Modern Irish - Texts
Introduction
The period immediately following Middle Irish is generally referred to as Early Modern Irish (c. 1200-1650), and the language from 1650 to the present day as Modern Irish. In the sixteenth century Irish was still spoken by nearly everyone living in Ireland. Following the defeat of the Irish chieftains at the Battle of Kinsale (3 January 1602), the Irish nobles were annihilated or dispersed. The bardic schools which taught the literary language, Classical Irish, and the composition of formal praise poetry for Gaelic and Anglo-Norman chieftains, were supressed. War and land confiscations during 17th century further weakened the remaining Gaelic and Anglo-Norman nobility, and English became the dominant language of government, education, and social advancement. The Great Famine (1846-48) decimated the Irish-speaking population in rural areas, adding a further blow to the language, and emigration accelerated the decline. Modern Irish nevertheless proved itself resilient. The manuscript tradition flourished well into the 19th century. Among these late treasures is the original 18th century Irish manuscript of Cúirt an Mheon-Oíche/The Midnight Court, one of texts read here, which is housed in the University of Cambridge Library (Cambridge Add. 6562). An image from the manuscript is included on the site. Prose tales and poetry, oral and written, continued to be composed and Modern Irish is still spoken in three major dialects (Ulster, Connacht and Munster), with regional variations. This selection of Modern Irish literary and oral works, read by Irish scholars, conveys the richness of the language and literary tradition through a variety of genres: the formal lament (marbhna), oral ‘keen’ (caoineadh), verse satire, autobiographical narrative, short story and modern folktales about St Patrick, a giant-slaying hero and a woman from the fairy-mound.
'The readings were recorded by Dr Margo Griffin-Wilson, who provides accompanying texts. Saimon Clark, Media Editor, generously recorded readings of visiting scholars in the Language Centre, University of Cambridge (2014, 2015).' Thanks are extended to the speakers for their generous time and kind permission to make these excerpts available on the ASNC Spoken Word site, and to Jennifer Pollard, Computer Officer, for her invaluable expertise in editing and formatting the digital sound files.
