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Last Thursday, a clutch of Irish-language (Gaeilge) activists burst into Belfast’s gleaming new station shouting “Tír gan Teanga, Tír gan Anam (A country without a language is a country without a soul)”. “What’s this all about?” a woman asked a protesting schoolgirl as activists unfurled the vast red banner of the An Dream Dearg campaign to mark out their sit-in. “We’re protesting for our language rights,” said the girl, “Ach, I’m so proud of youse,” the woman replied. At the same time, some other teenagers walked past, bemused. “Are they chanting in like Gaelic or something?” one giggled. To the tune of Irish folk and rebel songs, the organisers gave rousing bilingual speeches demanding that there be dual-language English and Irish signage at the showpiece new transport hub.
The dispute highlights the extraordinary revival of Irish underway in Northern Ireland, and the country’s divided politics, still overshadowed by its frozen ethnic conflict — both brought to international attention by the new, heavily Irish-language Kneecap film. At his office in West Belfast’s Nationalist Falls Road, An Dream Dearg’s Pádraig Ó Tiarnaigh tells me that after the Troubles, “the Irish language became intertwined with that sense of identity of what people feel to connect them to this place, to their heritage, to that sort of indigenous aspect of language and land”. Yet despite Westminster’s 2022 approval of the landmark Identity and Language Act, he says, “the status quo here is monolingual. It is English only, and by definition, the Irish language is excluded”. Activists face “huge political opposition from the DUP and others not to give any sort of equivalence or legitimacy in public life or in official government legislation to the Irish language”.
Since the passing of the Language Act, Irish has become increasingly part of the country’s public life. On Belfast’s East-West Glider metro system, buses heading to mostly Nationalist West Belfast announce their destinations in both Irish and English; those heading to mostly Unionist East Belfast pointedly do not. Living in a leafy Catholic area, I am surrounded by the Irish language: our street signs are bilingual, and Sinn Féin-branded Go Mall (“go slow”) signs are prominently affixed to trees.
A few weeks ago, our middle child started at an Irish-language nursery, one of more than 50,000 children across the island currently educated in Gaeilge (or in Ulster Irish, Gaeilg); when our youngest child was born, we chose a dual-language birth certificate. In our case, these choices were made for essentially apolitical, even romantic reasons: both my maternal grandparents were native Irish speakers, as were my wife’s family a generation earlier, and we want to undo the recent loss of our ancestral language. But within the context of Northern Irish society, the choice to adopt it is often viewed as an overtly political act, both by its supporters and its detractors.
For Ian McLaughlin, a DUP councillor representing the staunchly Loyalist Shankill area, dominated by paramilitary groups, Irish has become a weapon wielded by the Nationalist community against a politically divided Unionist constituency that is now, in Belfast, a minority. The greatest controversy is over Irish-language signage in “interface areas” — streets where Catholic and Protestant communities abut each other, and where Irish-language signage is routinely defaced. For some, like the Catholic writer Malachi O’Doherty, the presence or absence of Irish street signs may unintentionally function as the equivalent of the paramilitary murals and flags that still mark the transition from one area to another, heightening sectarian divisions.
“I think in many ways, it reflects a change in demographics in this area. That’s fine, but it also is taken by very many people within the Unionist community as Republicanism baring its teeth to show that they have more control in this city,” McLaughlin told me. “In many, many streets and areas, the change in signage was not asked for by the residents. It was asked for by Sinn Féin or other Nationalists and their public and political representatives. So there’s a whole issue in there about the democracy behind this.”
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SubscribeVery good article, although I think Ulster Protestants learning Gaelic these days tends to be more of a college-educated middle class thing (personal impression, if there are stats otherwise, fair enough).
I note the article did not mention the attempt by various Unionist/Loyalists to promote “Ulster Scots” as a counterweight to Gaelic.
The original native tongue of the Ulster Scots was pretty much identical to the Gaelic language spoken in Ulster by the Catholics – they are to a large extent the same people, particularly the Highland Scots. That’s the irony of all this.
I’m not so sure. Most Ulster Scots are Lowland Scots. I’m not sure if they ever spoke Irish or Gallic.
