Post by Askel McThurkill on Nov 15, 2012 9:27:11 GMT
Dublin has the highest Irish-speaking population in the country. More people speak Irish in Dublin than in the combined Gaeltacht-communities across the seven Gaeltacht counties (Donegal, Galway, Kerry, Mayo, Cork, Waterford and Meath) put together. Dublin has a significant number of native Irish speakers who have found employment in the capital. Some of these bring up families of Irish-speakers – one woman of my acquaintance grew up on Dublin’s north-side and speaks English as it is spoken in Coolock and Artane, but speaks Irish as it is spoken in Carna, Co Galway. This is not terribly unusual – the bulk of children of the migrant populations speak English and their native languages in the same manner.
There are pastoral implications to the speaking of Irish in Dublin, the Gaeltacht and elsewhere. The vast majority of Irish-speakers are at least theoretically Catholic. There is a small body of Anglican Irish-speakers who are organised in Cumann Gaelach na hEaglaise and they have regular services in Irish in Christ Church Cathedral. These are a minority within a minority. There are some Gaeilgeoirí in other denominations too – I think of the Methodist Dr Risteard Ó Glaisne and the Presbyterian Rev Terence MacCaughey – but these are few and far between. The bulk of pastoral provision for Irish-speakers falls on the Catholic Church.
Canon law states that clerical students should obtain a working knowledge of Latin and any other language deemed necessary for pastoral ministry. How effective the former is leaves a lot to be desired, but is a topic for another discussion quite independent of Latin in the liturgy. Several Irish dioceses have Gaeltacht parishes: Tuam, Raphoe, Galway-Kilmacduagh-Kilfenora, Kerry, Killala, Cloyne, Cork-Ross, Waterford-Lismore and Meath. There is a policy of providing Irish-language training in regard to most of these, complete with pastoral assignments in Gaeltacht parishes and candidates for dioceses such as Tuam or Raphoe are told there is a strong possibility they may have to serve in a Gaeltacht parish. In Meath and Waterford, there are only a small number of Gaeltacht parishes, which can be covered by the availability of priests and candidates who have an interest in Irish anyway. Outside the Gaeltacht, Masses are provided in Irish in several dioceses for Gaelgóirí. In addition, there is a network of Gaelscoileanna across the country who are now complaining about the difficulty in obtaining chaplains capable of working through Irish, even if this was confined to saying Mass (hearing confession in Irish is another matter entirely).
The Dublin Archdiocese has taken a number of initiatives in respect of pastoral provision of Irish. One is to guarantee Mass will take place in at least one venue every Sunday in each of the five areas of the archdiocese. The second is to provide a list of around one hundred priests capable of celebrating in Irish. Priests who are not on the list are requested to substitute for those who are in the event they are required to say Mass in Irish within the area. The new one is the issuing of a bi-lingual booklet to assist celebrants saying Mass in Irish. This is commendable.
The question I put is not to begrudge the Gaeilgóirí anything, but rather to ask if this is similar treatment to what those attached to the traditional Latin Mass receive. There is only one traditional Latin Mass in the archdiocese on Sundays in the archdiocese and no initiative is taken to support any who wish to learn to celebrate it or to allow for substitution. It may be true that there are more Gaelgóirí in Dublin than traditionalists, but declared traditionalists are by their very nature practicising Catholics, where the Gaelgóirí need not be.
Aside from that, a further point remains – surely the vast majority of priests and seminarians in the Republic have Irish in Leaving Certificate and much of this should be unnecessary? Does this say anything about our education system?
There are pastoral implications to the speaking of Irish in Dublin, the Gaeltacht and elsewhere. The vast majority of Irish-speakers are at least theoretically Catholic. There is a small body of Anglican Irish-speakers who are organised in Cumann Gaelach na hEaglaise and they have regular services in Irish in Christ Church Cathedral. These are a minority within a minority. There are some Gaeilgeoirí in other denominations too – I think of the Methodist Dr Risteard Ó Glaisne and the Presbyterian Rev Terence MacCaughey – but these are few and far between. The bulk of pastoral provision for Irish-speakers falls on the Catholic Church.
Canon law states that clerical students should obtain a working knowledge of Latin and any other language deemed necessary for pastoral ministry. How effective the former is leaves a lot to be desired, but is a topic for another discussion quite independent of Latin in the liturgy. Several Irish dioceses have Gaeltacht parishes: Tuam, Raphoe, Galway-Kilmacduagh-Kilfenora, Kerry, Killala, Cloyne, Cork-Ross, Waterford-Lismore and Meath. There is a policy of providing Irish-language training in regard to most of these, complete with pastoral assignments in Gaeltacht parishes and candidates for dioceses such as Tuam or Raphoe are told there is a strong possibility they may have to serve in a Gaeltacht parish. In Meath and Waterford, there are only a small number of Gaeltacht parishes, which can be covered by the availability of priests and candidates who have an interest in Irish anyway. Outside the Gaeltacht, Masses are provided in Irish in several dioceses for Gaelgóirí. In addition, there is a network of Gaelscoileanna across the country who are now complaining about the difficulty in obtaining chaplains capable of working through Irish, even if this was confined to saying Mass (hearing confession in Irish is another matter entirely).
The Dublin Archdiocese has taken a number of initiatives in respect of pastoral provision of Irish. One is to guarantee Mass will take place in at least one venue every Sunday in each of the five areas of the archdiocese. The second is to provide a list of around one hundred priests capable of celebrating in Irish. Priests who are not on the list are requested to substitute for those who are in the event they are required to say Mass in Irish within the area. The new one is the issuing of a bi-lingual booklet to assist celebrants saying Mass in Irish. This is commendable.
The question I put is not to begrudge the Gaeilgóirí anything, but rather to ask if this is similar treatment to what those attached to the traditional Latin Mass receive. There is only one traditional Latin Mass in the archdiocese on Sundays in the archdiocese and no initiative is taken to support any who wish to learn to celebrate it or to allow for substitution. It may be true that there are more Gaelgóirí in Dublin than traditionalists, but declared traditionalists are by their very nature practicising Catholics, where the Gaelgóirí need not be.
Aside from that, a further point remains – surely the vast majority of priests and seminarians in the Republic have Irish in Leaving Certificate and much of this should be unnecessary? Does this say anything about our education system?