Neart ag smaoineamh gur British muid anseo i SAM. Anuraidh labhair mé le seanchúpla i Sasana, Sasanaigh, daoine lách gealgháireach a cheap gur le Sasana Éire.
Cúpla rud le tuiscint. Níl gach duine mar Dave bocht thíos, ach neart acu ann. Féach air led’ thoil. Seo míniú a bhaineann leis an bpeil.
Mar sin, tuig, tuig, tuig, le bhur dtoil, cén fáth NACH bhfuil sé oiriúnach Celtic Center a chur i gClub le pictiúirí de bhanríon Shasana aguas Churchill ar an mballa ann. Sin an fáth a chaill sibh daoine. Mar níor éist sibh linn. Mar labhair sibh linn ar nós labhairt le páistí dána. Mar bhí drochmheas agaibh orainn.
Rud a d’fhoghlaim sibh ón leagan den stair a d’fhoghlaim sibh trí Bhéarla anseo. Mar TÁ ciníochas láidir anseo.
Agus Bridget a d’ionsaigh mé le maslaí is tú ag screadadh go mba chóir dom meas a thabhairt don bhanríon san Center sin, tá súil agam go bhfuair tú cúnamh mar is mór an t-ualach fuath mar sin. Ní ghlacaim le bulaíocht in aon áit.
ACH an rud a dúirt liom go raibh daoine iomlán tone-deaf don stair ansin ná an chaoi ina raibh orm argóint a dhéanamh le am a fháil le smaoineamh ar a tharla i mBerkeley nuair a fuair Éireannaigh óga bás. Le ómós a thabhairt dóibh.
Is féidir liom aineolas a mhaitiú ach daoine gan croíthe, sin rud eile.
Bhí mé ciúin faoi seo i bhfad rófada.
Anois, mé i spás nua le daoine den scoth a thuigeann. Muid ag fás go tapaidh. Beidh craobh againn i Los Feliz i Lúnasa lcd. Bígí cinnte NACH mbeidh Banríon Shasana ar an mballa againn ná Churchill mar tuigimid an stair.
Anois, Dave agus daoine cosúil leis, beidh meas againn ort agus oraibh nuair a aithníonn sibh an fhírinne. Ansin, le meas, beidh craic againn le chéile. Tuiscint. Croí. Sin atá de dhíth.
Nóta: Domsa ciallíonn British cultúir a bhaineann le Cymru, Corn na Breataine, agus An Bhriotáin. ACH san alt SEO mé ag tagairt ar leagan den stair a thugann meas don impireacht gan an dochar a dhéanann sé a aithint, ar dhream a bhainfeadh ár gcultúr is stair dínn.
Conas críochnú?
Neart atá iontach sna hoileáin seo in aice le chéile agus cé nach British muid, bainimid taitneamh as an gcuid is fearr dínn. B’fhearr críochnú mar sin.
Muid imníoch fúibh is Sasamach ag teacht. Tá cairde agaibh anseo. Tuigimid gur thug sibh grá do go leor dínn le fada an lá. Tuiscint. Grá. Sin é.
Súil le cúiteamh a mhilleas an cearrbhac. Hope of recouping losses will destroy the gambler.
Nathanna cainte:
i) Fuil dearg ort! Go n-éirí leat an cluiche a bhaint (i gcearrbhachas).
ii) Tá gob deas ar do chearc. Nuair a bhíonn cártaí maithe ‘na ghlaic ag duine.
iii) Mura leaga tú an mámh, leag madadh maith drámh. mámh: trump & drámh: non-trump
Téarmaí:
i) Duine ranna: dealer
ii) Lámh aondathach: flush
iii) Cárta cúil: An ace up your sleeve
Níl sé ceart, ar ndóigh: an G sin sa ‘Guit’ mar atá i ‘Gilead.’
Dia duit a fheicimid ach níor chuala mé Dia duit ó dhuine ar bith sa Ghaeltacht riamh. Dia dhuit a chloisim. Fiú ar scoil, níor chuala mé Dia duit. Sin a bhí ar an leathanach ach Dia dhuit a léigh an múinteoir amach agus Dia dhuit a dúramar. Níl fhios agam cén fáth nach scríobhaimid dhuit in áit duit, mar dhuit a deirimid.
