nav[aria-label="Primary Navigation"] { padding: 0; & ul { list-style: none; width: 100%; display: flex; flex-direction: row; justify-content: start; align-items: start; gap: 30px; padding: 0; & li { margin: 0; } & ul li { list-style: none; } } }

Child Item

Do you know the Irish national anthem? Why/Why not?

[Deleted User]

Simple question (OK, two simple questions).
Can you sing, recite, or at least write down the words to our national anthem in either English or Irish? If you can't then why not? If you can, then where did you learn it?

I can't. The reason being no one ever deemed it necessary to teach it to me in school. Like most people I spent 13 years in primary and secondary education. None of my teachers in any class or lesson, not Irish, not history, not civics, not anything, ever once made any attempt to teach it. On finding out I didn't know it, no one expressed any interest that I should.

It was never a requirement for any exam or curriculum. Therefore by age 17 and leaving secondary school I therefore saw no reason why I should try and do it myself when nobody else was ever bothered.

Find more posts tagged with

Quick Links

Comments

FortySeven

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

Ah come off it it is 11 lines! 11! Some have two words see the chorus in wkipedia.
https://eAmhrán_na_bhFiannn.wikipedia.org/wiki/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg9QekmZ-iM

It takes about 3 and half minutes to stand for the national anthem as above.

15 years here and I'd be willng to give you 15 minutes if you would just stop pretending anyone actually spoke your 'language' in any meaningful way.

Caoimhgh1n

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

As you should. What get's me is that some Irish people are proud not to know it!
The same people (no doubt) who make sure to say "t g four" when saying tg4!
:rolleyes:

Jayus....

The TG four thing really annoys me. I know somebody who says it, always gets on my nerves.

Arcade_Tryer

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

As you should. What get's me is that some Irish people are proud not to know it!
The same people (no doubt) who make sure to say "t g four" when saying tg4!
:rolleyes:

Jayus....

I wouldn't say I'm proud not to know the national anthem. Glad is the word I would probably use. It's T G Ceathair. Fair is fair. That is the pronunciation of the station. One which I will always have a fondness for due to its airing of The Wire way back when.

gormdubhgorm

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

It's a terrible dirge

It needs a good remix to blow the cobwebs off it

I agree it is a poxy tune though.
But then again it is not as bad as the Italian one and a lot of eastern European countries!

gormdubhgorm

Arcade_Tryer wrote: »

I wouldn't say I'm proud not to know the national anthem. Glad is the word I would probably use. It's T G Ceathair. Fair is fair. That is the pronunciation of the station. One which I will always have a fondness for due to its airing of The Wire way back when.

If you tried you would have it learnt in a quicker time then it took you to read this entire thread...

But I suppose you are glad you read it????!!

Arcade_Tryer

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

If you tried you would have it learnt in a quicker time then it took you to read this entire thread...

But I suppose you are glad you read it????!!

That's true. I suppose you could say I care more about this thread discussion than the actual anthem.

Yes, I'm glad I read some of it. And that I contributed.

Stasi 2.0

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

The same people (no doubt) who make sure to say "t g four" when saying tg4!..

What wrong with that ?

If one is speaking about BBC1 while speaking Irish they'd say "BBC a hAon"

So if one is speaking English why would they refer to TG4 as anything other than "TG Four" ?

Caoimhgh1n

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

Nope, don't know it.. was never taught it in school and I've never had a reason to learn it since TBH

But if you want a decent anthem I still say this one wins..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U06jlgpMtQs

Ironically I'd probably know that better than the Irish one - although that could be too many Cold War movies growing up!

How do you know if the Irish one is decent or not if you don't know it?

gormdubhgorm

Stasi 2.0 wrote: »

What wrong with that ?

If one is speaking about BBC1 while speaking Irish they'd say "BBC a hAon"

So if one is speaking English why would they refer to TG4 as anything other than "TG Four" ?

1) Anyone who has done any level of Irish from basic school level would have no difficulty in refferering to tg4 as tg "ceathair" as this is it's correct name.

Much like the word "luas" which means speed.

2) Irish people who have a ferocious anti-Irish language bias make sure to use the word "four" when referring to tg4.
Interestingly these same set of people happily use the word "luas" when referring to the Dublin tram system.
I can surmise that this cohort do not use the word "speed" for the Luas as translating it would be far to much effort for them, as the word would not be common knowledge so they would ironically be showing pride in the language if they admitted they knew that much!

3) It is this same cohort of people who take pride in not knowing our national anthem and go out of thier way not to learn it.

