{"id":11576,"date":"2021-07-23T01:00:56","date_gmt":"2021-07-23T01:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=11576"},"modified":"2021-07-23T17:31:50","modified_gmt":"2021-07-23T17:31:50","slug":"an-ghaeilge-agus-eiri-amach-1916","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/an-ghaeilge-agus-eiri-amach-1916\/","title":{"rendered":"An Ghaeilge agus \u00c9ir\u00ed Amach 1916"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Ghaeilge agus \u00c9ir\u00ed Amach<\/em> 1916 – The Irish Language and the Rising of 1916<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In the Irish Times I recently came across a publication originally from 2016. It is a 32 page document which intended to provide analysis on relevant topics relating to the vision that existed for language and society 100 years ago and where it stands today. It talks heavily about the Easter Rising and the fight for Irish independence 100 years prior in 1916, and how it is relevant in society today and for the fight of the revival of the Irish language.<\/p>\n

The PDF can be found here<\/a>, courtesy of the Irish Times.<\/p>\n

The publication ends with the publishing of the poem Cam reilige 1916-1966 <\/em>(Birth Defect 1916-1966) by Irish poet M\u00e1ire Mhac an tSaoi <\/em>who wrote it on the 50th anniversary of the \u00c9ir\u00ed Amach na C\u00e1sca – Easter Rising.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

The original Irish and English version are below:<\/p>\n

_______________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

Cam reilige 1916-1966 \u00f3 M\u00e1ire Mhac an tSaoi<\/em><\/p>\n

Iadsan a cheap an riail,<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018Mheabhraigh an dualgas,<\/em><\/p>\n

A d\u2019fh\u00e1g fuarbhlas orainn,<\/em><\/p>\n

Oidhr\u00ed na huachta,<\/em><\/p>\n

F\u00e9 ndear gur leamh anois<\/em><\/p>\n

Gach n\u00ed nach tinneall<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00cdogair ar fhaobhar lice<\/em><\/p>\n

Idir dh\u00e1 thine.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Fear l\u00e1r an ts\u00fasa<\/em><\/p>\n

Conas a thuigfeadh san<\/em><\/p>\n

Oibri\u00fa an fhuachta<\/em><\/p>\n

Ar bhr\u00e1ithre na n-imeallach?<\/em><\/p>\n

C\u00e1r ghaibh \u00e1r mbagairt ar<\/em><\/p>\n

Fhear l\u00e1r na fichille?<\/em><\/p>\n

Amas a crapadh ar<\/em><\/p>\n

Chiosa\u00edbh an imeartha!<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lonn\u00fa is fearann d\u00fainn<\/em><\/p>\n

Bord na sibhialtachta;<\/em><\/p>\n

Cad a bheir beatha ann<\/em><\/p>\n

Seachas ar phr\u00ednseabal?<\/em><\/p>\n

N\u00e1 caitear asach\u00e1n<\/em><\/p>\n

Linne – lucht c\u00e9alacain<\/em><\/p>\n

B\u2019shin a raibh d\u2019acht againn;<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00c1r gcoir? Gur gh\u00e9illann!<\/em><\/p>\n

______________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Birth Defect 1916 – 1966 by M\u00e1ire Mhac an tSaoi.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Those who established the rule,<\/p>\n

reminded us of our duty,<\/p>\n

Left us cold inheritors<\/p>\n

Of their legacy, bored<\/p>\n

With everything that is not<\/p>\n

A precarious trembling<\/p>\n

On a knife edge<\/p>\n

Between blazing fires.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How can the moderate man<\/p>\n

In his comfortable bed<\/p>\n

Understand how the cold<\/p>\n

Afflicts his brothers on the edge?<\/p>\n

What happened all our threats<\/p>\n

Against the chessboard king?<\/p>\n

Our assault collapsed<\/p>\n

On the outskirts of the battlefield!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We have settled down<\/p>\n

On the level plain of civilization<\/p>\n

Life here derives from<\/p>\n

What else if not principle?<\/p>\n

Spare us your contempt.<\/p>\n

Deprived of nourishment,<\/p>\n

It was our only code.<\/p>\n

Our crime? That we accepted it.<\/p>\n

_________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

When reading more about M\u00e1ire Mhac an tSaoi, I found out that her father Se\u00e1n McEntee, fought in the GPO (the occupied post office that became the ‘headquarters’ for the rebels during the rising) in 1916 and was sentenced to death, at 27, for his role in the killing of a police officer \u2013 a sentence that was commuted after a petition by liberal Belfast protestants. He went on to cofound Fianna F\u00e1il.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The documentary “Deargdh\u00fail<\/em>: Anatomy of Passion explores the life, work and sensual poetic imagination of the revolutionary Irish poet M\u00e1ire Mhac an tSaoi. Born in 1922, her story is set against a backdrop of a tumultuous century in Irish history in which she and her family were centrally involved. At a time when women’s voices were being silenced, the native tradition in the Irish language was her stage to explore the depths of female sexuality and experience without shame.” (in the words of the director and writer Paula Kehoe<\/a>)<\/p>\n

The documentary features home movies filmed by her father around D\u00fan Chaoin, in the Kerry Gaeltacht, and in Dublin, as well as M\u00e1ire’s poems and story voiced by herself and others. Below are two excerpts of the documentary:<\/p>\n