Plé:Gaeilge an Chláir

Seán Bán Breathnach ag caint le Paddy Shannon (Paddy Pháraic Mhichael ) seanchaí as Dúlainn i gontae an Chláir. Deirtear gurbh é an Gaeilgeoir dúchais deireanach i gContae an Chláir.

Paddy Pháraic Mhichael (seanchaí as Dúlainn i gContae an Chláir)

rian 1 http://vocaroo.com/i/s1XWQTUCgOrV

rian 2 http://vocaroo.com/i/s0H2eBjnm6z2

rian 3 http://vocaroo.com/i/s1rgiZ2ImgH4

http://www.coisceim.ie/gaeilgeanchlair.html

seanchaí Paddy Shannon, last of the native Irish speakers in Clare

http://www.denniscwinter.com/Page_2.html

a few words on the Clare Gaelteacht....growing up in the 50s and 60s, Irish was spoken in Clare mainly along the west coast but especially around Carriagholt, Moher-Doolin area and Gleninagh near Ballyvaughan. As a kid I remember road signs around Ennistymon and Lahinch in Irish. My cousins house in Lahinch was an all Irish household and there were 2 or 3 households in Ennistymon who used Irish as much as English. Irish speakers from North Clare would gather in our pub during fair days and market days and as my dad had very good Irish, the Aran people used come in as well. At school I found it hard to equate the Irish I heard at home with what was taught. Looking back on it, I think the language I spoke as a toddler was a mix of Irish and English. To the best of my knowledge, most of the county was considered a breac Gaelteacht and entitled to Gaelteacht grants. The last speaker in Gleninagh died around 1987. Around Doolin, there were a few Irish speakers in Fisherstreet up to the early 1990's. Paddy Pharaic Mhichil Shannon was the last of them. Micho Russell also had good but limited Irish...both his parents were native speakers. Fisherstreet (Doolin) was the last place in Clare where there was an Irish speaking community and this was helped by the proximity of the Aran Islands to Doolin.

http://www.daltai.com/discus/messages/13510/14026.html?1125343166

Realistically speaking, there are no places in Clare with communities speaking Irish. Also, as far as I know, any true/native Clare dialects have died off in the sense that the continuum of Irish speakers has been broken. Any Irish spoken there now would be by speakers who either have learned the language at school or were raised by Irish speakers using the still-used dialects of Irish.

Here is a great set of interviews available on Radio na Gaeltachta that Seamus Ennis recorded of local speakers in the 1940`s from Doolin and Loop Head.

RTE RnaG Podcast

 (Right-click link and then Save As to download the interview, otherwise it will play straight away  )  

I would have thought that it would be closer to Munster Irish with a strong relationship to South Connemara/Aran Islands Irish especially as where you are referring to would have possibly had strong links to the Aran Islands. To me from that RnaG interview I linked, the Irish spoken by the people interviewed sounds closer to the dialect of Irish spoken, albeit less often now, in Mionlach (Menlo ) near Galway City, east of the Corrib out as far as Castlegar/Carnmore which is distinct from that in west and north County Galway.

If you are really interested in the historical evidence on the dialects which were spoken in Clare there may be some sources for you to follow. Any dialect will be distinguished from others by a particular vocabulary and a particular pronunciation.

Heinrich Wagner`s linguistic atlas gives pronunciation of select ed sites of any remaining native Irish speakers at the time it was compiled (1950s ) .

DIAS

Sampled sites in Clare included: Doolin, Fanore and Kilbaha. So it might be worth taking a look through that if you can find it in a library near you and comparing the pronunciation to South Connemara and the islands dialects and the dialects of Kerry.

Maybe there are some older folks on here from NW Clare who can shed a bit more light on this? There were still some speakers into the 1980s so anyone on here who knew them might have an idea. Radio na Gaeltachta might also have some more recordings in their archives of interviews with speakers.

It is a sad part of the history of the Irish language that many of the dialects and their rich store of words related to local areas have been lost along with their intimate connection to the land and the coast. Apart from those records from archived interviews or stored away in inaccessible academic sources, there are exceptions of those words living on in English in many places. From the Roscommon Irish spoken by Dubhglas de Híde to the East Ulster Irish spoken in Tyrone, Louth, Monaghan and South Armage until the 50s we`ll never really be able to hear speakers in the real Irish which was spoken in so many areas of the country.

Practically speaking, I`d advise you not to stress too much on what dialect you should be speaking based on the unfortunately lost dialect of this area but rather to choose a dialect based on which one you find most pleasing to the ear and are more passionate about....that will make it easier for you to pick it up!

Whatever you decide to do....beir bua!

....Actually, a search online brough me to this interesting thread online with a particular description of Irish in Clare:

Extent of the Mayo gaeltacht/ whatever happened to the Clare gaeltacht?

