Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge (; English: "The Irish Language University Academy") is a third level educational and research institution headquartered in Galway, Ireland. It was established as part of the University of Galway in 2004, to further the development Irish-medium education. The academy works in co-operation with faculties, departments and other university offices to develop the range and number of programmes that are provided through the medium of Irish on campus and in the academy's Gaeltacht centres. Locations The academy operates in four in urban and rural campuses or centres: Áras na Gaeilge on the University of Galway's main campus in Galway city Áras Mháirtín Uí Chadhain in the Ceathrú Rua in Connemara, Galway Ionad an Acadaimh in the Doirí Beaga in Gaoth Dobhair, Donegal Áras Shorcha Ní Ghuairim in Carna in Connemara, Galway History The importance to any linguistic group of higher education through their own language has long been acknowledged. The foundation in Scotland of the Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, an institute which is comparable to but more substantial than the academy as it is a constituent college of the University of the Highlands and Islands, has been accompanied by a marked increase in the vitality of Scottish Gaelic. While higher education has a long history in Ireland, for most of that history it has been almost exclusively been a pursuit for English-speakers. Many Irish third level institutions provide courses where Irish itself is the object of study, but outside of that it very rare for Irish to be the medium through which a student can achieve the prestige which goes along with the title "graduate" (a notable exception being Fiontar in Dublin City University). The academy was founded in 2004 under the auspices of the University of Galway to provide a centre of excellence for university studies and research through the Irish language. It was the only third level body where the working language and language of instruction are Ireland's indigenous language until in 2013 when the educational organisation Gaelchultúr was granted its status as a third level institution by the QQI, giving birth to Coláiste na hÉireann. The academy is not a large body and given its subordinate status to its parent it cannot truly be considered an Irish language university. Research and service provision The academy's staff have been involved in the creation of The New Irish-English Dictionary, the Digital Repository of Ireland and other archival