Hi

I watched a great program on the foundation of the first gaelscoil in the six counties on BBC2 a few nights ago (It was called Rang Seachto Ahon - http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00mgy3t/Rang_Seachto_Ahon/)and have a question I was hoping that someone might know the answer too. The school was built by families who moved to the area to set up a small Gaeltacht. It says the families were inspired by the thinking of people such as Máirtín Ó'Cadhain. Intrigued and interested in this, I have browsed some few web pages and read about Máirtín. I am guessing that he would have been a very influential figure in his time and was wondering if other people too shared his vision to such an extent they made an attempt to 'Reconquer' by way of setting up any small Gaeltacht areas. If so, what happened? If not, why not?

Many Thanks
Damian

I think this is about him:

http://www.rte.ie/radio/podcast/rnag.html

Ó Cadhain i dTír Chonaill

PODCHRAOLADH NUA

Is ceiliúradh atá sa tsraith nua Ó Cadhain i dTír Chonaill ar sheanchaithe, ar amhránaithe agus ar cheoltóirí Thír Chonaill. Taifeadtaí stairiúla a rinne Pádraig Ó Baoighill, as Rann na Feirste ó dhúchas, agus an scríbhneoir Máirtín Ó Cadhain, as Conamara, i 1957 a bheidh sna cláracha agus beidh cuid de phearsana móra an cheantair le cloisteáil iontu, a bhformhór atá imithe anois ar shlí na fírinne.

Download here:
http://www.rte.ie/radio1/podcast/podcast_ocadhain.xml

While my Irish isn't quite at a level to be able to listen to these yet, I'll download this and keep it for the time when it is.

Go raibh maith agat
Damian

There was a documentary on TG4 about the language rights movement in Conamara in the sixties, that featured Ó Cadhain addressing a rally from the back of a truck. He was pretty old by then and not in the best of health but instead of immersing himself in academia (I think he was a professor) he was still active on the ground. I can't search for it now but I will see if I can dig it up - the good news for you, Damian, is that it was subtitled.

There is also a documentary about Ó Cahdain himself, which is available on DVD. And subtitled.

http://www.litriocht.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=5005

go raibh mile maith agaibh, I'm just as interested in learning about Irish history as learning about the language so your help is appreciated.

Máirtín was one of the greatest Irishmen to have ever lived our greatest ever writer of the greatest Irish novel Cré na Cille unfortunately is relatively unknown to most in Ireland because he wrote in Irish. Máirtín was involved in the Muiríní go lár tíre or Gaeltacht residents being relocated by Coimisiúin na Talún/The Land Commission to better land in counties Meath, Westmeath, Dublin and Kildare in the 1930's so he was indirectly responsible for the founding of Rath Chairn. In his book An Ghaeilge Bheo-Destined to Pass he was vociferous in his condemnation of the Government of the day as there were large numbers of Gaeltacht residents moved to Counties Westmeath and Kildare at the time and with any half decent support such as a primary school, parish hall etc the language would have been preserved there. Tomás O Canainn a musician from Derry set up the smallest Gaeltacht in Ireland and the least well known called Ard Barra in Glanmire in the 1960's. It consists of 6 houses. In Whitehall in Dublin in the 1930's Gaeltacht Park was set up specifically for Irish speaking families as an urban Gaeltacht. However they were not able to prevent English speaking families from buying houses in the estate.

The video I was thinking of is called 'Is Mise Stoc na Cille'. It is actually more about the man himself than the Gaeltacht Civil Rights Movement. Anyway, you can see an excerpt on Ó Cadhain doing his thing ar son an phobail here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFUsguiIm70&feature=related

Thanks for all the info

There is some info reproduced on the Cumann na Gaeilge webiste.

cumannnagaeilge.blogspot.com

do a search in the blog.

Ní oibríonn cuardach do Ó Cadhain ná Cadhain, a GhGN.

http://cumannnagaeilge.blogspot.com/search?q=cadhain

Fuair Google é seo:
http://cumannnagaeilge.blogspot.com/2007/12/irish-above-politics.html

This is a seminal pamphlet by MÓC.

Was the original written in English or is the above a translation?

As far as I know, the original was written in English, to reach a wider audience. There was a debate raging at that time.

He wrote other pamphlets in Irish.

I remember my reaction when I first saw this clip from an interview with Ó Cadhain.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q91o5WC5plM (54 seconds in length)

He was clearly a free thinker and more importantly, a critical thinker. Some of his ideas were quite surprising to me, considering he had been in the IRA in the 1930s. ("We'd be better off in one of those bigger States if Irish doesn't make a comeback" etc)

Ó Cadhain had a real point there.
Without our language were nothing more than a self-governing colony. A nation's whole mindset and world-view is contained within it's language. Most Irish people today have more in common with English colonists than the Gaelic Irish.
Guinness, Riverdance and stupid green "Leprechaun hats" worn at football matches will never make up for it.

I made the point myself, which Im sure a lot of you share, that we lack a language leaders in the communities. We have these fancy agencies in central Dublin, but we need people with a love for it out in areas on the ground showing drive, passion and love for Irish, and maybe this model will be followed.

There trying to follow that example in setting up an Urban Gaeltacht in Ballymun, North Dublin, centered around a Gaelscoil and an Irish shop, I think it will be about 40 houses and completed by the end of the year. I dont know how the projects getting on though, but we could do with some leadership again.

I dont agree one bit with Ó Cadhain in that video though, look at what we've achieved, a proud, strong independent country, where its people can flourish. Not some little England feeding of someone elses economy.

quote:

There trying to follow that example in setting up an Urban Gaeltacht in Ballymun, North Dublin, centered around a Gaelscoil and an Irish shop, I think it will be about 40 houses and completed by the end of the year. I dont know how the projects getting on though, but we could do with some leadership again.

Good to know, must research that.

quote:

Ó Cadhain had a real point there.
Without our language were nothing more than a self-governing colony. A nation's whole mindset and world-view is contained within it's language. Most Irish people today have more in common with English colonists than the Gaelic Irish.
Guinness, Riverdance and stupid green "Leprechaun hats" worn at football matches will never make up for it.

I agree 100%.

(Message edited by damian on September 14, 2009)

quote:

I dont agree one bit with Ó Cadhain in that video though, look at what we've achieved, a proud, strong independent country, where its people can flourish. Not some little England feeding of someone elses economy.

Depends on your point of view. Has Irish made a 'comeback' since that interview took place? Arguably not. Has the border been removed? No, partition remains. The Republic is on the verge of rejecting the Lisbon Treaty for the second time. Unemployment is skyrocketing. Heavy emigration has returned. Corruption in politics is rampant. Ireland's economy is in rough shape at the moment. Not that it's alone. And the great irony in all of this is that Ireland has benefited from the EU (in terms of €€€ funding) more than most member States.

I disagree with Ó Cadhain in that the continued existence of Irish as a community language shouldn't be a deciding factor in the future constitutional position of the country. I disagree with him when he says "We'd be better off in one of those bigger States [if Irish doesn't make a comeback]."