Is Irish actually spoken in the Gealtachts?

Andrew Flexing

This might sound stupid but is Irish actually spoken in the Gealtachts? I was speaking to an Irish speaker from a gaeltacht and this person was telling me that it isn't spoken (although they still can) there anymore.

I was planning to take a trip to a gaeltacht just to have a weekend as gaeilge. but now it seems like I cant????

anyone have any opinions on the above?

twinkles300

Oscail mo chroi (open my heart)

gigino

Its not spoken , no. The only time you may hear a cupla focail is when they think you may be visiting from the department + may be going to cut off the grant...


Look in any newsagents or bookshops in the gaeltacht. Nothing that sells is in Irish.

closifer

I would have to disagree....there are parts of connemara where ppl do speak irish pretty much all the time. I know this because a friend was telling me they couldnt hire polish workers in the shops as the older members of the community wouldnt speak to the staff in english.

Andrew Flexing

If you were to recommend one to go to for the weekend to speak IRish where would you recommend?

Rhedyn

Andrew Flexing wrote: »

If you were to recommend one to go to for the weekend to speak IRish where would you recommend?

An Cheathrú Rua.

DeBrugha

An Cheathrú Rua or Leitir Móir in Galway and some other areas are the best places for Irish.

Posy

I worry for the future of the language if it's not even being spoken in the Gaeltacht anymore!

murraykil

Speaking for Conamara, yes it is. I know many people who struggle to speak well in English as they speak Irish primarily and maybe also work locally and thus don't need to speak English too often.

Eathrin

In the two places that I've stayed:

Donegal speak mixed English and Irish, children are fluent in both English and Irish from a very early age, Older people speak Irish almost all of the time.

Rath Cairn in Meath speak Irish only, English is never spoken, it was a true joy to experience such a place.

Keith in cork

I lived in ballyferriter ( near dingle) for 6months, and irish was their chosen language. They'd speak english to me and when i was around because they had the manners to know i couldn't understand. But anytime i ever walked in on a conversation it was in irish.

DeBrugha

The only Irish speaking areas left are in Northwestern Donegal, South Conamara, and the Western end of the Dingle pennisiula and the village of Rath Chairn. In the other Gaeltachtaí I'm said to say Irish is basically dead as a spoken language. Carrowteige/Ceathrú Thaidhg is the last Irish speaking area in Mayo.


Theres are the fíor-Ghaeltacht, basically the Gaeltacht today:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/03/Gaeltacht_2007.jpg

Is searbh an fhírinne

An gal gréine

You forgot the islands off Galway and Donegal.
The Aran Islanders dont regard themselves as Conamara people and on Toraigh and other islands they can be heard to say "tá mé ag gabháil go hÉireann inniu"...they are going to the mainland but say that they are going to Ireland!

Rredwell

Irish is still spoken as a first language in areas of the far NW, W and SW, as others have mentioned. But if we're being technical, then the Gaeltachtaí (as indicated on some maps in yellow and by road signs saying "An Ghaeltacht") no longer correspond to the areas in which Irish is spoken, as the boundaries of the Gaeltachtaí have not been changed for about fifty years, I think. So you have areas like Clonbur, Carnmore and Annaghdown in East Galway and Barrnatra and Pollatomish in North Mayo which are in fact Anglophone but officially Irish-speaking. This is where you get all the craic with pretending to speak Irish to get Gaeltacht grants for new windows and so on.

An gal gréine

Posy wrote: »

I worry for the future of the language if it's not even being spoken in the Gaeltacht anymore!

It is. It has to be remembered that young people in the Gaeltacht dont want to be leaving the Gaeltacht with broken English and be laughed at as happened their antecedents. They practise their English language skills but that does'nt mean that they have abandoned their native tongue.

General Michael Collins

To speak for Rath Cairn, the people there (obviously) speak both English and Irish, but Irish is certainly the language of choice. They truly make trojan efforts to promote the language, being a tiny island of Irish in a sea of English. And they don't seemingly deserve a place on yon map. I once had the pleasure of doing door to door salesman (of sorts) in the area, and was told off, in Irish, for attempting to address them in English. To be fair to me, my Irish was very weak at the time, but I muddled through the rest of the houses as Gaeilge and felt the response the better for it.

An gal gréine

On a recent short visit to An Rinn in Co. Waterford, I found Irish speakers sure enough but they have been surrounded by blow-ins who make no effort. In Ráth Cairn they have tight control of who moves in to their area.

Cathaoirleach

As depressing as it is, most of the Gaeltacht population speak English. It is only in the Fíor-Ghaeltacht where it remains relativley strong, but even there, a lot of the kids prefer to use English.

The Gaeltacht will die out eventually, maybe in 2 generations. It's for that reason that we should putting all our resources into opening more Gaeilscoils. Ideally, all public schools in Ireland should be Gaelscoils. Does anyone have any better ideas on how to save ár dteanga?

http://i.imgur.com/IxO39.jpg

byhookorbycrook

Plenty of Irish in West Kerry, esp out in Dúnchaoin. Have heard a lot of English in Rathcairn.

