Try out the best bench in Clonmel to have a focal

The other weekend, I spent almost ten hours at a bench in Clonmel. This particular bench on Parnell Street is the only bench in the town where you can have a focal.

When I told one man this who passed by, he reckoned there were other benches in Clonmel where that could happen. But I assured him, I had done the research and this was the only bench I had found that encouraged people to share a few focals and speak some Irish.

Personally, I'm a Guerrilla Gaeilge Activist, a job I've invented, where I am dedicated to lurking in bushes and ambushing strangers in the hope that they will speak Irish with me. Now, as Clonmel Junction Arts Festival are hoping to make this bench a commonly used space in the community, they invited me to spend a weekend accosting the local townspeople during this year's festival.

This was possible thanks to funding received as part of the Culture Programme for Ireland's Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2026.

On July 3rd I sat poised on the bench. When a man walked past me I called after him “do you want a focal?” He stopped and looked at me and my sign that said Labhair Gaeilge Liom, meaning Speak Irish With Me.

I held out my cup of focals, an espresso cup I fill with Irish words, offering him to take one. He giggled as he picked out the word lámhainní and understandably guessed that it meant hands.

I told him that was close but not quite it, and gave him a clue saying, “cuireann tú íad ar do lámha...nuair ata do lámha fuair”.

He still wasn't quite sure so I said “Tá an aimsir te inniú” making facial expressions to indicate that I was hot and continued to say “so níl mé ag caitheamh aon lámhainní” holding up my bare hands and shaking my head.

After this series of clues and actions indicating that I don't wear them when the weather is hot, he correctly guessed gloves.

Using the word as a prompt to continue our chat, I asked him “An gcaitheann tú lámhainní?” He answered, “yea, well, not really when my hands are cold but I do wear them when I'm on my motorbike”.

He then asked, “What's the Irish word for motorbike?”

This often happens to me, people ask me what a word is in Irish and I have no idea. “Eh, rothar...rothar...rothar sciopaidh” I concluded. Which for some reason made us both laugh.

The two of us kept chatting bilingually moving from the topic of gloves and motorbikes, to the fact that he had lived in France for years. Vocab such as cáis agus arán came back to him as we were naturally prompted to discuss cheese and bread.

As we wrapped up our conversation he said “Go raibh maith agat. I actually had no idea so many Irish words were still in there” as he pointed to his forehead.

I'd love to say that all of my chats with the more than one hundred people I spoke to in Clonmel went this well.

One woman stopped, staying on the other side of the footpath and assertively shouted that it had been “joyless...JOYLESS!”

She was referring to her Irish education and due to this lingering negative association she told me firmly that she did not want a focal.

Others kept their heads down and walked briskly by, possibly not even realising it had anything to do with Irish, but accurately noticing that I was some kind of weirdo.

There were a few who didn't stop but the question “do you want a focal?” did make them laugh as they kept walking.

Moments like this can feel like a success for me. As passive as the interactions are, the fact that the person laughed makes me feel that maybe the next time, they would stop.

Overall though, the people I spoke to in Clonmel were incredibly fun, friendly and surprisingly to them, but not to me, had way more Irish than they expected themselves to have.

This is the essence and purpose of Guerrilla Gaeilge and now this new bench. These endeavours are designed for the Gaeilge Curious among us, of whom there are so many.

The people who'd like to speak more Irish but don't know how exactly to start or don't believe their Irish is good enough.

Unless these people are literally accosted with an espresso cup full of words, they may never find the confidence to try and in turn, surprise themselves by the fact they can actually speak Irish, as rusty as it might be.

Of course I'd love to spend more time at the bench and focal every single person in Clonmel. However, not only is it egotistical to believe I could do this, it wouldn't be a sustainable approach.

The reason Clonmel Junction Arts Festival invited me to this year's festival was to try to encourage and train local volunteers to become Guerrilla Gaeilge Activists themselves. The impact of having committed local volunteers would be far greater than anything I could ever achieve individually.

I understand that people may need more support to volunteer and it will take more than one weekend to genuinely recruit individuals to join this cause.

However, I'd like to stress that this is a great bench and I would encourage you all to sit there sometime. You can also be certain that I will be back at a time you least suspect it.

Not only to ask the locals if they'd like a focal as they pass by, but to ask them if they would also be willing to give a focal? With the hope of one day, making this a bench where, at any time, day or night, it will be possible for the people of Clonmel to share a cúpla focal and enjoy speaking Irish.