Dámh Imeall: (h)Edge School

Dámh means ‘academy’ or ‘artistic community’ in the Irish language. Imeall is the Irish word for ‘edge’ or ‘boundary’.

The ‘hedge school’ era in Ireland, during the 18th and 19th century, was an informal system of schooling that preserved traditional Gaelic culture and the classical education of Greek and Roman civilization. These hedge schools were often in homes, barns or secluded, secret places. The educational alchemy of the hedge school movement blends the poetic and the practical during times of existential crisis.