���Ĵ�ý

Why Gaeilge?

The Irish language, Gaeilge, is not spoken fluently by many. I started learning it about four years ago, and reactions from family and friends tended in the direction of expressing incredulity that the Irish language even existed. But it does — it is a strange, difficult, beautiful language, and one that I’ve grown passionate about since beginning to learn it. Initially, I started it as a challenge at the beginning of quarantine in 2020. This led to a fascination with Irish history and politics, and how the language and culture have evolved throughout the island’s history. For this project, I was able to travel to Belfast, Dublin, and Galway to examine firsthand how Gaeilge fits into Irish society. 

Belfast: History and Politics

For a city still technically situated within the United Kingdom, Belfast is jarringly aware of its Irish heritage. Signs of the conflict between Britain and Ireland are everywhere — you can’t walk through the city without seeing the face of an Irish Republican or a Unionist filling up an entire wall, often accompanied by assault weapons, staring you down as you get your morning tea. In some neighborhoods, street signs are listed in both Irish and English. In others, the British flag is flown proudly. In most cases, these neighborhoods are separated by formidable walls — sometimes lined with barbed wire or spikes and extending more than 20 feet into the disputed Irish sky. 

The walls mentioned above, dividing “Catholic” from “Protestant” are, ironically, called “peace walls.” They began as a way for the British military to kill two birds with one stone — they were able to both somewhat control sectarian violence (even the strongest arms strain to vault a Molotov cocktail over eight meters of concrete) and cordon off neighborhoods for easier surveillance. Though the walls were supposed to have been taken down in the early 2000s in the aftermath of the Troubles, many remain to this day, and neighborhoods are still divided along cultural and socioeconomic lines. Some of the gates still open and close every morning and night to prevent fights from breaking out among “youngsters” who like to organize fights (in the words of our taxi driver).

Today, the walls serve as an outlet for political expression for Belfast inhabitants. Beyond street signs and flags, the manner in which this wall is decorated is an excellent indicator of what neighborhood you’re in. Between traditionally Irish and British neighborhoods, the political slant of the murals changes — one street corner was particularly stark, transitioning from an arm with a Palestinian flag grasping an arm with an Irish flag on one side of the block to a mural in support of Israel on the other. 

Beyond the stark divisions made evident by the murals, they are also intriguing because of their global awareness. The wall is an outlet for political expression, and Belfast residents have taken to making statements about world events that they feel reflect their situation. From Palestine to Kurdistan to the United States to South Africa, the murals are bound by a sense of international solidarity. 

An issue closer to home, the Irish language, Gaeilge, is a recurring theme in the murals. It appears throughout Irish Catholic quarters, where people marching for their right to their language are shown alongside phrases like “language rights are human rights” and “is Gaeil sinne” (“we are Irish.”)

I toured the murals in a black taxi, a popular activity for tourists in Belfast looking to understand the political and social history of the city. Stephen, our guide, was a wealth of information. He expressed frustration over the degree of control Britain had over Belfast, making comments like “Brexit was a scam” and “If the Tory party told the unionists to stick their hand into the fire, they’d ask how far to stick it in.” From his perspective, what’s causing issues today is the refusal on the part of Unionists to compromise — he said that “when you live in a place that’s virtually 50/50, there has to be compromise,” and Unionists refuse to accept that they are not the majority. According to Stephen, there’s legislation that was just passed that will put Irish on all street signs. This is already a practice in Wales and Scotland for their respective languages, but Unionists in Northern Ireland resisted this for decades because they wanted to dispel any connections to Ireland. English was their unifying factor with the United Kingdom and allowed them to assimilate more into British culture. Stephen said that he took Irish for a year and wasn’t a fan, but asserted that about 20% of the population speaks the language, and not just Catholics. 

Dublin and Galway: Street Signs and Pubs

In Dublin, Gaeilge is much more common. As soon as we stepped off the train, signs were in Irish first, then English. In a city that doesn’t boast a large Irish-speaking population, this seems like a political statement — a prioritization of cultural