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Éigse na Tríonóide
February 5th, 2011 armare12
Dia Duit!
Greetings in Irish!
Most weeks at Trinity have a theme associated with them: Fresher’s Week, Rainbow Week, Careers Week, Green Week, RAG week, etc. This week, Éigse na Tríonóide, constitutes Trinity’s celebration of Irish heritage, but most importantly, it’s appreciation of the Irish language. What you may not know is that just as students in America often begin learning a secondary language in elementary school, Irish students study Irish directly parallel to their study of English. Last semester, when I volunteered with Kid’s Literacy, I was immediately struck by the fact that the number line on the board was not in English, but Irish, that a list of vocabulary words that the students needed to learn was delineated in both languages. Thus, it seems to me that, for Irish students, although as they’ve told me, they frequently tend to lose their strength in the Irish language when they move on to secondary school, the Irish language is, at least in the early school years, as crucial as English. While the latter is necessary for communicating on the more general level, I get the feeling that learning Irish is largely cultural, a display of love and appreciation for their heritage.
And thus, I tried to spend the week completely immersed in the Irish language and Irish-ness, in other ways than simply attending my Irish language course and practicing speaking Irish. On Tuesday, Silvia, our cultural coordinator, took us four HC girls at Trinity and the four students studying at UCD for the semester out to dinner at a restaurant called Salamanca (keep an eye on Nora’s blog; she and Kelsey are heading there for the weekend, and it promises to be an amazing trip! I’m going to have to live vicariously through their experiences of the city!). While I was expecting a rather traditional Spanish tapas, I quickly found that, while the food was absolutely excellent, it was much rather like an Irish tapas than anything else, especially considering that many of us finished off our meals with a serving of brown soda bread flavoured ice cream. I know, it sounds kinda fishy, but believe me when I say it was excellent (however, I may not be the most reliable source for this assessment, considering that I am one of ice cream’s biggest fans and would probably enjoy most any flavour)
After our delicious meal, we set out to the Olympia Theatre to see “The Field,” a play about a farmer who feels as though his land is being sold from underneath him when the widow whom he pays for grazing rights decides to sell her field. The cast, headed by Brian Dennehy, was absolutely marvelous! Our coordinators commented on how amazing it was to see an American actor taking on such a traditionally Irish role and noted how well he transitioned into character, despite the few moments when an American accent was outwardly evident. Then, on Thursday, having had such a great experience at last week’s choral evensong, I attended again! This time, however, I couldn’t understand a word of what was being said—because everything, and I mean everything, was done in Irish—from the Our Father to the songs. And, it was absolutely beautiful! It was the first time I had heard Irish spoken so fluently without a break, and I was sure to take the pamphlet with me to look up what all of the words of the songs meant. And, yesterday, I went to see yet another play at the Abbey Theatre. I figured that being a lover of theatre, I should most definitely begin taking greater advantage of the fact that there are three excellent ones within five minutes of Trinity: The Abbey, the Gate, and the Olympia.
I went to see, As You Are Now So Once We Were, a spin-off of Joyce’s Ulysses that attempts to explain his assertion that “A nation is the same people living in the same place.” You can’t really get more Irish than that. The play was absolutely mind-blowing. The four cast members were graduates of Trinity and were just returning from an international tour. The set, consisting solely of cardboard boxes, allowed the viewer to concentrate completely on what each of the characters was saying—and how the boxes were being used became crucial. It was all about perspectives-and timing. For example, one girl took the stage and explained how every morning she would wake up in Howth, go into her bathroom and wash her face, the three other cast members situating the cardboard boxes to allow for appropriate representation of these actions. Then, a half hour later, another cast member took the stage, using the EXACT same motions to depict a scene in a restaurant. All of a sudden, the toilet became a restaurant chair, the sink became the menu, the scene was completely familiar—but the story had changed! Finally, after the set of motions had been repeated time and time again to depict different scenes of the day, the final cast member got up to explain what the play was about in four words: the moment will happen.
The four cast members then began to argue. Had the moment happened? Is it happening? Will it happen? It was one of those things I’d have to see again in order to tease out all of the intricate themes. But, I suppose, in the end, that the moment will happen—again and again. The cast will put on the production again tonight, the girl will wake up tomorrow morning in Howth, and they will all go out to eat and look at a menu again. But, more broadly, the Irish experience is one that happens again and again—precisely because “a nation is the same people living in the same place.” And, I just feel so lucky to be in on that very experience.
Bain taithneamh as an deireadh seachtaine…or, Enjoy the weekend! 🙂
6 Responses to “Éigse na Tríonóide”
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Oh wow!!!! That is so cool how Ireland has this week of celebration for their heritage and culture. It all just sounds so incredible. You are becoming so fluent in Irish – I love all of the sayings!!! What great experiences all around!
A lovely post armare12, you’re clearly enjoying your Irish experience. I think it’s a nice irony that you should discover the Irish language via Trinity College which was established in the time of Elizabeth I of England for the express purpose of extirpating Gaelic culture but has embraced the old language and as with many things English in our country has become in some ways ‘Hiberniores ipsis Hibernis’.
Go n-éirí do chúrsa leat agus coinnigh ort ag foghlaim na Gaeilge!
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