Galloway was a major Gaelic-speaking area in south-west Scotland, hence the name. So certainly there would have been Gaelic-speaking ancestry for some if you go back far enough. I believe Ayrshire was also Gaelic-speaking till fairly late on. Also bear in mind that the Glens of Antrim were part of the Scottish world since literally before there was a Scotland (kingdom of Dalriata and all that), and they were Gaelic-speaking for sure.
It’s true though, Strathclyde was actually British Celtic if you really go back in time. And, to be honest, I’m just after seeing the umpteenth Facebook thread in which people are jawing about ancient Gaelic kingdoms in Ireland, and then there are Unionists popping up to talk about how the Ulaid were actually British Celts. So, maybe instead of Ulster Scots they should go all in teaching the Unionist side of the community Welsh!
There was an attempt by the lower IQ element of the Unionist side to hijack some of the historical Irish sagas to give some level of credence to their political claims of prior habitation in Ulster during The Troubles. I have no problems with this in general terms as long as it is backed by the academy and is not spun out of a pint of lager to cause mischief. It is quite an interesting area of study and helped by looking at Scotland and Ireland through the lens of the Seas between them rather than the Land. Of course there was continual intermixing of the clans by mariners and claims to purity and antecedence are hogwash. The main culprits for the loss of Gaelic in both Scotland and Ireland were the English.
“continual intermixing of the clans by mariners and claims to purity and antecedence are hogwash”
Yes, that was what I was always taught. People also underestimate the amount of mixing that went on in more recent centuries as well. For instance, I know (thanks to the wonders of Ancestry.com) that the family legend that we had Catholic ancestors from Limerick back in the 19th century is in fact entirely true.
I noted this as well, John Murray. It would have added significantly to the article.
To the rest of the world, this piece will seem quaint to the point of barking mad. Proficiency in English gives you a big advantage in life. It’s not just the wealthy elite that wants its children taught in English, in some countries it’s the majority view.
So actively choosing to have your children educated in a language other than English, is akin to refusing to have them vaccinated for MMR.
They can all still speak English, just as well as you. They have lost nothing
That remains to be seen.
No it doesn’t
When was the last time you met an Irish person who didn’t speak English ? yet you have met plenty who could speak English and Irish
I tend to agree. At the upper end of the social class distribution, the English speak well enough, as do the Irish of the same social class.
However, the English lower classes have a shockingly poor command of their only language. It is here the culture of multilingualism serves the Irish best. I attended a very rough school in the inner city of Dublin. The boys were, for the most part, socially disadvantaged and frankly had only basic literacy skills. But the fact of being forced to learn Irish gave them a perspective on what language was, which improved their spoken and written English as well.
The lower classes are also the ones who associate most with the nationalist culture of which the Irish language is a part. This, I think, gives them a leg up when it comes to learning it.
Bilingual children have an advantage over the monolingual. Numerous studies attest to that. Choice should be with the parents until the children can decide. Diversity is good. Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine.
True, but to make a living in today’s business world my chosen second language wouldn’t be Irish.
Learning French, German, Spanish, Russian, Japanese or Chinese would be far more profitable.
This is a constant debate in Ireland, but if the Irish language was taught well (it isn’t and makes for a waste of 13 – 14 years schooling), it would make for a good preparation to acquire additional languages. But then I think the mandarins in the Irish department of education don’t relish the idea of Irish professionals fluent in French, German, Spanish or Italian, taking advantage of the EU Freedom of Movement and finding employment on the continent.
Yes. I grew up on North Tyneside and when I go back there I can slip back into the local Geordie dialect with ease, much of which would be difficult for most other English speakers to understand. I think it’s important to preserve the language, culturally, but it’s essentially useless anywhere north of Berwick or south of Durham.
Yes, but today’s world is far from being a business world. In most cases children stick close to home. They might not have great jobs but they feel part of the community if they speak Irish. Also, in the relative absence of a business world, the key jobs become government jobs – teachers, council employees, police, fire brigade – and then being bilingual would be an advantage. Also, I would imagine there would be a need for bilingual people in the various EU committees.