Go minic is daoine ag foghlaim ar dtús, níl an fhuaim dh acu agus fuaim g a thagann uathu. Níl siad ceart. Ach muid ar fad ag foghlaim, nach ea?
Fiú sa Bhéarla, cheapfá gur Jilead in áit Gilead a bheadh ann mar fhuaim leis an litriú Gi sin i nGilead. Seans nach dtugaimid sin faoi deara fiú. Tagann an fhuaim amach mar a mhúintear dúinn í, is cuma céard atá ar an bpáipéar. Má deirtear go minic é, glacaimid leis fiú nuair nach bhfuil ciall ann dúinn.
Nuair a bhíomar ag foghlaim ar scoil, mhúin siad Dia duit dúinn mar bheannacht. Sin atá i mbeagnach gach téacs is daoine ag foghlaim Gaeilge. Freagra? Dia is Muire duit. Sin a deirtear, ar siad linn. Beannacht traidisiúnta, ar siad.
Is breá liom traidisiún is muid ag caint ar cheol nó rince. Mheas mé fhéin (ní féin – níl sé nádúrtha dom) nárbh shin ár dtraidisiún. Múinte dúinn ar scoil. Na mná rialta a mhúin mise, na Bráithre Críostaí a mhúin mo dhearthaireacha: nach raibh vested interest (vestido, invested, sheep’s clothing) acu sna frásaí seo?
Bhí agus tá, ar ndóigh!
Is mé ag múineadh daltaí ón Araib Shádach, labhair siad liom faoina dtraidisiúin. Thaitin a dúirt siad liom go dtí gur úsáid siad ‘traidisiún é’ le cosc a chur ar shaoirse na mban a mhíniú. San India is muid i dtuaisceart na tíre, níl fhreagair fear aon cheist uaim. D’fhreagair sé m’fhear céile nuair a chuir mé an cheist air. Ní traidisiún sin. Sin guth agus aitheantas a bhaint díom mar is bean mé. Mar an gcéanna leis an mburka. Glanann sé an bhean amach ón scéal. Mar a bhí mná Éirebrushed as stair na hÉireann.
Mar sin, mínigh arís dom an Dia dhuit seo. Cad a chiallaíonn sé? An gcloistear daoine ag rá God be with youAGUSGod and Mary be with you mar fhreagra air go minic sa Bhéarla? God be with you cloiste go minic againn ón altóir ach ní ag daoine ar an tsráid. God bless you coitianta ach ní God and Mary bless you mar fhreagra air. Ní labhraíonn muid mar sin. Labhraíonn na sagairt mar sin.
Cad a d’fhoghlaim muid anseo? Mhúin an Eaglais atá fós i gceannas ar 90%+ de scoileanna na tíre frása dúinn ar leo é. Múinte do gach páiste sa tír le fada fada an lá. Má deirtear go minic é, glacaimid leis fiú nuair nach bhfuil ciall ann dúinn. Ach níl sin ceart. Níl sé de cheart acu sin a dhéanamh. Sin iompúchán agus ní chóir go mbeadh spás dhó sin sna scoileanna.
Agus Gilead? Sin an tír sa scéal le Margaraet Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale. Beannachtaí acu a mhúineann siad le chuile dhuine ann: Blessed be the fruit. Freagra: May the Lord open. Múinte ann: Lord, sin té le cumhacht nach féidir a cheistiú. Fireann, ar ndóigh. Bean? Níl inti ach fruit. Tortha. Ní duine. Cead ag fir í a oscailt. Níl guth ná cearta aici. Focal deas, tortha. Milis. Ansin le ceadú a thabhairt d’fhir mná a éagnú: i bhfad ó mhilis an bhrí leis. Ainmneacha bainte de na mná i nGilead agus ainm an fhir ar leis í tugtha do gach bean. Anseo san bhfíseán, tugann siad faoi deara go bhfuil siad róchleachtaithe leis an saol nua agus cuimhníonn siad cé hiad i ndáiríre. Cumhacht ag focal agus ag ainm.
Níl beannacht ar bith eile ceadaithe seachas Blessed be the fruit. May the Lord open nuair a bhuaileann tú le bean i nGilead. Níl cead ag páistí tada a rá seachas Dia duit is Dia is Muire duit is iad ag foghlaim Gaeilge ar scoil in Éirinn. Sin a tharlaíonn. Admhaigh é.
Má deirtear go minic é, glacaimid leis fiú nuair nach bhfuil ciall ann dúinn.
Admhaigh nach bhfuil sé ceart. Aithin é. Athraigh é. In am sin a athrú.
Ba í Erin Scanlon le Céilí Rua a smaoinigh air: foghlaim amuigh faoin spéir ag canadh is ag siúl is ag foghlaim comhrá is na hainmneacha ar phlandaí. Uair sa mhí, ar sí. Is thosaigh sé inniu. An chéad Gaelic Hike LA.
Bhí sé scamallach ar dtús. Thosaíomar le cur in aithne as Gàidhlig is curfá de Tha mi Sgìth. Bhí duine an-eolach ar na plandaí linn is d’fhoghlaim muid fúthu chomh maith le amhrán nó dhó uaidh is ó chailín eile.
Roghnaigh Erin áit nach raibh ródheacair dúinn. Táim buíoch as sin. Is muid ag tosnú, bhí na scamaill imithe. Bhí na radharcanna go hiontach is neart le foghlaim ar an mbealach.
Bhí caint ar Outlander (ar ndóigh) agus scéalta fúinn féin is níor airíomar an turas do dtí an eas. Bhí lón againn ansin is pic nó dhó. Tá sonóg againn anois agus Hamish an t-ainm air.
Chuir sé ardáthas orm go raibh daoine ag úsáid an Ghàidhlig a d’fhoghlaim siad is iad ag siúl ar ais go dtí na carranna. Dream den scoth iad.
Tá áthas orm go bhfuil an nós nua againn. Scaipigí an scéal. An-smaoineamh ar fad, seo.
1.Tha mi sgìth ‘s mi leam fhìn,
Buain na rainich, buain na rainich,
Tha mi sgìth ‘s mi leam fhìn,
Buain na rainich daonnan
‘S tric a bha mi fhìn ‘s mo leannan,
Anns a’ ghleannan cheòthar,
‘G èisteachd còisir bhinn an doire,
Seinn sa choille dhòmhail
Tha mi sgìth ‘s mi leam fhìn,
Buain na rainich, buain na rainich,
Tha mi sgìth ‘s mi leam fhìn,
Buain na rainich daonnan
O nam faicinn thu a’ tighinn,
Ruithinn dhol nad chòdhail,
Ach mur tig thu ‘n seo gam shireadh,
Ciamar thilleas dòchas?
Tha mi sgìth ‘s mi leam fhìn,
Buain na rainich, buain na rainich,
Tha mi sgìth ‘s mi leam fhìn,
Buain na rainich daonnan
2.Cùl an tomain, bràigh an tomain,
Cùl an tomain bhòidheach,
Cùl an tomain, bràigh an tomain,
H-uile là nam ònar
Tha mi sgìth ‘s mi leam fhìn,
Buain na rainich, buain na rainich,
Tha mi sgìth ‘s mi leam fhìn,
Buain na rainich daonnan
Anns an t-sìthean, o, gur sgìth mi,
‘S tric mo chridhe ga leònadh,
Nuair bhios càch a’ seinn nan luinneag,
Cha dèan mis’ ach crònan
Tha mi sgìth ‘s mi leam fhìn,
Buain na rainich, buain na rainich,
Tha mi sgìth ‘s mi leam fhìn,
Buain na rainich daonnan
I am tired and I am alone,
Cutting the bracken, cutting the bracken,
I am tired and I am alone,
Forever cutting the bracken
Often, my love and I,
Were in the misty glens,
Listening to the sweet choir of the grove,
Singing in the corpulent forest
I am tired and I am alone,
Cutting the bracken, cutting the bracken,
I am tired and I am alone,
Forever cutting the bracken
If I saw you coming,
I would run to meet you, but
if you don’t come here to search for me
How can hope return?
