137-704: Emer ( Old Irish: [ˈẽβ̃ʲər] ), in modern Irish Eimhear or Éimhear (with variations including Eimer , Eimear and Éimear ) and in Scottish Gaelic Eimhir , is the name of the daughter of Forgall Monach and the wife of the hero Cú Chulainn in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology . The Ulstermen searched all over Ireland for a suitable wife for Cú Chulainn, but he would have none but Emer. He visited her at Forgall's house at Lusk, County Dublin , and wooed her by trading cryptic riddles with her. Emer would accept Cú Chulainn as
274-484: A Highers exam for learners of Gaelic. Before 1968, there was no separate exam for Gaelic learners, who had to compete with native speakers if they took Gaelic Highers. MacLean felt that this unfair policy discouraged many students from studying Gaelic, although he encouraged his students to take the exam even if they were not native speakers. In 1966, he presented a paper to the Gaelic Society of Inverness outlining
411-540: A unique dialect of Irish developed before falling out of use in the early 20th century. With a writing system , Ogham , dating back to at least the 4th century AD, which was gradually replaced by Latin script since the 5th century AD, Irish has one of the oldest vernacular literatures in Western Europe . On the island, the language has three major dialects: Connacht , Munster and Ulster Irish . All three have distinctions in their speech and orthography . There
548-760: A Gael." He believed that fascism was likely to emerge victorious in Europe, and was further dismayed by the continuing decline of the Gaelic language. Between 1939 and 1941, he taught at Boroughmuir High School in Edinburgh, and in Hawick . During this period, he wrote most of the poetry that would become Dàin do Eimhir , including the epic An Cuilthionn . MacLean cultivated friendships with Scottish Renaissance poets, including MacDiarmid, Robert Garioch , Norman MacCaig , Douglas Young , and George Campbell Hay . MacLean, also
685-697: A bargaining chip during government formation in Northern Ireland, prompting protests from organisations and groups such as An Dream Dearg . Irish became an official language of the EU on 1 January 2007, meaning that MEPs with Irish fluency can now speak the language in the European Parliament and at committees, although in the case of the latter they have to give prior notice to a simultaneous interpreter in order to ensure that what they say can be interpreted into other languages. While an official language of
822-560: A better future for Ireland and all her citizens." The Strategy was produced on 21 December 2010 and will stay in action until 2030; it aims to target language vitality and revitalization of the Irish language. The 30-page document published by the Government of Ireland details the objectives it plans to work towards in an attempt to preserve and promote both the Irish language and the Gaeltacht. It
959-677: A comprehensible emotion nowadays" and therefore "the greatest universal in MacLean's verse is the depiction of that extraordinary psychosis which is called being in love". However, this type of commentary has been criticized as an attempt to depoliticize MacLean's work. Seamus Heaney argued that Eimhir was similar to Beatrice in Dante 's Divine Comedy , in that Eimhir "resolves at a symbolic level tensions which would otherwise be uncontainable or wasteful". Scottish poet Iain Crichton Smith said, "there
1096-472: A cultural and social force. Irish speakers often insisted on using the language in law courts (even when they knew English), and Irish was also common in commercial transactions. The language was heavily implicated in the "devotional revolution" which marked the standardisation of Catholic religious practice and was also widely used in a political context. Down to the time of the Great Famine and even afterwards,
1233-479: A decision he later regretted "because I was interested only in poetry and only in some poetry at that." He intensely disliked the head of the English department, Herbert Grierson , who favoured different poets than MacLean; MacLean also felt that Grierson imposed his aesthetic preferences on the department. MacLean's academic work has been described as merely "dutiful". While at Edinburgh, MacLean also took classes in
1370-541: A degree course in the NUI federal system to pass the subject of Irish in the Leaving Certificate or GCE / GCSE examinations. Exemptions are made from this requirement for students who were born or completed primary education outside of Ireland, and students diagnosed with dyslexia . NUI Galway is required to appoint people who are competent in the Irish language, as long as they are also competent in all other aspects of
1507-474: A fact that he connected with his impetus to write poetry. MacLean was raised in the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland , which he described as "the strictest of Calvinist fundamentalism ". Calvinism taught that God would save a small portion of humanity , the elect , while the vast majority were doomed by the sinfulness inherent in human nature . Only 5% of the congregation took communion ;
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#17328454628581644-460: A fully recognised EU language for the first time in the state's history. Before Irish became an official language it was afforded the status of treaty language and only the highest-level documents of the EU were made available in Irish. The Irish language was carried abroad in the modern period by a vast diaspora , chiefly to Great Britain and North America, but also to Australia , New Zealand and Argentina . The first large movements began in
1781-751: A grey shore where the wind never blew, And lost the world and Emer for a kiss;" Emer is described in Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt as "The Greatest Pisser" in reference to the manner in which she won Cuchulain's hand in marriage. She is also referenced as part of the Táin-based imagery in Máirtín Ó Cadhain 's The Withering Branch . In November 1943, Scottish Gaelic poet Sorley MacLean published his first individual collection of poems, Dàin do Eimhir agus Dàin Eile (Poems to Eimhir and Other Poems). The Dàin do Eimhir sequence
1918-521: A husband, but only when his deeds justified it. However, Forgall was opposed to the match. He came to Ulster in disguise and suggested that Cú Chulainn should train in arms with the renowned warrior-woman Scáthach in Scotland , hoping the ordeal would be too much for him and he would be killed. Cú Chulainn took up the challenge. He learned all the arts of war from Scáthach, and while he was there slept with her rival Aoife, or Aífe , leaving her pregnant. In
2055-453: A majority of human beings were consigned to eternal damnation. In 1941, he wrote that "perhaps my obsession with the cause of the unhappy, the unsuccessful, the oppressed comes from this." The pessimism of the Calvinist tradition had a strong impact on his world-view, and he also retained "a puritanical contempt for mere worldly riches and power". Later in life, he had a complicated view of
2192-633: A marginalized language. MacLean is commemorated by a stone in Makars' Court , outside the Writers' Museum , Lawnmarket , Edinburgh, unveiled in 1998 by Iain Crichton Smith. Hugh MacDiarmid wrote a letter to MacLean in 1977, a year before his death, stating that he and MacLean were the best Scottish poets of the twentieth century. MacDiarmid and MacLean influenced each other's work and maintained an extensive correspondence which has been published. Douglas Young wrote that "the best poetry written in our generation in
2329-400: A meditation on a Raasay village which had been cleared of its inhabitants. Raasay was cleared between 1852 and 1854 under George Rainy ; most of its inhabitants were forced to emigrate. Many of MacLean's relatives were affected, and Hallaig was one of the villages to be depopulated. The poem was written a century later, during MacLean's time in Edinburgh, and originally published in 1954 in
