what use is Irish?

Fuinseog

I have spent the last year travelling through this country and have arrived at the conclusion that less than 5% are able or willing to have a normal conversation in the language.

In the SF shop in west belfast they just gave me a strange look when I sought to parley in the langauge that they claim to be so important to their culture.

i was in the Mayo Gaeltacht, where all the signs are as Gaeilge and bare no resemblance to whats on the the map. the people there do not appear to speak the language.

in Spideal in Galway they were willing to speak Irish, but even that seems threatened.

In Dingle Daingean they are concentated on making a quick buck and only answer you in english.

so what is the point in learning a language if no one is prepared to use it beyond a few phrases like 'pog mo thoin' and 'tiocfaidh ar la'?

pog it

Fuinseog, I know exactly what you're saying. After spending the past year and more getting my Irish good, I really really wish I had more opportunities to speak it. I absolutely love the language, I read a lot in it, listen to RnaG, and man, am I glad to have it. It is the best thing I ever did. But the one thing I don't get the same chance to do as much is speak it. It doesn't depress me in the clinical sense but it does seriously annoy me that more people don't bother their ass to learn it.

Anyway, I'm lucky in that I have friends who are fluent enough in it, and one of my closest friends has got back to it, as is my sister who I get on great with, so I'll be using it more and more in the future once they get to a good level. I'm already helping them.

Also, most importantly, look at it this way. You can bring your children up with Irish if you are fluent yourself, and yes they may be in an Ireland where the Gaeltacht is weaker than it is now, but then again, maybe not. And once you get your kids and family speaking it, you have done more for Ireland than most ever will.

conor.hogan.2

Dingle and most of Mayo are not really the Gaeltacht (only in name and grant are they)

That is a large part of why you had problems.

arse..biscuits

I feel your pain. It can be a bit disheartening sometimes putting so much effort into learning the language and getting so little chance to use it.

Its not going to stop me learning it tough.

shofukan

what use is Irish?

Very little.

Legend45

i'm from a gaeltacht myself and and i must admit less people are using it except for the older people.

i really really love the language and just wish more people spoke it but nobody really seems to care, even here, never mind anywhere else.:(

Mrwolf

I hate it when forigners start speaking whatever language they speak to each other in front of you when they know you won't understand may aswell just whispper to each other in front of you , Irish is great when they do that just start speaking it and they soon see what they've been doing

RachPie

Although it's not widely spoken, I guess it's part of your own history, your ancestors more than likely spoke this ancient language. I didn't really enjoy learning it, but I think its more the way it was taught and the battleaxe teachers I had (only a minority but they made it far less enjoyable!).

Fuinseog

Legend45 wrote: »

i'm from a gaeltacht myself and and i must admit less people are using it except for the older people.

i really really love the language and just wish more people spoke it but nobody really seems to care, even here, never mind anywhere else.:(

I can understand that. I notice in Galway it is considered cool to speak Irish. it was not in the eighties. attitudes have since changed, maybe because the tourists like to hear it spoken. they also like to see it written, which is one reason why there are so many signs as Gaeilge around Galway.
I do not know if it is the right thing to do but when in the Gaeltacht I speak Irish, if I know they understand me and they can answer me in wahtever language they want.

its considered old fashioned but the fainne did help recognise Irish speakers.

Fuinseog

RachPie wrote: »

Although it's not widely spoken, I guess it's part of your own history, your ancestors more than likely spoke this ancient language. I didn't really enjoy learning it, but I think its more the way it was taught and the battleaxe teachers I had (only a minority but they made it far less enjoyable!).

Irish is not taught in school. the government neither wishes to promote it not get rid of it. it is a dreadful mess

Jay Pentatonic

I never knew about people in the Gaeltacht aren't willing to speak Irish, that's such a shame since I wanted to spend a year in the dingle area after college.:(
Better rethink that!!!:eek:

I can't speak for the people in the Gaeltacht, but in the rest of the country the reluctance is definitely due to memories from school.
If it was only taught like Spanish/French/German & not full of literature etc Irish probably wouldn't be as it is now.
I suppose at this stage it's down to the individual, if there are still people willing to learn it, there'll still be people willing to speak it.
That's the problem though, not a lot want to learn it.:(

I argree with everyone the way it gets a bit disheartening

Fuinseog

Jay1989 wrote: »

