, Teach Ósta Inis Meáin. The locals know me now as ‘the girl who puts on the music in the pub’,” she said.

The centre is something she has high hopes for. When asked if she had thought five or ten years ahead, she said: “I’ve thought 40 years ahead”.

“I want this place to be a driving cultural hub for the community and for the island. I want to see it become a centre of arrival, and welcome, and activity, where there’s always something happening.”

Time will tell if this can be achieved, but in the immediate future, the centre plans to open to the public in 2027.