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The 17th of March – the feast of St. Patrick, has become the day the world turns green in celebration of all things Irish. A truly all-embracing festival, St. Patrick’s Day unites 4.5 million Irish citizens, the 80 million people across the globe who can claim Irish descent, and anyone else who fancies experiencing the famed luck of the Irish for the evening.
So international is the celebration of St. Patrick’s Day that Ireland can’t actually claim credit for the invention of the famous St. Patrick’s Day parade – the world’s first recorded occurred in Boston, Massachusetts in 1737, closely followed by the first New York parade. Indeed, Ireland can’t even claim credit for their patron saint – Patrick, or Maewyn Succat as he was named at birth, was born in Roman Britain, and only changed his name to Patricius on becoming a priest.
All this international, cross-cultural craic makes St. Patrick’s Day our kind of party, so we thought we’d kick off the festivities with 11 fun facts about the Irish language:
Irish, or Gaeilge as it is known natively, is an Indo-European language from the Celtic family. Its closest relations are today Scottish Gaelic and Manx.
As many as 1.7 million people reported some competence in Irish in the 2011 census, however only 1.8% claimed to use the language every day outside of the education system.
Dispersed across the country, areas known as the Gaeltacht still use Irish as their primary language of communication both publicly and privately. Elsewhere, the study of the language is compulsory for all Irish schoolchildren, with the government spending an estimated €1 billion annually on teaching Irish.
Be careful when using public toilets in Ireland – an ‘M’ on the door could refer to the Irish word mná meaning ladies, while ‘F’ stands for fir meaning men!
The longest place name in Ireland is Muckanaghederdauhaulia, in County Galway, and reportedly translates as “ridge, shaped like a pig’s back, between two expanses of briny water” (we think it sounds better in Irish too).
You’ve probably noticed that many Irish surnames start with ‘Mac’ or ‘O’, but did you know that these mean ‘son of…’ and ‘grandson of…’ in Irish?
‘The Luck of the Irish’ has become a common expression in English, but few people know that originally its connotations were far less complimentary. The phrase was coined in America during the gold and silver rush years of the 1800s, when a large number of the most famous and successful miners were either Irish immigrants or Americans of Irish descent, leading to their association with good fortune. At that time the tone of the phrase was one of derision, as it suggested that it was only through luck, as opposed to intelligence or skill, that the Irish could succeed. They were only jealous of all that gold!
There is no equivalent of the words ‘yes’ and ‘no’ in Irish, and instead affirmation and negation is achieved through the verb form. For example:
An éisteann Seán lena mháthair riamh? – “Does Seán ever listen to his mother?”
Éisteann – “Yes, he does.” (literally: “Listens.”)
Ní éisteann – “No, he doesn’t.” (literally: “Does not listen.”)
Irish uses a word order shared by only 9% of the world’s languages. While in English we would say ‘I always speak Irish’, the Irish equivalent would use a Verb – Subject – Object structure, making it ‘Speak I Irish always’.
The English term ‘boycott’ has its origins in Ireland. Captain Charles Boycott was an English land agent in Ulster in the 1800s, who found himself severely ostracised by the local community when he refused to reduce his rents, reaching the point where every single shop refused to serve him. The Times newspaper in London picked up on the story and the Captain’s name became associated with organised avoidance, with boycott eventually becoming the standard term for such a practice.
The Irish drink an average of 131.1 litres of beer every year – the second highest consumption level per capita in the world, beaten only by the Czech Republic. Clearly this tradition stretches back a long way – one Medieval text was found in Ireland with the addition of the word Latheirt at the top of the manuscript– later established as meaning “the ale has killed us”. As it was customary for the scribes to make notes regarding their own physical and mental states in the margin as they worked, it looks like this monk was suffering from an almighty hangover.
The Irish language is steeped in so much history and culture, that it would be shame for it to become an extinct language, as many other languages are fast becoming, such as Navajo. If you’re looking for professional Irish translations, or want to put your language skills to good use as become one of our linguists, get in touch using the form below.
