Eighth Week in Ireland

             Brien Friel’s Translations is set in Ireland during the year 1833.  The play focuses on the British’s rule over Ireland, and their push to Anglicize all Irish place names for military and taxation purposes.  In Translations, the characters have very different responses to colonialism.  For instance, Manus, whole-heartedly opposes the British colonizing and changing Ireland, while Owen does not resist, but instead joins the British.  Manus wants to hold onto their Irish heritage and uniqueness. 

Cliffs of Moher

Aran Islands

      During our many trips around Ireland, including our trip to Galway this past weekend, we have encountered numerous people who hold the same views of the Irish language as Manus.  Our bus trips to and from Galway were commentated by our bus driver.  During his explanations, he would often share the Irish names and meaning for different places.  For instance, as Tom Keith has shared with us many times, our bus driver pointed out that many towns in Ireland begin with the prefix “Kil” (Kilkenny, Kildare, etc.).  This is because “Kil” means church or land of churches.  Additionally, he highlighted all the towns that start with the prefix “Bally,” which means town or place of.  Thus, as we learned in Irish language class, Dublin in Irish is “Baile Atha Cliath,” town of the hurdled fort.  Additionally, we have met numerous people always willing to share Irish meanings for the Anglicized place names.  These explanations clearly display how proud the Irish of their heritage, and how the English rule has unfortunately stripped the Irish of their purely Irish or Celtic tradition.
Along with learning about the Irish language, during our trip to Galway we were able to see numerous sights that are the epitome of traditional Ireland.  We were able to visit the Cliffs of Moher, the Aran Islands (Innismor), the Burren, Coole Park, and Yeats’ tower, all of which were incredible.  However, the Cliffs and Innismor were my favorite.  Although they are now areas that primarily rely on tourism, they still represent that untainted, isolated, traditional Ireland.