Sabhal Mòr Lectures

The Sabhal Mòr Lectures are a series of annual televised lectures held at the college Sabhal Mòr Ostaig on Skye, Scotland. The lectures are held in English, but focus on topics related to the Scottish Gaelic language, often with emphasis on related economic or cultural issues. The invited lecturers are sometimes very prominent personalities, and a number of the lectures have been seen as landmarks in the development of Gaelic policy. The lectures are sponsored and broadcast by Scottish and Grampian Television.

Among the most notable lectures were those by Scottish secretary George Younger (1987), Irish President Mary Robinson (1997), British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown (1999), and First Minister of Scotland Donald Dewar (2000).

Mary Robinson's lecture spoke of the possibility of creating "an island space" for the Hebrides and Ireland in which to celebrate what the two countries share. This led directly to the establishment of Columba initiative.

List of Sabhal Mòr lecturers

1. (1987) George Younger
2. (1988)
3. (1989)
4. (1990) Jim Hunter
5. (1991)
6. (1992)
7. (1993)
8. (1994)
9. (1995)
10. (1996) Donnie Munroe
11. (1997) Mary Robinson
12. (1998)
13. (1999) Gordon Brown
14. (2000) Donald Dewar
15. (2001)
16. (2002)
17. (2003)
18. (2004) Jack McConnell
19. (2005) Duncan Rice
20. (2006)

Source

Roger Hutchinson, A Waxing Moon: The Modern Gaelic Revival, Mainstream Publishing, Edinburgh, 2005. ISBN: 1 84018 794 8.