US soldier who learned Irish on the internet is set for TG4

Tiocfaidh Armani

By Mark Hilliard


Thursday January 05 2012

A SERVING US soldier who learned Irish from the internet is the subject of the first ever warzone documentary to be produced as Gaeilge

Sergeant Seamus 'Na Gaeilge' O Fianghusa was asked to take part in the documentary by TG4 in 2010 as he began a tour of duty in Afghanistan.

The soldier -- who is known by the Anglicised name 'Fennessy' to his army buddies -- is a member of the famed 69th 'Fighting Irish' regiment in New York.

He was born of an Irish father and Korean mother and raised in Brooklyn, but was always conscious of his Irish heritage.

The documentary 'Dushlan' ('Challenge') follows him from New York to Belfast and Donegal, then onwards to the extremes of the Afghan conflict.

"I would like it to be successful because it highlights the Irish language and culture in a way that is not at all traditional," he said yesterday as he visited Dublin.

"Irish has an international relevance. Our language is vibrant and capable of change in modern circumstances, as well as having its traditional associations."

Having learned the language over the internet six years ago, the soldier now considers Ireland -- and particularly the Donegal Gaeltacht -- his home from home.

The 35-year-old is so dedicated to his roots that he used his two weeks' leave from combat to visit the Gaeltacht.

"I was out in the middle of nowhere in Central Asia between life and death and then the next thing I am chilling out with a pint of Guinness in the Gaeltacht," he said.

"I pressed for those dates because I wanted to go home and sing and speak my Irish."

The four-part TG4 series 'Dushlan' is about different characters captured in a variety of extraordinary circumstances or places.

In Sgt O Fianghusa's case, that place was Logar province in Afghanistan, where he spent nine months on patrol.

"It's very different from anything else you would see anywhere else in the world," he reflected.

"The brotherhood you have with your fellow soldiers, being in life-threatening situations every day, bonds you more than anything else could.

"We endured many violent encounters -- being shot at, IEDs -- but I never really thought about how dangerous it was until I got home."

He was approached to take part in the TG4 programme by series producer Mairtin O Muilleoir of the Belfast Media Group.

Sgt O Fianghusa has been back to Ireland eight times since his first trip in 2008. He began to learn the language in 2006, using the internet as a research tool.

"About a year into it, I was already able to speak it pretty well," he said. "I went to the Gaeltacht and I found that everyone spoke like me. I was in heaven."

'Dushlan' airs on TG4 next Monday at 7.30pm.

- Mark Hilliard

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/us-soldier-who-learned-irish-on-the-internet-is-set-for-tg4-2980316.html

ejmaztec

There must be more fluent Irish speakers outside Ireland than inside.

Captain Darling

Fair play to him.

Dj Stiggie

I met this guy in Dublin a couple of months ago, ge was with a guy I know from Donegal. He started speaking Irish to me, I was so confused, his accent is very strong Donegal. Then he reverted back to his strong American accent for English.

Really nice guy though, he was going to speak in Trinity or something when I met him, he never mentioned the documentary.

Tiocfaidh Armani

Dj Stiggie wrote: »

I met this guy in Dublin a couple of months ago, ge was with a guy I know from Donegal. He started speaking Irish to me, I was so confused, his accent is very strong Donegal. Then he reverted back to his strong American accent for English.

Really nice guy though, he was going to speak in Trinity or something when I met him, he never mentioned the documentary.

Good on him, love reading stories like this. I know a lad in Chicago like this lad, not sure if he's fluent but going off his facebook posts his Irish is better than mine!

CardBordWindow

I hope that documentary will be subtitled!

kevmol88

Maith an fear, Stan . . . Collymore stuns his Irish fans by tweeting as Gaeilge


http://www.herald.ie/entertainment/around-town/maith-an-fear-stan-collymore-stuns-his-irish-fans-by-tweeting-as-gaeilge-2977815.html

Leftist

Captain Darling wrote: »

Fair play to him.

why?

Oh look, we're noticed!

Captain_Generic

That's what happens when war finally breaks a man........

He starts speaking gibberish

stovelid

Hasn't Des Bishop got this cringewiorthy market sewn up already?

sensibleken

well done to him. I went back as an adult and tried to learn it and it most definetely is not easy. I wasnt even in danger of IEDs at the time.

