Thug mé cur síos i mBeo i Mí Eanáir ar na tuairimí difriúla a bhí ann maidir leis an teanga a bhí ag na hÉireannaigh a tháinig i dtír i Learpholl 1845-1850. De réir an Ollaimh John Belcham in Ollscoil Learphoill, ní raibh ach Béarla acu (Irish Catholic and Scouse :The History of the Liverpool Irish 1800-1939 ). Ach tugann an tOllamh Frank Neal in Ollscoil Salford samplaí de Éireannaigh gan Bhéarla ar bith acu agus Éireannaigh eile a bhí dátheangach (Black ‘47, Britain and the Famine Irish). Tacaíonnn suirbhé a rinne an tUrramach Hume (Missions at Home) i Learpholl sa bhliain 1850 le tuairim Neal. De réir a staidrimh seisean, as 1580 teaghlach Caitliceach sa ceantar St Stephens, labhair 869 acu Gaeilge agus 711 Béarla. Tá anailis déanta aige ar gach sráid- i Lace Street, mar shampla, as 89 teaghlach, ba Gaeilgeoirí iad 78 acu. I gceantar Vauxhall, as 1142 teaghlach, labhair 487 acu Gaeilge agus 655 Béarla.

Cuireadh an chonspóid seo i gcuimhne dom arís ar na mallaibh nuair a léigh mé aiste dar teideal ' I gcuntas Dé múin Béarla do na leanbhain’: eisimirce agus an Ghaeilge sa naoú aois déag ' le Karen P. Corrigan sa leabhar The Irish in the New Communities (Patrick O Sullivan, eagarthóir 1992) agus thug mé faoi deara na cosúlachtaí atá ann idir an scéal sna Stáit Aontaithe agus an scéal i Learpholl. Deir sí an méid seo ag an deireadh:

"Seán de Fréine has described the lack of interest shown in the decline of Gaelic during the nineteenth century as ‘The Great Silence.’ The same criticism has been levelled by Edwards at the dearth of research on the Irish language in North America, which he says is ‘strange considering the many books on the Irish themselves and the centrality of the language.’ Apart from Mac Aonghusa’s chapter in The Celtic Consciousness, the subject has been virtually ignored or else couched in a sentimentality reminiscent of the Revival Movement (in Ireland and the United States) of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.This state of affairs is regrettable, given the fact that even a modest and rather generalized account such as this one can reveal a number of insights about the nature of the relationship between language, migration and assimilation."

Tír gan Anam, Riamh!

Ba pléisiúr domsa léacht an Ollaimh Daniel Cassidy a chloisteáil ag coláiste Oideas Gael arú anuraidh agus é ag caint faoin sórt ‘Béarla ' a bhí acu i Nua-Eabhrac agus an leabhar a scríobh sé ar an ábhar sin :"How the Irish Invented Slang." Mo dhála féin, bhí an Casaideach míshásta faoin dóigh a bhfuil ár gcultúir féin scriosta amach as an stair. Mar a dúirt Ciarán O Pronntaigh i léirmheas a scríobh sé i Lá Nua 9.01.08 ar How the Irish Invented Slang faoin teideal ‘Buille tábhachtacht i gcogadh teanga’:

"Más fíor gur tír gan anam tír gan teanga, is seacht n-uaire níos measa é más féidir a chur i gcéill nach raibh teanga againn riamh. Fiú sa lá atá inniu ann, maíonn staraithe nach foinse iontaofa a bhí in aon fhoinse Ghaeilge."

Aontaíonn an chaibidil a scríobh Karen Corrigan le Frank Neal, mar shampla nuair a deir sí: "Indeed, there are numerous recorded cases of migrants who were Irish-speaking monoglots."

Tugann sí cás William Morrissey, sna Stáit Aontaithe mar shampla: "He is said to have emigrated in 1860 with ‘no education, no English and no money’ and to have died intestate in 1912 ‘worth thousands of pounds.’"

