Bitesize Irish Podcast

Podcast 113: Is Your Irish Language Here or There?

Assuming you don’t live in Ireland, we might also assume that you sometimes dream of visiting. Being in Ireland is a direct way to connect with the Irish language, and the landscapes and cities that hold it. But imagine if you never got to Ireland again, be it because of a coronavirus, or moreover the climate cost of your flights. Now what? It brings you back to what You can do Today to make the Irish language part of your every day life. The language is not “there”, it’s “here”, within you, and in your connection with others.

🎧Listen to all Bitesize Irish Podcast episodes!

  • Chandler says:
    May 23, 2020 at 9:39 pm

    This turned out to be a long post in self-justification,,,so please forgive the self-interest!

    I agree with everything you say! But … I was due to take the ferry from Wales to stay in a priory in Ireland over Easter this year and … COVID. I haven’t taken any air flights for about 10 years. since I became aware of the contribution of aviation to the global warming, and I guess I need to research the impact of shipping before I can justify visiting some other time. But…
    I still want to go there, even though I agree with the points you made. I want more than anything else to make sense of a mystery from my childhood. My Irish (and Irish speaking) father was a great story-teller, and many of his stories it seemed that Byzantium was about an hour or so’s walk from his home in Ireland, (I accepted this as perfectly standard geography at that age.)

    By chance my research area – Arthurian Literature – led to specialising in the Grail legends, and from thence tracing the origin of the Grail legend to Upper Egypt via Byzantium. There were, I discovered, references to ‘Seven monks of Egypt in Desert Uilaig’ in the eighth century. Maybe my father had a point, then? And, mid-thesis I found that there’s an Ogham inscription on a stone near St. Olan’s Well, Aghabulloge, which reads ‘Pray for Olan the Egyptian.’ My father lived in that parish! So, can I justify going next year, I wonder, And I need to study Irish properly before then too.

    Reply
    • Eoin at Bitesize says:
      May 24, 2020 at 7:35 pm

      Absolutely you can justify it, in my opinion. Before society “locks down” general aviation flying, as least we can be mindful and concious of our trips. For example, my own family is based on flights to keep in touch with several family members, and flights abroad with friends for leisure. By at least being concious of the cost, and maybe calculating your carbon emissions, you can at least make peace with the idea that it was worth it.

      Reply
      • Chandler says:
        May 26, 2020 at 12:56 pm

        Thank you for your thoughts, Eoin. And, yes I think I will go there next summer. I’ve never seen the area where my father lived although I heard so much about it. Even if there’s no trace of the old landscape now, the research is still waiting there.

        Reply
  • Chandler says:
    May 23, 2020 at 9:39 pm

    This turned out to be a long post in self-justification,,,so please forgive the self-interest!

    I agree with everything you say! But … I was due to take the ferry from Wales to stay in a priory in Ireland over Easter this year and … COVID. I haven’t taken any air flights for about 10 years. since I became aware of the contribution of aviation to the global warming, and I guess I need to research the impact of shipping before I can justify visiting some other time. But…
    I still want to go there, even though I agree with the points you made. I want more than anything else to make sense of a mystery from my childhood. My Irish (and Irish speaking) father was a great story-teller, and many of his stories it seemed that Byzantium was about an hour or so’s walk from his home in Ireland, (I accepted this as perfectly standard geography at that age.)

    By chance my research area – Arthurian Literature – led to specialising in the Grail legends, and from thence tracing the origin of the Grail legend to Upper Egypt via Byzantium. There were, I discovered, references to ‘Seven monks of Egypt in Desert Uilaig’ in the eighth century. Maybe my father had a point, then? And, mid-thesis I found that there’s an Ogham inscription on a stone near St. Olan’s Well, Aghabulloge, which reads ‘Pray for Olan the Egyptian.’ My father lived in that parish! So, can I justify going next year, I wonder, And I need to study Irish properly before then too.

    Reply
    • Eoin at Bitesize says:
      May 24, 2020 at 7:35 pm

      Absolutely you can justify it, in my opinion. Before society “locks down” general aviation flying, as least we can be mindful and concious of our trips. For example, my own family is based on flights to keep in touch with several family members, and flights abroad with friends for leisure. By at least being concious of the cost, and maybe calculating your carbon emissions, you can at least make peace with the idea that it was worth it.

      Reply
      • Chandler says:
        May 26, 2020 at 12:56 pm

        Thank you for your thoughts, Eoin. And, yes I think I will go there next summer. I’ve never seen the area where my father lived although I heard so much about it. Even if there’s no trace of the old landscape now, the research is still waiting there.

        Reply
    • >