General Michael Collins

Cathaoirleach wrote: »

As depressing as it is, most of the Gaeltacht population speak English. It is only in the Fíor-Ghaeltacht where it remains relativley strong, but even there, a lot of the kids prefer to use English.

The Gaeltacht will die out eventually, maybe in 2 generations. It's for that reason that we should putting all our resources into opening more Gaeilscoils. Ideally, all public schools in Ireland should be Gaelscoils. Does anyone have any better ideas on how to save ár dteanga?

http://i.imgur.com/IxO39.jpg

You don't hold out much hope for the 20 year strategy's success, then?

deirdremf

Rredwell wrote: »

Irish is still spoken as a first language in areas of the far NW, W and SW, as others have mentioned. But if we're being technical, then the Gaeltachtaí (as indicated on some maps in yellow and by road signs saying "An Ghaeltacht") no longer correspond to the areas in which Irish is spoken, as the boundaries of the Gaeltachtaí have not been changed for about fifty years, I think. So you have areas like Clonbur, Carnmore and Annaghdown in East Galway and Barrnatra and Pollatomish in North Mayo which are in fact Anglophone but officially Irish-speaking. This is where you get all the craic with pretending to speak Irish to get Gaeltacht grants for new windows and so on.

Well, yes and no.
There might be very little Irish in Carn Mór and Eanach Dúin, but in most official Gaeltachts there is some native Irish spoken, even if it is not the community language. This is the argument for keeping the areas in the official Gaeltacht, and the fact of the matter is that it gives recognition to that minority which is an important psychological factor in encouraging them to continue to speak Irish.
On the other hand, there are those who are only interested in the grants. I once spoke to a man who was brought up in one of these areas, and he explained the mechanism that was at work in his family.
His father had no Irish, and his mother was a native Irish speaker, but had no time at all for the language. As they were poor, she agreed to speak Irish to her children to qualify for the grants; but as soon as each of them came of age, she stopped, and changed to English.
I dread to think how all this affected her - the mother - psychologically; but it produced a new generation who were able to speak Irish, and some of them - less poor than their parents - came to love the language.

An gal gréine

The Oireachtas na Gaeilge festival is now so big it can no longer be held in any Gaeltacht. At this moment Cill Airne in the county of Kerry is doing the honours and people from every Gaeltacht and none have thronged there. It promises to be the highlight of the year, as usual, for Irish speakers.

deise go deo

An gal gréine wrote: »

The Oireachtas na Gaeilge festival is now so big it can no longer be held in any Gaeltacht. At this moment Cill Airne in the county of Kerry is doing the honours and people from every Gaeltacht and none have thronged there. It promises to be the highlight of the year, as usual, for Irish speakers.

I'm gona be there:)

Its great to see that it has become so popular, I know that there are going to be around 500 students there this weekend, more than ever before.

Fuinseog

Andrew Flexing wrote: »

This might sound stupid but is Irish actually spoken in the Gealtachts? I was speaking to an Irish speaker from a gaeltacht and this person was telling me that it isn't spoken (although they still can) there anymore.

I was planning to take a trip to a gaeltacht just to have a weekend as gaeilge. but now it seems like I cant????

anyone have any opinions on the above?

its spoken where you least expect it and not spoken where you expect it. I speak Irish when in the Gaeltacht cos I know they understand me. they may respond in english, but thats their business.

BTW there are two types of Irish - that of the Gaeltacht and that of the urban Gaelscoil, which are not mutually understood.

Fuinseog

DeBrugha wrote: »

An Cheathrú Rua or Leitir Móir in Galway and some other areas are the best places for Irish.

I went into a petrol station there in Leitir mor and the dude answered me in english although i spoke to him in irish. he understood everything though, just could not be bothered. i smiled at him and told him i would take my business elsewhere.

Trigger88

Both my parents are from 'deep' within the Connemara Gaeltacht. At their homeplaces everyone speaks english. Unless a certain old person comes into the house things may switch the Irish but apart from that. I currently like in a Gaeltacht and no one speaks half a word of it

Cathaoirleach

Trigger88 wrote: »

Both my parents are from 'deep' within the Connemara Gaeltacht.

Cén áit i gConamara?

Enkidu

I've always been pleasantly surprised I have to say. I actually expected much less Irish to be spoken than there actually is. I also expected that my Irish would be "Dickens" Irish, since I learned it mainly from books written around the start of the twentieth century, so I thought my vocab would be way off, my grammar archaic and my attempts at using idioms would come off as twee or silly. However none of this happened, I basically found the Irish in the Gaeltachtaí to be pretty much the same as what I learnt, so the language isn't decaying. (The only real difference is that grammar for adjectives has been made simpler.)