4) I have no problem with the Taoiseach being referred to the Irish Prime Minister on British, or other foreign channels.

Would you as an Irish person be more likely to say the following?

"I saw that b0llocks of a Prime Minister/Chief standing beside the Speed, singing the "Solider's Song"

Or would you would you more likely say?

"I saw that b0llocks of a Taoiseach standing beside the Luas, singing "Amhrán na bhFiann"

Jimbob1977

I can sing it, yes.....

I wouldn't be able to write the Irish words perfectly. Maybe 60% accuracy.

Learnt the anthem in school as a ten year old.

Every person should know the words as part of the school curriculum. Takes about a week to memorise.

[Deleted User]

Just sang it to myself.

I know all of it, except a couple of words between "Anocht..." agus "...sa Bearna Bhaoil"

What are they doing tonight in the Threatening Gap?! I forget, but it sounds a bit risque.

Personally, I think the anthem should be hammered into kids in school (metaphorically speaking), and the same goes for learning poetry by-heart, which is a valuable skill and a useful brain exercise.

Arcade_Tryer

Jimbob1977 wrote: »

Every person should know the words as part of the school curriculum.

Why? Because you say so?

gormdubhgorm

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

I know all of it, except a couple of words between "Anocht..." agus "...sa Bearna Bhaoil"

Literally it means:

Tonight we man the gap of danger

From the following site:

http://div8aoh.homestead.com/Soldierssong.html

"The phrase Bhearna Bhoil, in the Irish language, means the Gap of Danger, and refers to a battle in the rising of 1798, when John Kelly, the Boy from Killan, led a charge against the Bewley Gates in the seige of New Ross. The carnage at that location earned it the title Bhearna Bhaoil, and it became a symbol of the danger that Ireland's sons were willing to face for her freedom. Even when The Soldier's Song is translated into other languages, the term Bhearna Baoil remains in the Irish."

[Deleted User]

I know what Bearna Bhaoil means, it means the threatening gap, or dangerous gap; it was the couple of Irish words between "Anocht" and "Bearna Bhaoil" I had forgotten.

Apparently the missing words are, "Anocht a théam sa bhearna bhaoil", meaning tonight we go into the dangerous gap, a variation on once more unto the breach, I suppose.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

Literally it means:

Tonight we man the gap of danger

Sounds like a porn spoof....

Galwayguy35

Yes I know it, learned it myself because we weren't taught it at the useless school I went to.

As usual nothing surprising from some of the comments in this thread from people who seem to hate everything about this country including the National Anthem, we must be the only country where some people don't care about their anthem.

LorMal

Its absolute dirge.
The children of a fighting race, that has never yet known disgrace, impatient for the coming fight - out yonder waits the Saxon foe....
militaristic, fascist, nonsense.

[Deleted User]

LorMal wrote: »

Its absolute dirge.
The children of a fighting race, that has never yet known disgrace, impatient for the coming fight - out yonder waits the Saxon foe....
militaristic, fascist, nonsense.

It's a lullaby compared to La Marseillaise.

Arise children of the fatherland
The day of glory has arrived
Against us, tyranny's bloody flag is raised
Listen to the sound in the fields
The howling of these fearsome soldiers
They are coming in front of our arms
To cut the throats of your sons and your women

To your arms, citizens!
Form your battalions,
March, march
Let impure blood irrigate our furrows

Anybody who suggested changing the Marseillaise would be looked at in France like a softheaded eccentric. I hope we take a similarly robust attitude against anyone who suggests replacing Amhran na bhFiann with some sort of syrupy cover of Kum bah yah (culminating with feminist jazz hands)

Jimbob1977

Arcade_Tryer wrote: »

Why? Because you say so?

Because it's our National Anthem. A basic tenet of any country

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

Mr_Muffin

I can't even remember what is sounds like. I do remember thinking it was pretty crappy though.

Arcade_Tryer

Galwayguy35 wrote: »

As usual nothing surprising from some of the comments in this thread from people who seem to hate everything about this country including the National Anthem.

There are many things to love about this country. One of them is the freedom not to know the national anthem, nor share the respect or love for it that others do.

Jimbob1977 wrote: »

Because it's our National Anthem. A basic tenet of any country

Laws and regulations are basic tenets of a functioning country. A national anthem is nothing more than a nostalgic nod to nationalism.

gormdubhgorm

FortySeven wrote: »

15 years here and I'd be willng to give you 15 minutes if you would just stop pretending anyone actually spoke your 'language' in any meaningful way.

