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To be Irish then is more than the surface qualities. Less than two hundred years ago, to have
one’s Irish surname displayed in public, on one’s cart for example, was an offense for which
one could be fined. Today for one who seeks to re-appropriate an Irish surname, there is
considerable opposition.
The past year has seen a deepening unrest as the Irish Language Commissioner resigned in
protest due to inadequate measures on the part of government in implementing the language
strategy. It would appear that much is being done on the part of the language – yet at a
practical level it would appear that the language continues as a tolerated ornament not being
allowed the full support it sorely deserves.
Yet when we look to Ireland’s Golden Age we see a time when Irish speakers navigated the
globe and with them, a torch of learning. It was not uncommon in rural Ireland to find
farmers who could recite from memory full tales of ancient Greece. Such was the strength of
that age, it’s light did not diminish despite centuries of oppression and opposition to the Irish
spirit and the language which was it’s strength.
To understand the challenges faced by the Irish language in it’s pleas for life today it is
necessary to appreciate some historical background. Cork historian, Daniel Corkery wrote of
the decline of Irelands “Golden Age” , the legacy of the Vikings:
“This Golden Age of ours was to find a rather speedy ending. And just before it did,
everything seemed to promise a period of long fruition. Between the pervasive influence
of an enthusiastic, yet ascetic religious spirit, the fame of the country abroad, the schools,
both secular and monastic, reaching full stature, the increasing wealth and the elimination
of mercenary armies, a future seemed to be opening which much achieve many outstanding
works. But just then (795), the Norsemen began sweeping the seas, raiding the coasts... Two
hundred years of outright violence ensued... Armagh was wrecked and plundered nine times,
Clonmacnoise fourteen times. “
In the landscape the prevalence of our Round Towers speaks of this period of violence when
a place of refuge and escape became so essential. The Old Irish language is said to have passed
away through these years of violence from the Norsemen. Irish hero, Brian Boru, finally
crushed the Norse maritime state which
ran from the Orkney Islands to Waterford,
in 1014. The founders of Dublin city in
852, were named Olaf the White and
Ivor “Beinlaus”– and Christ Church was
founded by one called “Sitric”. It is an
accepted fact that Dublin, the capital of
Ireland – has never been an Irish speaking
city. It is the same story with the cities of
Wexford, Waterford, Cork and Limerick.
There are three chief dialects in the Irish
language – that of Munster, Connaught’s
and Ulster Irish. From the years 1200 to
1650 we know that there was one national
literary language – known to Ireland’s
bardic poets. As with Swiss German and
High German, there was the Oral tongue
and the literary language. Such a distinctive
literary language lends itself to a national
cultural consciousness. Irelands literary
world took a fatal blow once the patrons
of Ireland’s poets, the Irish nobility –
A Round Tower
210
one’s Irish surname displayed in public, on one’s cart for example, was an offense for which
one could be fined. Today for one who seeks to re-appropriate an Irish surname, there is
considerable opposition.
The past year has seen a deepening unrest as the Irish Language Commissioner resigned in
protest due to inadequate measures on the part of government in implementing the language
strategy. It would appear that much is being done on the part of the language – yet at a
practical level it would appear that the language continues as a tolerated ornament not being
allowed the full support it sorely deserves.
Yet when we look to Ireland’s Golden Age we see a time when Irish speakers navigated the
globe and with them, a torch of learning. It was not uncommon in rural Ireland to find
farmers who could recite from memory full tales of ancient Greece. Such was the strength of
that age, it’s light did not diminish despite centuries of oppression and opposition to the Irish
spirit and the language which was it’s strength.
To understand the challenges faced by the Irish language in it’s pleas for life today it is
necessary to appreciate some historical background. Cork historian, Daniel Corkery wrote of
the decline of Irelands “Golden Age” , the legacy of the Vikings:
“This Golden Age of ours was to find a rather speedy ending. And just before it did,
everything seemed to promise a period of long fruition. Between the pervasive influence
of an enthusiastic, yet ascetic religious spirit, the fame of the country abroad, the schools,
both secular and monastic, reaching full stature, the increasing wealth and the elimination
of mercenary armies, a future seemed to be opening which much achieve many outstanding
works. But just then (795), the Norsemen began sweeping the seas, raiding the coasts... Two
hundred years of outright violence ensued... Armagh was wrecked and plundered nine times,
Clonmacnoise fourteen times. “
In the landscape the prevalence of our Round Towers speaks of this period of violence when
a place of refuge and escape became so essential. The Old Irish language is said to have passed
away through these years of violence from the Norsemen. Irish hero, Brian Boru, finally
crushed the Norse maritime state which
ran from the Orkney Islands to Waterford,
in 1014. The founders of Dublin city in
852, were named Olaf the White and
Ivor “Beinlaus”– and Christ Church was
founded by one called “Sitric”. It is an
accepted fact that Dublin, the capital of
Ireland – has never been an Irish speaking
city. It is the same story with the cities of
Wexford, Waterford, Cork and Limerick.
There are three chief dialects in the Irish
language – that of Munster, Connaught’s
and Ulster Irish. From the years 1200 to
1650 we know that there was one national
literary language – known to Ireland’s
bardic poets. As with Swiss German and
High German, there was the Oral tongue
and the literary language. Such a distinctive
literary language lends itself to a national
cultural consciousness. Irelands literary
world took a fatal blow once the patrons
of Ireland’s poets, the Irish nobility –
A Round Tower
210