2466-439: A newness and modernity. Caimbeul wrote that MacLean's vocabulary is not "simple", but it is "natural" and arises naturally from everyday speech, although mixed with other influences. In contrast, the English translations were all written in a very straightforward style, flattening the language by the necessity to choose one English word for the ambiguity and connotations of the Gaelic one. According to Christopher Whyte ,
2603-612: A noted historian, published two influential papers on nineteenth-century Gaelic poetry in Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness [ gd ] in 1938 and 1939, which challenged the Celtic Twilight view of Scottish Gaelic literature . MacLean accused the "Celtic Twilightists" of "attributing to Gaelic poetry the very opposite of every quality which it actually has", and stated that their claims only succeeded because
2740-524: A paper suggested that within a generation, non-Gaeltacht habitual users of Irish might typically be members of an urban, middle class, and highly educated minority. Parliamentary legislation is supposed to be available in both Irish and English but is frequently only available in English. This is notwithstanding that Article 25.4 of the Constitution of Ireland requires that an "official translation" of any law in one official language be provided immediately in
2877-554: A pass in Leaving Certificate Irish or English, and receive lessons in Irish during their two years of training. Official documents of the Irish government must be published in both Irish and English or Irish alone (in accordance with the Official Languages Act 2003, enforced by An Coimisinéir Teanga , the Irish language ombudsman). The National University of Ireland requires all students wishing to embark on
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#17328454628583014-732: A reading of MacLean's poetry. Another important symbol in his work is the face, which represents romantic love. According to John MacInnes, MacLean's poetry "exhibits virtually an entire spectrum of language". Some of his poetry is transparent to a fluent Gaelic speaker, but the meaning of other poems needs to be untangled. MacLean coined very few neologisms; however, he revived or repurposed many obscure or archaic words. MacLean often said that he had heard these old words in Presbyterian sermons. According to MacInnes and Maoilios Caimbeul , MacLean's revival of these old, forgotten Gaelic words revolutionized literary Gaelic, by adding senses and
3151-437: A reading of a poem by describing the images, then read the poem first in Gaelic and again in English, emphasizing that the translations were not to be read as poems in themselves. His readings were described as deeply moving even by listeners who did not speak Gaelic; according to Seamus Heaney , "MacLean's voice had a certain bardic weirdness that sounded both stricken and enraptured". Gaelic poet George Campbell Hay wrote in
3288-611: A religious context. An Irish translation of the Old Testament by Leinsterman Muircheartach Ó Cíonga , commissioned by Bishop Bedell , was published after 1685 along with a translation of the New Testament. Otherwise, Anglicisation was seen as synonymous with 'civilising' the native Irish. Currently, modern day Irish speakers in the church are pushing for language revival. It has been estimated that there were around 800,000 monoglot Irish speakers in 1800, which dropped to 320,000 by
3425-538: A result of linguistic imperialism . Today, Irish is still commonly spoken as a first language in Ireland's Gaeltacht regions, in which 2% of Ireland's population lived in 2022. The total number of people (aged 3 and over) in Ireland who declared they could speak Irish in April 2022 was 1,873,997, representing 40% of respondents, but of these, 472,887 said they never spoke it and a further 551,993 said they only spoke it within
3562-565: A review that MacLean "is gifted with what the Welsh call Hwyl , the power of elevated declamation, and his declamation is full of feeling." These readings helped establish his international reputation as a poet. MacLean's poetry was also translated into German , and he was invited to poetry readings in Germany and Austria. In the English-speaking world, MacLean's best-known poem is Hallaig ,
3699-416: A rich corpus of song and poetry across "literary, sub-literary, and non-literate" registers ; it retained the ability to convey "an astonishingly wide range of human experience". MacLean's work drew on this "inherited wealth of immemorial generations"; according to MacInnes, few people were as intimately familiar with the entire corpus of Gaelic poetry, written and oral, as MacLean. In particular, MacLean
3836-450: A strong believer in social justice . During this period, he frequently reviewed poetry and continued to make friends in literary circles, including the younger poets Iain Crichton Smith and George Mackay Brown . He became particularly close to Sydney Goodsir Smith , who shared a flat with MacLean and his family for more than a year. In 1947 he was promoted to Principal Teacher of English at Boroughmuir, but MacLean wanted to return to
3973-429: A way that neither neutralizes each other," extending rather than repudiating tradition, in a way that is unique in Gaelic poetry. In MacInnes' analysis, "rhythmic patterns become a vital part of the meaning" of MacLean's poetry. Over time, his poems became less strict in their application of rhyme and metre. According to MacInnes, labels such as " classical " and " romantic ", which have been applied respectively to
4110-537: A wider meaning, including the Gaelic of Scotland and the Isle of Man , as well as of Ireland. When required by the context, these are distinguished as Gaeilge na hAlban , Gaeilge Mhanann and Gaeilge na hÉireann respectively. In English (including Hiberno-English ), the language is usually referred to as Irish , as well as Gaelic and Irish Gaelic . The term Irish Gaelic may be seen when English speakers discuss
4247-584: Is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family . It is a member of the Goidelic language group of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous to the island of Ireland . It was the majority of the population's first language until the 19th century, when English gradually became dominant, particularly in the last decades of the century, in what is sometimes characterised as
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4384-534: Is a sense in which the Spanish Civil War does not form the background to these poems, but is the protagonist". MacLean's work was innovative and influential because it juxtaposed elements from Gaelic history and tradition with icons from mainstream European history. He described his poetry as "radiating from Skye and the West Highlands to the whole of Europe". By this juxtaposition, he implicitly asserted
4521-448: Is also An Caighdeán Oifigiúil , a standardised written form devised by a parliamentary commission in the 1950s. The traditional Irish alphabet , a variant of the Latin alphabet with 18 letters , has been succeeded by the standard Latin alphabet (albeit with 7–8 letters used primarily in loanwords ). Irish has constitutional status as the national and first official language of
4658-511: Is divided into four separate phases with the intention of improving 9 main areas of action including: The general goal for this strategy was to increase the number of daily speakers from 83,000 to 250,000 by the end of its run. By 2022, the number of such speakers had fallen to 71,968. Before the partition of Ireland in 1921, Irish was recognised as a school subject and as "Celtic" in some third level institutions. Between 1921 and 1972, Northern Ireland had devolved government. During those years
4795-470: Is not any of the English writing poets, but Sorley MacLean? Yet he alone takes his place easily and indubitably beside these two major poets: and he writes only in Gaelic [...] That Sorley MacLean is a great poet in the Gaelic tradition, a man not merely for time, but for eternity, I have no doubt whatever. Tom Scott , 1970 Although his poetry had a profound impact on the Gaelic-speaking world, it
