Níl Deireadh Ráite? Léirmheas “32 Words for Field”

The world appears to primitive man neither inanimate nor empty but redundant with life; and life has individuality, in man and beast and plant, and in every phenomenon which confronts primitive man – the thunderclap, the sudden shadow, the eerie and unknown clearing in the wood, the stone which suddenly hurts him when he stumbles while on a hunting trip – any phenomenon may at any time face him, not as "It," but as "Thou."

- Henri Frankfort

Is as clann uasal é Manchán Magan. Is craoltóir eicléictiúil agus Gaeilgeoir reibiliúnach é, agus is féidir leis a chlann a rianú an bealach ar fad siar go dtí an file-laoch Aogán Ó Rathaille, chomh maith leis an laoch poblachtánach ‘The O’Rahilly.’

Tógadh go dátheangach é trí chuairteanna rialta ar Ghaeltacht Chiarraí, is pearsa neamhghnách é Magan i ré ina bhfuil tacaíocht le cúis na Gaeilge gan a radacachas a thuilleadh, nó níos measa arís, mar uirlis le haghaidh poblachtánachas na heite clé.

Sa lá atá inniu ann tá an teanga ag dul in éag de bharr bás mall sóisialta ón maorlathas, mí-aird, agus deontais an rialtais, ach lasann Magan anam an chine agus scrúdaíonn sé fíor-bhrí na Gaeilge agus an bhaint atá aici leis an talamh ina gcónaíonn sí sa leabhar “32 Words for Field”.

Insa leabhar cuireann Magan súil cruinn ar an mbrí atá taobh thiar den Ghaeilge, óna bunús Ind-Eorpaigh ársa go dtí an béaloideas a thug cruth di. Ní leabhar gramadaí é ach leabhar chun súil a thabhairt ar an mbrí mheitifisiciúil atá ag croílár na teanga. Is meascán de Heiddeger agus Máirtín Ó Direáin é, agus tar éis duit an leabhar a chríochnú beidh tuiscint agat gur rud beo í Éire mar a thuigtear óna chéad áitritheoirí go dtí na fir agus na mná in Ard-Oifig an Phoist, 1916.

Tá teagasc na Gaeilge báite i deasghnátha an stáit agus gan telos ceart taobh amuigh de ghnáthamh scoile.

Gan a dúchas níl ann sa teanga ach cleachtadh gramada. In easpa na teanga beidh an tír ina tír gan saol. Is tabhachtaí an mheitifisic roimh cúrsaí polaitiúla agus osclaíonn stoiteachas spioradálta na hÉireann an doras faoi choinne creachadh eacnamaíoch agus polaitiúil.

Ar fud an leabhair déannan Magan plé ar esprit de déracinement chun fiosrú a dhéanamh ar  fhréamhacha agus tábhacht síceolaíoch na bhfocal ar theip orthu an t-aistriú go Béarla a dhéanamh. Déantar scéalta faoi mhiotaseolaíocht ársa na hÉireann d’fhocail shimplí a dhéanann cur síos ar an ngaoth, agus déanann seo dushlán don mhodh ina theagasctar an Ghaeilge sa seomra ranga.

Ní foclóir nó teanga amháin í an Ghaeilge ach pictiúr de bhrí. Is minic a déantar magadh ar údáir ar nós Peig Sayers ach ní iontu amhain ach tuathánaigh ach cosantóirí de thuiscint úr ar an domhan. Gan forógra polaitiúil nó clár oibre polaitíochta, sáraíonn Magan riachtanas na Gaeilge chun marachtáil mar theanga bheo. Tá bratacha beagnach neamhábhartha i dtaobh rud éigin cosúil leis an nGaeilge.

Conas is féidir leanúint le dúshaothrú caipitleach nó le meicníocht an stáit a luaithe a bhfuil áilleacht bhunaidh na hÉireann aimsithe againn? Conas is féidir le haon idé-eolaíocht pholaitiúil leanúint ar aghaidh mar a bhí roimhe seo gan aitheantas a thabhairt do nádúr orgánach an bhronntanais teanga a tugadh do na Gaeil.