Deir sí fosta: "There is also substantial evidence that clerics sent to minister to migrants in America were chosen not just on the basis of their ‘good Constitution’ but also because they could ‘speak Irish.’"

Is léir gur tharla an rud céanna i Learpholl. Dúirt William O Brien in alt dar teideal ‘The National Church and the National Language’ a scríobh sé san iris, Fáinne an Lae, in 1898, go mbíodh sé ag an Aifreann go minic i nGaeltacht na hÉireann ach nár chuala sé riamh seanmóir i nGaeilge ach amháin i dteach an phobail i Learpholl. Luann an tOllamh Belcham "the regular flow of gaelic-speaking new priests from Ireland (lch. 210) agus dochtúirí mar na deartháireacha Bligh as Gaillimh, a bhí líofa sa Ghaeilge agus a bhí ag obair sa gheiteo Éireannach i dtuaisceart Learphoill (lch. 11).

Fiúntas Teanga Thar a Chéile

Ach cé go raibh na hÉireannaigh ábalta Gaeilge a labhairt sa gheiteo, b’éigean dóibh Béarla a fhoghlaim le snáithe a choinneáil faoin fhiacail. Rugadh an t-ealaiontóir James William Carling in Addison Street, Vauxhall sa bhliain 1857, áit a raibh 30 teaghlach le Gaeilge acu de réir Suirbhé Hume. Ba as Co. na hIarmhí a thuismitheoirí. Bhí seisear sa chlann agus théadh siad uilig amach ag iarraidh na déirce i lár na cathrach nuair a bhí siad óg. Mar a dúirt Carling: "I sallied out into the world like Jack of the fairy tales to seek my fortune, and a living as well, at the grand old age of five." Fuair na hÉireannaigh óga greim ar an Bhéarla mar sin chun déirce nó obair a fháil.

Agus bhí sé mar seo sna Stáit: "Thus, while Gaelic enclaves are reported to have existed in several states - especially in the urban tenements of the eastern seaboard - such speakers were under considerable pressure from their peers and from the xenophobic attitudes of the community at large to cast off the low-status language with which they were afflicted. There is substantial evidence from personal correspondence and memoirs that Gaelic-speakers shifted to English quite rapidly. Moreover, as the language was replaced most Irish-Americans adopted the same negative attitudes towards it as the dominant group." (Karen Corrigan)

Níl fhios agam cé chomh fada a mhair an teanga anuas na glúnta i Learpholl.

Ach bhí Gaeilgeoirí nua ag teacht i dtír an t-am uilig. Sa leabhar ‘An Béaslaíoch 1881-1965’ le Pádraig Ó Siadhail (2007), deirtear gur bhuail Piaras Béaslaí le cainteoirí dúchais as Maigh Eo nuair a chláraigh sé i gCraobh Bootle de Chonradh na Gaeilge i 1902. Tá Bootle i dtuaisceart na cathrach, in aice le Kirkdale, áit eile a raibh a lán cainteoirí dúchais ann.

I litir chuig a uncail, scríobh Béaslaí faoi chluiche iomána idir Learpholl agus Manchain, áit nár chuala sé ach Gaeilge á labhairt. Ach nuair a bhí Béaslaí ina chónaí i nÉirnn i 1914, scríobh sé: "Deirtear go bhfuil i bhfad níos mó Gaedhilgeóiribh i Liverpool Shasana ná i mBaile Átha Cliath. Ach níl éin mheas aca ar an nGaedhilg...."

Scríobh sé seo d’ainneoin cúig chraobh a bheith ag obair faoi choimirce Choiste Cheantair Learphoill de Chonradh na Gaeilge, ach réitíonn an ráiteas seo le tuairimí Corrigan, is dócha. Críochnaíonn sí mar seo:"It is evident that the decline in Gaelic during this period was also rooted in the Irish psyche, which had come to perceive the acquisition of English as a prerequisite of social and economic advancement in an expanding and increasingly urbanized world."