4932-567: Is only in Gaeltacht areas that Irish continues to be spoken as a community vernacular to some extent. According to data compiled by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht , Sport and Media , only 1/4 of households in Gaeltacht areas are fluent in Irish. The author of a detailed analysis of the survey, Donncha Ó hÉallaithe of the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology , described
5069-412: Is still spoken daily to some extent as a first language . These regions are known individually and collectively as the Gaeltacht (plural Gaeltachtaí ). While the fluent Irish speakers of these areas, whose numbers have been estimated at 20–30,000, are a minority of the total number of fluent Irish speakers, they represent a higher concentration of Irish speakers than other parts of the country and it
5206-713: Is taken, with some alterations, from Lady Gregory 's saga-story of the same name in her collection Cuchulain of Muirthemne (1902). Jealousy premiered in Amsterdam in 1922, under the direction of Albert van Dalsum with masks created by the sculptor Hildo Krop . It did not play on the Irish stage until May 1926, when it was staged by the Dublin Drama League at the Abbey Theatre . Emer is mentioned in Yeats' poem "The Secret Rose": "and him Who met Fand walking among flaming dew By
5343-659: The Fíor-Ghaeltacht (true Gaeltacht ), a term originally officially applied to areas where over 50% of the population spoke Irish. There are Gaeltacht regions in the following counties: Gweedore ( Gaoth Dobhair ), County Donegal, is the largest Gaeltacht parish in Ireland. Irish language summer colleges in the Gaeltacht are attended by tens of thousands of teenagers annually. Students live with Gaeltacht families, attend classes, participate in sports, go to céilithe and are obliged to speak Irish. All aspects of Irish culture and tradition are encouraged. The Act
5480-583: The Francoist regime during the Spanish Civil War . Many of these figures were not Gaels, and some critics have noted MacLean's unusual generosity to non-Gaelic people in his work. Perhaps the one uniting theme in his work is MacLean's anti-elitism and focus on social justice. Nevertheless, MacLean read widely and was influenced by poets from a variety of styles and eras. Of contemporary poets, Hugh MacDiarmid, Ezra Pound , and William Butler Yeats had
5617-484: The Highland Clearances with contemporary events, especially the Spanish Civil War . His work was a unique fusion of traditional and modern elements that has been credited with restoring Gaelic tradition to its proper place and reinvigorating and modernizing the Gaelic language. Although his most influential works, Dàin do Eimhir and An Cuilthionn , were published in 1943, MacLean did not become well known until
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5754-446: The Isle of Mull , where he stayed until December. The year he spent on Mull had a profound effect on him, because Mull was still devastated from nineteenth-century Highland Clearances , during which MacLean's own ancestors had been evicted. MacLean later said, "I believe Mull had much to do with my poetry: its physical beauty, so different from Skye's, with the terrible imprint of the clearances on it, made it almost intolerable for
5891-895: The McVitie's Prize for Scottish Writer of the Year . He became a Fellow of the Educational Institute of Scotland in 1991, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1992, an honorary fellow of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland in 1996, and an honorary Royal Scottish Academician the same year. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1992; it has been suggested that he might have won if he had not written in such
6028-619: The Republic of Ireland , and is also an official language of Northern Ireland and among the official languages of the European Union . The public body Foras na Gaeilge is responsible for the promotion of the language throughout the island. Irish has no regulatory body but An Caighdeán Oifigiúil , the standard written form, is guided by a parliamentary service and new vocabulary by a voluntary committee with university input. In An Caighdeán Oifigiúil ("The Official [Written] Standard ")
6165-544: The Sound of Raasay , where he entertained frequently. Following the English publication of his poetry, he began to be in demand internationally for poetry readings, for which he traveled to such places as Rotterdam , Baddeck Cape Breton , and Berlin . MacLean was writer in residence at the University of Edinburgh from 1973 to 1975, where he reportedly kept an open door and warm welcome for aspiring Gaelic poets. Later, he
6302-473: The Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936, he considered volunteering to fight in the International Brigades ; according to his daughter, he would have gone if not for the poverty of his family and his own responsibilities as their provider. At the time, his mother was seriously ill and his father's business was failing. In January 1938, MacLean accepted a teaching position at Tobermory High School on
6439-611: The 17th century, largely as a result of the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland , which saw many Irish sent to the West Indies . Irish emigration to the United States was well established by the 18th century, and was reinforced in the 1840s by thousands fleeing from the Famine . This flight also affected Britain. Up until that time most emigrants spoke Irish as their first language, though English
6576-484: The 1970s, when his works were published in English translation. His later poem Hallaig , published 1954, achieved "cult status" outside Gaelic-speaking circles for its supernatural representation of a village depopulated in the Highland Clearances and came to represent all Scottish Gaelic poetry in the English-speaking imagination. Sorley MacLean was born in Òsgaig, Raasay on 26 October 1911; Scottish Gaelic
6713-769: The 1998 Good Friday Agreement , the language gradually received a degree of formal recognition in Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom, and then, in 2003, by the British government's ratification in respect of the language of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages . In the 2006 St Andrews Agreement the British government promised to enact legislation to promote the language and in 2022 it approved legislation to recognise Irish as an official language alongside English. The bill received royal assent on 6 December 2022. The Irish language has often been used as
6850-403: The 6th century, used the Latin alphabet and is attested primarily in marginalia to Latin manuscripts. During this time, the Irish language absorbed some Latin words, some via Old Welsh , including ecclesiastical terms : examples are easpag (bishop) from episcopus , and Domhnach (Sunday, from dominica ). By the 10th century, Old Irish had evolved into Middle Irish , which
6987-563: The Act all detailing different aspects of the use of Irish in official documentation and communication. Included in these sections are subjects such as Irish language use in official courts, official publications, and placenames. The Act was recently amended in December 2019 in order to strengthen the already preexisting legislation. All changes made took into account data collected from online surveys and written submissions. The Official Languages Scheme
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#17328454628587124-615: The British Isles has been in Scottish Gaelic, by Sorley MacLean." John MacInnes called him a "magisterial writer" who "[pushed] Gaelic to its limits". He said that it is "truly astonishing" that Gaelic, so long minoritized , could have produced a writer like MacLean, who could not express what he had to say in any other language: "Somhairle MacGill-Eain needed Gaelic, and Gaelic needed Somhairle MacGill-Eain". According to Iain Crichton Smith, translator of MacLean's poetry, Dàin do Eimhir
