A good article in the Trinity Times (college newspaper) by Aonghus Dwane, TCD's new Irish Language officer.

http://www.trinitynews.ie/index.php/opinion/editorial/420-the-modern-renaissance -of-irish-

Very good indeed. Thanks for linking to it for us.

Speaking of Trinity, there was a time when I had the Oxford Companion to Irish History (which I managed to lose). If I remember correctly, in it there was a snippet about Trinity College and the language. It stated that in 1750, one quarter of all students attending were Irish speaking monoglots. This is key. Again, if I recall correctly, Catholics were not admitted into Trinity until the 1790s. So if one quarter of students at that time could speak nothing but Irish (and would have been largely drawn from the small Anglo-Irish aristocracy...a class which would have been the most anglicised), then that gives us some idea of what the linguistic situation in the country as a whole was at that time.

I just found in interesting.

I would be very surprised if that were true.

I would expect somebody sufficiently educated to attend university in 1750 to be proficient in English, Latin and Greek!

and French

I was very interested in this:

"The Official Languages Act will play an important role in the future in making Irish more visible on campus. College signage will, in accordance with legislation, be bilingual, with Irish coming before English, and of equal prominence."

Is this going to extend to all road signage as well? I know many have been complaining about Irish coming second and Italicized

That is still an open question.
Road signage is not covered by the regulations under the act, because it is governed by a different set of regulations from a different minister.

CnaG is campaigning for change on that.

quote:

I would be very surprised if that were true.

I would expect somebody sufficiently educated to attend university in 1750 to be proficient in English, Latin and Greek!

Aonghus,

When I posted "if I recall correctly"...well, clearly I didn't recall correctly. Disregard the bit about 1750 and Trinity.

In fact, the entry was in relation to St. Patrick's College, Maynooth. So again, disregard the bit about the Gentry. Funny how facts can get mixed up after a couple of years...

I've found the correct entry in the Oxford Companion to Irish History.

In short, it claims that in the first ten years or so after the college was founded in 1795, one quarter of students knew no English when they arrived. This quickly changed however, as the day-to-day language there was English and the language of instruction was in Latin.

Still, one quarter in 1795...

The entry in question was done by Nicholas Williams, from UCD (Lecturer in Irish).

"Knew no english" is not the same as "Irish monoglots!"

Maynooth was founded to stop Irish Catholics who wanted to become priests going to France, Spain etc.

These young men would have Latin, Greek and possibly French.

quote:

Maynooth was founded to stop Irish Catholics who wanted to become priests going to France, Spain etc.

And was funded by the British establishment for that very reason, i.e. students becoming radicalised in post-revolutionary France

De réir na craoibhe ginealacha máthartha bhí sinsearach dom ann thart ar 1750 ach níl focal Gaeilge le feiceáil ar an gcáipéis go huile. Is beag an cruthúnas é sin ach ba as Contae Ros Comáin an té sin, áit a raibh an Ghaeilge mar phríomhtheanga ann fós an tréimhse siúd.

Dála an scéil, is suimiúil an rud é an ginealas. Aimsitear uaireanta ní éigin nár shamhlaíodh riamh.