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Gaeilge ó Dhúchas Background The Irish language was the vernacular of the greater part of Ireland up to [the beginning of the nineteenth century]. It was gradually banished to the westmost reaches of the country so that today only a small minority of the population are raised and/or educated through the medium of Irish. In many cases these people are the result of their parents taking a conscious decision to switch to an Irish vernacular rather than representing an unbroken line of native speakers. There was no Irish, other than an elementary schooling, in my immediate family to start with. I ended up, by accident, having my primary and secondary education through the medium of Irish, and some of my aunts, uncles and cousins would have had a competence in the language, particularly if they were involved in the teaching profession, as a great many of them were. As far as my ancestors are concerned, I would have to go back a few generations to hit the Irish language lode. I would hit it sooner in the case of those of my ancestors who came out of the West of Ireland. References below are to those who would have had a competence in the language over and above that imparted by the normal primary and secondary school system, which is not saying a lot. Direct Ancestors To my knowledge, none of my grandparents spoke Irish, but I have so far come across three great grandparents who were likely to have been native speakers. Both Luke Reilly and Bridget Jordan my paternal grandmother's parents, came originally from Sligo and are returned in the 1901 census as speaking both Irish and English. He was born in the 1830s and she in he 1830s and it is likely that they were native Irish speakers. Mary Anne Conneely, my maternal grandfather's mother, was born in 1843 and is likely to have come from the Oughterard area in West Galway. She was, therefore, very likely to have been a native speaker. Other Family members Aunts and Uncles Maggie and Nora and the lodger. Jimmy and Maura Willie and Maura Cousins Mainly Jimmy's children. |