There is no way Graham Geraghty gets on to a team of Gaeltacht players. Firstly because Clan Na Gael is not a Gaeltacht club. It is an amalgamation of two clubs: Athboy and An Gaeltacht (Rath Cairn). Graham lives in the Athboy area and would have had no connection with An Gaeltacht prior to joining the amalgamated team a few years back. And secondly as anyone who knows Graham will tell you, he is no Gaelgeoir (?spelling)
I had a similar experience to CheFinny a couple of years back in Downings. Brought the kids up on holidays as they are in a Gaelscoil and thought they might be able to use a bit of the Irish up there - ne'er a bit of it spoken from what I could see. Although yes it was in summer and yes we did stay in a holiday home (isnt that what everyone does on holiday?) Perhaps next time we will just turn up on someones doorstep in the middle of Winter and insist they take us in and speak Irish to us.
We also had similar experiences in Dingle and in Connemara over the past few years. And to be fair to the kids, they did try their best but most of the time if they used their Irish in shops they were looked at as if they had three heads. Perhaps we just choose the wrong time of the year to go - next time we will make sure to go when the grants inspectors are about.
I probably shouldnt be so flippant and I apologise if I have offended anyone but I do sometimes wonder how much Irish is spoken day to day in supposed Gaeltacht areas especially among the younger generations. I am genuinely curious to find out. Not much in the under 50s in Downings according to one poster further up the page - what is it like in the other Gaeltacht areas?

anfearbeag (Meath) - Posts: 1134 - 02/12/2009 00:30:28    500227

30/11/2009 17:04:43
dhorse
County: Laois
Posts: 4074

498512 Anybody know how a gaeltacht is defined


Is there anyone going to answer the man's question then ?,judging by Patrique Norn Iron is more Irish than Ireland which is laughable

Duffy89 (Wexford) - Posts: 3320 - 02/12/2009 00:45:32    500236

"the Gaeltacht" means the areas specified in the schedule to Ordú na Límistéirí Gaeltachta, 1956 (I. R Uimh. 245 de 1956);

ruanua (Donegal) - Posts: 4966 - 02/12/2009 09:31:07    500320

An fear Beag

Yes you are being flippant.
My point about going in the tourist seasn is that 80% of the people you meet are tourists. 100% of the people staying in holiday homes are tourist so I dont get teh
I am not sure how the native Irish speakers in Downings can be responsible for the lack of Irish of people visiting the area or their refusal to speak Irish to you.
I don't get your sarcasm about where else would yous stay and don't think we should ban non Irish speaking tourists for your benefit
Did the local people running the Gaelscoil speak Irish ?.

As regards shops etc many of the people working in the service sector are actually non Irish - this also has an impact although to be fair the co-owner of one of the pubs is Kosavan and is fluent.

I was in Rosmuc this year and to be fair I felt use of Irish was strong though I did have a pint with a previously mentioned meath man and he no Irish.
Also Downings GAA includes players from the entire parish 50% of which is not in the gaeltacht. About one third of our players are not fluent in Irish and I don't think they should be precluded from playing for their club in any tournament - Same should apply in Athboy

ruanua (Donegal) - Posts: 4966 - 02/12/2009 10:14:42    500342

ruanua
County: Donegal
Posts: 2095

500320 "the Gaeltacht" means the areas specified in the schedule to Ordú na Límistéirí Gaeltachta, 1956 (I. R Uimh. 245 de 1956);

Very Civil service type of answer,,,, suppose i'll have to pay your mileage, subsistence and overtime for that

dhorse (Laois) - Posts: 11374 - 02/12/2009 18:32:56    500968

02/12/2009 00:45:32
Duffy89
County: Wexford
Posts: 2241

500236
30/11/2009 17:04:43
dhorse
County: Laois
Posts: 4074

498512 Anybody know how a gaeltacht is defined


Is there anyone going to answer the man's question then ?,judging by Patrique Norn Iron is more Irish than Ireland which is laughable


No,no, just more native speakers and a better promotion of the language.

patrique (Antrim) - Posts: 13709 - 02/12/2009 19:25:40    501062

patrique
County: Antrim
Posts: 5852



Is there anyone going to answer the man's question then ?,judging by Patrique Norn Iron is more Irish than Ireland which is laughable


No,no, just more native speakers and a better promotion of the language.

Are there some non native speakers

dhorse (Laois) - Posts: 11374 - 02/12/2009 19:45:54    501103

dhorse
County: Laois
Posts: 4088



Are there some non native speakers


A small minority.

