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DoChara's Ireland Blog
Random Writings about Ireland and the Irish
Wednesday
May 4 2005
Lost in Translation
There is a risk that this Summer could see hundreds, if not thousands, of visitors to Ireland wandering forlornly about parts of the West, North West and South West and other Irish* speaking areas, completely lost.
Even those with maps are not safe, since none but the most up-to-date will correlate in any way with the signage around them.
Bilingual no moreWhy?
Because the Government recently decreed that the Gealtachts, the Irish speaking parts of the country, should cease the otherwise universal practice of having bilingual signposts.
As a result the place names on your map, unless it is hot off the presses, and those on sign posts will not be the same. And don't think it'll be easy to hazard a guess. You will probably figure out that Barna and Bearna are one and the same, but try Ventry (Ceann Trá), the Iveragh Peaninsula (An Uibh Ráthach), Clonbur (An Fháirche) or Burtonport (Ailt an Chorráin).
These will defeat the vast majority of Irish people, let alone visitors from abroad.
Granted there are worse places to lose yourself, but when night is falling, your stomach is rumbling and you pass the same quaint deserted cottage for the fifth time and still have no clue where you are, it may not be easy to appreciate that.
* In Ireland the native tongue is always referred to as Irish, never Gealic.
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