Tugtar dearcadh nua ar an tseanteanga i ngoirt na hÉireann, sloinnte na hÉireann, fiú sna sonraí cáiréis a rinne muintir suntasach éagsúil dúinn. Is beag gur nirvana Gaelach atá ann.

Ag druidim ar deireadh an leabhair déanann Magan caoineadh faoi chás an lá atá in inniu, ina bhfuil na Nua-Eireannaigh, in ionad dearmad a dhéanamh ar a n-oidhreacht amháin, ag glacadh le cineálacha nua spioradáltachta gan féachaint ar a bhfuil againn inár dtír féin.

Ar bhealach nach bhfuil déanta ag polaiteoir nó maorlathas ar bith ó bunaíodh an stát, tá Magan tar éis réasúnaíocht na hathbheochana a chur in iúl i gceart agus an seanfhuinneamh a rinne an bhun-Athbheochan Ghaelach a ghabháil arís.

Tir gan teanga, tír gan anam, srl, ach an féidir le hÉirinn tuata tuiscint cé chomh mór is atá an t-anam sin? 

DEIREADH

Aistriúcháin:

Níl Deireadh Ráite? Léirmheas “32 Words for Field”

“I ngeimhreadh na daoirse rinneadh aisling dúinn. Mheileamar sneachta táimhe. Agus rith abhainn na hathbheochana as…”

- Liam Mac Uistin

Manchán Magan is a man of noble heritage. An eclectic broadcaster and rebel Gaelgoir, Magan can trace his family all the way back to the warrior poet Aogan Ó Rathaille as well as the Irish republican hero ‘The O’Rahilly.’

Raised bilingually through regular visits to the Kerry Gaeltacht Magan is an unusual figure in an era when Irish language advocacy is devoid of its older radicalism or worse transformed into an instrument for left wing republicanism.

At a time when the language is dying a slow social death from bureaucracy, inattention and government grants Magan takes up the re-igniting of the national soul and examines the true meaning of Irish and how it relates to the very land it inhabits.

In the book Magan looks deeply at the meaning behind Irish, from its ancient Indo-European origins to the folklore that gave it its formation. It is not a book about grammar but looks at the metaphysical meaning of language at its core. A mixture of Heiddeger and Máirtín Ó Direáin after reading the book you begin to understand that Ireland is a living entity as understood from its first inhabitants to the men and women inside the GPO.

The teaching of Irish has been drowned in state ritualism and without a proper telos beyond collegial routine. 

Without roots the language becomes a grammatical exercise. Without the language the country becomes a lifeless wasteland. Metaphysics comes before politics and the deracination of Ireland spiritually opens the way for economic and political plundering.

Throughout the book esprit de déracinement is discussed as Magan explores the roots and psychological significance of the words that failed to make the transition into English. Simple words to describe the wind are transformed into stories about ancient Irish mythology that challenge the stale manner in which Irish is conveyed in the classroom.

Irish is not merely a lexicon or a language but a painting of meaning. Authors like the often mocked Peig Sayers are not merely boring peasants but defenders of a new type of understanding of the world. Without a single political manifesto or political agenda Magan transcends the necessity of Irish to continue as a living language. Flags are almost irrelevant with something like Irish.

How can capitalist exploitation or the mechanics of the state continue once this primal beauty of Ireland is discovered? How can any political ideology continue as before without acknowledging the organic nature of the linguistic gift given to the Irish.

The fields of Ireland, the surnames of Ireland, even the very subtitles that make our people distinct are given a new perspective with the old language. A type of Gaelic nirvana almost.

Towards the end of the book Magan laments how the modern Irish are not just forgetting their heritage but embracing new types of spiritualism without looking to what we have in our own land.

In a way that no politician or bureaucracy has done since the creation of the state, Magan has properly articulated the rationale for revivalism and recaptured the old energy that made the original Gaelic Revival so potent.