I recall in 1998 a joking observation by a civil servant advisor to Mo Mowlem (then Northern Ireland secretary) that the peace process might present a problem for the UK and Irish governments if the province used its new unity to push back against “policy”. In this context, policy was whatever was handed down from the governing apparatus of the EU or UK government and not a democratic manifesto policy. It suited the governors for the governed to be divided. It made governing simpler when the public were forever engaged in squabbles. In fact distract, divide, and rule was almost the default response to any problem in government. I left politics because of this.
I don’t care what language you speak. But the obvious downside of community groups identifiable by different languages is that it creates more in-groups and more barriers. It stratifies the citizens in yet another dimension. There become fewer intersections for common cause amongst the citizens, more distractions, fewer opportunities to build significant voting coalitions. Democracy is made toothless and the technocrats become less impeded by elections. There do remain citizen intersections but these now represent tiny minorities. Identity and access to an in-group becomes a political commodity to be traded for special privilege as Horowitz describes.
Does neither the author nor those quoted realise the irony of Irish language being promoted at the very time political institutions and demographics intend to make those with Irish “DNA” (I use this as loosely as the author’s quote has) a minority. Was the author’s selection of the “indigenous” quote a Freudian slip? Because the hallmark of indigenous-identified people everywhere is minority status and performative respect for their language even as they are treated like political pet monkeys. Like indigenous people elsewhere, the “protection” of the native language is a cheap token to distract from more substantive politics.
The arguments presented in this article feel very much like the song Zombie by the Cranberries. They are arguments about a fight that is in fact over, arguing over a past long gone, distracting us from the present and a looming dystopia. You’re fighting over language when your energy system is disintegrating, your quality of life is falling, your healthcare system is close to collapse, and your basic freedoms are being eroded. Distraction and division.
Interesting perspective. One question is what would be lost if the Irish language, or any other language were lost. If the language is lost, the culture is lost. Here in the U.S., where we have hundreds of minority communities, cultures are preserved when languages and customs are encouraged and continued in the home and ethnic communities. The use of English in the public school system, places of business and government establishes the unifying common ground and encourages assimilation. That worked out well for my immigrant family.
It’s an interesting question: does language shape culture and vice versa? What went first, language or culture? What even is culture?
Industrialisation, urbanisation and migration forced a huge confluence of people in the British Isles over three centuries. Accents are remnants of dialects and languages long since gone.
But culturally, what was lost? The British Isles, thanks to their connectivity by sea, have been culturally integrated for millenia. Identical stone circles, artwork, and burial chambers in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and England attest to a common culture thousands of years ago despite four major languages and many dialects. This cultural integration withstood invasion and settlement by Romans, Vikings and then the Germanic tribes who all ultimately diverged from their origins and created something distinct here in the British Isles. It would seem that language isn’t necessarily a part of culture but geography very much is.
Well said. On the DNA matter, I really wish people would stop associating language with DNA -there is no connection whatsoever. Language has to do with cultural learning and transmission- not genetic make-up.
Stating the blinkin obvious but cross the border into Eire and they all speak English. They all get taught Gaelic but the primary language is English. Do they feel less Irish?
Go anywhere in the World and what non-native language do the kids get taught and most want to learn? Yep we all know the answer.
Is our language one of our most important forms of soft power? Possibly. We should certainly be a bit more self confident and chilled out about others protecting their own historic language. Ours remains the most important across the Globe. (It has of course made many of us a bit lazy when it comes to acquiring language skills)
Gaelic of course much closer to the language of the ancient Brits – just sayin.
I’m not sure English is ours (the English) anymore. The way we spell, the grammar we use, even the sounds of English in England, are rapidly changing in response to non-native influences. In just two generations the distinct speech and grammar patterns of Northumberland have completely disappeared and Estuary English increasingly takes on pidgin form due to non-native speakers replacing native speakers in London. Important features of advanced languages, like tense and possession, are being eroded and ultimately this will make English less exact and less precise, less useful for business and commerce. The international use of English is a poisoned fruit.
Some elements of it’s evolution I cringe at too, but Orwell’s prose quite along way from the prose of the 17th century England.
Its, not it’s, in the possessive. As you know.
To be fair, I have a perpetual battle with the spellchecker on my smartphone, which insists on inserting an apostrophe. It often wins.
Correct. But I’m shure you was ‘avin a bit of laff wiv us , wasn’t ya?
Protecting the language is good, as is trying to defend a historic culture. Unfortunately, politicians and civil servants will try to make the language into a weapon. All of the politicians will soon speak the language and there will be a stigma against those who don’t. People in small groups will whisper about others; there will be an in-crowd.
Wales has had a lot of practice at this. In the north, where the druids are supposed to have concentrated when they were chased out, there has always been a very small number of people who have clung onto the language. In modern times, the north has become the centre of the tourist industry and people have to speak English to get a job, however much they hate to do it. This is why the Senedd has said that it wants Wales to move away from tourism, because it affects the purity of ‘Welshness’. Meanwhile, the south has gone through a destructive industrial revolution and there were huge waves of immigrants in the 19th century – from Ireland and from Northern England. This led to a language called (by some) Wenglish. The Wenglish in the south and the Welsh in the north are completely different.
Then the politicians came along and decided to try to standardise things by forcing children to learn Welsh at school. This has not been wholly successful. The problem was always that you could teach people Welsh if they wanted to learn but, having learned there is nothing to do but join groups who are proud of their ‘Welshness’. Almost all books, newspapers and TV are in English and that will always be the case because of the American influence. The internet is so English that France and Germany and others are struggling to keep going without their children reverting to American English.
The next act from the politicians was to say that all jobs working for the state must be filled by Welsh speakers in the future. (This was hurriedly changed to ‘those who speak a few words of Welsh’). This has led to a two-tier system. The teachers and the lawyers and the bankers – the middle classes – speak Welsh and teach their children Welsh because it is a guarantee of a good job and pension. The poorer people just want to survive and for that aim, normal life has to be in English.
I am a fan of the Welsh language. But it should be spoken because people want to speak it, not because it is forced. Can a language survive without force? Good luck to Ireland, which is just starting.
The Isle of Mann is going through the same process.
I note that one county in Wales has just suspended school transport for all schools except Welsh-speaking and faith schools. This is so obviously discriminatory. It is a warning of what is to come.
I live in an area where this is the case. But you are slightly wrong. There are more English schools than Welsh schools so you have to be prepared to travel further if you want an education in Welsh. The counties have a distance limit for free school transport – greater than a certain distance equals free transport. So if there are more English schools, the distances are smaller. You are then less likely to require free transport.
“The Wenglish in the south and the Welsh in the north are completely different.”
That is an enormous exaggeration. Huge Immigration swathes decimated spoken Welsh on the streets – which caused my mother’s mother tongue to be English and then mine. Very often, for more technical terms, English terms are used by both north and south. But the ‘English’ terms are often ‘French’, which in turn I suppose are often ‘Norman’. There are some differences of words used between North and South, but is often spoken speed and accent that comprise perceived difference.
Shakespeare referrer to Welsh (Cymraeg) as the ‘British tongue’, as opposed to the Saxon tongue. Today, in Welsh, the English are referred to as the ‘Saeson’. Boudicca, born and bred in what is now England, commanded her army in a derivative of the modern ‘British tongue’. Thus, I don’t see why Cymraeg is considered only a matter for those west of Offa’s d**e. I suppose it was that d**e that primarily defined the otherness and foreignness of the British tongue in what is now England.
You can’t show ‘d**e’ now? Really? OK, ‘Offa’s border’!!
But they are completely different. Many people in my family have spoken Welsh for years and years but are mystified by programmes on S4C.
I concur some silliness occurs on the matter. But I don’t fret as much about where it might end up. Folks are sensible and practical. If it gets proper silly they just won’t vote for those who push it.
Learning and being proficient at English going to always be one of the most important things a child can be taught and learn if they are going to get on in life. The ardent Welsh sometimes forget how much their forebearers were to have their kids learn English for exactly that reason and why it was in the first curriculum after 1870 Education Act
I don’t think that people have forgotten. In the past, the rich Welsh people pushed their children out to England, so that there were better job prospects for them. The same is true today, of course, if you are willing to travel to the job. If you want to stay at home the reverse is true.
