Chuala sé an ceol i gcainteanna Dhún Chaoin,
Ní hiad na focail, ach an fonn
A ghabhann trí bhlas is fuaimeanna na Mumhan,
An ceol a chloiseann an strainséir;
Ceol ceantair
Ná cloiseann lucht a labhartha,
Ceol nár chualasa riamh,
Toisc a ghiorracht dom is bhí,
Is mé bheith ar adhastar ag an mbrí.

Ceol a chloistear fós sa Mhumhain,
Fiú in áiteanna 'nar tréigeadh an chanúint.

Seán Ó Ríordáin, Línte Liombó, 1971.

---

Rinne Jonas tagairt don dán seo agus muid ag caint ar áilleacht teangacha. Ní mé an bhfuil an leathrann deiridh fós fíor? Is dócha go bhfuil faoin dtuath.

I suspect that the poem above is very nice, this coming from someone who just knows its about music in Munster ... Am I even close?

Beir bua agus beannacht

Chuala sé an ceol i gcainteanna Dhún Chaoin,
He heard the music in the speech of Dún Chaoin
Ní hiad na focail, ach an fonn
Not the words, but the melody
A ghabhann trí bhlas is fuaimeanna na Mumhan,
Which is woven into the accent and sounds of Munster
An ceol a chloiseann an strainséir;
The music the stranger hears
Ceol ceantair
Music of a district
Ná cloiseann lucht a labhartha,
Which those who speak it do not hear
Ceol nár chualasa riamh,
Music I never heard
Toisc a ghiorracht dom is bhí,
Because of its closeness to me
Is mé bheith ar adhastar ag an mbrí.
And my being reined by the meaning

Ceol a chloistear fós sa Mhumhain,
Music still heard in Munster
Fiú in áiteanna 'nar tréigeadh an chanúint.
Even in places where the language was abandoned

a aonghus,
go raibh mile maith agat! bhi se go halainn!
ce hiad se? ta te mo chroi inne.
go mbeannai Dia duit!
slan
rb

The interesting thing about Cork especially is that even young women there still speak with a virulently stong brogue, all the while Connacht and Leinster women turn towards the more urban forms that are spreading.

If anybody's heard the Irish NOW! learning CD, I wonder if the one young woman speaker is from Cork, then? She's not quite like Lucky Charms on Crack, but close, and I have to say I love it.

I like that poem a Aonghuis. It reminded me of being at the oritory on the penninsula and hearing people just outside speaking to each other. It felt like nothing had changed in a thousand years at that very spot. The blackberries there are some of the best I've ever had, not that blackberries are related to anything of significance here but there taste is tied to that memory.

Beir bua agus beannacht

...bhlas is fuaimeanna na Mumhan...

mar shampla: con curtin as tigh na bhFeidhleadóirí ó brosnach. bhí sé ar tg4, 'sé mo laoch.'