The Irish-language history hidden in Belfast's attics

Lucymay Robinson is searching through documents that were kept by her family

They are the homes behind the modern revival of the Irish language in Belfast and they have opened their doors - and attics - to school pupils searching for living history.

Northern Ireland's first urban Gaeltacht was set up on Shaw's Road in west Belfast in 1969.

Discovering that history has led 17-year-old Lucymay Robinson to search through photos and documents her own family have kept.

"I come here sometimes to visit people and it's fun to be able to dip in to the Irish heritage that is in my family," she told BBC News NI.

She is a pupil at Coláiste Feirste in west Belfast, and she and others are working to document the history of the Belfast Gaeltacht for the GaelStair project.

The documents held by Lucyman's family date back decades

Irish language revival

The aim is to present the story of the Irish language revival in Belfast in an exhibition at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (Proni).

Then, thanks to funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, there are plans for a permanent display at Spórtlann at Coláiste Feirste.

As some of the founding families still live on Shaw's Road, the pupils have ideal source material.

"We have been looking at the documents from the building of Bhóthar Seoighe and the rebuilding of Bombay Street," Lucymay said.

"And it's very interesting to learn the history and to see the documents and I can't wait to share it with everyone.

"They had to fight for permission to be able to build these houses."

The first Irish-medium school in Northern Ireland was also set up nearby.

Northern Ireland's first urban Gaeltacht was set up in west Belfast in 1969

Bunscoil Phobal Feirste was housed in a single classroom and had only a handful of pupils when it was opened in 1971.

As a pupil in a big Irish-medium post-primary, Lucymay feels a debt to the language pioneers.

"These families are tremendously important for rebuilding the language and being able to share the language with everyone, and completely re-start it from the ground up," she said.

"The power that this language has is unstoppable and it will continue to grow.

"We're going to try our best to present it to the world."

Her fellow Coláiste Feirste pupil Davor Comissa-Davidson has also been delving into boxes in the attics of the houses on Shaw's Road.

"Going through all the different archives and all the photos and seeing the people who created what we're living in now, it's all very interesting," he said.

"They put in all their hard work and their sweat and their tears and they helped create everything that we have, for example the Irish Primary School.

"They helped to build that and built all these houses and it's interesting speaking to people who were there first hand."

Seán Mac Seáin was one of those people.

He was among the original Irish speakers who built and lived in the houses in Shaw's Road from the beginning, and he still lives there.

Shaw's Road Irish speakers

Seán Mac Seáin has been telling young people about the importance of community

Seán dug out as much memorabilia from the period as he could find to show the pupils.

"The Troubles had an effect on it alright, there's no doubt - there was trouble here every other day of the week," he said.

"But we lasted through that.

"The only thing we had, and I don't know whether you'd call it a rule or not, was that Irish would be the language of the home.

"I was explaining to them the importance of community - it's very, very important.

"If you lose sight of that you more or less lose everything.

"You have to know where you come from."

Some of the families still live on the Shaw's Road in west Belfast

Michael Jackson from the Gael Stair project said its aim was to "conserve and to celebrate the story of the contemporary Irish language revival".

"The project really aims to tell that story to a broader and more diverse audience," he told BBC News NI.

"And you can't tell the story of the Irish language community without reference to what happened here in Bhóthar Seoighe and the founding of the first urban Gaeltacht.

"These are people who created a future for some 70,000 people who speak the Irish language everyday."