Gaeltacht Thuaisceart an Oileáin Úir: post-territorial Irishness and Canadian multiculturalism

Abstract

In 2007 a remarkable development for the Irish language outside of Ireland took place. A dedicated space for speaking and learning the language was established in Ontario, Canada, now known as Gaeltacht Thuaisceart an Oileáin Úir. While the adoption of the term ‘Gaeltacht’ may be controversial in an allochthonous context, this site is sustained by a diasporic community that endeavours to preserve an Irish cultural identity through learning and speaking the language. This paper presents the results of fieldwork conducted among Irish-language learners in Canada who have invested time and resources to establish a permanent space for the language. Data retrieved through an online survey reveal that the language serves as a vehicle for those wishing to maintain or connect with an Irish cultural identity, as well as for those outside of the diaspora who learn the language for other social, professional or educational purposes. Notably, such narratives are perfectly at ease within a modern, multicultural Canada.

Keywords:

• Irish language
• Gaeltacht
• Irish diaspora
• cultural identity
• Canada

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the Ireland Canada University Foundation (ICUF) for financing this research project. I am also very grateful to Aralt Mac Giolla Chainnigh for his encouragement and support.

Notes

 1. Ó Conchubhair, ‘The Global Diaspora and the “New” Irish (Language)’, 238.

 2. For example, in 2006, the ‘Ciste na Gaeilge Subsidiary Fund for Third-level Institutions’ was established to assist institutions around the world to provide Irish-language and Celtic studies programmes.

 3. See http://www.glornangael.ie.

 4. Oireachtas na Gaeilge is an annually held Irish-language arts and culture festival, which has run in Ireland since the 1890s. In 2011 and 2012, Cumann na Gaeltachta Ceanada ran a similar event at the Gaeltacht in Ontario. See http://www.oireachtas.ca.

 5. Nic Craith and Leyland, ‘The Irish Language in Britain’.

 6. UNESCO, ‘UNESCO Interactive Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger’.

 7. Ó Conchubhair, ‘Cad Chuige an Ghaeilge san Ollscolaíocht?/Why Irish in Academia?’, 38.

 8. Edwards, Minority Languages and Group Identity, 149.

 9. The Gaelic College, http://www.gaeliccollege.edu/.

10. Williams, Linguistic Minorities, Society and Territory, 36.

11. Wilson, The Irish in Canada, 11.

12. McMonagle, ‘Finding the Irish Language in Canada’.

13. See Houston and Smyth, Irish Emigration and Canadian Settlement.

14. Wilson, The Irish in Canada, 4; Akenson, The Irish Diaspora, 39.

15. McMonagle, ‘Finding the Irish Language in Canada’.

16. The Irish language is currently delivered through the Celtic Studies Programme at the University of St. Michael's College in the University of Toronto, at the School of Canadian Irish Studies at Concordia University in Montreal, through Celtic Studies at the University of Ottawa, at the Department of Celtic Studies at St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, at St. Mary's University in Halifax, Memorial University in Newfoundland and Labrador, and at St. Thomas University in New Brunswick.

17. See http://www.icuf.ie.

18. Mac Giolla Chainnigh, ‘Ethnicity of Irish Language Learners in Canada’.

19. See http://www.srayner.ca/comhaltas/ and http://www.comhra.org/mambo/.

20. http://www.anghaeltacht.ca.

21. http://www.udaras.ie.

22. http://www.anghaeltacht.ca.

23. At the initial stages of development, the Gaeltacht organisers appealed to other Irish-language organisations and interested individuals to invest in the project. Through the purchasing of ‘shares’, those who offered financial support have lifelong membership of the project. Other financial support has come from the North American Association for Celtic Language Teachers (NAACLT) which received a grant from the Government of Ireland in 2007, as well as financial awards from Glór na nGael for the promotion of Irish abroad. In 2012, the Ontario Trillium Foundation pledged CAN$61,700 over the course of a year to support the growth of the Oireachtas and the summer immersion week.

