Emmett McIntyre's blog

The following was published in September 2013 by the Multilingual Early Language Transmission (MELT) project, a partnership between four language communities: Breton in Brittany, the Frisian language in Friesland, the Swedish language community in Finland, and the Welsh language in Wales. The project was funded by the European Commission, and was running between November 2009 and October 2011. The report was published on the web site of the Network To Promote Linguistic Diversity (NPLD), a European wide organisation dedicated to the importance of linguistic diversity.

As a sign of the continued strengthening of the Welsh language, Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (The Welsh Language society) are taking aim at the private sector for ignoring the needs of Welsh speakers.

An increase of the number of court cases conducted in Welsh is in the offing according to a report issued by Roger Thomas, the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales.

Citing an “increased awareness” of the impact of devolution in Wales the report suggests the way is being paved for a significant increase in the use of Welsh in the court room and in the “general administration of justice in Wales”.

At the time of Canadian Confederation, in 1867, Gaelic was the third most spoken language in Canada. As many as one hundred thousand Nova Scotians spoke Gaelic as their mother tongue in 1900. Today, estimates claim there are between 1000 and 2000 Gaelic speakers and learners in the province. The decline in Gaelic language is, in large part, due to educational policies…. In the early 1900’s many students began school as Gaelic speakers but were forced to learn English as that was the only language spoken in school.

A significant event for the Pan Celtic movement took place in July in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. An International Gaelic Summit formally named “Connecting the Gaels an International Gaelic Summit” was held on the campus of Colaisde na Gàidhlig (Gaelic College of Celtic Arts & Crafts) in St. Anns. The main participants were the host Gaelic College and Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Scotland’s Gaelic College. Also attending were representative of Gaelic organizations from Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man.

There is a revolution underway in classrooms across all three devolved nations; most advanced in Wales, but gaining momentum in Northern Ireland and Scotland too. -   ITV News

The Gaelic League (Conradh na Gaeilge) in partnership with Foras na Gaeilge have introduced the first directory of firms in Ireland who do business in Gaelic. The partnership directory is available through the PEIG.ie website and Pieg.ie app (linked below) and users can locate businesses by category, Irish Province and County. Utilizing the services provided by these businesses directly supports the Gaelic Tongue as the listed firms are Gaelic speaking workplaces which provide goods and services in Irish thus creating an economic demand for proficiency in Gaelic.

For those of us who are passionate about the preservation, protection and promotion of the Gaelic Tongue of Ireland it is always helpful to step back and reflect.  The following “snapshot” of the past, present and future of the Irish Language is provided to us by Conradh na Gaeilge  and additional information can be found on their website which is linked below.

The Cape Breton Fiddlers’ Association along with the Gaelic College of Celtic Arts and Crafts of St. Anns, Cape Breton, are sponsoring the 2017 Festival of Cape Breton Fiddling. The Festival will be held August 19th - 20th, featuring workshops in Cape Breton Fiddling and Gaelic Step Dancing. 

The website ‘An Sionnach Fionn' (The White Fox) have published an article that explores the origins of the manuscripts upon which our knowledge of pre-christian Celtic culture is based.  Ironically these sources were often handed down to us through the prism of Christian Monasticism which employed legions of scribes to copy and Christianize the oral traditions of the Celts preserved by the Druidical caste.

A good example of the hijacking of Celtic mythology by the proselytizing Christians in Ireland in the 1st century is the fate of the Celtic Goddess Brigid: