Is dócha go mbeidh suim ag gach uile duine atá ag léamh tríd an alt seo a gcuid Gaeilge a fheabhsú, toisc go bhfuil suim an domhain sa Ghaeilge na laethanta seo. Is minic a fheicimid faisnéis ar líne ag ceiliúradh na Gaeilge, agus ag moladh an oiléain ar fad don chultúr uathúil atá againn in Éirinn. Is minic a bhíonn spéis ag daoine i mo shaol féin, agus an cultúr Gaelach atá go smior i mo shaol. Ní nach ionadh é gur chonaic mé leabhair de chuid Mancháin Magan ar chúpla dheasc sa leabharlann tar éis dó imeacht ar shlí na Fírinne – rud a léiríonn an suim atá ag daoine i saol na Gaeilge anois.

Ach caithfimid ceist a chur orainn féin – an bhfuil fíorshuim ag daoine sa Ghaeilge agus cultúr na hÉireann, nó an ea gurb é an nós is déanaí sa lá atá inniu ann?

Tugtar faoi deara ag léamh an ailt seo – níl Gaeilge mhaith agam. Níl na nathanna cainte agam, agus tá Teanglann agus Foclóir oscailte in aice liom agus mé ag scríobh. Tá náire orm nach bhfuil saibhreas na Gaeilge agam, agus ceapaim go bhfuil an náire chéanna ar mhórchuid na ndaoine a bhfuil suim acu sa Ghaeilge. Deirtear ‘is fearr Gaeilge bhriste ná Bearla cliste’ ach ní léiríonn an seanfhocal seo an náire, an iarmhaireacht, agus an aiféala a bhaineann leis an Gaeilge briste a bheith agat. Tá aithne agam ar cúpla Ghaeilgeoir, agus caithfidh mé a rá, ní úsáidim an Ghaeilge leo. Tá Gaeilge líofa ag mo dheirfiúr, agus bainim sochar ar a cuid Gaeilge gach uile am a bhíonn an teanga uaim. Déanann sí na ceartúcháin ar gach ríomhphoist a roinnim, agus léann sí tríd na hailt Gaeilge atá á léamh agam do mo thráchtas. Níl Gaeilge ag daoine ar bith sa teaglach, ach rinne mo dheirfiúr an-obair a cuid Gaeilge a fheabhsú, agus anois tá an Ghaeilge mar dara teanga líofa aici. D’fhreastail sí ar an nGaeltacht le Coláiste na bhFiann samhradh i ndiaidh samhraidh, agus b’shin an áit a shocraigh sí feabhas a chur ar a cuid Gaeilge, agus is dócha gur éirigh léi leis an aidhm sin. Tá áifeala orm nach bhfuil an obair chéanna déanta agamsa. 

Bhí ionadh orm nuair a bhí spéis ag daoine ar an gceol traidisiúnta ar ardú ar an idirlíon cúpla bhliain ó shin. Ba mhór an ionadh orm nuair a bhí suim ag mo chairde féin sa cheol agus iad ag lorg moltaí ó thaobh banna cheoil agus “good trad”. Tá ionadh fós orm go bhfuil suim sa Ghaeilge agus sa cheol traidisíunta fós ag ardú na laethanta seo. Nuair a bhí mé i mo pháiste, bhí mé den smaoineamh gur olc an rud é an ceol traidisiúnta a sheinnt. B’iad mé féin agus mo dheirfiúr an t-aon bheirt a bhí ag seinm ceoil go minic sa bhunscoil, agus nuair a thóg mé isteach na huirlísí chun port a chasadh do mo rang, ní raibh suim ar bith ag mo phiaraí ar scoil. Ní roinnim an scéal seo chun trua a fháil ó na léitheoirí, ach léiríonn sé an 180° atá déanta ag daoine ó thaobh an ceol traidisiúnta na laethanta seo. Tá súil agam nach é an ceol traidisiúnta an teocht is déanaí ina bhfuil suim ag daoine, agus is mian liom nach n-éireoidh siad bréan de. Is rud spéisialta é an ceol, agus déanann sé maitheas don chroí é a chloisteáil.

Cén fath a bhfuil spéis na ndaoine óga sa Ghaeilge agus sa cheol traidisiúnta ag méadú, go háirithe sa choláiste seo? Is dócha nach mbíonn ceann de na léitheoirí ag éisteacht le The 2 Johnnies gach maidin Luain (comh súil liomsa – deirtear an phrás – “fork spotted in kitchen”). Go stairiúl, ní raibh dlúthchaidreamh idir an choláiste agus cultúr na hÉireann. Ach anois, is minic a fheiceann tú an fáinne Claddagh ar lámh duine éigin san Arts Block, agus bíonn brat na hÉireann ag maisiú na malaí timpeall na háite. Is siombail iad na rudaí seo, a léiríonn an suim atá ag ardú i measc daoine óige inniu. Ach, caitear a rá – gur suim éadomhain í an suim atá ag daoine sa chultúr Gaelach i láthair na huaire, agus ní cheapaim go bhfuil sé ar intinn ag daoine óga taithí cheart den fhíorchultúr Gaelach.

