RSS
roots


Home Page > Roots > Clare Island may become Irish language laboratory
comment on article 1 Comment
print this article Print
email this articleE-mail

Clare Island may become Irish language laboratory

By
DARA KELLY,
IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Wednesday, August 25, 2010, 8:43 AM
Updated Wednesday, August 25, 2010, 8:45 AM

 

Bookmark and Share

Clare Island
Clare Island

Clare Island off the coast of County Mayo may become a new testing ground for the reintroduction of the Irish language.

Fine Gael’s shadow spokesman on the Gaeltacht Affairs, Frank Feighan, has argued that a more proactive campaign will be required if the 20-year Strategy for the Irish Language to increase the number of speakers from 87,000 to 250,000 is to be successful.

Feighan said after his recent visit to the island that he was struck by its suitability for a pilot project on the Irish language, since it is situated between the gaeltacht (Irish speaking) areas of Achill island and Connemara.

Part-time island resident and Professor of Education at the University of Gavle in Sweden, Doctor Peter Gill agrees with  Feighan. He refers to the Royal Irish Academy’s New Survey of Clare Island, launched by former Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Charles Haughey in 1991.

Gill told the press: 'In the new survey, it is remarkable that more Irish placenames of the fields and rocks, coves and crannies were recorded than in the original.'

'Under the surface of the visible culture is the invisible one,' Gill said. 'This has been clearly shown recently with the resurgence of traditional music and dancing and singing on the island. For a myriad of reasons, the island is a perfect laboratory to reintroduce the language. The parameters of the project can be easily defined and its progress monitored,' Peter Gill added.

print this article Print
email this articleE-mail


1 Comment

It may take several minutes for your comment to appear.
Report abuse
Posted by ciaran120 on Aug 25, 2010, 11:30 PM EDT
"Reintroduction of the Irish language?"..... The Irish language is alive and well and going from strength to strength. There are currently over 170 primary schools and over 40 secondary schools outside the Gaeltacht regions in the 32 counties of Ireland in which education is taught through the Irish language. This is up from a total of just 16 Irish language schools in 1972. Furthermore parents are helping to organize new Irish language schools each year. "Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam. A country without a language is a country without a soul."— Pádraig Pearse
 


Click to learn more from DiscoverIreland.com.


Connect to IrishCentral with your Facebook account

or sign-in directly

Welcome to IrishCentral!
Please provide the following information in order to create your account

Username:
E-Mail Address:
Password:
Confirm Password:
I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy


Welcome to IrishCentral!
All we need is the following information and you will be part of the #1 Irish community in the US

E-Mail Address:
First select a unique username:
Username:
Now choose a password:
Password:
Confirm Password:
I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
Thank you!

Just one more step and you will be part of the largest Irish community in America! Tell us a little more about you to start enjoying all the features of IrishCentral.

Additional Information:

First Name:
Last Name:
Date of Birth:
Zip:
Gender: Male  Female 
Country:
Degree of Irishness:
Household Income:
Level of Education:

Subscribe to our newsletters:

The Best of IrishCentral - Daily Newsletter
Special Offers from our sponsors

or
Skip

You can edit your information at any time, just go to "my account" when you're logged in.

Log into IrishCentral with your Facebook account

or sign-in directly

E-Mail:
Password:
 Remember me Forgot my password