I am tired and I am alone,
Cutting the bracken, cutting the bracken,
I am tired and I am alone,
Forever cutting the bracken
Behind the knoll, the top of the knoll,
Behind the lovely knoll,
Behind the knoll, the top of the knoll,
Every day, alone
I am tired and I am alone,
Cutting the bracken, cutting the bracken,
I am tired and I am alone,
Forever cutting the bracken
In the fairy hill (or knoll, but I like fairy hill), oh I will be tired,
And often my heart would be wounded,
When others sing their songs ,
I will do nothing but drone
I am tired and I am alone,
Cutting the bracken, cutting the bracken,
I am tired and I am alone,
Forever cutting the bracken
Memory & Archives Aibreán 21, 2018 ag an Huntington i bPasadena, California.
Bhí orm caint faoi mo smaointe ar an scannán Song of Granite as Béarla. Seo’d iad na nótaí a bhreac mé síos roimh chaint faoi. Béarla ag teacht. GML.
Thoughts & notes about the film: time, place, identity, sean-nós, Irish, Seosamh etc.
Mícheál Ó Confhaola dochreidthe maith mar Joe Heaney!
Gaeltacht & Suffering
I asked what I should talk about and the themes of memory, place, and identity were mentioned. In a great hurry, I jotted down what I could before rushing off to a Celtic retreat where there were music, dance, and language workshops. Here are those rough thoughts.
MEMORIES
The film Song of Granite brought back memories. I felt ancient. Because I understood. Because it was familiar. I saw it in a cinema in Santa Monica. In the darkness, I heard the words of the most moving song and the tears fell. There were no subtitles. What astounded me was that when I looked around was that other people were crying too even though they didn’t understand the words.
TIME l often hear people describing Irish an ancient language and I cringe. It is ancient and we should be proud of that. But that is often said to dismiss it as if it has no relevance to the modern world. Song of Granite made me feel ancient. The film felt like it must have been about a time long before I was born. Still, for a time, I lived this life.
Back in 1973, in the middle of winter, I spent three months as an 11-year-old on a Gael-Linn scholarship. Going from Mullingar in the center of Ireland to Leitir Móir back in 1973 was like stepping into the history books. I landed in one of the most westerly regions of The Gaeltacht (the Irish-speaking region).
When Song of Granite showed the young boy walking across the rocks in a long shot, I knew how he felt. I had walked landscapes like this. I had seen women in clothes that should only have been in the history books but I saw them with my own eyes. It shouldn’t have been. I’m not old enough. I saw old women by the bridge to Leitir Mealláin dressed in black with big hoods around their heads. The memory stayed with me because the brakes had failed on the bus and we went past the church to where the women were before stopping. They seemed like they were from an older time.
Back then, I would bring a sod of turf for the fireplace when I went to school in Leitir Móir. Something that never happened in Mullingar. There were no fireplaces in classrooms and students were not required to bring a sod of turf in with them. The schoolhouse in Leitir Móir was full of life and mischief back then. The local children pestered me with questions because they wanted to know about my world because I was from a different world. When I went home, I was part of two worlds.
I am part of this world of Song of Granite. Part of me then and part of me now. There is a lot of parting going on. In the cinema, part of me felt connected on a deep level and part of me resented being made to feel so old. It messed up my sense of time and place. Joe Heaney had a lot of parting going on in his life too. It is the way of the west: to emigrate. It is the way of Ireland now. His roots were deep but he kept on moving: a walking, singing contradiction.
2. PLACE Song of Granite starts in the Gaeltacht, an Irish-Speaking region. Even in this example I give you of what it is, there is treachery. It suggests that no one else in Ireland speaks Ireland except in the most remote places. We were told that is what it is and we repeat that definition, that limitation of who we can be.
The Gaeltacht still needs to be understood and protected even as we realize it should never have been used to separate people by language. It is a form of Apartheid, often by very well-meaning people. Others are just more comfortable that Irish speakers are kept away in the west and don’t offend their ears in civilized parts of the country.
Some scenes in Song of Granite reminded me of a dark short film about boys drowning: An t-Ádh directed by Colm Bairéad https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgBPdWI8suA It is 21 minutes long if you wait for the song during the credits. And you should. It’s a lament. Bertie O Domhnaill sings the song at the end. Amhrán Maoinis. We have much to lament. Songs where the people in the song know they are going to die pack a punch. Even more so, if they tell their wishes in a matter of fact manner. An t-Ádh is a reworking of a classic tale by Pádraic O Conaire. Children playing on bare broken concrete in an abandoned school reminded me of clips I had seen of reservations for indigenous peoples here in the US. The boys in the short film have the most beautiful, musical Irish. It’s their language and it is alive. Very little else around them is.
