Are there any dialect studies of Blasket Irish in existence? Perhaps Carl Marstrander, the Norwegian linguist and Irish scholar who visited the Great Blasket in the early 1900s to learn the language, may have produced something?

Can any of the dialect experts on Daltaí shed some light as to whether there have been dialect studies done on Irish of the long-abandoned Inis Gé Thuaidh agus Inis Gé Theas off the north Mayo coast?

What about living communities like Toraigh and Inis Meáin?

I have the book ''The Irish of Tory Island'' and it gives so much information about Tory Irish.

There is a critical lack of capable students who are interested in such things in Ireland and a lack of funding.

At least, RnaG, TG4 archives exist for almost every dialect.

However there are many places whose Irish has never been studied at all, for example Inis Bó Finne, in Donegal.

The people of Inis Gé Thuaidh agus Theas were brought in to the mainland in 19?? and each family was given "talamh iascaire" a small plot of land, a house and an outhouse, ["na cúltifí" i.e. "na cúltithe"] on the Belmullet peninsula mostly in Tamhnach Ultaigh (???) ("Tóin na hOltaí?") but also further up in Eanach (?) etc.

The younger generations, those who have not emigrated to Springfield, Mass, are gradually moving in to Belmullet itself leaving their parents in the old windswept houses overlooking the Atlantic and their beloved islands.

One family had a system of signals between their original house on the island, still habitable, and that on the mainland. Those out fishing used tie up at the island for the night and the men would send messages home to the mainland by flashing a torch in the dark: "Tá muid slán sábháilte". The wives and children would flash an "oíche mhaith" message back. In view of the disaster that caused the abandonment of the islands drowning at sea was a constant worry.

A small scheme of Council houses has been built opposite the school in Eachléim.

The whole of Iorras Domhnann is still so saturated with Irish -- placenames, words, phrases, and references to folklore, as well as an almost universal use of Irish language rules of pronunciation for the form of English spoken there that one would imagine it would be easy to restore the spoken language with a bit of imaginative effort.

Although only a few "pockets" of Irish spoken as a community language remain in the Ceathrú Thaidhg / Ros Dumhach area, also known as "Dú Chaocháin" (in iargcúl Éireann) and on the peninsula from Oiligh (Elly) south to An Fód Dubh / An Fál Mór with a centre in the village of Eachléim, so many sons and daughters from these Irish-speaking districts live in the English-speaking periphery that the whole region could be saved if imaginative schemes were introduced. The authorities have been extraordinarily remiss in paying scant regard to the spoken language preferring to use English with the people. "Sure, they all know English." Anyone who tries to use Irish with officialdom will be dubbed a "fanatic".

In places further afield such as Dublin and Belfast Erris people are to be found supporting Gaelscoileanna in their new communities and every initiative to promote the Irish language. The hurt suffered by people who have had to abandon their parents' language can only be imagined. I was reared bilingually and it is that feeling of loss that motivates me to try and leave Irish in a better state at the end of my life than it was in at the beginning and to pass it on.

Éamonn Mac an Fhailighe (?) wrote "The Irish of Erris" which includes some details of the Inis Gé dialects.

Ráite an-deas agat a Thaidhgín.

Treise leat.

quote:

However there are many places whose Irish has never been studied at all, for example Inis Bó Finne, in Donegal.

Here is an interview with a native speaker from Inis Bó Finne, nice Irish at both of them:
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-2340262918432576046&ei=qMxMSuN5ztH5Br TP0P4G&q=John+Coll&hl=en

Thank you all for the interesting replies.

The Inis Gé islands were abandoned around 1935 or so.

An article well worth reading:
http://irishislands.info/inishkea.html

quote:

By the 1920's French and English firms were sending boats to Inishkea to buy lobster and crayfish directly from the fishermen. Three languages could be heard there, and the buyers, through constant contact with the islanders, picked up a smattering of the native tongue. Only the lnishkea men who visited the mainland frequently could speak English.

quote:

There were different views about the religion of the lnishkea people. In 1884 Alexander Inned Shand wrote :

"lniskea, where the people form an independent state of their own, and must be pretty nearly heathens. They acknowledge no landlord, they pay no rates, they elect a monarch of their own and though a priest does come at intervals to confess, to marry or to christen them, they have an idol they regularly worship and propitiate before their boats put out to sea."

Trigger,

Does your Tory Irish book detail words unique to the island? Supposedly they have their own distinct dialect?

Ráite an-deas agat a Thaidhgín go deimhin.Tháinig mo mhuintir ar taobh mo mhathair as Inis Gé. My Great grand father and great grand uncle were the two survivors of the drownings and my great-great grandfather, Philip Mór Lavelle was king of the north island.

Is cosúil nach dtearnadh staidéar ar chanúint Inis Gé, ar an drochuair...

quote:

However there are many places whose Irish has never been studied at all, for example Inis Bó Finne, in Donegal.

Most places... I don't think any dialect has been studied in a comprehensive way, in pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary. The most studied are probably Dún Chaoin/Corca Dhuibhne, Cois Fhairrge and Iorras Aithneach.

quote:

Does your Tory Irish book detail words unique to the island? Supposedly they have their own distinct dialect?

Yes in the back of the book, it gives so much information about Tory Irish. Tory Irish is very different to mainland Donegal Irish from the top of my head I can remember after studying from it:

In Tory they use the future tense but they are talking in present, eg:
Rachaidh báid isteach go Toraigh trí uaire sa tseachtain
Boats go to Tory three times a week

On the mainland they wouldn't say that at all, it would be interesting to find out if they say that on Inis Bó Finne.

even though ''rachaidh'' is future, they use the future when talking in present.

They say ''cha'' instead of ní, ní isn't used at all and I can remember that from my experience there last year.

Tiúfaidh mé is a unique Tory form for ''I can see''

''Indiu'' and ''indé'' is how they say ''today'' and ''yesterday'' and it isn't used anywhere else.

If there is anymore stuff you want to know just ask and I will be more than happy to copy more information out.

Ó thaobh an Ghaelainn a feidhmíodh sa Bhlascaod sa seal atá thart, is dócha go bhfuil formhór an canúint agus an stór focail dúchasach cumhdaithe ó creimeadh sna dírbheathaisnéisí cáiliúla.

"''Indiu'' and ''indé'' is how they say ''today'' and ''yesterday'' and it isn't used anywhere else. "

That doesnt corresponde to 'The Irish of Tory Island'

Are you basing your remarks on your own fieldwork?

No doubt you are aware that "an-diugh" and "an-dé" are used in present day Gàidhlig.

Trigger, a chara,

Those versions of "today" and "yesterday" are similar to their Gaidhlig counterparts:

an-diugh = today
an-dé = yesterday
an-raoir = last night

Ádh mór,

Paul