Should be a good documentary. TG4 is a great channel for them, if all my licence fee went to them instead of the gobdaws in RTE I would be a lot happier

SWL

There is a guy in New York who drives a rubbish truck speaks Irish, he won a prestigious scholarship in the US to attend NUIG to study Irish further.

My Irish is not that bad for a swede but for me the main problem is I have nowhere to practice which is the most important part of learning a language. Irish people who don’t speak Irish could become fluent within 6 months if they could get some practice in the main cities.

dlofnep

He was on In the Name of the Fada on the USA episode.

sensibleken

SWL wrote: »

There is a guy in New York who drives a rubbish truck speaks Irish, he won a prestigious scholarship in the US to attend NUIG to study Irish further.

My Irish is not that bad for a swede but for me the main problem is I have nowhere to practice which is the most important part of learning a language. Irish people who don’t speak Irish could become fluent within 6 months if they could get some practice in the main cities.

Do you live in Dublin. If you do have you considered Conradh na Gaelge on harcourt street. havent been myself but by all regards it a lovely place and really friendly

SWL

sensibleken wrote: »

Do you live in Dublin. If you do have you considered Conradh na Gaelge on harcourt street. havent been myself but by all regards it a lovely place and really friendly

Yes - there are new classes starting at the end of this month so hoping to attend those, still picking it up there are days and weeks when I get loads of study in and then work gets in the way for another few weeks so my study takes a back seat. English sentences constructed using Irish is very poetic and sounds amazing.

sensibleken

SWL wrote: »

Yes - there are new classes starting at the end of this month so hoping to attend those, still picking it up there are days and weeks when I get loads of study in and then work gets in the way for another few weeks so my study takes a back seat. English sentences constructed using Irish is very poetic and sounds amazing.

thats whats stung me, having the time to do the homework. I am a trad musician and a few of my mates who have no irish play down there occasionally. might try and make an effort to get down there and do the full immersion thing.

plus €3 pints

SWL

sensibleken wrote: »

thats whats stung me, having the time to do the homework. I am a trad musician and a few of my mates who have no irish play down there occasionally. might try and make an effort to get down there and do the full immersion thing.

plus €3 pints

Ths classes are held upstairs in the building above the Basement 10 weeks appro 120 for all ten, in the summer then if i am still in Ireland head off to the Gaelteacht

uch

SWL wrote: »

Yes - there are new classes starting at the end of this month so hoping to attend those, still picking it up there are days and weeks when I get loads of study in and then work gets in the way for another few weeks so my study takes a back seat. English sentences constructed using Irish is very poetic and sounds amazing.

I did these a few years ago and found them great fun, went back three years in a row, hope you enjoy them.

FouxDaFaFa

Sounds like a great show. I was watching another tg4 show "O tholg go tolg" and they met a Russian guy with no Irish connections (except a love of trad music) who had taught himself Irish and he chatted away fluently to the presenter. tg4 make some great stuff.

Tiocfaidh Armani

SWL wrote: »

Yes - there are new classes starting at the end of this month so hoping to attend those, still picking it up there are days and weeks when I get loads of study in and then work gets in the way for another few weeks so my study takes a back seat. English sentences constructed using Irish is very poetic and sounds amazing.

I'm Irish and did lessons there, it was full of Germans, Italians etc learning Irish. I had great fun down in the bar after the lessons with them all:)

ImpossibleDuck

Brilliant! Fair play to him

Hopefully, people like this will inspire at least one person to learn the language. Even if it is out of shame :P

Manic Moran

Up until September 2011, the Army offered Rosetta Stone language learning online for free. Irish was one of the options you could take.

I'm a little irked the contract expired now. I was about to start Russian.

NTM

Run_to_da_hills

Put him through a Dublin secondary school learning the language for a few months and it will put him off it altogether.

Duckworth_Luas

dlofnep wrote: »

He was on In the Name of the Fada on the USA episode.

He was also on a documentary about Thomas Francis Meagher, the US Civil War leader of the Irish Brigade of which the 69th was a part.

Micky Dolenz

Fair balls to him. it's a shame more of us don't speak it.

Benny_Cake

FouxDaFaFa wrote: »

Sounds like a great show. I was watching another tg4 show "O tholg go tolg" and they met a Russian guy with no Irish connections (except a love of trad music) who had taught himself Irish and he chatted away fluently to the presenter. tg4 make some great stuff.