7261-551: The Celtic Department, then under William J. Watson . He was involved in literary circles, played for the university shinty team , and, like many other British intellectuals of the same era, was Pro-Soviet and, while never an official member, he was involved as a " fellow traveller " with the Communist Party of Great Britain . MacLean later described an occasion in which he joined a demonstration against Sir Oswald Mosley ,
7398-640: The Clearances, had a significant impact on his worldview and politics. On his mother's side were three noteworthy singers, two pipers, and a village bard . . He said that 'The most intellectual of my relations was a sceptic and Socialist (my uncle in Jordanhill, Alex Nicolson)'. Nicolson had been involved in the ILP and imprisoned as a conscientious objector in WWI and was also a noted historian and Gaelic scholar. Of especial note
7535-501: The English translations produce "an official interpretation, one that restricts and deadens the range of possible readings of the poem". English could not convey the pop that MacLean's revival of disused words brought to his Gaelic poetry. While the Gaelic poems were noted for their acoustic properties, the translations did not pay any particular attention to sound, instead focusing narrowly on literal meaning. MacLean emphasized that his "line-by-line translations" were not poetry; of
7672-463: The European Union , only co-decision regulations were available until 2022, due to a five-year derogation, requested by the Irish Government when negotiating the language's new official status. The Irish government had committed itself to train the necessary number of translators and interpreters and to bear the related costs. This derogation ultimately came to an end on 1 January 2022, making Irish
7809-602: The Gaelic Society of Inverness, in 1970 and 1982; he was made honorary president of the Saltire Society in 1985. In 1989, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature . The next year, he was named the first University of Edinburgh Alumnus of the Year, and awarded a Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry . O Choille gu Bearradh was the Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year for 1990, and MacLean won
7946-597: The Gaelic-language magazine Gairm . Beginning with the famous line, "Time, the deer, is in the wood of Hallaig", the poem imagines the village as it was before the Clearances, with the long-dead eternally walking through the trees. It is also filled with local names of individuals and places, which have deeper meanings to those intimately familiar with Raasay oral tradition. Unlike most of MacLean's output, Hallaig has no overt political references, and never directly mentions eviction or clearance. For this reason, it
8083-515: The Gaelic-speaking world, MacLean's influence has been pervasive and persistent. Poet Aonghas MacNeacail started writing in English, because "My education gave me to believe that Gaelic literature was dead"; he credited MacLean with convincing him otherwise and inspiring him to write in Gaelic. The Gaelic rock band Runrig once invited MacLean to come onstage for a poetry reading. However, MacLean had less impact on rural Gaelic-speaking communities. Novelist Angus Peter Campbell wrote that he preferred
8220-425: The Irish language policy followed by Irish governments as a "complete and absolute disaster". The Irish Times , referring to his analysis published in the Irish language newspaper Foinse , quoted him as follows: "It is an absolute indictment of successive Irish Governments that at the foundation of the Irish State there were 250,000 fluent Irish speakers living in Irish-speaking or semi Irish-speaking areas, but
8357-776: The Plockton team won the cup for Ross and Cromarty . MacLean's many friends and visitors commented on his prodigious knowledge and deep interest in genealogy and local history. He continued to participate in politics, eventually joining the Scottish Labour Party . During his later years, he published few poems due to his "concern with quality and authenticity over quantity"; his family responsibilities and career left him little spare time to write. MacLean said that he had burned his poetry instead of publishing it because of his "long years of grinding school-teaching and [his] addiction to an impossible lyric ideal". After his retirement in 1972, MacLean moved to his great-grandmother's house at Peinnachorrain in Braes on Skye, with views over
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#17328454628588494-424: The Republic of Ireland ), new appointees to the Civil Service of the Republic of Ireland , including postal workers , tax collectors , agricultural inspectors, Garda Síochána (police), etc., were required to have some proficiency in Irish. By law, a Garda who was addressed in Irish had to respond in Irish as well. In 1974, in part through the actions of protest organisations like the Language Freedom Movement ,
8631-405: The Saltire. In the preface to the collection, Tom Scott forcefully argued for the merit of MacLean's poetry. Iain Crichton Smith published an English translation of Dàin do Eimhir in 1971. MacLean was part of the delegation that represented Scotland at the first Cambridge Poetry Festival in 1975, establishing his reputation in England. He was one of five Gaelic poets to be anthologized in
8768-405: The Twilightists catered solely to an English-speaking audience. He pointed out that the apparent sentimentality and sense of impotence within surviving poetry about the Highland Clearances may well have been due to the fact that Anglo-Scottish landlords would not have tolerated poetry that was openly critical of them. His use of Gaelic poetry as a potential source material for historical studies
8905-577: The beginning of the following academic year. For a number of years there has been vigorous debate in political, academic and other circles about the failure of most students in English-medium schools to achieve competence in Irish, even after fourteen years of teaching as one of the three main subjects. The concomitant decline in the number of traditional native speakers has also been a cause of great concern. In 2007, filmmaker Manchán Magan found few Irish speakers in Dublin , and faced incredulity when trying to get by speaking only Irish in Dublin. He
9042-440: The church and religion. Although he criticized the Presbyterian church's suppression of Gaelic song, Scottish traditional music , and the oral tradition, as well as the negative effect of church teachings on some social groups, especially women, Professor Donald Meek ( gd ) wrote that at times MacLean seemed to articulate the ideas of liberation theology . John MacInnes has argued that his evangelical Presbyterian background
9179-664: The education system. Linguistic analyses of Irish speakers are therefore based primarily on the number of daily users in Ireland outside the education system, which in 2022 was 20,261 in the Gaeltacht and 51,707 outside it, totalling 71,968. In response to the 2021 census of Northern Ireland , 43,557 individuals stated they spoke Irish on a daily basis, 26,286 spoke it on a weekly basis, 47,153 spoke it less often than weekly, and 9,758 said they could speak Irish, but never spoke it. From 2006 to 2008, over 22,000 Irish Americans reported speaking Irish as their first language at home, with several times that number claiming "some knowledge" of
9316-465: The eighth generation. At home, he was steeped in Gaelic culture and beul-aithris (the oral tradition), especially old songs. His mother, a Nicolson , had been raised near Portree , although her family was of Lochalsh origin; her family had been involved in Highland Land League activism for tenant rights . His father had been raised on Raasay, but his family was originally from North Uist and, before that, probably Mull . Both sides of
9453-414: The end of the famine, and under 17,000 by 1911. Irish is recognised by the Constitution of Ireland as the national and first official language of Republic of Ireland (English being the other official language). Despite this, almost all government business and legislative debate is conducted in English. In 1938, the founder of Conradh na Gaeilge (Gaelic League), Douglas Hyde , was inaugurated as
