Comments on: In Glencolmcille (III) http://prolific.org/2002/03/25/in-glencolmcille-iii/ ISSN 1568-2218 | Established 1999 Thu, 17 May 2012 13:02:52 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: p http://prolific.org/2002/03/25/in-glencolmcille-iii/comment-page-1/#comment-4 p Fri, 29 Mar 2002 14:31:07 +0000 http://vonbpress.com/2002/03/25/in-glencolmcille-iii/#comment-4 I think I feel shame. You've probably seen more of my culture than I have. If you'd been in school here you'd be turned off Irish. I know I was. Most people my age were as well. You have to read old literature and stuff, and learn verbs. It's taught like English is, as though we know it already. But we don't. To us, it's French, or Spanish. And that's how it should be thought - but it's rammed down our throats in school, and we shy away. The northern language is the language of my ancestors - my grandmother speaks it fluently. Being a southerner myself I can't make head nor tail of it - it's totally different to the language I learned, leaving out accents I learned etc etc. Interestingly, my great-grandmother from Antrim was an O'Neill - the last of the O'Neills living in the north who can claim a direct line back to the last O'Neill (Hugh) to declare his line to the high throne - he lead a rebellion with the O'Donnell clans against Elizabith I in the late 1500s and was defeated. The line is still in existance, but the descendants are all Spanish now - most of the family fled there when Hugh was defeated. said tomcosgrave on March 21, 2002 12:28 AM Coulda known you'd appear here, Tom. :) I hated Irish in school too, but in my second year of attending a summer college (up the road from Glencholmcille, in Gweedore), I suddenly became fluent. It lasted a few years, although I can get it back by speaking as gaelige for a few minutes. But yeah, it's taught really badly. said Drew Shiel on March 25, 2002 02:37 PM I think I feel shame. You’ve probably seen more of my culture than I have. If you’d been in school here you’d be turned off Irish. I know I was. Most people my age were as well. You have to read old literature and stuff, and learn verbs. It’s taught like English is, as though we know it already. But we don’t. To us, it’s French, or Spanish. And that’s how it should be thought – but it’s rammed down our throats in school, and we shy away. The northern language is the language of my ancestors – my grandmother speaks it fluently. Being a southerner myself I can’t make head nor tail of it – it’s totally different to the language I learned, leaving out accents I learned etc etc. Interestingly, my great-grandmother from Antrim was an O’Neill – the last of the O’Neills living in the north who can claim a direct line back to the last O’Neill (Hugh) to declare his line to the high throne – he lead a rebellion with the O’Donnell clans against Elizabith I in the late 1500s and was defeated. The line is still in existance, but the descendants are all Spanish now – most of the family fled there when Hugh was defeated.
said tomcosgrave on March 21, 2002 12:28 AM

Coulda known you’d appear here, Tom. :) I hated Irish in school too, but in my second year of attending a summer college (up the road from Glencholmcille, in Gweedore), I suddenly became fluent. It lasted a few years, although I can get it back by speaking as gaelige for a few minutes. But yeah, it’s taught really badly.
said Drew Shiel on March 25, 2002 02:37 PM

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