Language use and ideologies
in the performance of Irish
traditional singing in Australia
Mahesh Radhakrishnan, Macquarie University
Language & Social Inclusion, 12/10/2012
(c) Mahesh Radhakrishnan
Irish language situation


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Before 17th C: Irish language (Gaelic, Irish Gaelic,
Gaeilge) dominant in Ireland
17th C: English began to supercede it (Hindley 1991).
Late 17th-late 18th C: “Gaelic revival” of language and
artistic traditions in waves. Last wave closely tied with
Irish nationalism (O'Laoire 2005; O'Reilly 2001:79).
20th C: Irish language still declining. Irish independencepolicy of compulsory Irish language education.
Despite pronouncements of language death (e.g. Hindley
1991), Irish is classified as “safe” according to institutional
support and demographic factors (McCloskey 2001).
Irish traditional singing


Important part of Irish language community,
Irish cultural scene and “folk music” scene.
“Sessions”
Conversation
Image adapted from youtube video of
Sydney Gaelic Club Irish session
Staged concerts
Banter
Image from http://psam.jalbum.net/Triantan/
Banter
-Regional
Provenance (I)
-Name of
Song (I)
-Explanation (E)
Banter
“Oftentimes there are people in the audience who are
learning the language and it’s to sort of throw a little bit to
them. We’ve also found it sort of interesting too that if you
sort of throw it y’know throw out the odd commentary in
Irish that there are people there who have the language
and you can you can pick them because… you can see a
response from them. They’re always the ones that laugh at
the right place...” - Judy Pinder, singer, Interview, January
2012.
Irish in Australian history


Irish prevalent in 19th C Australia but at the
margins (Lonergan 2003:154) and viewed
with suspicion by authorities (O'Farrell
2000:27).
Possible Irish words in AusE- “waddy”,
“brumby”, hard “yakka”, “bludger”
(Lonergan 2003).
Linguistic diversity & social
inclusion of Irish


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Challenge to assumed Anglo-Celtic cultural
homogeneity in Australia and the monolingual
mindset (Clyne 2005).
“Otherness” of Irish- expression of multicultural
identity. Irish as a LOTE- Mossie Scanlon, singer.
Shift from traditional essentialising language
ideologies towards pluralistic perspectives
embracing hybridity (Cronin 2005; McCloskey
2001).
Resistance to English language hegemony
An Cailín Gaelach, “The Irish girl”


Old love song written before the Gaelic
revival telling of unrequited love most
probably due to difference in status
between protagonists.
Status difference through language barrier.
Song reframed in relation to revivalist
concerns with Irish language loss.
An Cailín Gaelach, “The Irish girl”
“Deireann an cailín - 'Pray sir and let me be'
leis. Ní thuigeann sí é. Is strainséar é ina
thír féin. Tá air an Bhéarla a úsáid.
Cuireann sé brón orm.”
Transl. “The girl said ‘Pray sir and let me be’
to him. She did not understand him. She is
a stranger in her own land. She uses
English. That makes me sad”.)
- Marc O'Conaill, Email, March 2012.
An Cailín Gaelach, “The Irish girl”
An Cailín Gaelach, “The Irish girl”
Banter before song
now…some peoples have said that all cats are grey in the dark,
but … it was also indicative of their different stations in life as
well.”
An Cailín Gaelach, “The Irish girl”
Song lyrics- Verse 1 and 2
An Cailín Gaelach, “The Irish girl”
Song lyrics- Verse 3 and 4
Conclusions


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Irish traditional singing in contemporary
contexts provides interesting perspectives
on language use and language ideologies.
The use of Irish spills over from song
repertoire into talk.
Songs are framed through banter in staged
performances.
References
Clyne (2005). Australia's language potential. Kensington. UNSW Press.
Cronin, M. (2005). Irish in the new century. Cois Life Teoranta.
Hindley, R. (1991). The death of the Irish language: A qualified obituary. Routledge.
Lonergan, D. (2003). An Irish-centric view of Australian English. Australian Journal of
Linguistics (Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 151-159).
McCloskey, J. (2001). Voices silenced: Has Irish a future. Cois Life Teoranta.
O'Farrell, P. (2000). The Irish in Australia: 1788 to the present. University of Notre Dame
Press.
O'Laoire, L. (2005). Irish music. In J. Cleary & C. Connolly (Eds.), The Cambridge
companion to Modern Irish Culture (pp. 267-284). London. Cambridge Univ Press.
O'Reilly, C. C. (2001). Irish Language, Irish Identity: Northern Ireland and the Republic of
Ireland in the European Union. In C. O'Reilly (Ed.), Language, ethnicity, and the state
(Vol. 1, pp. 78-103). Basingstoke. Palgrave.
Radhakrishnan, M. (2012). Irish traditional singing and South Indian Carnatic singing:
Performance, language choice and language ideologies, and musicolinguistic artistry
(PhD thesis, currently under examination).
References
Web image sources: http://psam.jalbum.net/Triantan/ and Youtube of Sydney
Gaelic Club Irish session uploaded by Lyaksej on 4/03/2011. Images accessed
11/10/12.
Email: Mahesh.Radhakrishnan@mq.edu.au