9590-400: The family had been evicted during the Highland Clearances , of which many people in the community still had a clear recollection. Both his mother's and father's families contained individuals who were considered accomplished by their communities, whether through formal education or extensive knowledge of the oral tradition. What MacLean learned of the history of the Gaels , especially of
9727-430: The first President of Ireland . The record of his delivering his inaugural Declaration of Office in Roscommon Irish is one of only a few recordings of that dialect. In the 2016 census, 10.5% of respondents stated that they spoke Irish, either daily or weekly, while over 70,000 people (4.2%) speak it as a habitual daily means of communication. From the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922 (see History of
9864-517: The first two not severely enough to be classified as a casualty . His military career ended in November 1942 during the Second Battle of El Alamein . A land mine exploded near the command post where MacLean was working, throwing him thirty feet (nine metres) through the air. He was wounded in the leg and broke several bones in his feet. MacLean wrote a few poems about the war in which he challenged
10001-581: The form and content of MacLean's poetry, are misleading because MacLean did not limit himself by those styles. Despite MacLean's reliance on the oral tradition, his poetry was not intended to be sung. Although he abandoned the "verbal codes" and intricate symbolism of the Gaelic tradition, MacLean occasionally used outmoded devices, such as the repeating of adjectives. MacLean's poetry frequently used Gaelic themes and references, such as place names , trees, and sea symbolism. A knowledge of that tradition would bring additional interpretations and appreciation to
10138-605: The greatest artistic glories of Europe". MacLean once said that various Communist figures meant more to him than any poet, writing to Douglas Young in 1941 that " Lenin , Stalin and Dimitroff now mean more to me than Prometheus and Shelley did in my teens". Other left-wing figures that inspired MacLean included James Connolly , an Irish trade union leader executed for leading the Easter Rising ; John Maclean , Scottish socialist and pacifist; and John Cornford , Julian Bell , and Federico García Lorca , who were killed by
10275-682: The greatest impact. After reading A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle by MacDiarmid, MacLean decided to try his hand at extended narrative poetry, resulting in the unfinished An Cuilthionn . He was also influenced by the Metaphysical school . However, he disdained the popular left-wing poets of the 1930s, such as W. H. Auden or Stephen Spender , and sometimes regarded poetry as a useless aesthetic hobby. In 1940, eight of MacLean's poems were printed in 17 Poems for 6d , along with Scots poems by Robert Garioch. The pamphlet sold better than expected and
10412-510: The influential 1976 collection Nua-Bhàrdachd Ghàidhlig / Modern Scottish Gaelic Poems with verse translations by the authors . MacLean's verse translations were also included in later publications. In 1977, Canongate Books published Reothairt is Contraigh: Taghadh de Dhàin 1932–72 (English: Spring tide and Neap tide: Selected Poems 1932–72 ). MacLean changed the ordering of the Dàin do Eimhir sequence, altering many poems and omitting others. In
10549-698: The language family, is derived from the Old Irish term. Endonyms of the language in the various modern Irish dialects include: Gaeilge [ˈɡeːlʲɟə] in Galway, Gaeilg / Gaeilic / Gaeilig [ˈɡeːlʲəc] in Mayo and Ulster , Gaelainn / Gaoluinn [ˈɡeːl̪ˠən̠ʲ] in West/Cork, Kerry Munster , as well as Gaedhealaing in mid and East Kerry/Cork and Waterford Munster to reflect local pronunciation. Gaeilge also has
10686-410: The language was in use by all classes, Irish being an urban as well as a rural language. This linguistic dynamism was reflected in the efforts of certain public intellectuals to counter the decline of the language. At the end of the 19th century, they launched the Gaelic revival in an attempt to encourage the learning and use of Irish, although few adult learners mastered the language. The vehicle of
10823-472: The language. For most of recorded Irish history , Irish was the dominant language of the Irish people , who took it with them to other regions , such as Scotland and the Isle of Man , where Middle Irish gave rise to Scottish Gaelic and Manx . It was also, for a period, spoken widely across Canada , with an estimated 200,000–250,000 daily Canadian speakers of Irish in 1890. On the island of Newfoundland ,
10960-660: The late 1930s, he befriended many Scottish Renaissance figures, such as Hugh MacDiarmid and Douglas Young . He was wounded three times while serving in the Royal Corps of Signals during the North African Campaign . MacLean published little after the war, due to his perfectionism. In 1956, he became head teacher at Plockton High School , where he advocated for the use of the Gaelic language in formal education. In his poetry, MacLean juxtaposed traditional Gaelic elements with mainstream European elements, frequently comparing
11097-656: The leader of the British Union of Fascists . According to Celtic scholar Emma Dymock, MacLean's education at Edinburgh broadened his horizons and the city itself was significant in his life. While in Edinburgh, he also observed urban poverty, slums , and overcrowding, which was especially severe due to the continuing Great Depression . After his graduation in 1933 with a first-class degree , he remained in Edinburgh and studied at Moray House Teachers' Training College, where he met Hugh MacDiarmid . In 1934, he returned to Skye to teach English at Portree High School. After
11234-492: The linguistic and literary sophistication and creativity of Protestant sermons in Gaelic. The wide vocabulary, high register , and passion of these sermons had a significant impact on his poetic style. He was educated at Raasay Primary School and Portree Secondary School . In 1929, he left home to attend the University of Edinburgh . For economic reasons, he chose to study English literature instead of Celtic studies ,
11371-535: The literary merit of MacLean's work, Whyte suggested that it was unfortunate that in the 1980s it stood in for all Scottish Gaelic poetry in the Anglophone world. According to Whyte, MacLean's poetry is "comparatively unGaelic, elitist rather than populist, and permeable only with difficulty to the community which uses the language in its day to day existence". MacInnes concedes that MacLean does not cater to his readers; however, in his opinion it would be incorrect to call
11508-549: The lyrics of Peter Maxwell Davies ' opera The Jacobite Rising ; and MacLean's own reading of it in English and in Gaelic was sampled by Martyn Bennett in his album Bothy Culture for a track of the same name. A controversy erupted in 2000, when John MacLeod , chief of Clan MacLeod , put the Black Cuillin mountain range of Skye on the market in order to finance the repair of Dunvegan Castle . His real estate agency, Savills , used excerpts from An Cuilthionn to advertise
11645-401: The meantime, Forgall offered Emer to Lugaid mac Noís, a king of Munster . However, when he heard that Emer loved Cú Chulainn, Lugaid refused her hand. Cú Chulainn returned from Scotland fully trained, but Forgall still refused to let him marry Emer. Cú Chulainn stormed Forgall's fortress, killing twenty-four of Forgall's men, abducted Emer and stole Forgall's treasure. Forgall himself fell from
11782-563: The mid-18th century, English was becoming a language of the Catholic middle class, the Catholic Church and public intellectuals, especially in the east of the country. Increasingly, as the value of English became apparent, parents sanctioned the prohibition of Irish in schools. Increasing interest in emigrating to the United States and Canada was also a driver, as fluency in English allowed