You already know the word Taoiseach, Luas, bearna bhaoil, and ceathair if you have read this thread!

11 lines of Irish in a song won't kill you would it?

To be so antagonist towards a language/culture/heritage is very sad.

gormdubhgorm

Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: »

Sounds like a porn spoof....

No that's "Sally's Gap" your thinking of...

Arcade_Tryer

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

You already know the word Taoiseach, Luas, bearna bhaoil, and ceathair if you have read this thread!

11 lines of Irish in a song won't kill you would it?

To be so antagonist towards a language/culture/heritage is very sad.

Wow.

You do realise it's not about the number of lines or the length of time it would take to learn it? It's the simple fact that a lot of people simply do not care about it. And that is perfectly normal. And is their right.

To be so antagonistic towards the importance, or lack of, that other people place on language/culture/heritage is much more sad tbh.

Arcade_Tryer

The true magic of Irish culture lies with our literary giants. Beckett, Joyce, Behan and many more. Far more interesting and thought provoking than being able to speak Irish or play the tin whistle. Never mind recite the national anthem. And their works are read in English.

I haven't read all their stuff. Nor will I probably ever. And I won't criticse others for not reading them either. Because it's not my place to. Nor is it anybody's. Culture isn't something that should be forced upon others. It should stem from creative brilliance naturally and flow through society. And if it's any good at all, or worthwhile, it will remain and be celebrated. The Irish language brigade cannot get their warped minds around this unfortunately.

sdanseo

Yes, I can sing it in Irish, although the quality of the singing would be a bit questionable.

I'll be honest, it disappoints me to see or hear of people who willingly make a point of avoiding a little national pride just because they're not arsed. There's been some downright displays of ignorance of Irish culture and an attitude of hatred (let's call a spade a spade) towards the Irish language which really annoys me. A sovereign nation should have citizens that are at least capable of a minute and a half of reasonable unity and some semblance of national pride - nobody's asking you to fly a ten-foot tricolour from their chimney or take up arms for Ireland.

If you really aren't in the slightest bit interested in the culture of the state and don't in the least bit want to engage in its traditions - I've said this here before - off elsewhere and surrender your passport on the way out. Cheers.

[Deleted User]

Arcade_Tryer wrote: »

The true magic of Irish culture lies with our literary giants. Beckett, Joyce, Behan and many more. Far more interesting and thought provoking than being able to speak Irish or play the tin whistle. Never mind recite the national anthem. And their works are read in English.

I haven't read all their stuff. Nor will I probably ever. And I won't criticse others for not reading them either. because it's not my place to. Nor is it anybody's. Culture isn't something that should be forced upon others. It show stem from creative brilliance naturally and flow through society. And if it's any good at all, or worthwhile, it will remain and be celebrated. The Irish language brigade cannot get their warped minds around this unfortunately.

I assume you haven't read the epics from Irish mythological literature, if you're naming 'the tin whistle' as the counterpoint to Joyce and Beckett.

And since you haven't even made yourself fully familiar with the works of Joyce and Beckett, how on earth are you in a position to declare that they are superior to the irish epics, for example, which are almost as rich as Latin and Greek myths in their scale, and in the richness of their imaginative intensity.

In Irish mythology, we have a tradition rich enough that many foreign countries, in Europe and elsewhere, would be proud to claim one-tenth of what we possess. They have lost much of what we retain, if they ever had it in the first place.

I don't mind if you just don't care about this, most people don't really care about it. But at least don't pontificate on the quality of it, when you seem to be totally oblivious to it.

gormdubhgorm

Arcade_Tryer wrote: »

Wow.

You do realise it's not about the number of lines or the length of time it would take to learn it? It's the simple fact that a lot of people simply do not care about it. And that is perfectly normal..

Wow me @rse. Now the truth is out your just anti- the Irish language for no particular reason at all.
It is about the number of lines in it.
If I lived in France or Germany I would learn the French/German anthem.
Why? Because it is the part of culture/history/and heritage of the country.

It is worse still that an Irish citizen would be so anti a simple song whether you like it or not is part of your heritage and history.

maryishere

LorMal wrote: »

Its absolute dirge.
The children of a fighting race, that has never yet known disgrace, impatient for the coming fight - out yonder waits the Saxon foe....
militaristic, fascist, nonsense.

dirge of the highest degree all right, to be calling our neighbours (and those who lent us a balance of money only a few years ago when no other country would lent us money) "the Saxon foe" etc etc