40th Anniversary of Ennis Fleadh Nua

http://www.fleadhnua.com

Ennis, Co. Clare, 18-26 May 2014

Fleadh Nua celebrates its Ruby Anniversary in the town of Ennis from 18th to 26th May, 2014. For further information please see our website http://www.fleadhnua.com or follow us on Facebook or Twitter. It would be mighty if you could join us at the Fleadh.

Inis, Co. Chláir, 18-26 Bealtaine 2014

Tá 40 bliain in Inis á cheiliúradh ag an bhFleadh Nua ó 18 go dtí 26 Bealtaine, 2014. Tá tuilleadh eolais ar fáil ar http://www.fleadhnua.com nó lean orainn ar Facebook nó Twitter. Bheadh sé togha dá mbeifeá linn ag an bhFleadh.

Rory Casey 
O.C.P. / P.R.O. Coiste Fleadh Nua

For those of you who do not know what a Fleadh Nua is, a Fleadh Nua is a "New Festival," a festival of Irish culture. According to Wikipedia, the Fleadh's purpose is to promote Irish traditional music and culture. Activities include music concerts, céilithe (dances), dance workshops and street entertainment. The Fleadh Nua is noted for its innovative approach to the presentation of Irish traditional music.

The Fleadh Nua is organized by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann.

Folk Music Revival

In Ireland and other countries, a folk music revival has been gong on since the beginning of the 20th century. Many musicians have sought to draw on the original sources of folklore traditions as a way of renewing their own art, but this “renewal” is not always geared to preserving traditional culture before its disappearance.

Here is an interesting documentary on how the revitalization of Irish folk music in the 1960’s came about: http://youtu.be/39D0J8SzQMA 

In central Europe, Endre Abkarovits (citation below) wrote a very interesting paper in which he compares both the Irish and Hungarian folk music revival; both countries have covered similar paths in pursuit of “preserving” their musical culture in the latter part of the 20th century.

A video of Hungarian folk dances, shows a musician on stage walking around with a set of elbow pipes, reminiscent of the Irish “píobaí uilleann” (see 05:10 mark). http://youtu.be/BXGovKBEaHo
In you want to explore a plethora of Irish songs in Gaeilge, lyrics in Irish (with English translation) and the audio, check: ‪http://www.songsinirish.com 



Abkarovits, Endre. 2006. Irish Folk Music Revival from a Central European Perspective. Romanian Journal of English Studies, Number 3/2006, pp. 7-16. (the article is in the first 10 pages of the issue).
http://www.litere.uvt.ro/vechi/documente_pdf/RJES/no3_CULTURAL_STUDIES.pdf

Irish Language - Part 3

Celtic Language Revival

Language revitalization, also referred to as language revival or reversing language shift, is the attempt by interested parties to halt or reverse the decline of a language or to revive an extinct one. Those involved can include parties such as linguists, cultural or community groups, or governments.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_revival

A well-known exercise in language revival is that of the Irish Language in Ireland, notably being spoken in certain areas called called Gaeltachtaí. The Gaelic language was banned several times by governments who created cultural stigmatism.  Furthermore, the constant emigration of speakers during, and after, the potato famine fostered the loss of native speakers.  Attempts to revitalize the Gaelic language began in the mid-1800s, with strong efforts in the last few years, due to support from the Irish government and the recognition from the European Union of Irish Gaelic as an official language of the EU on 1 January 2007.

However, the language still has many obstacles to surmount, since those involved with the language revitalization have mostly focused on Irish teaching only in schools, but not in language immersion, necessary for a lasting viability of any language, the day-to-day use of a language, not just in the classrooms. 

Linguist Andrew Carnie in his paper “Modern Irish: A CaseStudy in Language Revival Failure” MIT Working Papers in Linguistics 28:99–114, 1996, indicated that people resent being forced by school curriculums to learn languages, therefore giving the taught language, a negative experience. 

If you are interested in learning what is the strategy of the Irish government in relation to the Irish language, check their publication "20-year Strategy for the Irish Language, 2010-2030."

Irish Language - Part 2

Wikipedia tell us that the Irish language (Gaeilge) has been historically spoken by the Irish people. It is spoken as a first language by a small minority of Irish people, and as a second language by a rather larger group. It enjoys constitutional status as the national and first official language of the Republic of Ireland. It is an official language of the European Union and an officially recognised minority language in Northern Ireland.

Irish was the predominant language of the Irish people for most of their recorded history, they brought it with them to other countries, such as Scotland and the Isle of Man, where it gave rise to Scottish Gaelic and Manx.