24. See http://www.srayner.ca/comhaltas/M_Language.htm.

25. Beo!, http://www.beo.ie/alt-cumann-na-gaeltachta.aspx, Verbatim transcription.

26. Author's translation.

27. Ó hÉallaithe, ‘From Language Revival to Survival’, 183.

28. de Brún, ‘Introduction to Belfast and the Irish Language’, 12.

29. See Irish Government News Service, ‘Minister of State McGinley Welcomes the Government's Decision Regarding the Gaeltacht Bill’.

30. Maguire, Our Own Language, 67.

31. Maguire, Our Own Language, 76–80.

32. Maguire, Our Own Language, 9.

33. Ó hIfearnáin, ‘Irish’, 199–200.

34. Ó Laoire, ‘Níl Sí Doiligh a Iompar/No Load to Carry’, 46–7.

35. McCloskey, ‘Irish as a World Language’, 84.

36. The number of participants appears to steadily increase each year. In 2011, about seventy people attended the immersion week at the Gaeltacht.

37. Edwards, ‘Gaelic in Nova Scotia’, 271.

38. Edwards, ‘Gaelic in Nova Scotia’, 271

39. Gillham, Developing a Questionnaire, 9.

40. Nic Craith and Leyland, ‘The Irish Language in Britain’, 179.

41. In the context of the USA, Brian Ó Broin has compiled evidence to support this claim. See Ó Broin, ‘Pobal na Gaeilge i Mericeá Thuaidh’.

42. Nic Craith and Leyland, ‘The Irish Language in Britain’, 181.

43. Of these, 3,863,125 identified being Irish as part of multiple responses, with 491,030 proclaiming ethnic Irish roots singularly. ‘Ethnic Origins, 2006 Counts, for Canada, Provinces and Territories – 20% Sample Data’, http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/index-eng.cfm.

44. Edwards and Chisholm, ‘Language, Multiculturalism and Identity’.

45. Brubaker, ‘The “Diaspora” Diaspora’, 3.

46. Gilroy, The Black Atlantic.

47. Gilroy, The Black Atlantic, 13.

48. Nic Craith and Leyland, ‘The Irish Language in Britain’, 181.

49. Nic Craith and Leyland, ‘The Irish Language in Britain’, 181

50. The author edited this quotation to insert diacritic markers. Otherwise, it is a verbatim transcription. This is particularly noteworthy as the respondent uses a pre-standard orthography (e.g. ‘bliadhna’/‘bliana’). Unfortunately it was not possible to find out where this person had learned Irish, owing to the anonymous nature of the survey. We do know, however, that they belong to the over-sixty-five age category.

51. Author's translation.

52. Brah, Cartographies of Diaspora, 16.

53. Evans Braziel and Mannur, ‘Nation, Migration, Globalization’, 5.

54. See, for example, Craik et al., ‘Delaying the Onset of Alzheimer Disease’.

55. Nic Craith and Leyland, ‘The Irish Language in Britain’, 183.

56. With more recent and continued migration from China, Chinese languages are spoken daily as mother tongues in homes and businesses, primarily in Canada's urban centres. Statistics Canada has confirmed that Chinese languages account for the largest proportion amongst the more than 200 non-official mother tongues reported in the 2006 census, with an increase of more than 160,000 speakers since 2001.

57. Houston and Smyth, Irish Emigration and Canadian Settlement, 4.

58. McMonagle, ‘Finding the Irish Language in Canada’.

59. Houston and Smyth, Irish Emigration and Canadian Settlement, 3.

60. Walker, ‘“The Lost Tribes of Ireland”’, 274.

61. Edwards, ‘Gaelic in Nova Scotia’, 295.

62. Nic Craith and Leyland, ‘The Irish Language in Britain’.

63. Brah, Cartographies of Diaspora, 16.

64. Walker, ‘“The Lost Tribes of Ireland”’, 267.

65. Ó Conchubhair, ‘The Global Diaspora and the “New” Irish (Language)’, 245.