It turns out Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey has a lot of grá for the Irish language and he wants his kids to become fluent in it.
McConaughey has Irish roots through his mother Kay, whose family come from Cavan and Monaghan. The Dallas Buyers Club actor has three kids with Brazilian wife Camilla Alves, Levi (8), Vida (6) and Livingston (4) and he told the Irish Sun that he wants them to embrace their celtic roots.
“I gotta keep up the Gaelic. I want them reading the literature, I want Riverdancing, I want them saying, ‘grand’"
McConaughey seems to be well aware that the only way to truly get a hold of the language is through immersion and he says he hopes to send them to the Gaeltacht to pick up a cupla focal.
“When they’re older, I want to send them to that Irish language summer camp you guys do, it’s like a rite of passage for you guys, isn’t it? When you’re teenagers. I want them fluent — which means I gotta do a crash course too.”
McConaughey lived in Dublin for a summer back in 2001 and said that felt like 'coming home'.
“I walked those streets, walked into tiny pubs with giant welcomes and warm hearts. That ‘f*** it, pull up a stool, tell me your story, I’ll tell you mine’, attitude, I loved it."
“That was paradise to me. I was coming home. I made fast friends, I sang, I danced. Heard stories and tales and jokes and anecdotes I’ll remember for a lifetime. I was back with my people. Take me home to my people.”