I never knew about people in the Gaeltacht aren't willing to speak Irish, that's such a shame since I wanted to spend a year in the dingle area after college.:(
Better rethink that!!!:eek:

I can't speak for the people in the Gaeltacht, but in the rest of the country the reluctance is definitely due to memories from school.
If it was only taught like Spanish/French/German & not full of literature etc Irish probably wouldn't be as it is now.
I suppose at this stage it's down to the individual, if there are still people willing to learn it, there'll still be people willing to speak it.
That's the problem though, not a lot want to learn it.:(
I argree with everyone the way it gets a bit disheartening

languages are poorly taught in general. we should do a little french literature in school instead of spending 6 years and only barely being able to mutter a few simple phrases.

in the case of Irish the syllabus is being dumbed down and there are LC students who cannot say 'my name is' and that after 12 years.

I persoanlly got a lot out of the literature part of the course when i did the LC. its the only time a lot of people will ever read a book in irish.

contrary to popular belief there are books in irish that are readable.

Legend45

Jay1989 wrote: »

I never knew about people in the Gaeltacht aren't willing to speak Irish, that's such a shame since I wanted to spend a year in the dingle area after college.:(
Better rethink that!!!:eek:

now i cant speak for the peoples in dingle but in galway thats the case, now everyone has irish and everyone will speak it if you speak it to them but its that first few minutes when you meet someone in the gaeltacht: am i going to try and speak irish or will i just speak english?

whatever you speak to them first, thats it, no turning back.

alot of people i speak to outside of the gaetacht say that all they can say at the end of 6 years in secondary is "póg mo thóin" thats a disgrace. At first i was completly against the new irish syllabus they're bringing in but it looks as though it can improve spoken irish with 60% going to the oral, but in a case like mine with no literature it will be a joke altogether. Applied irish should be seen as a seperate subject.

deise go deo

Well for me I think Gaeilge is very Important.
I dont know why it is so important to me except a feeling that it is my laungauge and that when I am talking to someone As gaeilge it just feels natural.

Táim sa ciorcal comhrá i gcathair Port Láirge.
We get together every week and talk i n-gaeilge le ceile.
As for Irish in the Gaeltacht,We went down to An Rinn Cupla seachtain ó shin.
We went for a short walk and then went back to the pub. It was really nice to wander around and talk to people as gaeilge without any feeling that it was in any way unusual to do so. In general I find that if you talk Irish to someone in the gaeltacht they have no problem talking back in Irish.
As they tend to be small rural places I guess the people who live there feel that if they havent seen you before then your probably not from the area and wont know any Irish making it pointless to start talking to you As gaeilge.

Going to the gaeltacht is a good idea if you want to learn Irish,Just look at Des Bishop. though Dingle wouldent be my first choice tbh.

gaeilgeboy

Legend45 wrote: »

now i cant speak for the peoples in dingle but in galway thats the case,

I dunno, I'm currently working in Indreabhán and last night in Galway city, we were all still speaking in both Irish and English. Certainly, everyone I know from here has no problem replying in Irish.

An gal gréine

I think part of the problem for Gaeltacht people is that they get frustrated sometimes with visitors, usually from other provinces, who cant understand their dialect and they find themselves constantly having to explain what they've just said. They find it easier then to explain in English and what follows is that the visitor can loose heart, unfortunately. Persistence, though, is needed!

what use is Irish?

I've had 2 job interviews in the last few years, where Irish was needed, I work in finance. Spent 4 years working with a French multi national, French was never required, as all communications with head office or other subsidaries was in English.

Jay Pentatonic

deise go deo wrote: »

Well for me I think Gaeilge is very Important.
I dont know why it is so important to me except a feeling that it is my laungauge and that when I am talking to someone As gaeilge it just feels natural.

Táim sa ciorcal comhrá i gcathair Port Láirge.
We get together every week and talk i n-gaeilge le ceile.
As for Irish in the Gaeltacht,We went down to An Rinn Cupla seachtain ó shin.
We went for a short walk and then went back to the pub. It was really nice to wander around and talk to people as gaeilge without any feeling that it was in any way unusual to do so. In general I find that if you talk Irish to someone in the gaeltacht they have no problem talking back in Irish.
As they tend to be small rural places I guess the people who live there feel that if they havent seen you before then your probably not from the area and wont know any Irish making it pointless to start talking to you As gaeilge.

