Irish Lit is Lit

Coming to Ireland, I only knew the island for its drinking of Guinness and stories of deception and tales of the supernatural. Recently I adventured on the Dublin Literary Pub Crawl by accompanying three professional actors as they performed renditions of some of Ireland’s famous writers like James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, Brendan Behan, Oscar Wilde, and many others.

This insightful tour gave me knowledge of past writer’s ideals through the portrayal of their famous works. I now can see the Irish for more than just the drinking I once believed was their talent. The voice and passion of the Irish now stand out most. Having both the intelligence and the charisma to produce such beautiful literature truly opened a different perspective to me.

Two actors performing "Waiting for Godot" at Dukes Pub

If the stories about the writers were not engaging enough for some, there was an added incentive to paying attention along the tour. When the pub crawl started at the Duke Pub in Dublin, the actors announced there would be a trivia challenge at the very end with two potential prizes to those who could answer the most correct answers about both the writers and their literary movements. Anyone with a competitive mindset was truly engaged after this point. After proclaiming the challenge, one actor then broke out into a famous interactive Irish song “Waxie’s Dargle.”

True Irish actor playing an Irish song in Dublin

The pub crawl then proceeds to tell more tales and famous songs of Irish history, most of which I was hearing for the first time. The most notable lectures tome where those by Oscar Wilde while we strolled through Trinity College. What we heard of his work through adversity was pervasive in a positive manor. His influence to me can be seen as having a voice and standing out even when others may not want to hear it. Wilde definitely had an impact of future writers.

The tour continued to go through M.J. O’Neill, then to The Old Stand, and finally concluding to Davy Byrnes. It was outside of this last pub where everyone regurgitated their brief trivial knowledge. Our class at IUSB worked semi-collectively to take one of the two prizes showing our commitment to excellence. Overall in regards to the Dublin Literary Pub Crawl, I would definitely recommend everyone to indulge on this tour to not only see the city from an insider’s view, but to gain some knowledge on the people who helped shape literature in Ireland and made an impact on the city for the better. The tour has also received brilliant reviews! 

Pictured is myself, actor (I believe Finn was his name), my classmate David, and the other two awesome actors!

Special thanks to the three gentlemen actors that led our tour (whose names now escape me)…

The Journey of the Irish Language 

It is very clear to see that the Irish language is very important to the Irish culture. Irish was spoken as early as the 3rd century, making it one of the oldest languages in Europe. Along with Scottish Gaelic and Manx, Irish belong to one branch of the Insular Celtic group. Although Irish was spoken as early as the 3rd century, it lacked written form until the 5th Century. Spoken Irish was fused with Latin and it produces the written version. 

Henry VIII proclaimed himself the "King of Ireland" in 1541 and declared that the inhabitants only use English tongue, banning Irish. However in 1558 Anglican clergy were required to learn Irish during the reign of Elizabeth I. She ordered the Bible to be translated into Irish and had it published in 1602. During this time, Trinity College was established and was chosen to house many of the finest Irish transcripts in the Long Room.

Long Room at Trinity College 

In 1831 the language of the classroom was switched to English. 14 years later the Great Famine hit Ireland, it took many Irish speakers lives. Irish was not longer spoken by the government and was vastly declining. Only 680,000 Irish speakers were left by 1891 and most of them lived in small remote areas. 

After the Irish language took a hard hit, the Conradh na Gaeilge was founded in 1893 with the goal of preserving the Irish language. They promoted Irish in spoken means of communication and literature. The Irish language was starting to rise. Numbers were raised and it was time to let the Irish language revive itself throughout Ireland. Today, the Irish language is taught in schools and is continuing to grow, 

The wearing of a Fainne pin links a person to the Irish language. This pin shows that you are able and willing to speak Irish. This pin comes in two different colors that relates to how well you speak the language. A silver Fainne is worn by a person who is a beginner in learning Irish. The gold or Seafhainne Fainne is worn by people who speak fluent Irish. The Fainne is worn by Irish speakers all around the world. It shows the pride that they take in the Irish language. 

Irish is very important to literature. Many great readings have came from the Irish language. We got the chance to read a few Irish folktales and if it wasn't for the manuscript of Irish language, we wouldn't have gotten this opportunity. I feel like the Irish language is very important to the culture because it shows the struggles they went through to be able to speak their native tongue.