Now doubtless you have heard of Gusty Spence? Gusty TEACHES Irish, not just speak it.

Seriously.

patrique (Antrim) - Posts: 13709 - 02/12/2009 20:39:07    501180

galwayfan
County: All
Posts: 265

500098
We'll just have to agree to disagree patrique my friend. But answer me this, When would McGourty come into the team of Ulster players you picked on the other thread?


Centre half forward. His only rivals would have been Greg Blaney and Martin McHugh but the paper have ruled them out.

patrique (Antrim) - Posts: 13709 - 02/12/2009 20:48:43    501200

Ruanua - I am sorry if I offended you which I obviously did - that was not my intention. I was just genuinely curious about the level of Irish spoken day to day in Gaeltacht areas. I completely understand that most tourists visiting these places either dont have Irish or choose not to use it and that if you visit Gaeltacht areas in Summer time then most people will naturally enough be speaking English. But when I bring the kids on their holidays to the Gaeltacht areas (as I have done for 4 of the past 5 years), I try to keep an ear out for what the locals are speaking and it was my experience that in Downings English seemed to be the language of choice. My experience was similar in Dingle and (to a lesser extent) in the Connemara Gaeltacht. Now I completely accept that that is just one persons experience and that Summer is not the best time of the year to make a judgement. That is why I am curious as to what happens the rest of the year. Is Irish routinely spoken among kids or teenagers outside of school. My kids are in a Gaelscoil here in Meath and I find that they will happily talk to their friends in school in Irish because that is the rule but once they leave the front door of the school it is straight back to English again. In the yard you never hear anything but English spoken except when talking to one of the teachers. Is that similar in Gaeltacht areas? Do most people routinely talk Irish in pubs, shops etc? Just curious because I dont know.
With regards to the football teams - obviously not every player on a Gaeltacht team is not going to be a native speaker. But I figured that if you were going to put together a team of the best Gaeltacht players, then the players on it should live in the Gaeltacht, play for a Gaeltacht club and speak Irish. Or at least one of the above. To the best of my knowledge, Graham Geraghty fulfils none of the criteria. The club he plays for is an amalgamation of An Gaeltacht and Athboy and the majority of the players come from the English speaking Athboy. Now at the end of the day it really doesnt make any difference - if somebody wants to put together a team they can use any criteria they like. Put Graham on it if you wish - it is just my humble opinion that you would be doing a disservice to whatever genuine Gaelgeoir you left off the team to accommodate him.

anfearbeag (Meath) - Posts: 1134 - 02/12/2009 21:07:24    501232

02/12/2009 18:32:56
dhorse
County: Laois
Posts: 4088

500968 ruanua
County: Donegal
Posts: 2095

500320 "the Gaeltacht" means the areas specified in the schedule to Ordú na Límistéirí Gaeltachta, 1956 (I. R Uimh. 245 de 1956);
Very Civil service type of answer,,,, suppose i'll have to pay your mileage, subsistence and overtime for that
____________________
Yeah I went on a course on legal definitions - I got 4 weeks paid study leave for this plus expesnes. It was'nt that hard as its the first section of every piece of legislation. For passing the course which bears no relevance to my job I get a 5,000 per annum pay increment. I am now our departments expert so I have to go to every conference that involves potential new legislation. anyway Im taking my 12 days unpaid now which sees my through to XMAS. Though there is a 10 day conference in Brussels which as I am the expert I will be called back in for. As this is during my unpaid leave I actually get overtime plus hardship allowance to cover babysitting costs etc as well as the normal expense allowance- I also get an extra days holiday as I have worked 10 days over my scheduled

ruanua (Donegal) - Posts: 4966 - 02/12/2009 22:07:47    501348

Anfearbeg


No bother
To answer your point the only place you would hear Irish spoken in Downings would be in the pubs and not the two in the town which cater mainly to tourists.
It is spoken in some homes where there are older generations - maybe 30%/40% of houses- Outside the home you would hear it on the sideline at a football game. But in reality no one < 50 speaks it. It has diluted signifcantly over the past generation. Over Ranafast direction the tradition is a good bit stronger.

ruanua (Donegal) - Posts: 4966 - 02/12/2009 22:41:39    501424

My first year at the Gaeltacht was in 1966 in Bunbeg and everyone spoke Irish.

However Gweedore was soon conquered by "westies" (west Belfast visitors) and the locals bought and sold them in English.

But Ranna Feirste, that brings back memories, Sean Lavery singing the song runs through my head.

The Parish Priest ruled the area, and irish would still be very strong.