A lot of Welshness and Scottishness is really anti-English. But the internet has moved things from English to American, especially with YouTube. Today, many Chinese children and English children speak with an effected American accent.
“Folks” may be sensible and practical, but those folks aren’t the ones placed in charge of making changes. And for sure we know with only a few parties that have positions on every issue, that you can’t vote out a party because of one issue you disagree with.
Yesterday, I heard the Bristol Channel deliberately referred to as the “Cardiff Channel”, in defiance of that imperial dictatorship and imposition of ‘Bristol’. Enough said, I suppose.
The Senedd wishes to end tourism to protect Welsh culture. What policy will they adopt when immigration threatens it?
I can’t speak for the Senedd but I can guess. Wales has a big advantage in that it is self-sufficient in electrical energy and water. It also has the best position to develop tidal power. Seriously, Wales could do well as a supplier of commodities to England.
Immigration has been much, much slower in Wales than in England – especially unsolicited immigration. This is self-perpetuating because men who cross the channel seek out people who speak the language and have the same culture.
It’s quite a lot different than the Brythonic languages of Wales and Cornwall, and most of pre Roman Britain. It’s very similar to Scots Gallic – to the extent that I can easily read Scots Gallic with my poor Republic of Ireland Gaeilge lessons from school. Welsh or Cornish? Not a hope.
All British Children should learn Spanish to a conversational level. Then we would be able to converse with 70% of the global population.
Eh … 7% of the global population.(630,000,000).
70% is grossly inaccurate
However should you wish for UK children to converse with a High % of
The Global population
Then they would be well advised to learn , read , write , speak and hear the most used
Language upon the Planet
Classical Arabic with over 1.3 billion users and the Number
Growing
This language is approx 60 % higher than Spanish in use
Muslims will be in the majority in Ireland within 10 or 20 years, as they will be in the rest of the UK,they won’t be speaking Gaelic.
Gaelic lessons in many schools are under severe timetable pressure due to parents wanting education closer to their social preferences. In the next decade this upwards pressure is going to push very hard against several liberal ideals including the promotion of “native” languages. When a majority of parents aren’t Irish and retain close links with somewhere else in the world they won’t care that you are Irish in your “DNA” (it already sounds a bit blood and soil “racist”) and Gaelic will be sidelined once again.
Muslims are currently 1.6% of the Irish population. The idea that they will become a majority in the next hundred years would be ridiculous.
We said something like that in England. Look what’s happening now!
I wonder if there is some anger behind these choices. As immigrants to the UK my parents urged us to beome “more English than the English” (their words) to make the experiment work. Having watched the English increasingly concede their culture over the subsequent 40 years, I have now reverted to one of my parental languages in all private aspects of my life. It was a passive aggressive decision to ensure that my identity could no longer be eroded except on my terms. Whilst the inverse of this Irish initiative (in my case a withdrawal), it has given me more internal security, perhaps even stability.
A good feature length article on the irish language from unherd. Fantastic ! I think that the big unspoken here is immigration. Ireland is becoming a babble of foreign languages and hopefully we can keep a bit of Irish going for the next generation. Unionists learning the language is wonderful (whether middle class or otherwise) and gives me hope for a pluralist future. In 1798 catholic and presbytarian united under genuine republican ideals ( united irishmen) and hopefully we can unite again in a shared irishness that includes everyone ( including immigrants) and get some sensible immigration policies and maintain an irish identity and going forward.
Too late. Language is a rear guard effort. Stop making babies, lose the territory.
Language is analogous to measures: in the best interests of friendly communication, trade, commerce, science and technology we need one World standard of each. Natural evolution has favoured the English language and the French S.I. measures. (just good luck if you were French or English).
Petty parochial languages and measures such as Irish and Imperial are splendid conservation hobbies and these historic diversities should be encouraged but not paid for out of the public purse.
the political scientist Donald L. Horowitz characterised ethnically divided societies as ones where “rather than merely setting the framework for politics, [group relations] become the recurring subjects of politics” as “conflicts over needs and interests are subordinated to conflicts over group status…
In today’s context, Horowitz’s statement refutes the mantra that “diversity is our strength.” Much of today’s heartburn revolves around group identity, with each group vying to be more aggrieved, more offended, and more special than the others. Who knew that man could be a tribal beast.