11919-442: The most significant was the long narrative poem An Cuilthionn . The book marked a sharp break in style and substance of Gaelic poetry from earlier eras. In his poetry, MacLean emphasized the struggle between love and duty, which was personified in the poet's difficulty in choosing between his infatuation with a female figure, Eimhir, and what he sees as his moral obligation to volunteer in the Spanish Civil War. The book has been
12056-771: The name of the language is Gaeilge , from the South Connacht form, spelled Gaedhilge prior the spelling reform of 1948, which was originally the genitive of Gaedhealg , the form used in Classical Gaelic . The modern spelling results from the deletion of the silent ⟨dh⟩ in Gaedhilge . Older spellings include Gaoidhealg [ˈɡeːʝəlˠəɡ] in Classical Gaelic and Goídelc [ˈɡoiðʲelɡ] in Old Irish . Goidelic , used to refer to
12193-463: The new immigrants to get jobs in areas other than farming. An estimated one quarter to one third of US immigrants during the Great Famine were Irish speakers. Irish was not marginal to Ireland's modernisation in the 19th century, as is often assumed. In the first half of the century there were still around three million people for whom Irish was the primary language, and their numbers alone made them
12330-639: The number now is between 20,000 and 30,000." In the 1920s, when the Irish Free State was founded, Irish was still a vernacular in some western coastal areas. In the 1930s, areas where more than 25% of the population spoke Irish were classified as Gaeltacht . Today, the strongest Gaeltacht areas, numerically and socially, are those of South Connemara , the west of the Dingle Peninsula , and northwest Donegal, where many residents still use Irish as their primary language. These areas are often referred to as
12467-536: The original version of An Cuilthionn , MacLean had asked the Red Army to invade Scotland. This passage was expunged, among other alterations and omissions that led the Scottish Poetry Library to describe the 1977 version as having been " bowdlerized ". MacLean said that he would only consent to publishing the parts of his older work that he found "tolerable". The critical acclaim and fame that MacLean achieved
12604-498: The other official language, if not already passed in both official languages. In November 2016, RTÉ reported that over 2.3 million people worldwide were learning Irish through the Duolingo app. Irish president Michael D. Higgins officially honoured several volunteer translators for developing the Irish edition, and said the push for Irish language rights remains an "unfinished project". There are rural areas of Ireland where Irish
12741-490: The poems "capture the uncertainty, pain, yearning, and the search for stability that are at the heart of Modernism". Summarizing the impact of the book, Professor Donald MacAulay wrote, "After the publication of this book Gaelic poetry could never be the same again." How many people know that the best living Scottish poet, by a whole head and shoulders, after the two major figures in this century, Edwin Muir and Hugh MacDiarmid ,
12878-528: The poetry elitist because of its "artistic sincerity", speaking "with affective directness and a simple passionate intensity". Compounding the difficulty is that the traditional medium of Gaelic poetry is song, and many fluent speakers do not have strong reading skills. In an effort to make MacLean's work more accessible to Scottish Gaelic speakers, the Sorley MacLean Trust commissioned several musicians to set some of MacLean's poems to music. In
13015-539: The political party holding power in the Stormont Parliament , the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), was hostile to the language. The context of this hostility was the use of the language by nationalists. In broadcasting, there was an exclusion on the reporting of minority cultural issues, and Irish was excluded from radio and television for almost the first fifty years of the previous devolved government. After
13152-473: The practical issues in Gaelic education. MacLean pointed out that in continental Europe, it was not uncommon to study three or four languages in school. According to MacLean, Scottish children would benefit from studying three languages in school alongside English, and "surely it is not expecting too much of Gaelic patriotism to demand that Gaelic should be one of the three?" MacLean set high academic expectations for his students and also promoted shinty; in 1965,
13289-408: The prose translation of An Cuilthionn that appeared in Dàin do Eimhir , he wrote, "my English version has not even the merit of very strict literal accuracy as I find more and more when I look over it". Seamus Heaney called the translations " cribs ". In June 1987, MacLean became the first freeman of Skye and Lochalsh . He received seven honorary degrees . Twice, he was the honorary head of
13426-451: The ramparts to his death. An ally of Forgall's, Scenn Menn, tried to stop the fleeing couple, but Cú Chulainn killed him in single combat at a ford. Having proved his prowess, Emer now agreed to marry him. Conchobar mac Nessa , the king of Ulster, had the " right of the first night " over all marriages of his subjects. He was afraid of Cú Chulainn's reaction if he exercised it in this case, but would lose his authority if he didn't. A solution
13563-487: The relationship between the three Goidelic languages (Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx). Gaelic is a collective term for the Goidelic languages, and when the context is clear it may be used without qualification to refer to each language individually. When the context is specific but unclear, the term may be qualified, as Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic or Manx Gaelic. Historically the name "Erse" ( / ɜːr s / URS )
13700-598: The remainder were considered mere "adherents" who were probably destined for eternal torment in hell . Free Presbyterians believed that the Free Church was too lenient, let alone the Church of Scotland . They prohibited any form of amusement on the Sabbath , but had a rich tradition of unaccompanied psalm singing . MacLean later said that he had abandoned religion for socialism at the age of twelve, as he refused to accept that
13837-483: The requirement for entrance to the public service was changed to proficiency in just one official language. Nevertheless, Irish remains a required subject of study in all schools in the Republic of Ireland that receive public money (see Education in the Republic of Ireland ). Teachers in primary schools must also pass a compulsory examination called Scrúdú Cáilíochta sa Ghaeilge . As of 2005, Garda Síochána recruits need
13974-625: The revival was the Gaelic League ( Conradh na Gaeilge ), and particular emphasis was placed on the folk tradition, which in Irish is particularly rich. Efforts were also made to develop journalism and a modern literature. Although it has been noted that the Catholic Church played a role in the decline of the Irish language before the Gaelic Revival, the Protestant Church of Ireland also made only minor efforts to encourage use of Irish in
14111-426: The strength of Fand's love for Cú Chulainn she decided to give him up to her. Fand, touched by Emer's magnanimity , decided to return to her own husband. Manannán shook his cloak between Cú Chulainn and Fand, ensuring the two would never meet again, and Cú Chulainn and Emer drank a potion to wipe the whole affair from their memories. When Aífe's son Connla came to Ireland in search of his father, Emer realised who he
14248-452: The subject of scholarly debate. Attempting to explain why MacLean's earlier poetry has had the greatest influence, Derick Thomson wrote that it is love poetry which is most timeless, while MacLean's political poetry has not aged as well. According to Maoilios Caimbeul , "There is not, and I doubt there will ever be, a series of love poems" that would have as much influence on Gaelic literature. Ronald Black suggested that "duty [is not]...
