The Gael Becomes Irish is the most recent reflection from the Dublin-born poet pathologist on the vagaries of the official national language of Ireland. Its title speaks to the 17th-century invention by historical historian Seathrún Céitinn of an “Irish” rather than a Gaelic identity. But most Irish people, Mac Síomóin observes, have become desensitised to platitudes extolling the virtues of learning Irish. My objection is that the Irish language retains a presence on social media out of all proportion with the overall number of fluent speakers. He concludes with some practical recommendations for teaching a form of Neo-Irish based on the expertise of such esteemed Irish language scholars as Nicholas Williams and Maoilsheachlainn Ó Ruairc.

Source: The Irish Times July 11, 2020 05:03 UTC