As a citizen of the Republic of Ireland and of Catholic extraction, this is an excellent article, that has explained the situation and historical context very well, kudos to the author.
The easy bilingualism of Wales???
https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/group-women-walkers-claim-anti-29949803?int_source=amp_continue_reading&int_medium=amp&int_campaign=continue_reading_button#amp-readmore-target
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/09/16/welsh-village-botwnnog-english-speakers-not-welcome/#:~:text=Take%20a%20drive%20through%20North,the%20tiny%20village%20of%20Botwnnog.
Both Irish and Scots Gaelic was literally subjected to Genocidal Westminster policies
All to eliminate
But despite all that
” We still Sing “
I’m sure none of my ancestors would have thought so at the time this was happening, but the English were really doing the Irish a favor by turning them into English-speakers. Fluency in English gave Irish immigrants to the US a huge advantage over other immigrants. English is spoken world-wide, Gaelic only in Ireland. One can be proud of one’s heritage without deliberately sealing one’s self off from the rest of the world by clinging to an ancestral tongue that’s useless anywhere but home. Keep Gaelic alive? Sure. But don’t let it replace English.
Not sure why they’re bothering as, within a few decades they’ll all be speaking Arabic anyway if immigration carries on at current rates.
More Irish spoken is good, just a pity that some of them doing it would happily support anti-zionist forces in the middle east that want to suppress Hebrew being spoken in its own land.
I wonder what sort of Irish they speak, not the dialect but the quality. I hope it is not the appalling book Irish I heard when I came to school in Dublin from Donegal as a twelve-year old. It was hide behind the sofa stuff.
My sister has learned Gaelic now, and whenever she goes home to Ireland (after a suitable time saying hello to mother, of course) goes to a Gaelic-speaking camp in Donegal each summer (Oideas Gael is the group if you know it).
“Original thought is the ore of the mind; language is, but the accidental stamp and coinage by which it is put into circulation.” Washington Irving
The problem is it can be used simply to exclude non-Irish speakers in a distinctly unfriendly way: ever walked into a Welsh pub?
The Irish language was previously used in Ireland to exclude protestants from job opportunities and parts of society. Language can be used as a cultural weapon and that exceptionalism has been Sinn Fein’s intention for years. Ultimately, Gaeilge is nothing more than a hobby language with no commercial application in the world, yet huge sums are being spent promoting it in an effort to alienate the British in Northern Ireland.
Very good article. Hit the nail on the head. Language is a great “binder” of the populace.
This is a tool for the Irish Republicans to step further towards a “united Ireland” which maybe the end point sometime in the future.
Let’s hope this revival of language is used as a peaceful persuasion along this troubled pathway, in an historically divided country.
Learning Spanish, French or Mandarin would be a total waste of time, I guess. As Ms. Clover says, it is all about keeping the proles down.
To sell the cow you had better speak English. A simple explanation of the economics underlying how things evolve. I am on holidays and enjoy the diverse languages I come across.
According to the American linguist, John McWorter, only children under the age of about 11 or 12 can learn a language properly, and only if they speak it at home with parents and siblings. You can learn a language passably well later on in life, but only after hours of hard study and practice, but even then you will never be entirely fluent. And the Gaelic languages, including Welsh, are under enormous pressure from English. Teenagers in Wales almost never use Welsh on social media. Nice of you to get your kids to learn Gaelic at kindergarten, they will learn to speak it a bit and read the road signs, but they probably won´t use it much in later life. McWorter believes these languages, as they are subservient to English, will always struggle and only just hang on. Probably best to use those precious hours of childhood to learn a language that might be of use to them in a career, like Spanish or French. Perhaps learning Gaelic (or Welsh) or about as futile as making a ship in a bottle. Good to look at and show your friends, but…
As an American grandson of immigrants (not irish) I must wonder if this is progress? Does reaserting the old tongue move one forward?
I suggest they go the hole hog: ban English and insist that everyone speaks Oirish (or whatever it’s called). Should sort things out (and be entertaining for the rest of us).