Like many people
in Ireland, I suffered through eleven years of Irish lessons and left school
with hardly more than an ability to introduce myself as Gaeilge. Not a little
bit shameful considering it’s the national language of the country, although
it’s only spoken daily by a relatively small fraction of citizens.
All languages
evolve. Irish has gone from Primitive Irish in Ogham inscriptions to Modern
Irish in its many dialects. With the English occupation of Ireland, the use
of Gaedhilge declined, mostly declined by mid-18th century. Speaking as
Gaedhilge was discouraged to the point of prohibition in schools and it almost
died out. Late 19th century saw a revival of the culture and language in
reaction to Ireland becoming almost completely anglicised (English culture and
language).
Irish was reintroduced
to schools during political upheaval leading to independence. National
examinations came into play in the 30’s. However, also during this time the
written language went through a dramatic shift and in 1950’s, a new written
standard was published to regulate the many dialects and new written form
called An Caighdeán
Oifigiúil, The Official Standard.
Shades of
Atlantis is heavily influenced by Celtic legends. So, I suppose it’s not
surprising that it inspired me to re-visit my first language. While I’m still not
fluent, I can now pick out words and phrases in both verbal and written Irish.
Enough to get the gist of a radio show at least. That’s a lot more than when I
left school. It’s coming in handy as I write book three where there are
references to both Irish Gaelic and Scottish Gaelic.
Find out more about Carol Oates
I've learned a lot about Gaelic from this. It's great that writing Shades inspired you to revisit Gaelic. =)
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