Irish project wins top award for Roscommon teenager
Solomon Gleeson (Ó Gliasáin) who won first place senior individual in the Technology category at the 2026 Stripe Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition.
An Elphin teenager won first place, senior individual, in the Technology category at the recent 2026 Stripe Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition.
Solomon Gleeson (Ó’Gliasáin) won the accolade for his project "Ag úsáid córas nua intleachta saorga chun canúintí díothaithe na Gaeilge a athchruthú / The use of a new system, with the help of artificial intelligence, to reconstruct extinct Irish dialects."
His project also received the ECAS 112 award, backed by a silver sponsor, for the best overall project in Irish.
Solomon (16) who lives in Elphin is a Fifth Year student at Colaiste Naomh Eoin.
He now hopes to expand the use of his system in classrooms that typically teach a standardised version of Irish with no connection to the local community.
He would like to encourage students to learn a spoken form of the language that is relevant to them and where they came from.
Son of Padraig and Paula Gleeson, he says that the Irish language is becoming increasingly popular in today's society, with much more support, making the implementation of such a system appear necessary.
His goal is to restore Irish speakers' local identities, particularly in non-Gaeltacht areas, and to serve as a catalyst for the reconstruction of regional Irish dialects across the country.
Solomon and his brothers Setanta and Senan all play football with Elphin GAA Club.