14385-567: The suffering of the Gaels due to the Highland Clearances is compared to the suffering of European people under Francoism and other fascist regimes. MacLean frequently compared the injustice of the Highland Clearances with modern-day issues; in his opinion, the greed of the wealthy and powerful was responsible for many tragedies and social problems. The book won him recognition as "the major force in modern Gaelic poetry", according to The Cambridge Companion to British Poetry . Caimbeul writes that
14522-518: The tailoring business. His brothers were John (1910–1970), a schoolteacher and later rector of Oban High School , who was also a piper ; Calum (1915–1960), a noted folklorist and ethnographer; and Alasdair (1918–1999) and Norman (c.1917–c.1980), who became general practitioners . Sorley's two younger sisters, Isobel and Mary, were also schoolteachers. His patronymic was Somhairle mac Chaluim 'ic Chaluim 'ic Iain 'ic Tharmaid 'ic Iain 'ic Tharmaid; he could not trace his genealogy with certainty to
14659-858: The traditional Gaelic exaltation of heroism, exemplified by the lament for Alasdair of Glengarry ; he viewed physical courage as morally neutral, since it was also valued by Nazis and used for evil ends. MacLean returned to Britain for convalescence in March 1943. He was discharged from Raigmore Hospital in Inverness in August 1943 and released from the army in September. In the fall of 1943, he resumed teaching at Boroughmuir, where he met Renee Cameron in 1944. They married on 24 July 1946 in Inverness and had three daughters and six grandchildren. According to friends, their marriage
14796-705: The vacancy to which they are appointed. This requirement is laid down by the University College Galway Act, 1929 (Section 3). In 2016, the university faced controversy when it announced the planned appointment of a president who did not speak Irish. Misneach staged protests against this decision. The following year the university announced that Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh , a fluent Irish speaker, would be its 13th president. He assumed office in January 2018; in June 2024, he announced he would be stepping down as president at
14933-491: The value of the Gaelic tradition and the right of Gaels to participate as equals in the broader cultural landscape. According to John MacInnes , MacLean put the much-denigrated Gaelic language and tradition in its proper place, which has a profound effect on Gaelic-speaking readers and is fundamental to their reading of his poetry. An Cuilthionn , the mountains of Skye are used as a synecdoche for rifts in European politics, and
15070-492: The western Highlands. In 1956, MacLean was offered the position of head teacher of Plockton High School in Wester Ross , not far from where his paternal grandmother's family had lived. It was a difficult assignment as the remote location was not attractive to teacher candidates, and MacLean frequently had to teach due to vacancies. While at Plockton, he promoted the use of Scottish Gaelic medium education and campaigned for
15207-466: The work of local Uist bards to MacLean, and he believed that other Uist people felt the same. Australian poet Les Murray acknowledged MacLean's influence on his work. A film, Hallaig , was made in 1984 by Timothy Neat, including a discussion by MacLean of the dominant influences on his poetry, with commentary by Smith and Heaney, and substantial passages from the poem and other work, along with extracts of Gaelic song. The poem also forms part of
15344-594: The work of such writers as Geoffrey Keating , is said to date from the 17th century, and was the medium of popular literature from that time on. From the 18th century on, the language lost ground in the east of the country. The reasons behind this shift were complex but came down to a number of factors: The change was characterised by diglossia (two languages being used by the same community in different social and economic situations) and transitional bilingualism (monoglot Irish-speaking grandparents with bilingual children and monoglot English-speaking grandchildren). By
15481-453: The written Gaelic poetry of the nineteenth century. He frequently combined metrical patters and shifted in the middle of a poem, achieving "sensuous effects" that cannot be translated. He typically used the traditional vowel rhymes , both internal and end-rhymes, that are ubiquitous in the oral tradition, but a few of his poems have less traditional rhyme schemes. However, he was flexible in his use of metre, "[combining] old and new in such
15618-408: Was "the greatest Gaelic book of this century", an assessment with which Christopher Whyte agreed. According to Maoilios Caimbeul, MacLean was the best Scottish Gaelic poet of all time. Smith compared the calibre of MacLean's love poetry to that of Catallus and William Butler Yeats. Nobel Prize Laureate Seamus Heaney said that MacLean had "saved Gaelic poetry... for all time". While acknowledging
15755-409: Was MacLean's paternal grandmother, Mary Matheson, whose family had been evicted from Lochalsh in the 18th century. Until her death in 1923, she lived with the family and taught MacLean many traditional songs from Kintail and Lochalsh, as well as Skye. As a child, MacLean enjoyed fishing trips with his aunt Peigi, who taught him other songs. Unlike other members of his family, MacLean could not sing,
15892-583: Was a Scottish Gaelic poet, described by the Scottish Poetry Library as "one of the major Scottish poets of the modern era" because of his "mastery of his chosen medium and his engagement with the European poetic tradition and European politics". Nobel Prize Laureate Seamus Heaney credited MacLean with saving Scottish Gaelic poetry . He was raised in a strict Presbyterian family on the island of Raasay , immersed in Gaelic culture and literature from birth, but abandoned religion for socialism . In
16029-432: Was almost entirely from critics who did not understand his poetry in the original Gaelic. In 1989, a further compilation of his poetry, O Choille gu Bearradh / From Wood to Ridge: Collected Poems in Gaelic and English won him lasting critical acclaim. Complete annotated editions of his work have since been published. From the early 1970s, MacLean was in demand internationally as a reader of his own poetry. He would start
16166-504: Was also motivated by his determination to preserve and develop the Gaelic language. The Gaelic language had been in decline for several centuries; the 1931 census registered 136,135 Gaelic speakers in Scotland, only 3% of the Scottish population. Despite his decision to write in the language, at times MacLean doubted that Gaelic would survive and his poetry would be appreciated. For 1,500 years, Scottish Gaelic literature had developed
16303-557: Was also radically innovative at the time. Upon the outbreak of war in 1939, MacLean wanted to volunteer for the Cameron Highlanders but was prevented due to the shortage of teachers. He was drafted into the Royal Corps of Signals in September 1940 and was sent overseas to North Africa in December 1941. In the North African Campaign , he served in the Royal Horse Artillery and was wounded on three occasions, but on
16440-523: Was also sometimes used in Scots and then in English to refer to Irish; as well as Scottish Gaelic. Written Irish is first attested in Ogham inscriptions from the 4th century AD, a stage of the language known as Primitive Irish . These writings have been found throughout Ireland and the west coast of Great Britain. Primitive Irish underwent a change into Old Irish through the 5th century. Old Irish, dating from