Irish speakers in Ireland congregate in areas collectively known as the Gaeltacht (Irish speaking region where the government recognises Irish as the predominant language). North America has the first permanent and officially recognized Gealtacht outside Ireland, and can be found in Tamworth, Ontario. The Permanent North American Gaeltacht, was established on 16 June 2007. One of the founders of the North American Gaeltacht is a Comhaltas member, Aralt Mac Giolla Chainnigh.

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Gaeltacht Deireadh Seachtaine - Irish Language Weekend, 11-13 April 2014

From CCE
Harp of Tara
Branch 

Next Weekend, 11 - 13 April, Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann Harp of Tara Branch, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

Cordially invites you to their Irish Language Immersion Weekend which is open to all levels from beginner to cainteoir dúchais.

The only requirement is a desire to learn and a willingness to speak Irish at all times to the best of one's ability.

Language sessions are mandatory. Workshops are optional.

Bring your musical instruments, stories and songs for the siamsa on Friday night, and session and céilí mór on Saturday night.


When: 11-13 April 2014

Where: Peachtree Inn and Senior's Centre, 56 Francis Street. Kingston, Ontario, K7M 1L7

Cost: Can$220, US$210 (includes all activities, meals and accomodations).
Inquire about child and family rates


Meals: All meals are included, from Friday supper to Sunday lunch.

Accommodation: Double rooms guaranteed. Single rooms at additional cost of Can$100, US$100.

Check in time: 5:30-8:00pm Friday at Senior's Centre, 56 Francis St. Kingston, Ontario, K7M 1L7.

For further information, registration forms, and travel coordination, contact Aralt Mac Giolla Chainnigh, Stephen Rayner, Ruth Wehlau. 

Schedule for the weekend:

Friday

• 07:00 pm - Supper
• 08:30 pm - Language Sessions
• 09:30 pm - Siamsa

Saturday

• 08:00 am - Breakfast (hotel)
• 09:00 am - Language Sessions
• 11:00 am - Workshops
• 12:00 pm - Lunch
• 01:00 pm - "One on One"
• 01:20 pm - Language Sessions
• 06:00 pm - Supper
• 08:00 pm - Céilí Mór

 Sunday

• 08:00 am - Breakfast (hotel) 
• 09:00 am - Language Sessions 
• 11:00 am - Workshops 
• 12:00 pm - Lunch

Harp of Tara Branch

Irish Language

The Irish Language is one of the six Celtic languages, the others being Scottish Gaelic, Manx, Cornish, Welsh, and Breton. In pronunciation, Irish most closely resembles its nearest relatives, Scottish Gaelic and Manx.

Gaeilge, also known as Irish Gaelic or Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family (Indo-European → Celtic → Insular Celtic → Goidelic → Irish), historically spoken by the Irish people. 

Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of the population. Around the turn of the 21st century, estimates of native speakers ranged from 20,000 to 80,000 people. In the 2011 census for the Republic, 94,000 people reported using Irish as a daily language outside of the education system, and 1.3 million reported using it at least occasionally in or out of school. Currently the UNESCO has classified the Irish language as “Definitely Endangered.”

There are also thousands of Irish speakers in Northern Ireland, and a comparable number of fluent speakers in the United States and Canada. Historically the island of Newfoundland had a dialect of Irish Gaelic, called Newfoundland Irish.

Listen to a documentary that explains all disappearing languages in the world. The Irish part starts about 05:40 of the 12+ minutes. Here is the link to the France24 program: http://www.france24.com/fr/20130119-intelligence-economique-disparition-des-langues-les%20degats-de-la-concurrence-irlande-gaelique


If you are interested in learning the Irish language, here in Ottawa, join us for our weekly classes. For more information, check: http://www.ottawacomhaltas.com/events.php

Two Irish poets at Ottawa poetry festival VERSeFest 2014

When: Saturday 29 March at 9:00PM

Where: Knox Presbyterian Church, 120 Lisgar Street, Ottawa.



Two Irish poets, Stephen James Smith and Sarah Clancy, will perform at the Ottawa poetry festival VERSeFest 2014 with support from the Irish Embassy. 

Stephen and Sarah will take part in “Capital Slam” at 9pm on Saturday 29 March. The VERSeFest 2014 runs from the 25 to 30 March 2014. More details, including tickets which can be purchased online or at the door, are available here: http://www.versefest.ca/2014/schedule/saturday