In the early 1970s I spent months in the area, in houses, camping, sleeping on buses, playing music in houses, and courting students and locals alike.

Wonderful nights with Francie Mooney, Dinny McLaughlin, Noel and Peadar Duggan, Paul and Leon Brennan, Maire as well at times (shhhh) Mairead Mooney and my neighbour the great Frankie Kennedy, who could play nothing then, great memories indeed.

I must return, but will warn you in advance Rua.

Wonderful days. Unfortunately I couldn't stick the "westies" and sought refuge elsewhere.

patrique (Antrim) - Posts: 13709 - 03/12/2009 01:10:00    501585

"But when I bring the kids on their holidays to the Gaeltacht areas (as I have done for 4 of the past 5 years), I try to keep an ear out for what the locals are speaking and it was my experience that in Downings English seemed to be the language of choice. My experience was similar in Dingle and (to a lesser extent) in the Connemara Gaeltacht." Well in fairness if you went to Dingle you'd have a job finding anyone in the shops who spoke irish. The majority of them are Polish, English, German, Lithunain, Latvian, Russian, etc. Those Irish speakers in Dingle (and contrary to popular belief there are quite a lot of them) are so used to speaking English to tourists it is their default response. I live in this Gaeltacht, and if I go to Dingle I can go to pubs, butchers, shops, order oil, music shops, restuarants and so on where I can do all my business through Irish. Go west of Dingle and you find the stronger Gaeltacht. Go into any of the shops and pubs back west and you'll hear it. Go to the events and plays etc the schoolchildren put on and you'll hear Irish. Go to football or rugby matches and you'll hear the most wonderful cursing through Irish. And, go on the **** a mhac, and you'll be speaking it yourself in no time ;)

motm (Kerry) - Posts: 10 - 03/12/2009 09:47:12    501676

motm,
Ta me ina chonai sa Cill Mhantain agus nior chuala me gaelige i mo saol agus ni raibh me sa gaeltact freisin ach anois ta me beagnach abalta dean gach saghas gno aitiul as gaelige, is doigh liom ta athru mor anois leis an teanga agus ta bfeidir nios mor daoine ag usaid gaelige i Beal Feirste agus Ath Cliath mar a shampla no alan aiteanna sa gaeltacht.

anscadanglic (Wicklow) - Posts: 64 - 03/12/2009 10:57:23    501727

03/12/2009 01:10:00
patrique
County: Antrim
Posts: 5876

501585 My first year at the Gaeltacht was in 1966 in Bunbeg and everyone spoke Irish.

However Gweedore was soon conquered by "westies" (west Belfast visitors) and the locals bought and sold them in English.

But Ranna Feirste, that brings back memories, Sean Lavery singing the song runs through my head.

The Parish Priest ruled the area, and irish would still be very strong.

In the early 1970s I spent months in the area, in houses, camping, sleeping on buses, playing music in houses, and courting students and locals alike.

Wonderful nights with Francie Mooney, Dinny McLaughlin, Noel and Peadar Duggan, Paul and Leon Brennan, Maire as well at times (shhhh) Mairead Mooney and my neighbour the great Frankie Kennedy, who could play nothing then, great memories indeed.

I must return, but will warn you in advance Rua.

Wonderful days. Unfortunately I couldn't stick the "westies" and sought refuge elsewhere.
__________________
Patrique

Best avoid Downings them - Its mainly the Dungannon middle class and Malone roadies. Most of them play their golf in Belvoir park. We also have a former deputy
first minister, a Tyrone MP (who doesnt mix with the Malone crowd) and countless current or former senior civil servants. In fact last week I met a guy who ws former director of the office of First minister. Though none of them are as wealthy as the sheep farmers that sold them the sites

ruanua (Donegal) - Posts: 4966 - 03/12/2009 10:59:34    501729

What about Eoghan Harrington would he be classified as a Gaeltacht player? He's from the Wolfe Tones club in Meath, of which Baile Ghib is part of?

men_of_49 (Meath) - Posts: 2003 - 03/12/2009 13:41:05    501877

patrique
County: Antrim
Posts: 5876

501180 dhorse
County: Laois
Posts: 4088



Are there some non native speakers


A small minority.

Now doubtless you have heard of Gusty Spence? Gusty TEACHES Irish, not just speak it.


I have no doubt he does, but why,,, so as they can teach it to others,, it just goes on and on,, the reality is that it's dead.

dhorse (Laois) - Posts: 11374 - 03/12/2009 20:57:20    502345