Trigger88

Cathaoirleach wrote: »

Cén áit i gConamara?

I don't have Irish and have no idea what you're saying. my point..

Rhedyn

Trigger88 wrote: »

I don't have Irish and have no idea what you're saying. my point..

Ah come on are you saying you went to school in Ireland and didn't learn that simple a question?

Enkidu

Trigger88 wrote: »

I don't have Irish and have no idea what you're saying. my point..

Where in Conamara?

enfant terrible

General Michael Collins wrote: »

To speak for Rath Cairn, the people there (obviously) speak both English and Irish, but Irish is certainly the language of choice. They truly make trojan efforts to promote the language, being a tiny island of Irish in a sea of English. And they don't seemingly deserve a place on yon map. I once had the pleasure of doing door to door salesman (of sorts) in the area, and was told off, in Irish, for attempting to address them in English. To be fair to me, my Irish was very weak at the time, but I muddled through the rest of the houses as Gaeilge and felt the response the better for it.

They sound very rude.

P. Breathnach

enfant terrible wrote: »

They sound very rude.

It could equally be suggested that calling to the homes of Irish speakers and attempting to engage with them in English is rude.

Jackobyte

I know when I was in Irish College in Carna, the local children used Irish as their first language. The Iníon an Tí, maybe 10 or so, spoke in Irish on the phone to her school friends, even when we weren't meant to be around.

enfant terrible

P. Breathnach wrote: »

It could equally be suggested that calling to the homes of Irish speakers and attempting to engage with them in English is rude.

Would you be rude to someone speaking a different language?

I wouldn't, especially if I spoke that language.

General Michael Collins

P. Breathnach wrote: »

It could equally be suggested that calling to the homes of Irish speakers and attempting to engage with them in English is rude.

Must entirely agree with this. The language weakened because Irish speaking people spoke English to each other. Regardless of how weakly we may begin, Irish speaking people must speak Irish to each other.

mikemac

Shared a house in Galway with a girl from Carraroe and she and her family always spoke Irish to each other on the phone or if they called around.

She also said there were a lot more insults and nasty comments on Ros na Rún that the subtitles didn't show :P

deise go deo

enfant terrible wrote: »

They sound very rude.

If your buying something they speak your language, if your selling something you speak their language, thats the way its always been.

enfant terrible

deise go deo wrote: »

If your buying something they speak your language, if your selling something you speak their language, thats the way its always been.

So you would be rude to someone because they tried to speak to you in English, even though you understand them fully and they may not be able to speak Irish, like most of the Irish population.

onemorechance

Trigger88 wrote: »

Both my parents are from 'deep' within the Connemara Gaeltacht. At their homeplaces everyone speaks english. Unless a certain old person comes into the house things may switch the Irish but apart from that. I currently like in a Gaeltacht and no one speaks half a word of it

B(e)arna! :pac:

byhookorbycrook

mikemac wrote: »

She also said there were a lot more insults and nasty comments on Ros na Rún that the subtitles didn't show :P

Especially when Séamus is speaking,some rather errr...salty...comments become thing like "bad luck to you"

Trigger88

onemorechance wrote: »

B(e)arna! :pac:

No but you're close

Trigger88

Rhedyn wrote: »

Ah come on are you saying you went to school in Ireland and didn't learn that simple a question?

I was born in uk and was exempt. and have never picked up a word even though I live in gaeltacht

DeBrugha

Trigger88 wrote: »

No but you're close

Na Forbacha?

Trigger88

DeBrugha wrote: »

Na Forbacha?

Stop trying to stalk me and no!

Rhedyn

Trigger88 wrote: »

I was born in uk and was exempt. and have never picked up a word even though I live in gaeltacht

You can't have tried very hard.

Trigger88

Rhedyn wrote: »

You can't have tried very hard.

Never said I did judger. But if it was spoken around with two fluent speaking parents I would be bound to pick up a bit. None of my friends locally speak any Irish, went to all irish speaking national school

An gal gréine

onemorechance wrote: »

B(e)arna! :pac:

They may be speaking English on your behalf. Also, I would'nt call close to Bearna "deep" Conamara!

DeBrugha

Bearna isn't even in Connemara

DeBrugha

I was born in uk and was exempt. and have never picked up a word even though I live in gaeltacht

Thats no excuse really

I was born in England to an English mother and Irish father and currently living in England, I was exempt for Irish spelling etc when I was very young for tests when I was in school but now I am a fluent speaker of Irish, infact people think I am from Connemara.

Being exempt from school is no excuse, not in my case anyway.

Rhedyn

DeBrugha wrote: »

Thats no excuse really

I was born in England to an English mother and Irish father and currently living in England, I was exempt for Irish spelling etc when I was very young for tests when I was in school but now I am a fluent speaker of Irish, infact people think I am from Connemara.

Being exempt from school is no excuse, not in my case anyway.

Fair play to you deBrugha !