What's in Translation
Debates about the role of the Irish language in Ireland have been ongoing for much of the twentieth century. Yet bizarrely, the Irish language has often been neglected by Irish historians, and thus the historical experience of much of the Irish population has been silently neglected in Irish historiography: after all, it was once the most widely spoken language on the island of Ireland, and a full understanding of medieval and early modern Irish history should surely require an engagement with source material in Irish. But while Irish has a role in understanding the Irish past, does it have a role in understanding or enriching a contemporary Ireland whose defining characteristics have been the cultural changes wrought by wealth on the one hand, and large-scale immigration on the other? Having attained a degree of stability in recent times, is it worth considering Irish in the same way in which other languages that have arrived in Ireland in recent times are considered? From a monoglot’s perspective, might this be to our benefit?