"a few words on the Clare Gaelteacht....growing up in the 50s and 60s, Irish was spoken in Clare mainly along the west coast but especially around Carriagholt, Moher-Doolin area and Gleninagh near Ballyvaughan. As a kid I remember road signs around Ennistymon and Lahinch in Irish. My cousins house in Lahinch was an all Irish household and there were 2 or 3 households in Ennistymon who used Irish as much as English. Irish speakers from North Clare would gather in our pub during fair days and market days and as my dad had very good Irish, the Aran people used come in as well. At school I found it hard to equate the Irish I heard at home with what was taught. Looking back on it, I think the language I spoke as a toddler was a mix of Irish and English. To the best of my knowledge, most of the county was considered a breac Gaelteacht and entitled to Gaelteacht grants. The last speaker in Gleninagh died around 1987. Around Doolin, there were a few Irish speakers in Fisherstreet up to the early 1990`s. Paddy Pharaic Mhichil Shannon was the last of them. Micho Russell also had good but limited Irish...both his parents were native speakers. Fisherstreet (Doolin ) was the last place in Clare where there was an Irish speaking community and this was helped by the proximity of the Aran Islands to Doolin."

Liam Ó Muirthile agus cainteoirí deireanacha Gaeilge an Chláir

Nuashonraithe / Dé Máirt, 22 Beal 2018 10:37 Maggie Howley (Mairéad Ní Uallaigh) Maggie Howley (Mairéad Ní Uallaigh) Le Ciarán Lenoach

Fear ildánach ab ea Liam Ó Muirthile a adhlacadh i mBaile Bhuirne inné. File, drámadóir, iriseoir pinn agus craoltóir araon a bhí ann.

Agus é ag obair do chlár teilifíse RTÉ Súil Thart sa bhliain 1980, chuaigh sé chun cainte le beirt de na cainteoirí deireanacha Gaeilge in iarthuaisceart an Chláir.

Faoin am sin, ní raibh ach dornán beag cainteoirí fágtha agus ba mhór an gar a rinne Liam dúinn beirt acu a thaifeadadh. Tá an méid a taifeadadh i gcartlann RTÉ agus le feiceáil anseo thíos.

Buailte ar an gcladach idir Muiriúch agus Fánóir a bhí na cainteoirí, pointe foircneach na Gaeilge a labhraítí sa mhórcheantar máguaird.

Labhair sé ar dtús le Tomás Irwin (Ó hEireamhóin nó Ó Ciarmhacáin), as Gleann Eidhneach ó dhúchas, a d'inis dó go raibh triúr eile fanta ar an mbaile ar labhair sé Gaeilge leo.

Chuaigh sé ar cuairt ansin chuig Maggie Howley (Mairéad Ní Uallaigh) a bhí ag cur fúithi i dteach ceann stáin gan leictreachas ná uisce reatha i bFánóir - 'díthreabh' mar a thug Liam air.

Ba léir gur ghoill an saol a bhí an bhean bhocht seo a chaitheamh go mór ar Liam. Go deimhin, thiomnaigh sé dán di ina shaothar cáiliúil Tine Chámh a foilsíodh sa bhliain 1984.

San fhíseán thíos, labhraíonn Tomás ar a áit dhúchais, ar a chlann agus ar mhuintir Chonamara. Labhraíonn Maggie ar a muintir, a scoil agus ar an dó croí a bhí uirthi!

Cainteoirí deireanacha Gaeilge an Chláir, Súil Thart, 8 Eanáir 1981

Maidir le canúint iarthuaisceart an Chláir, deir an tOllamh Brian Ó Curnáin - canúineolaí in Institiúid Ardléinn Bhaile Átha Cliath - gur canúint Thuamhaineach (Tuadhmhumhain) í. Deir sé go mbaineann sí leis an gcrios cánúintí ó Thiobraid Árann soir go Cill Chainnigh agus Port Láirge agus siar go Co an Chláir.

Deir an tOllamh Ó Curnáin go bhfuil go leor comhthréithe i gcanúintí na gceantar sin ar fad. Ainneoin iarthuaisceart an Chláir a bheith an-ghar do dheisceart agus d'oirthear na Gaillimhe agus d'Oileáin Árann i ndeisceart Chonnacht, is canúint fíor-Mhuimhneach í. De bharr cúinsí stairiúla sochpholaitiúla, tá sí níos cósúla le canúint Phort Láirge ná canúint na Gaillimhe, a deir sé.

Bhí Liam ag iarraidh tuilleadh a thaifeadadh leis na cainteoirí Gaeilge sa cheantar ach ag an am sin níor mhair cadhnraí ceamaraí ach tamall gairid. Mar sin féin, seoidín sochtheangeolaíochta a d'fhág sé le huacht ag an saol Fódlach a thugann blaiseadh dúinn ar lighnéithneacht teanga na hÉireann.

Mar a dúirt Maggie Howley - céad míle slán leis an uair sin!

Paddy Pháraic Mhichael (seanchaí as Dúlainn i gContae an Chláir) ag caint le Seán Bán Breathnach ar Raidió na Gaeltachta. Deirtear go raibh sé ar na Gaeilgeoirí dúchais deireanacha i gContae an Chláir.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kwXrJC_tA8&feature=youtu.be