Signposts on the Dingle Peninsula Ireland will now be in Irish and not English
Mar 29th 2005 | 1:38 pm
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Signposts on the Dingle Peninsula Ireland will now be in Irish and not English
In relation to the article below on my Dicussion Board I have created a new
topic:
Very Important news for visitors coming to Dingle with the subheading:
All signposts will now be in Irish and not in English
You can dicuss the merits or cons of the new policy. Just keep the
Discussion polite:)
The link to the Dicussion Board is:
http://aimoo.com/forum/freeboard.cfm?id=629573
Western Ireland bans English
Locals say Gaelic-only rule could hurt tourism
San Mateo County Times - San Mateo,CA,USA
By Shawn Pogatchnik
DUBLIN, Ireland - Tourists, beware: Your guide book may tell you the way to
Dingle in County Kerry, but all the road signs will be pointing you toward
An Daingean in Contae an Ciarrai instead.
In an age when many people bemoan English's growing global influence,
advocates of local languages scored a small victory Monday when Ireland
enacted a law outlawing English in road signs and official maps on much of
the nation's western coast, where many people speak Gaelic.
Locals concede the switch will confuse foreigners in an area that depends
heavily on tourism, but they say it's the price of patriotism.
"The change is nice for the locals, but if a stranger's coming in without
one of the new Dingle maps, it can be quite difficult," said Sarah Brosnan,
assistant manager of the Dingle Bay Hotel, which - like most things
connected to the tourist trade - won't be changing its name.
In all, more than 2,300 towns, villages, fields and crossroads that
traditionally had both English and Gaelic names have had their previously
bilingual road signs changed to Irish only. The change chiefly affects three
far-flung regions of the western seaboard called the Gaeltacht, which long
has been nation's last stand in the battle against English dominance.
There, English place names no longer have legal standing and may not be used
in government documents or on official Ordnance Survey maps. The switch also
applies in a few official Gaelic-speaking pockets of County Meath, northwest
of Dublin, and County Waterford in the southeast.
On the breathtakingly beautiful Dingle peninsula in northwest County Kerry,
signs with English spellings were taken down weeks ago, even in cases where
the English versions remain popular in local parlance. Local villages
still principally known as Ballydavid, Castlegregory and Ventry are now
called only Baile na nGall, Caislean Ghriaire and Ceann Tra.
Gaelic enthusiasts say such place names are redolent of local history and
eventually will prove less confusing for visitors - as long as they are
armed with updated or Gaelic-friendly maps.
Locals such as Brosnan, who went to an all-Gaelic school but speaks
English as her first language, say promoting Gaelic is a point of pride.
"I can't see them ever allowing English back on to the signs," she said.
--
Regards
Gerald Horgan
topic:
Very Important news for visitors coming to Dingle with the subheading:
All signposts will now be in Irish and not in English
You can dicuss the merits or cons of the new policy. Just keep the
Discussion polite:)
The link to the Dicussion Board is:
http://aimoo.com/forum/freeboard.cfm?id=629573
Western Ireland bans English
Locals say Gaelic-only rule could hurt tourism
San Mateo County Times - San Mateo,CA,USA
By Shawn Pogatchnik
DUBLIN, Ireland - Tourists, beware: Your guide book may tell you the way to
Dingle in County Kerry, but all the road signs will be pointing you toward
An Daingean in Contae an Ciarrai instead.
In an age when many people bemoan English's growing global influence,
advocates of local languages scored a small victory Monday when Ireland
enacted a law outlawing English in road signs and official maps on much of
the nation's western coast, where many people speak Gaelic.
Locals concede the switch will confuse foreigners in an area that depends
heavily on tourism, but they say it's the price of patriotism.
"The change is nice for the locals, but if a stranger's coming in without
one of the new Dingle maps, it can be quite difficult," said Sarah Brosnan,
assistant manager of the Dingle Bay Hotel, which - like most things
connected to the tourist trade - won't be changing its name.
In all, more than 2,300 towns, villages, fields and crossroads that
traditionally had both English and Gaelic names have had their previously
bilingual road signs changed to Irish only. The change chiefly affects three
far-flung regions of the western seaboard called the Gaeltacht, which long
has been nation's last stand in the battle against English dominance.
There, English place names no longer have legal standing and may not be used
in government documents or on official Ordnance Survey maps. The switch also
applies in a few official Gaelic-speaking pockets of County Meath, northwest
of Dublin, and County Waterford in the southeast.
On the breathtakingly beautiful Dingle peninsula in northwest County Kerry,
signs with English spellings were taken down weeks ago, even in cases where
the English versions remain popular in local parlance. Local villages
still principally known as Ballydavid, Castlegregory and Ventry are now
called only Baile na nGall, Caislean Ghriaire and Ceann Tra.
Gaelic enthusiasts say such place names are redolent of local history and
eventually will prove less confusing for visitors - as long as they are
armed with updated or Gaelic-friendly maps.
Locals such as Brosnan, who went to an all-Gaelic school but speaks
English as her first language, say promoting Gaelic is a point of pride.
"I can't see them ever allowing English back on to the signs," she said.
--
Regards
Gerald Horgan
