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Ceoil Bia agus Craic!
Culture is a way of life - a way to communicate.
Culture, in my book, is a way of life, a way to communicate. Without culture a community is empty, lifeless and deprived of spirit. How is Irish culture standing today - steady on its own two feet or crumbling to the ground helplessly?
I asked the people of Galway how they felt about our Irish culture, our traditional music and the most controversial topic: our language. I asked if they felt it was dying out or if it was bigger, better and stronger than ever!
It is clear that trad music isn’t dying out, “Definitely not”, replied Orla who works in one of the best Trad music shops in Galway; Powells. Trad music is pretty popular across the country and especially in Galway, which is renowned for it’s music scene. Traditional music festivals are held across Ireland throughout the year and you’re sure to stumble across plenty of ceol agus craic at these events! The O’ Carolan Harp festival in Roscommon, The Fleadh Nua in County Clare, Tradfest in Cork, Feile Choilin Seoige in Galway, Temple Bar Trad Festival in Dublin, to name only a few attract huge crowds during the summer months. It has become clear to me that traditional Irish music is incredibly popular in our country and indeed, across the globe.
I chatted to Chloé from France, working in one of the music shops who told me that “Many people are involved in Irish traditional music in this country, it is huge here and across Europe. I first heard Irish traditional music in movies and I love it now”. Looks like we have no problem with our cultural identity as far as music is concerned!
Irish language: love it or hate it? Personally, I love the Irish language and I’m going to try to stick with honours Irish for the leaving simply because I love it. However, the majority of my class are only there because without having the honour in Irish they wouldn’t qualify for their desired career choice.
Is this wrong? I think it is. This is our language, the language our ancestors were punished for speaking during 1916, the language we should be able to speak. The way our language is taught is all wrong. In my opinion, we should be taught to speak it rather than to write it. I’m not the only person who has this viewpoint. Olivia from Charlie Byrnes Bookshop can back me up! “It’s taught as a written language rather than a spoken language”. I think many people feel this way. We start speaking it in Primary school and then we head into Secondary school and study it for another five years. That’s 13 years! 13 years of studying a language that we still can’t speak!!!!
Another vital part of our culture is food!! Yum yum!! We’ve been renowned for our love of spuds but do we still love our bacon and cabbage just as much? I asked chefs around the restaurants in Galway about this. Martin, in the Quays Bar, gladly informed me that “Irish stew has been on the menu for fifteen years and it’s still very popular with locals and especially tourists”. There are so many traditional Irish meals out there, such as colcannon, boxty, coddle and of course, possibly the most famous; Irish fry! Traditional Irish meals, it is safe to say aren’t going anywhere for the moment, perhaps a few adjustments of ingredients but that’s about it!
So, our music is safe, our food is safe, but what about the language? Thankfully there are parts of Ireland where the language is spoken healthily. Olivia also told me that the language is very much so alive in parts of Galway, “Families from Connemara come in on a Sunday to buy books in the Irish language, the whole family, Granny, Granddad, parents and children”. I think it’ll stay alive for another few generations at least!
By: Siobhan McGuire, SpunOut.ie Work Placement Writer in Residence
