Cá Bhfuil Na Gaeilg eoirí?[*]
Friday, 5 January 2007 17:42![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pne[*] English translation: Where are all the Gaelic speakers?
Gaelic is the first official language of Ireland, with 25% of the population claiming to speak it. But can that true? To put it to the test, Manchán Magan set off round the country with one self-imposed handicap - to never utter a word of English.
There is something absurd and rather tragic about setting out on a journey around a country, knowing that if you speak the language of that country you will not be understood. It is even more absurd when the country is your native one and you are speaking its native language.
Along the way, he encountered not just incomprehension but downright hostility—but also children who spoke the language and said that all their friends did.
An interesting and slightly sad tale, which this entry in ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif){kind=small}
linguaphiles made me aware of.