I think I read something once about an Irish course at Moscow State University. I wasn't much good at the language after 13 years in school but I wouldn't mind giving it another shot.

The Scientician

Them Koreans are hard workers.

John Doe1

kevmol88 wrote: »

Maith an fear, Stan . . . Collymore stuns his Irish fans by tweeting as Gaeilge


http://www.herald.ie/entertainment/around-town/maith-an-fear-stan-collymore-stuns-his-irish-fans-by-tweeting-as-gaeilge-2977815.html

Wow, has anyone read his blog on experiencing depression, he has to be the most intelligent footballer in history

Celly Smunt

should we tell him now that he just wasted valuable learning time of another language or leave him in blissful ignorance?

SWL

Benny_Cake wrote: »

I think I read something once about an Irish course at Moscow State University. I wasn't much good at the language after 13 years in school but I wouldn't mind giving it another shot.

I know a couple of people who went back to learn Irish as adults. There was no TG4 in their day so the opportunity to use or hear the language in use was non-existent. They remembered a lot more than then they thought

They surprised themselves with the knowledge of Irish they had and all went on to speak it fluently. Sign up for some classes and give it a go; if you have done it in school you already have a head start.

Sign up today for classes perfect time of the year many will be starting shortly

paddyandy

ejmaztec wrote: »

There must be more fluent Irish speakers outside Ireland than inside.

The Irish abroad are far more Patriotic than the pub men here that i know .

Celly Smunt

Benny_Cake wrote: »

I think I read something once about an Irish course at Moscow State University. I wasn't much good at the language after 13 years in school but I wouldn't mind giving it another shot.

i suppose those courses would teach you more Irish in a year than 13 years as you won't be learning poems or writing post cards to imaginary girls called Sinead and her brother Séan.

Celly Smunt

paddyandy wrote: »

The Irish abroad are far more Patriotic than the pub men here that i know .

that's because they don't know how much of a depressing blackhole Ireland is.Everybody would be patriotic if they lived abroad in a progressive social country looking at posters of the cliffs of moher everyday.

InTheTrees

I remember meeting a Scandinavian guy who learned irish without knowing any english.

He found himself plunged into a tiny minority of fluent irish speakers who have no english at all.

paddyandy

pmcmahon wrote: »

that's because they don't know how much of a depressing blackhole Ireland is.Everybody would be patriotic if they lived abroad in a progressive social country looking at posters of the cliffs of moher everyday.

No it's the friendliness among other things .You won't talk to a stranger at a bus stop in london but you can in dublin .

4zn76tysfajdxp

pmcmahon wrote: »

Everybody would be patriotic if they lived abroad in a progressive social country looking at posters of the cliffs of moher everyday.

Such as America?

Celly Smunt

Savanna Red Cross wrote: »

Such as America?

Not america in Particular.

paddyandy wrote: »

No it's the friendliness among other things .You won't talk to a stranger at a bus stop in london but you can in dublin .

Yes you would,very easily in London.Irish are hallmark friendly,not day to day friendly.

The Scientician

pmcmahon wrote: »

Yes you would,very easily in London.Irish are hallmark friendly,not day to day friendly.

I'm not disputing the friendliness of London as I've little experience of it but Irish people are generally friendly when they're not feral. And did you ever see the lengths people will go to to help a lost stranger?

Hazys

InTheTrees wrote: »

I remember meeting a Scandinavian guy who learned irish without knowing any english.

He found himself plunged into a tiny minority of fluent irish speakers who have no english at all.

Swedish or Chinese?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoVJYuTyyN8

paddyandy

The Irish Abroad realise and remember what they left behind but the Irish in Ireland take everything too much for granted and neglect patriotic duties if they even understand the terms . Cities abroad are cold places after Ireland .

Run_to_da_hills

paddyandy wrote: »

The Irish Abroad realise and remember what they left behind but the Irish in Ireland take everything too much for granted and neglect patriotic duties if they even understand the terms . Cities abroad are cold places after Ireland .

A lot can be faulted on the way our national language was drilled into us at school. At the time I sat the Intermediate if you failed Irish you wouldn't get the cert even if you had honours in everything else. I only appreciated and learned more of the language long after I left school. The same went for French.

Tiocfaidh Armani

pmcmahon wrote: »

that's because they don't know how much of a depressing blackhole Ireland is.Everybody would be patriotic if they lived abroad in a progressive social country looking at posters of the cliffs of moher everyday.

