Conference tallis::celt

1186.0. "Interesting perspective on gaeilge" by TALLIS::DARCY () Wed Feb 17 1993 17:45

Article 14841 of soc.culture.celtic:
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From: [email protected] (Rene Peeren alias Croughan)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.celtic
Subject: Re: This Favorite Lie Again.
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Date: Wed, 17 Feb 93 11:47:05 EST
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I feel compelled to give my opinion on this Irish/English-speaking discussion.
Being dutch meself, I recognise the disadvantages of not having English as my
native tongue, in this modern world. However, I like speaking dutch. After
5 years of living in Sweden, I like it even more. After 20 years, I wouldn't be
able to speak it properly (well, I already have problems now), and after
3 generations I wouldn't miss it.

I wouldn't know how I would feel like living in my own country,
speaking a language that was forced upon the people, however long ago it was.
I reckon though that I would very much like to be able to speak it then, but I may
not want to go through the trouble of learning it, especially if it is so much
different than whatever I would be speaking then.

I've been in Ireland a few times, my wife being irish, and I found that most are
pretty proud of the few words they still might know. Those words they had to learn
in school. And let's be honest, who ever liked whatever was taught in school.
It's only later that you may appreciate (some of) the knowledge forced upon you.

Anyway, Irish is your inheritence. As long as different nations speak
different languages, irish profilates the irish as a culture.
The fact that most irish don't give a f**k about
this and other inheritences (and there is some logic in that) is mostly a
'post-rape'-behaviour. Ye've been raped so often that you don't care about your own
body anymore. And that's a bloody shame. It's only after a good few pints eg that
I can hear anger, dissapointment, frustration or whatever in an irish voice
talking about 'the troubles in the north'. Any other time most of ye *appear* to show
no interest, staying quite like a little girl that's been beaten too often.
I'd say we dutch would be the same, given the same experience. It's still a
bloody shame though. The only thing you've left is your music, and the amazing thing
that ye protect old songs like vicious hawks. It's easier than protecting your
language I guess: at least you get good crack in the process.

I'm not looking for a complete revolution where the whole of Ireland would
sing 'the pope smokes dope everyday' in irish.
The only thing I hope for is that irish will never completely dissapear,
not until we all speak american and eat hamburgers for breakfast.
Let's see who cares then...

    Was it the Wolftones that did that song?  I don't recall it
    offhand.

    
    re -1:
    
    You surely mean The Wolfe Tones?
    
    
    
    Hannu

    It was a line in a John Lennon song, "New York City", off the album,
    "Sometime in New York City". I haven't heard it anywhere else.