They are in the designated area called the Gaeltacht. It exists to protect them and their language. This is how the Gaeltacht is explained. Part of it is real and well-meaning. You have to wonder, though; why does the place where the children play look so abandoned? Why do they play on deserted land, on broken concrete? People will claim it is all for good and there is some truth to that but it reminded me of the message of the movie Song of the Sea where Granny keeps telling the children that they must deal with suffering because it is for their own good and she reminds them, “I know what’s best for you!” The government has often failed to do the right thing for the language and the people of the Gaeltacht.
We should not forget the desire to drive the Irish “to hell or to Connaught.’ Our enemies wanted to kill our people and our language by sending people there. We should not be guilty of doing the same thing while saying we have good intentions in doing so. Our ancestors were driven to the harshest land to separate them from the richer people. To divide and conquer. When I arrived there as an 11-year-old, I saw children dying to escape from their restricted zone. They wanted a better life. We can have that. The definition of a Gaeltacht is changing. We are creating our own Irish-speaking spaces by overcoming shame. It is happening.
ARCHIVE: The Gaeltacht region is remote. Beautiful but remote. Some say there is not one Gaeltacht; there are many. I say the whole country is a Gaeltacht that has a muffle of shame. The separation to protect the language is not working. We must protect the people who have been cast aside or deprived. Ensure they have employment with the language. We must record the words and cadences of Gaeltacht speakers. Record audiobooks to ensure the music of the language is not lost. The locals get jobs and we get audiobooks so as to pass it on to future generations. Universities must do this. Archive it. Make it public. Sell it to those who can afford it. Give it away to the rest. It is urgent to do this.
3. IDENTITY and SHAME
It can be difficult to understand why people would not respect their own beautiful language but in that game of deception that is imperialism, those to be conquered are defined as in need of civilization to justify barbaric actions. To accept the false narrative is to become part of the process of killing off a culture and a language. It is not right to call this post-colonial inheritance because the colonial mentality has been planted in our heads. It is still there. It is a colony in our heads. It is difficult to shake free of the sense of shame that was passed down from generation to generation.
We try to make the whole country a Gaeltacht again. Online, it’s easy enough. Sometimes not. In 2016 I signed up for a course with Trinity College online to learn about the history of the 1916 rebellion. I posted some comments in Irish. This wasn’t allowed, I was informed, as some people couldn’t understand them. I suggested I translate them to English and post both versions thinking people would appreciate this. It wasn’t allowed. It turns out the course was run from England and the person who had to monitor comments probably was worried that I might be a terrorist saying awful things in another language. There is irony in the fact that I did a course on the 1916 fight for freedom hosted by an Irish university where English only was allowed.
In the north of the country, it can be much worse. When I started driving, I had stickers on my car that said: Scrios bóithre Chonamara an carr seo (Connemara roads wrecked this car) and Fág an Bealach (Clear the way). Because of that, I would never dare to drive across the border. The stickers would mark me as a probable terrorist to soldiers at the border and in the north. That’s how they saw us. How some still see us.
Lately, Queen’s University Belfast was in the news for not allowing signs in Irish on their campus. When these things happen we learn it is not just that we are not allowed to use our language in many places, but that people see it as threatening, offensive, and unworthy. That shames us.
As we try to use our language in everyday life, we are banned or prevented from using it again and again. We feel ashamed to speak in case we might start trouble when they have to tell us we are not allowed to speak. All this was not only allowed but is still VERY much alive. Our politicians do not speak Irish in government. They should.
We cannot be separated anymore. Irish words come flooding in my head to try to explain was I feel about the Gaeltacht: Uaigneas, Lom, Tréigthe, Caite Amach, Tost. Loneliness, Bare, Abandoned, Thrown out, Silence. There’s a lot of silence in Song of Granite. Silence between the notes, between the words, between the elements of the story. Gaps in the history of who we are. We know something is wrong with that. Irish speakers need to be accepted and part of Ireland. Our signs should not have Irish bent over in italics. We are not less and we should not be cowed. We need the same opportunities and Internet access as anywhere else. We need respect for our language from the politicians down. Speaking it.