America a progressive social country? The biggest per-head prison population in the world with a health care system that you can lose your house under if you get cancer? A social welfare system that kicks you off in a recession like this after 99 weeks.

You don't know much about America, do you?

4zn76tysfajdxp

Tiocfaidh Armani wrote: »

America a progressive social country? The biggest per-head prison population in the world with a health care system that you can lose your house under if you get cancer? A social welfare system that kicks you off in a recession like this after 99 weeks.

You don't know much about America, do you?

He wasn't referring to America in particular.

sensibleken

pmcmahon wrote: »

that's because they don't know how much of a depressing blackhole Ireland is.Everybody would be patriotic if they lived abroad in a progressive social country looking at posters of the cliffs of moher everyday.

oh well just go away then.

Tiocfaidh Armani

Savanna Red Cross wrote: »

He wasn't referring to America in particular.

So he says but we're talking about an America here, so where else was he talking about? I think he realised he was talking out his backside and backtracked.

What other country do we know where those of Irish descent are more proud of it than the native Irish? We always associate that with America and we're talking about an American here so I don't buy his 'I wasn't talking about America' line.

Irish has a very generous benefits system for the unemployed, disabled, elderly and those with substance addictions. Despite how we love to knock ourselves go elsewhere and see they progressive they are if you fall into one of those brackets.

sensibleken

Tiocfaidh Armani wrote: »

So he says but we're talking about an America here, so where else was he talking about? I think he realised he was talking out his backside and backtracked.

What other country do we know where those of Irish descent are more proud of it than the native Irish? We always associate that with America and we're talking about an American here so I don't buy his 'I wasn't talking about America' line.

Irish has a very generous benefits system for the unemployed, disabled, elderly and those with substance addictions. Despite how we love to knock ourselves go elsewhere and see they progressive they are if you fall into one of those brackets.

not to mentioned 6th best in the world for gender equality and constant high marks in quality of life and personal safety in international indexes. its not a perfect country but there is a lot going for it in socialy.

Kevin Duffy

InTheTrees wrote: »

I remember meeting a Scandinavian guy who learned irish without knowing any english.

He found himself plunged into a tiny minority of fluent irish speakers who have no english at all.

What the feck does having English have to do with learning Irish?

paddyandy wrote: »

No it's the friendliness among other things .You won't talk to a stranger at a bus stop in london but you can in dublin .

paddyandy wrote: »

The Irish Abroad realise and remember what they left behind but the Irish in Ireland take everything too much for granted and neglect patriotic duties if they even understand the terms . Cities abroad are cold places after Ireland .

What a crock. Plenty of places just as friendly as Ireland. And WTF are "patriotic duties"?

SisterAnn

pmcmahon wrote: »

i suppose those courses would teach you more Irish in a year than 13 years as you won't be learning poems or writing post cards to imaginary girls called Sinead and her brother Séan.

Sinéad? Ná bí ag caint liom a bhuachaill! Níor scríobh an oinseach sin fiú is focal amháin ar ais chugham tríd na bliainta.:mad:

dlofnep

Kevin Duffy wrote: »

What the feck does having English have to do with learning Irish?

It makes it a whole lot easier to learn Irish, as most Irish books which have translations are in English.

Tiocfaidh Armani

sensibleken wrote: »

not to mentioned 6th best in the world for gender equality and constant high marks in quality of life and personal safety in international indexes. its not a perfect country but there is a lot going for it in socialy.

It's not socially progressive though. It's a great country, I love the place but socially progressive? Pfftt my hole. As I described you don't wanna be unemployed and you sure as fu*k better have a good insurance policy if you get cancer or you may be saying 'bye, bye' to the house you own.

BTW, again as we all love to knock ourselves, it wasn't that long ago Ireland was rated as having the highest standard of living in the WORLD. We're still highly ranked and ahead of the US if I'm not mistaken. So again, it's utter balls to slate Ireland and call America socially progressive. It's one of the most right wing countries out there in the industralised world.

Cú Giobach

pmcmahon wrote: »

should we tell him now that he just wasted valuable learning time of another language or leave him in blissful ignorance?

Maybe he should have done something more worthwhile like reading and posting comments on an internet forum. Reading AH is a much better way to spend your valuable time rather than expanding your horizons and learning languages.