Kneecap film bringing Irish language to masses creates box office storm

When Eoghan Ó Chonghaíle, a 19-year-old youth outreach worker with the Irish language organisation Glór na Móna, heard Kneecap’s controversial single C.E.A.R.T.A (the Irish word for rights) six years ago he was inspired to spread the word.
Ó Chonghaíle became evangelical about keeping his mother tongue alive across west Belfast and beyond — an aim many who have seen the new Kneecap film seem to share.
Members of the Irish-speaking community last week said the success of Kneecap and an eponymous biopic about the hip-hop trio’s rise was driving a Gaelic revival. They also said the group had forged a special connection with Gen Z and expanded the boundaries of expression through the Irish language.
Ó Chonghaíle grew up in an Irish-speaking household and attended Coláiste Feirste, Belfast’s only secondary-level gaelscoil, which also counts Mo Chara and Móglaí Bap, two thirds of Kneecap’s line-up, among its alumni.
“I was 13 at the time [when I heard the song]. At that point in my life, I didn’t really understand the whole thing with the language and reclamation. Here were people I looked up to and it was in your face. It’s about language, it’s something new, it’s unique. It’s a new twist on Irish,” Ó Chonghaíle said.
He added that Kneecap’s music was “20 times more effective” at engaging the next generation than dedicated Irish language groups in the north.
“It’s uncharted territory we’re in. I often would work in the summer colleges, in the Gaeltacht in Donegal. I was there last month. Every single kid on that course knew who Kneecap were. They were interested in Kneecap. You have kids coming to the Gaeltacht in Donegal to improve their Irish because of all of this,” Ó Chonghaíle said.
The film, which stars Michael Fassbender and has been selected as Ireland’s entry for the 2025 Oscars, is placing a version of Irish language culture on the global stage that has been lauded as bold and refreshingly provocative, but criticised by others who allege that the nationalist political sentiments expressed in the group’s lyrics and public statements can be divisive.
Kneecap recorded the biggest ever opening of any Irish language film last weekend, charting at number three in the Irish box office. However the film’s journey to the screen was not entirely smooth. The rap group have secured permission from the high court to take legal action against the UK government, which blocked £15,000 of funding for the film.
Rossa Ó Snodaigh, a musician and founding member of the Irish-language trad and folk band Kíla, who invited Kneecap to perform at the Irish language festival (An Puball Gaeilge) at Electric Picnic a few years ago, said that while previous cultural representations of the Irish language had appeared at times “soft and delicate”, the west Belfast band’s art was, by contrast, “raging and shouting from the rooftops.”
“Some people would [feel uncomfortable]. These guys are blatantly nationalist. They grew up in an environment that none of us know anything about. They grew up in an environment of total oppression and they have the right to say what they are saying,” Ó Snodaigh said, referring to the group members’ upbringing in the shadow of the Troubles.
Ó Snodaigh added that Kneecap were a product of a society in which Irish language rights were contested and that their rebellious message encouraged young people to recognise that the language was “worth it”. “It may or may not (help community relations), it depends on what lyric is said. But they are punching up against oppression, not punching down to be oppressive. That is very attractive for anyone. If there is a teenager who is learning Irish in a Protestant community, I would say they would be inspired by them,” Ó Snodaigh said.
Ciara Ní É, a poet and writer who established a bilingual poetry and spoken language night called REIC, said she previously met Móglaí Bap through community events in Belfast.
She described Kneecap as being still closely tied to the grassroots of the Irish language community, and remembered that they had attended REIC events held in Belfast in the early days before they found fame, a fact which still leads to many enquiries sent to Ní É from superfans requesting recordings of the performances.
“What’s really interesting about Kneecap lads is they’re doing hip hop, they’re doing music videos, they’ve made a film. It’s fun. It’s just entertaining. If you watch an interview with them, two sentences don’t go by that they’re not cracking a joke. People are just attracted to that lightness and the humour.
In a world of manufactured pop stars, they are the real deal. They have musical talent, they’re rooted in our indigenous culture and they actually have something to say,” Ní É said.
Asked whether the political overtones of Kneecap’s output might turn some people away from learning the language, Ní É said that choosing to speak and perform music in Irish in the north of Ireland was an “inherently political” act.
“In the 26 counties, I think there can just be a bit of complacency, as if our government is going to sort it. Looking at the Kneecap lads and how they are fighting for their right to be Gaelic in Ireland is making people think ‘Oh, wait. I’m Irish’, and tapping into that mindset of what was taken away from them as well through hundreds of years of oppression,” Ní É said.
Caoimhe Molloy, the education and membership executive of Conradh na Gaeilge, said the group were responsible for challenging perceptions of how Irish can and should be used, as well as the established structures that have appeared to assert ownership over the language.
“Suddenly you are seeing people doing things that you do. Going out, going to raves and being a little bad, and naughty and bold with it. That’s not the Irish I know from the classroom. That’s Irish as a real living language that reflects my experiences. Kneecap rap about things like the dole, failing to pay rent, relationships with their parents and suicide, depression, gambling,” Molloy, 23, said.
Molloy added that Kneecap had created a relatable new vision of Irish language culture that holds appeal for communities that may have traditionally felt alienated from Gaeilge.
“I think Irish, sometimes, is incorrectly viewed as a language of the middle-class or as something that is only accessible to parents who want their child to have that little bit of tokenistic academia.
Whereas, Kneecap are very open and honest about coming from west Belfast, coming from a working-class background. I think people see themselves in the film,” Molloy said.