Isn’t if often that someone asks us a question and we don't have a suitable answer because we are stunned! Don't we hate when this happens! Sometimes, we lose a few hours of sleep as a result, even if it's a small thing. I was asked this kind of question recently, and I would love to go back in time to answer the question properly. I may not be able to actually time travel, but I can do it with my imagination, and then write about it!

The Question

"Why are you studying Irish?"

I was in the pub in Glencolmkille with Sinéad, my wife, at the end of the day. Sinéad was meeting a few people from her class and I came to meet them for the first time, as I was not attending the same class as them. We were getting to know each other when I was asked the question. It was a judge who put it to me, and from his tone of voice, it felt to me that this man thought that there was no point in me studying Irish, and that it was a waste of time. He knew that I live most of the year in California, and that's it. The word froze in my mouth, and I was in a panic!

George Mallory

I don't know why, but that question reminded me of another question. The famous climber George Mallory was asked a certain question, many times. This is how Mallory wrote about it:

"People ask me, 'What is it worth to climb Mount Everest?' My immediate answer is "It's not worth it!” There is no chance of any benefit. We will not bring back a little gold or silver, or jewels, or coal, or iron

If you do not understand that there is something in us that faces the challenge of this mountain, and that this struggle is the same as the ceaseless upward struggle in our lives, you will not see why we go.

What we get from this episode is just pure joy. And after all, joy is the reason for life. We don't live to eat and make money. We eat and make money to survive. That's the meaning of life and that's the purpose of life."

Nach iontach an freagra a bhí ag Mallory! Ní gá dom a rá nár cheist eisiach mar sin a cuireadh orm, ach d’aimsigh sé an t-éasc ionam, mar sin féin. Rith sé liom aithris a dhéanamh ar Mallory, agus freagra a scríobh síos don cheist a cuireadh orm.

Yu Ming is My Name!

A short film is available on 'YouTube' entitled 'Yu Ming is My Name'. Before he comes to visit Ireland, Yu Ming reads that Irish is the official language in the country, and he starts learning it as he intends to settle in Ireland. At first, no one understands him and he understands no one. But he meets an Irish-speaker in the pub, who tells Yu Ming that "English is spoken here!" In the end, Yu Ming gets a job in the Gaeltacht, and is able to use his Irish. The reason Yu Ming learned Irish was because he thought that everyone speaks it every day. Unfortunately, Yu Ming did not have the right and he did not have a valid reason to learn Irish. Even in the Gaeltacht, it is quite difficult to use Irish all the time.

Why, then, would anyone – including the questioner, spend a week or two a year attending an Irish language immersion course? There were people who used Irish in their jobs, and I understand that well. But, even for most of them, it wasn't their jobs that motivated them to improve their Irish but the opposite! In addition, there were many people there, including the judge, who did not need to use Irish, from the point of view of their jobs. a chaithfeadh aon duine – an ceistitheoir san áireamh, seachtain nó dhó sa bhliain ag freastal ar thumchúrsa Gaeilge? Bhí daoine ann ar úsáid siad Gaeilge ina bpoist, agus tuigim é sin go maith. Ach, fiú d’fhormhór dóibhsean, níorbh é a gcuid poist a spreag siad chun feabhas a chur ar a nGaeilge ach a mhalairt!  Chomh maith leis sin bhí go leor daoine ann, an breitheamh san áireamh, nár ghá leo Gaeilge a úsáid, ó thaobh a bpoist de.

My answer

Finally, here is my own answer:

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Irish culture, and especially the Irish language, is close and ingrained in me, no matter where I live or what happens to me. It is a kind of DNA or a basic characteristic in me with my memory, which my family on my father's side (a poet who was from the Gaeltacht) has had for generations. We find true joy and meaning in being true to ourselves, and wouldn't I be remiss and even foolish to ignore something as important as that?

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World Heritage Site

The Brú na Bóinne World Heritage Site is the richest landscape in Ireland from an archaeological point of view.

The last time we visited Brú na Bóinne, I had a lot more hair! It wasn't a World Heritage Site then, either. We promised ourselves for a long time that we would go there again. It's been a while since then, but my wife and I finally visited this wonderful site again.