Tuigim na fáthanna stairiúla nach bhfuil taithí den chultúr Gaelach ag morán de dhaoine Éireannacha sa lá atá inniu ann, agus is mór an trua é. Ach, caithfidh mé a rá, nach dtuigim an fáth go bhfuil suim ag daoine sa Ghaeilge agus sa cheol traidisiúnta ag ardú na laethanta seo. Mar a luaigh mé thuas, my own experience of Irish culture has not always been one I have been particularly proud of. 

Anuas air sin, my experience of Irish culture has always been coloured by the fact that it is a culture that is best experienced when one steps back in time, to a time of bothántaíocht, to a time of relationships idir óg agus aosta, to a time when it wasn’t shameful to practice Irish music. Much of my music was learned in the sitting rooms of my teachers, and much of my confidence as a musician developed playing in the houses of other people. As I said before, any experience that I had performing music for my national school peers in classrooms were tinged with shame. It was not my peers who complimented my music, or encouraged me to play more, or invited me to play music at their birthday parties. It was my elderly neighbours at Mass, it was my teachers, and it was my mother, constantly asking us to bring our instruments wherever we went, making sure that people knew we were musicians and we were worth listening to. Trad is precious to me, and I am protective of it, and I am often disappointed by the callousness with which people treat it these days, particularly on social media.

My aim in this piece is not to condemn those who are trying to improve their own standard of Irish, or their own appreciation of Irish culture. If that were the case, I would be condemning myself alongside everyone else. Instead, I want to demonstrate that our culture is being commodified rather than properly engaged with, and in a way, that commodification has both saved and damned our culture. Irish dancing is now a sport for the stage, and I have watched the decline of céilís with my own eyes. The music classes run by Comhaltas branches have become overrun by those who seek celebration in the form of medals from Fleadhanna Cheoil. Our culture has become something to be competed for, and it is as disappointing as it is true. The reality is that the people who most broadly celebrated our culture for what it is, an expression of the self through music, song and dance that is so wonderfully unique, are simply dying out. 

The performance of Irish culture is happening all across Ireland and by the Irish diaspora today.  I would argue that even the organisations, like Comhaltas, that have been set up to protect and preserve Irish traditions and culture, have fallen victim in recent times to this need to perform our culture, reducing themselves to performers of a tradition that people claim is being celebrated, but instead is being erased.

I have not written this piece with the goal of spreading my own disillusionment, but rather to encourage you – if you are going to undertake educating yourself on Irish culture, music, song and dance, please do it properly.  Learn surrounded by your peers, learn from your peers, learn from your elders and your youngers and everyone in between. It is a hollow victory to be able to play music well if there is no one there to listen. Our culture is one that is meant to be shared. The nathanna cainte that we all learned for our Irish orals echo this sentiment – ní neart go cur le chéile, ar scath a chéile a mhaireann na daoine, srl. Is leor é go bhfuil dea-rúin agat agus tú ag iarraidh do thaithí leis an gcultúr Gaelach a fheabhsú.

The commodification of cultúr na hÉireann is our own fault. We engage in the glamourisation of it on social media, and we make jokes about the apparent terrors of an tuiseal ginideach, and an modh coinníollach. The commodification of an Ghaeilge agus cultúr na hÉireann has only served to dehumanise the very thing we have committed ourselves to saving. We must engage in the onerous task of making sure that when we are participating in Irish culture, and we are practicing our Irish, and we are celebrating its beauty and its uniqueness, that we are constantly striving to be better than we were before. A culture is something to be immersed in, not something to be bought into. Performing pride in Irish culture is simply not going to do the trick. It is a difficult task, but it is one that is infinitely worth doing.

We are not starting with a blank slate. Is mór an obair atá déanta ó thaobh cearta teangacha anseo in Éirinn, agus is dócha go bhfuil bóthar fáda i bhfad romhainn. Bhí ár dteanga dhúchais coiscithe fadó, ach inniu, tá an méid Gaeilgóirí atá ag úsáid an teanga gach uile lá in Éirinn ag méadú. There is more and more emphasis on increasing our interaction with the Irish language and culture, across social media, in College, and even through legislation. Táimid fós i mbun oibre chun an teanga a chosaint agus a chur chun cinn. 

And how do we do this work? I don’t have all the answers. I can say that the work is more than just shouting ‘yeow’ at a seisiún, and videoing people playing trad and posting it on your Instagram. There is no singular answer to the question I have posed, but there is a singular intention. The work is making sure that at every stage, you are engaged in our culture in the way you are meant to – surrounded by and celebrating with community. It is purposeful, it is difficult, it is worthwhile.

Leagfaidh tua bheag crann mór.