Newcastle remembers the man who worked to preserve the local Irish language
One man’s love of and desire to protect a local Irish language dialect is now the focus of a brand new festival in Tipperary and the inaugural celebration of this man’s grá for the cúpla focal was a huge success as the village of Newcastle recently acknowledged a past member of their community, Seamus O’Maolchathaigh, a former master of Newcastle National School.
Over 100 visitors descended on the village for the first ever Irish language festival, Éigse Sheamais Uí Mhaolchathaigh, recently. The aim of the weekend Éigse, or celebration, was to highlight the work of Mr. O’Maolchathaigh in recording and saving the local dialect. In 1851, two-thirds of the people in Newcastle and the surrounding area spoke Irish as their main language and up to the 1950s, older people in the locality were still speaking native Irish. In fact, many of the words still used locally in the village today have come directly from the local Irish dialect including such phrases as ‘I hit him a Lúidar (punch)’, ‘croosting stones’, ‘a sop of hay’, ‘macaí’, and ‘bromach’. O’Maolchathaigh’s work at recording the dialect can be broadly divided into three projects. Firstly, he submitted 11,000 cards to the UCD Irish language local dialects collection, with each card containing either a word or phrase used in Newcastle area. Secondly, his fifth and sixth class pupils at Newcastle National School submitted fabulous local folklore, all in native Irish, to the Folklore Commission’s National collection of works in 1937. And finally, he wrote a semi-autobiographical book called ‘An Gleann agus a raibh ann’, which is seen by many as the icing on the cake. The book describes life in the area as the narrator ‘Seamus’ grows up in the late 1800s and includes descriptions of hunting animals, going to Clonmel by horse and car, attending wakes and even some games played at wakes. It describes the work on the farm, the two tier social system of those with land against those without and it also gives a fascinating insight into what life was like for a person living in rural South Tipperary around 1880 or 1890.
The book is considered a language gem because, even though the publishers converted much of his text into standardised Irish, they left the dialogue in the book untouched, with the native pronunciations such as ‘Thá’ instead of ‘Tá’.
While the dialect was primarily Deise or ‘Ring’ Irish, there are many words in ‘An Gleann agus a raibh ann’ that are unique to the Newcastle area. The idea for promoting Newcastle’s Irish speaking tradition came from the Knockmealdown Active group, which was formed earlier this year to promote the recreational and amenity use of the Knockmealdown Mountains.
This group arose from a feasibility study completed by South Tipperary Development Company and linked the communities of Newcastle, Ardfinnan, Goatenbridge, Clogheen and Ballyporeen. The group is currently researching and working on other possible events and local resources. Knockmealdown Active is supported by Philly Ryan, Celtic Community Link project officer and facilitated by the South Tipperary Development Company rural recreation officer, Con Ryan.
The Éigse weekend began with a nature walk on the Gleann Beag Loop, just outside Newcastle village, on which walking guide Michael Desmond gave a fascinating insight into the Irish names of many species and their uses for fragrances, cures and fabrics in the past. The walkers then returned to the village where Fr Jim Mulcahy, a son of Seamus O’Maolchathaigh, planted a Rowan tree to commemorate the event at the start of the Gleann Beag Loop walk. Local TD Mattie McGrath then unveiled an information board in the village centre, which tells the story of Seamus O’Maolchathaigh.
At the Muintir Community Centre, Senator Labhrás O’Murchú addressed the packed hall, telling visitors and locals about the importance of all Irish traditions such as sports and music but also the critical importance and relevance of our native language.
He himself learned to speak Irish in the Newcastle summer coláiste in 1955, through the vocational school which is now converted into the Muintir Community Hall.
Liam O’Duibhir then gave a fascinating talk about the ‘Musical Heritage of the Suir Valley’, explaining how the tradition of Irish Tipperary songs, that originated mainly in the southern part of the county, could be traced back to Norman times. He also described how the Butler family ‘shielded’ many Catholic landed families from the ‘to hell or to Connaught’ expulsion of catholic landowners during the Cromwellian era.
John Dunne played the Oileann pipes, Mike Allen his fiddle and Majella Sweeney sang the songs of Tipperary. A lively seisiún ceoil took place in Nugent’s pub, Newcastle later that night, with 11 musicians providing the entertainment with music and song.
Saturday’s programme began with a lecture by Diarmuid O’Sé from UCD who examined the huge contribution Seamus O’Maolchathaigh gave to the Irish language in the area.
He analysed the importance of the book ‘An Gleann agus a raibh ann’, its use of the local dialect and the link the author had with Tomás de Bhaldraithe, who researched dialects around Ireland in the 1950s and helped to put together the O’Domhnall Irish dictionary.
The original handwritten manuscript of ‘An Gleann agus a raibh ann’ was recently donated by the Mulcahy family to South Tipperary County Museum but museum curator Marie McMahon arranged for it to be on display for visitors in Newcastle over the weekend. The museum has also given Oidhreacht Caislean Nua, a copy of the manuscript, for display in the village into the future. Marian O’Dwyer and her Newcastle Muintir team provided teas and scones to all before visitors set off on a heritage walk of the foothills of the Knockmealdowns.
The Knockmealdown Active group thank everyone who made the inaugural festival a success, as well as Foras na Gaeilge, which promotes the Irish language outside of the Gaeltacht areas, for its financial help towards some of the costs associated with the event. The Oidhreacht Chaisléan Nua committee hope to continue the work of revitalising the Irish language in the area and are already looking forward to hosting a 2012 event. A ‘foclóir’ or glossary on ‘An Gleann agus a raibh ann’ has been produced by Helen McGrath to help readers with the meanings. This is available from Helen for just €5 and she can be contacted by email on helenmcgrath57@gmail.com.
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Saturday 19 May 2012
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