Going to the gaeltacht is a good idea if you want to learn Irish,Just look at Des Bishop. though Dingle wouldent be my first choice tbh.

how come, out of curiosity?

DeBrugha

The best places for Irish (ie, hearing Irish everywhere by all ages) would be around south Conamara from Spidéal onward in Galway and the Aran islands, and northwest Donegal around Gweedore, and around Dún Chaoin in Kerry in these places Irish is the main language and you will have no problem speaking Irish.

I wouldn't reccomend Dingle, it isn't Irish speaking. One of the places mentioned above is what I would reccomend. In every Gaeltacht area you always get areas that isn't Irish speaking, Mayo is hardly Irish speaking apart from the village of Carrowteige, that is the only area in Mayo where more than half speak Irish still.

Galway or Donegal would be the best bet.

Fuinseog

DeBrugha wrote: »

The best places for Irish (ie, hearing Irish everywhere by all ages) would be around south Conamara from Spidéal onward in Galway and the Aran islands, and northwest Donegal around Gweedore, and around Dún Chaoin in Kerry in these places Irish is the main language and you will have no problem speaking Irish.

I wouldn't reccomend Dingle, it isn't Irish speaking. One of the places mentioned above is what I would reccomend. In every Gaeltacht area you always get areas that isn't Irish speaking, Mayo is hardly Irish speaking apart from the village of Carrowteige, that is the only area in Mayo where more than half speak Irish still.

Galway or Donegal would be the best bet.

I wonder does tourism play a role? it was not cool to be gaelic in Galway in the eighties and there was a lot of ignorance towards the language. then the tourists expressed an interest in the langauge, at least afew phrases, and wanted to see signs, as Gaeilege. now Galway has bilingual signs everywhere but I am not sure what value this is.

i mean relatively few people speak it in the city yet Galway city markerts itself as a bilingual city.

I am not sure if 'Gaeilge agus Failte' signs have any significance.

Fuinseog

Deleted User wrote: »

what use is Irish?

I've had 2 job interviews in the last few years, where Irish was needed, I work in finance. Spent 4 years working with a French multi national, French was never required, as all communications with head office or other subsidaries was in English.

there are some people who want to speak Irish as much as possible and as taxpayers they have a right to this service. Eamonn Cuiv O has done a lot for Irish in this regard while other colleagues in government do their darndest to unravel his work.

for a while it was easier to do business in polish than Gaelic. i sometimes prefer the seirbhis tri Ghaeilge beacuse you do not have to wait as long.

deise go deo

Jay1989 wrote: »

how come, out of curiosity?

Well what I hear about the place as a gaeltacht tends to be bad, Whenever people talk about it, it tends to be along the lines of ''Gaeltacht in name only'' and that sort of thing.

Though in fairness my opinion is'nt based on first hand experience as the only time I was there was when I was 7 and went to see Fungi the dolphin.I suppose it really depends on whet dialect your intrested in. Personally if I was learning Munster Irish I would go to the Muscerry Gaeltacht or Gaeltacht na Rinne but thats just me.

dlofnep

Jay1989 wrote: »

how come, out of curiosity?

Is gaeltacht lag é! It's a weak gaeltacht. While there are many gaeltachtaí in Ireland, some are stronger than others. Dingle isn't one of them.

As for the OP - The relevance of Irish in society today is saddening. It's as relevant as you want it to be, but even at that - it's hard to find people to speak Irish with.

We need to start producing more fluent speakers from schools, otherwise it's relevance will remain dimmed in society. A complete overhaul of the curriculum is needed to do this. We need to encourage the use of Irish - I find that many people, even with half-decent Irish are afraid to use it incase they make mistakes. We need to encourage these people to play an active role in reviving the language.

Some people wish to turn their back on the language. I'm not one of them, and have worked hard over the past few years to promote it. But there's only so much we can do. The change has to start at day 1 in schools, where the use of the language should be encouraged and the focus on conversational Irish should be increased.

An gal gréine

dlofnep wrote: »

Is gaeltacht lag é! It's a weak gaeltacht. While there are many gaeltachtaí in Ireland, some are stronger than others. Dingle isn't one of them.

