The Irish language stalks me at times. More so perhaps now that I'm older. Even in disuse. as it has to be out here on The Edge, I sometimes grasp for the English. When I sympathize with someone, when I'm searching for the words to express my sorrow, I will throw up "Ta bronach orm" which expresses my feelings far more deeply than the English does. Translated - that's "the sorrow is on me." Similarly when I am happy "Ta athas orm" - the happiness is on me. Recognizing in a deep way that these feelings are temporary, on loan as you will.
A fair part of my education in Ireland was bilingual but in teenage years became quinquelingual - well not fluently but passably. Irish, English, Latin, French and Italian. Even in English classics teaching, Irish was thrown at us now and again to express frustration "is amadan tu!" which translated is "You're an idiot!" Latin has always served me well being the foundation of so many English words. The Irish language has been passed down here in many words which often delight me when emerging from Newfoundlanders. "I have no meas in that". Being one. Meas is the Irish for value. "What a slebheen!" Sleveen - to pronounce it - means a no good, a layabout.
"Uisce" means water in Irish. Pronounced "ishka." The word whiskey is derived from Uisce Beatha (ishka baha) literally the water of life. Take that as you will.
Some of the old songs I can sing to myself are in Irish, some wonderful poetry too which also does not translate well as it captures the sounds of the sea and the winds and the emotions.
"I heard the banshees* last night," my Granny would say in passing as she made breakfast. And sure enough, down the road would come a neighbour bearing news of a death in the village.
Sure I've heard the banshee myself. When Granny died. And I was far, far away.
*banshee, (“woman of the fairies”) supernatural being in Irish and other Celtic folklore whose mournful “keening,” or wailing screaming or lamentation, at night was believed to foretell the death of a member of the family of the person who heard the spirit.
My school was a poxy little protestant private setup in Bray, Co Wicklow run by a group of bad tempered old bats.
ReplyDeleteWe followed the GCE British curriculum - can you believe it? - so although to this day I can reel off the battles of the Crimean War I never learnt Irish.
Our GCE results were so bad we were pulled out en masse and put into a modern secular school in Dublin which taught to the Leaving Certificate.
I passed all my subjects but having only started to learn Irish I failed the Irish exam.
In 1966 Ireland if you failed Irish you failed the whole Leaving Certificate.
In retrospect it seems both schools were hell bent on having us fail in life!
Undaunted I asked if I could be tutored over the summer to resit the Irish exam. With great good luck a lovely man was found, an editor of Dineens Irish Dictionary who's special area was folklore. We clicked, I went to him every night that summer and scraped through the exam which magically turned my years of failure into an actual Leaving Certificate which I still take out of my desk and smile over occasionally! xxx
Oh YS this is such a great story. I absolutely love it. I didn't delve deeper into my post as it would take far too long. Both my parents were fierce republicans and the Ireland of then saw a massive resurgence in reclaiming all our stolen heritage and also being ready for European assimilation ("continental" in the idiom of my time), thus the focus on the Latin languages. We were the first generation to embrace all this (post the war called "The Emergency" in Ireland.) My dad had the "fainne" (the gold ring on the lapel declaring his Irish language ability plus of course the pioneer pin declaring his abstention from alcohol, the divil dhrink of the Irish).
ReplyDeleteWe suddenly were drenched in Irish literature, prayers, songs, bodhrans, squeeze boxes, spoons and bones etc from the age of about 3. I remember attending lectures at UCC with my dad given by Sean O'Riada exploring the origins of our music.
It was a massive reclamation and I am so glad you were also part of it.
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You are so very lucky to have other languages in your armoury. I do not, something I regret.
ReplyDeleteI do appreciate the fantastic opportunities for language I was given EC, when I tell the young 'uns they are astonished at the scope of it. Grandgirl has French and English interchangeably. It has taken her far in life.
DeleteIt's such a shame it's a choice option in school it should be mandatory.
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Irish seems to me to be a fiendishly difficult language compared with say, Italian. Jenny has been learning Irish for quite a few years but is still struggling with it and nothing like fluent. I've said before that I think all schools should be bilingual so that in school you can only speak a second language.
ReplyDeleteMany would agree with you. It stands all by itself with roots perhaps in India. Scottish Gaelic is close along with some Welsh. The many, many tenses are enough to drive some insane.
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I don't speak any language but English so when I read foreign words in books I tend to try and pronounce them the way they are spelled, and maybe google for what they mean but that doesn't help with pronunciation. At least now I know to say uisce as ishka. When I was in school, other languages were not introduced until highschool and then it was only French and Latin.
ReplyDeleteYes River, I was introduced to Latin when I was 12 and took one other language a year after that. Latin is a great grounding for all the Latinate languages.
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For some, whiskey is the water of life.
ReplyDeleteI don't think in my childhood that we knew exactly what banshees were, except that they were not good. No doubt the knowledge of banshees was brought here by Irish immigrants but in time, the 'superstition' died out.
My reply was lost unfortunately. I was wondering about the prison ships holding all those Irish convicts. Many just spoke Irish but I imagine it was long lost judging from the many clan members of my birth name I've been in touch with in Australia. I have an uncommon last Irish name and there aren't many of us.
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My father was all Irish; County Cork on his mother's side and Ulster on his father's (a very short marriage). It was a shame to him, back at the turn of the last century in coal mining country in Pennsylvania, and he never spoke of it. Ever. All I know of him and Ireland was my own research.
ReplyDeleteI feel saddened by that Joanne but in my family that same kind of thing happened. The shame was fierce on so many family situations.
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Irish is a language, I have never learned, but always been curious about. On YouTube there is a fantastic shortie about the Irish language and more, called "Yu Mingh is Ainm Dom" I watched in deligth several times.
ReplyDeleteI must catch that Charlotte. Thank you!
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Charlotte ( MotherOwl ) that little movie was shown as part of a film studies we did years ago and I've recommended it to others over and over again.
DeleteIt sums up a modern Ireland in such a lovely way.
This is a lovely post. Reminds me of my grandmother. My daughter and I have plans to visit Ireland in the spring. My mom was supposed to go w/us but passed away before we could go. We will visit Donegal, which is where all Mom's family came from. It will be a lovely trip but definitely bittersweet, missing her.
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