Ring or Ringagonagh is a parish within the Irish-speaking Gaeltacht na nDéise area in County Waterford, Ireland. It lies on a peninsula about seven miles south of Dungarvan. The main settlement is the village of Ring or Ringville, which is within the townland of Ballynagaul. It is a growing area that has three schools - two primary and one secondary school, Meánscoil San Nioclás — a post office, restaurants, pubs and other businesses. There are also two fishing piers/harbours, two beaches and a cove at Helvick.
Placename
'Ring' is an anglicisation of the Irish name 'An Rinn', meaning cape, point or headland. In 2005, the then Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht AffairsÉamon Ó Cuív announced that by way of Placenames Orders under the Official Languages Act 2003, anglicised place names of Gaeltacht towns and villages would no longer feature on official signposts, and only the Irish language names would appear. The English-language version of the town's name was thus officially dropped from roadsigns in 2005. However, the English-language version of the name, Ring, is still widely used in Waterford and elsewhere.
The Irish language plays an important role for people in the area, which is pivotal for improving their linguistic abilities. Gaoluinn na nDéise - the Waterford variant of the Munster Irish dialect - is spoken by native speakers. The strongest age-group of Irish speakers is the 10-14 age category, of which 50.8% use the language on a daily basis outside of educational institutions. A large number of people have moved to the area over recent decades, and as a result there is a group of people living in Ring for whom Irish is not their first language. The Comprehensive Linguistic Study of the use of Irish in the Gaeltacht, published in 2007 and updated in 2014, gave information in relation to the number of Irish speakers in Gaeltacht na nDéise and the three electoral divisions it comprises: Ring, Ballymacart and Ardmore. The results for Ring were as follows: Áine Ní Fhoghludha, a noted writer in the Irish language, was born here.
Education
All education in Ring is carried out through the medium of Irish. There is a pre-school, Naíonra na Rinne in the local community centre, Ionad Pobail na Rinne. There is one primary-level national school, Scoil Náisiúnta na Rinne, located at Maoil an Choirnigh. There is one secondary school, Meánscoil San Nioclás which services Ring, An Sean Phobal and also some students from Dungarvan.
Coláiste na Rinne
Coláiste na Rinne is a boarding Irish-medium primary school in Ring. The Coláiste operates as an Irish-language summer college during the summer. During term time it accommodates fifth and sixth class students. As Coláiste na Rinne is a primary boarding school, many students go on to secondary-level boarding schools from here. Many of the visiting students are accommodated by local families, many of whom speak only Irish at home. As such. it is seen as a good way to improve the visitors' quality of spoken Irish. A new Transition Year course is also being offered for students in 2016. Coláiste na Rinne also provides Irish-language training courses for various public sector bodies and trainee teachers.
Sport
is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in Ring. The club enters teams of both GAA codes each year, which includes two adult Gaelic football teams and two adult Hurling teams in the Waterford County Championships. The club is one of a handful of dual clubs at senior level in the county, competing in the Senior Hurling and Senior Football championships.
Community Development
Community development in Ring is primarily carried out by two bodies that co-operate with each other. Comhairle Pobail na Rinne runs the local community hall, Ionad Pobail na Rinne, which hosts facilities and activities such Naíonra na Rinne, the local GP's office, the Raidió na Gaeltachta studio, Seirbhís Iarscoile na Rinne, and Spraoi, a parent-and-toddler group, as well as organising a variety of community events. Comhairle Pobail na Rinne have a rial na Gaeilge which requires activities taking place in the hall to include the Irish language, and most activities are carried out in Irish only. Comhlucht Forbartha na nDéise, which represents Gaeltacht na nDéise, also has an office in Ring and works to develop various projects. Comhlucht Forbartha na nDéise was established in May 2005. It is a registered company and charity and has representatives from Comhairle Pobail na Rinne, as well was Coiste Forbartha an tSean Phobail, on its board of directors. An Comhlucht Forbartha has developed and implemented several development plans for the Waterford Gaeltacht which have resulted in new facilities for Ring, such as a playground. Comhairle Pobail na Rinne won recognition for their activities in the 'An Baile Beo' competition in 2006.