I recently went home to my Father’s funeral. At the removal of remains (not a very poetic description), a nun who had taught me asked me if I was still using music in my life. Did I have a job in the area of music? I told her, in sight of my father’s open coffin, that I was involved with Irish now. Her eyes opened with shock and she said, with genuine horror: You haven’t gone all Gaelic on us, have you? These are the people who educated us. These are the attitudes they hold. Not all. But enough to do major damage. Most students are led to believe Irish is something you have to study but it’s really worthless. They teach disrespect and resentment. Not all, but enough to do major damage. We must change this. It is a mindset. It is shame.
Seosamh Ó hÉanaí
15 Oct 1919 Carna, Connemara – 1 May 1984 Seattle Washington. He went from Ireland to England, Scotland and the US (including New York & Seattle).
He recorded hundreds of songs. His repertoire: over 500 songs. He starting singing at 5 and singing in public at 20.
1949: Worked on building sites in London & recorded for Topic & Gael-Linn. He was married for 6 years. His wife died of TB.
1959: RTÉ & BBC recorded him.
1965: He went to Newport folk Festival, moved to US, settled in New York. He taught at Wesleyan University in Middleton, Connecticut.
1982 – 1984 Artist-in-Residence at the Universiy of Washington in Seattle.
1984: The Joe Heaney Collection of the University of Washington Ethnomusicology Archives
There is an annual festival in Carna: Féile Chomórtha Joe Éinniú
2011: Sean Williams & Lillis O Laoire Bright Star of the West: Joe Heaney, Irish Song-Man.
2017 Song of Granite, Pat Collins
Críochnaigh mé le caint faoi Chomhaltas agus Conradh na Gaeilge i gCathair na nAingeal. Bhí suim ag bean faoi leith sa cheangail le ceol na ndúchasach i SAM. Mór an trua nach raibh níos mó ama agam leo ach mór an onóir bheith ann.
Bhíomar ag an aonach: Irish Fair LA don dara bhliain dúinn anois. Chonaiceamar feabhas mór ann i mbliana. Ardmholadh go gach duine a bhí ag obair ann. Laochra sibh! Moladh speisialta do Erin Scott Haines a chuir a croí isteach ann. Déarfainn nach dtarlódh an Aonach gan í.
Bhí ardáthas ar Chonradh na Gaeilge bheith ag cabhrú le Comhaltas i mbliana. Seo Debut Ceol na nAingeal agus beidh Craobh na nAingeal ag obair leo go minic mar sin comhaltas 😉 Ar an ardán acu bhí ranganna Gaeilge agus comórtaisí amhránaíochta, filíochta, agus scéalaíochta.
Le Céilí Rua (maith agaibh Gypsy Ethnic Arts Center as bheith linn), bhí muid ag múineadh Céilí agus Rince Seit. Chomh maith leis sin bhí rince na scuaibe againn. Maith thú Liana. Múinte: Ballaí Luimní, Soláiste na Bealtaine, Rince Mór na Tine, Baint an Fhéir. Le Tim Martin: Corofin Plain Set agus linn féin an Antrim Square Set. Múinte ag Aedan: rince ar an sean nós. Solos den scoth ó David agus Liana. Tá muid ag dul i gcleachtadh leis an stuf seo anois. Chomh bródúil sin as gach a rinne siad ar fad. Bhí na sluaite (idir óg agus aosta) thuas ag damhsa linn ar an stáidse agus d’airdigh sin mo chroí.
Le Joyce agus Maria, bhí Féasta Sráide againn agus d’fhoghlaim daoine conas bia a fháil as Gaeilge agus iad ag foghlaim Led’ thoil agus Go raibh maith agat. Iontach ar fad daoine a chloisteáil in áiteachaí eile ag an Aonach ag baint úsáid as an nGaeilge a d’fhoghlaim siad. Bua! Maith í Joyce a rinne arán agus bunnóga dúinn. Maith iad Sweeneys a thug bunnóga agus arán dúinn freisin.
Míle buíochas le Caoimhe as na leabhair ar fad a fuaireamar ag an deireadh!
Traocha fós inniu ach fíorshásta.
Grianghrafanna ag teacht isteach inniu. Seo tús leo