We were amazed when we entered the Visitor Center, not to mention the archaeological sites! It is a first-class facility, as good as can be found anywhere in the world. The Visitor Center exhibition is a fully interactive visitor experience discussing the culture, landscape and monuments from the Neolithic period at Brú na Bóinne. Unfortunately, we didn't know about the exhibition in advance, and we weren't able to see it all, because we had to get the shuttle bus to the monuments.

Cnóbha

Built around 3,200 BC, the passage tombs at Brú na Bóinne (Knowth, Newgrange and Dowth) are among the most important Neolithic sites in the world, with the largest collection of megalithic art in western Europe. When we got off the bus at Knowth there was a guide waiting for us. We were not allowed to enter the passage, but there was much to see outside. There is a large tomb and eighteen tombs, and their size is amazing. The large tomb is two meters high and 67 meters in diameter, with two tombs inside. There are 127 pillar stones around the tomb and many of them are decorated with megalithic art, and abstract patterns can be seen on them. We have no idea what the Neolithic artists intended with those abstract symbols. It was a very beneficial, very spiritual experience to see them, however. The guide did an excellent job of explaining to us the contextual background regarding the structure and purpose of the tombs at Brú na Bóinne, the stone carving, the people who built the tombs, and the people who were buried there. He shared with us results from DNA research, which changed our understanding of the Neolithic civilization that built those passage tombs. I will come back to the information he shared with us in a moment.

Sí an Bhrú

After another trip on the bus, we stopped at Newgrange where another guide was waiting for us. This carn is about 11 meters high and 80 meters in diameter on average. There are 97 curb stones around this tomb and the passage and room are made of 450 other similar stones. Many of them are also decorated with abstract patterns. Inside the room, there is a corbeled vault as a roof, which has kept the room dry for 5,000 years so far!

It is estimated that around 200,000 tons of material were used to build this pile, and white quartz, sandstone and granite stones were collected in some places along the Wicklow mountains. It is thought that those materials were transported by sea rather than by land, but it was a very complex task, no doubt! There were excellent architects and builders working on this project, which took at least thirty years to complete.

We entered the passage which was narrow and low. This passage and the inner room are aligned towards the south-east. There is a small gap above the entrance door (the roof box), which lets the sun in to illuminate the room at the winter solstice. The guide turned off the lights so that it was dark, and then he lit another light and a ray of light came in that lit up the passage and the floor of the room, just as happens with the sun at the solstice. The solstice was undoubtedly very important to the Neolithic people. The passage tombs were multi-functional sites, and it is likely that that society had social events and religious ceremonies in the monuments in Bru na Bóinne.

The bus was waiting for us when we came out of the passage, and we were all quiet in the bus. This trip had an affect on us, I think, and added to our life in a positive, spiritual, even philosophical way!

DNA research

A few things were discovered that were significant and that no one expected. Dr. Lara Cassidy (Department of Genetics at Trinity College) did most of the research and detective work to reveal the facts based on DNA from a man buried in the tomb in Newgrange, confirmed by DNA from other people from other tombs around the country.

Those Neolithic people came to us from the Meath Crescent in the Middle East around 5,000 years before Christ. We don't have much of that DNA in us in Ireland anymore. They were farmers who came over from the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East, and later they went north to Ireland through Europe. What about our own DNA, then? Well, another migration came to Ireland between 3,000 and 2,500 years before Christ, from the Pontic Steppes in eastern Europe, and since then, DNA from those people is seen in us in Ireland.

Dr. Cassidy also discovered a few remarkable things when she did her DNA analysis. Incest was determined, where the parents were close relatives. This only happened when there was a hierarchical society and a kingdom in effect, like the society of ancient Egypt and its pharaohs. It is now considered that such a society existed in Ireland at the time of the construction of the tombs, which was not expected.

Undoubtedly, our archaeological knowledge and understanding is growing and changing all the time, especially with new tools at our disposal, such as DNA analysis. I would highly recommend a visit to Brú na Bóinne, but set aside some time for the exhibition – you will not be disappointed!

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