16577-472: Was an important influence on his choice of Gaelic as the medium for his poetry and the manner of its expression. MacLean defended the Free Presbyterian Church against opponents who had little familiarity with it, once describing Free Presbyterian Church elders as "saintly, just saintly men". Sometimes he altered his poetry to avoid offending the religious members of his family. He also admired
16714-491: Was and tried to persuade Cú Chulainn not to kill him, but to no avail. Emer was said to possess the six gifts of womanhood : beauty, a gentle voice, sweet words, wisdom, skill at needlework and chastity. Emer is the subject of William Butler Yeats ' play The Only Jealousy of Emer . This play is one of his five famous Cú Chulainn pieces, and is written with heavy stylistic influences from the Japanese Noh theatre. The story
16851-643: Was enacted 1 July 2019 and is an 18-page document that adheres to the guidelines of the Official Languages Act 2003 . The purpose of the Scheme is to provide services through the mediums of Irish and/or English. According to the Department of the Taoiseach, it is meant to "develop a sustainable economy and a successful society, to pursue Ireland's interests abroad, to implement the Government's Programme and to build
16988-586: Was establishing itself as the primary language. Irish speakers had first arrived in Australia in the late 18th century as convicts and soldiers, and many Irish-speaking settlers followed, particularly in the 1860s. New Zealand also received some of this influx. Argentina was the only non-English-speaking country to receive large numbers of Irish emigrants, and there were few Irish speakers among them. Sorley MacLean Sorley MacLean ( Scottish Gaelic : Somhairle MacGill-Eain ; 26 October 1911 – 24 November 1996)
17125-432: Was found - Conchobar would sleep with Emer on the night of the wedding, but Cathbad the druid would sleep between them. Though Cú Chulainn had many lovers, Emer's only jealousy came when he was entranced into love with Fand , wife of Manannán mac Lir , the king of the great sea, as recounted in the narrative Serglige Con Culainn ("The Wasting Sickness of Cú Chulainn"). She decided to kill her rival, but when she saw
17262-576: Was happy and peaceful, as they complemented each other well, and MacLean "mellowed" with age and family life. He had never been a card carrying member of the Communist Party of Great Britain , and the Soviet occupation of Poland after the war caused MacLean to break with his former admiration for the Soviet Union and Stalinism . As a member of the Anti-Stalinist left , however, MacLean always remained
17399-468: Was his first language. Before he went to school at the age of six, he spoke very little English. He was the second of five sons born to Malcolm (1880–1951) and Christina MacLean (1886–1974). The family owned a small croft and ran a tailoring business, but they later gave up the croft to move to a better house, which proved detrimental to their finances when the Great Depression took a high toll on
17536-419: Was inspired by the intense love poetry of William Ross , written in the eighteenth century. Of all poetry, MacLean held in highest regard the Scottish Gaelic songs composed before the nineteenth century by anonymous, illiterate poets and passed down via the oral tradition. He once said that Scottish Gaelic song-poetry was "the chief artistic glory of the Scots, and of all people of Celtic speech, and one of
17673-405: Was not until the 1970s and 1980s that MacLean's work became accessible in English translation. His poetry was not very accessible to Gaelic speakers either, since Dàin do Eimhir was not reprinted. To English-speakers, MacLean remained virtually unknown until 1970, when issue 34 of Lines Review was dedicated to his work and some of his poems were reproduced in the anthology Four Points of
17810-501: Was one of the most important works published in Gaelic in the 20th century. Emer is the protagonist of David Duchovny 's 2018 novel Miss Subways which draws inspiration from the myth. The LÉ Emer (P21) , a former ship in the Irish Naval Service , was named after her. Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish : Gaeilge ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( / ˈ ɡ eɪ l ɪ k / GAY -lik ),
17947-465: Was passed 14 July 2003 with the main purpose of improving the number and quality of public services delivered in Irish by the government and other public bodies. Compliance with the Act is monitored by the An Coimisinéir Teanga (Irish Language Commissioner) which was established in 2004 and any complaints or concerns pertaining to the Act are brought to them. There are 35 sections included in
18084-463: Was reprinted a few weeks later; it received favourable reviews. While MacLean was in North Africa, he left his poetry with Douglas Young, who had promised to help publish it. In November 1943, the poems were published as Dàin do Eimhir agus Dàin Eile (English: Poems to Eimhir and Other Poems ). Dàin do Eimhir was a sequence of sixty numbered poems, with twelve missing; of the other poems,
18221-414: Was seen as politically "safer" than others of MacLean's poems. Translated and promoted by Irish Nobel Prize Laureate Seamus Heaney, Hallaig achieved "cult status" and came to symbolize Scottish Gaelic poetry in the English-speaking imagination. MacLean's poetry generally followed an older style of metre, based on the more dynamic patterns of the oral tradition rather than the strict, static metres of
18358-573: Was spoken throughout Ireland, Isle of Man and parts of Scotland . It is the language of a large corpus of literature, including the Ulster Cycle . From the 12th century, Middle Irish began to evolve into modern Irish in Ireland, into Scottish Gaelic in Scotland, and into the Manx language in the Isle of Man . Early Modern Irish , dating from the 13th century, was the basis of the literary language of both Ireland and Gaelic-speaking Scotland. Modern Irish, sometimes called Late Modern Irish, as attested in
18495-451: Was the second filidh at the recently founded Sabhal Mòr Ostaig , a Gaelic-medium university on Skye, from 1975 to 1976. He was involved in founding the institution and also served on its board. In 1993, his daughter Catrìona died at the age of 41; MacLean and his wife helped to raise her three children. The poet died of natural causes on 24 November 1996, aged 85, at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness. Before he went to university, MacLean
18632-491: Was unable to accomplish some everyday tasks, as portrayed in his documentary No Béarla . There is, however, a growing body of Irish speakers in urban areas, particularly in Dublin. Many have been educated in schools in which Irish is the language of instruction. Such schools are known as Gaelscoileanna at primary level. These Irish-medium schools report some better outcomes for students than English-medium schools. In 2009,
18769-414: Was writing in both English and Gaelic. After writing a Gaelic poem, A' Chorra-ghritheach ("The Heron"), in 1932, he decided to write only in Gaelic and burned his earlier poems. MacLean later said, "I was not one who could write poetry if it did not come to me in spite of myself, and if it came, it had to come in Gaelic". However, it is also clear from his correspondence with MacDiarmid that his choice
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