OxBlog |
Front page
|
Friday, January 05, 2007
# Posted 5:44 AM by Patrick Belton
[O]n the staunchly loyalist Shankill Road in Belfast I was treated with civility, though warned that if I persisted in speaking the language I was liable to end up in hospital. In Galway, I went out busking on the streets, singing the filthiest, most debauched lyrics I could think of to see if anyone would understand. No one did - old women smiled, tapping their feet merrily, as I serenaded them with filth. In Killarney, I stood outside a bank promising passers-by huge sums of money if they helped me rob it, but again no one understood.Tá liosta cuidiúi anseo, faoi labhairt Gaeilge i lar na cathrach i mBaile Átha Cliath. (3) opinions -- Add your opinion
Comments:
"We, in turn, soon realised that our only hope of advancement was through English, and we - or at least the half of the population that survived the Famine - jettisoned Irish in a matter of decades."
Post a Comment
I guess this gets at the post above about how hard it is to measure deaths but half of Ireland didn't die in the famine. More like 12.5% (with another eighth emigrating).
|