As for the OP - The relevance of Irish in society today is saddening. It's as relevant as you want it to be, but even at that - it's hard to find people to speak Irish with.

We need to start producing more fluent speakers from schools, otherwise it's relevance will remain dimmed in society. A complete overhaul of the curriculum is needed to do this. We need to encourage the use of Irish - I find that many people, even with half-decent Irish are afraid to use it incase they make mistakes. We need to encourage these people to play an active role in reviving the language.

Some people wish to turn their back on the language. I'm not one of them, and have worked hard over the past few years to promote it. But there's only so much we can do. The change has to start at day 1 in schools, where the use of the language should be encouraged and the focus on conversational Irish should be increased.

+ 1

ShamoBuc

Having spoken to many people from the different gaeltachts there is one standout in my mind. Gweedore - OMG. To listen to a duine dúchasach ag caint as gaeilge -is rud sár iontach é. The soft blending of words in a serious and stark contrast to the rest. It really is something to behold, I could listen to them all day long. I really do not like the Harshness of some sounds made by people on TV in particular. That redhead from Galway that was on the afternoon show and the talent show - her name escapes me - did my head in with her pronounciations.

craoltoir

Más Bláthnaid atá i gceist agat, is as Ráth Chairn i gcontae na Mí di.

ShamoBuc

Bláthnaid - sin í an bean - go raibh míle. Harsh as **** deachair a bheith ag éisteacht léi chun na fírinne a rá.

Fuinseog

ShamoBuc wrote: »

Bláthnaid - sin í an bean - go raibh míle. Harsh as **** deachair a bheith ag éisteacht léi chun na fírinne a rá.

nil aon stil no class aici ach an oiread. cuir sioda ar ghabhar...

Tenente

Would somebody please let me know what towns and villages would be considered strong Gaeltacht regions in Connemara thanks?

I'm not sure if Roundstane is in the Gaeltacht or not but i was down there recently and did not hear any Irish. It was a really Sunny Saturday so maybe there was a big in-flux of english speakers that day.

Also if anybody knows of any places where Irish is spoken in the Galway City or Dublin city, restaurants, cafes etc. please post them. Is Club Sonas still going? there is nothing new on the website since before christmas.

I've been trying to learn Irish again for a year now and through a mixture of sourcing out places where Irish is spoken (Gweedore, Co. Donegal. An Cultarlann, An Droichead and Madden's Bar, Belfast, Aras Chronain Clondalkin) and some random meetings ( e.g. I meet a couple of Irish speaking Girls from Donegal in the Turk's Head, Temble Bar one night, great craic! another time i was getting a bus from the quays in Dublin and the driver was reading a Buntús Cainte Book!) i have been very encouraged by the amount of people out there speaking Irish.

There are 5 of us in my local town, a small non-descript town in the north east trying to learn irish again at various standards. We're thinking of organising a irish night in the pub to see if anybody else comes out of the woodwork.

Part of the problem seems to be recognising other people who are willing to speak Irish. I wonder will the Fáinne make a come back?! Also I know my irish is not great but I am trying and I take heart from the chance meetings etc and agree with an gal gréine Persistance is needed.

As you can probably tell from my 10 or so posts I am not really a committed Boardsie but i see that other groups organise Beer nights. Is there any desire among the Teach na nGealt people to organise a night as Gaeilge?

craoltoir

The gaeltacht area of Galway is along the coast from Spiddal to the west. It get's stronger the further west you go. Ceathrú Rua, Ros Muc and Tír an Fhia would be strong gaeltacht areas. Yes there are people all over the country who speak Irish but there is a lack of organised meetings/events/venues where you can expect to meet Irish speakers. Most Irish speakers do not specifically go to Irish language events but socialise with the general population and you won't know if somebody speaks Irish unless you already know that person.

Teifeach

i dont get the train of thought that i went here or there and never heard Irish , or i used it in a Gaeltacht and was replied to with English ,, but recieved what i requested i.e Beer , Tea etc. My trips to the Gaeltachtaí are way more interesting than coming back with storys of many Irish speakers i happened upon. But back to the question ... Irish is vitaly important to me since i started learning almost 10 yrs ago. I use it almost Every day with friends etc ..its part of who i am , my life , my work , my culture , my friends , my social life and it Always will be irresspective of Anyone elses opinions or experiences. I loove her with all my heart and will use it till i Die.