Motherfoclóir: Dispatches from a not so dead language

I picked this up on a whim when I was in Dublin. It was a new, signed release and I had either missed a signing event or signed books had been delivered but I love a more personalized book. They were located prominently in Dubray (a book chain) on Grafton Street and I picked it up to flip through while I had tea and watched people shopping from the upper floor. I was hooked by the introduction and bought it to make the journey back across the pond.

Even though I don’t have a tangible connection to Ireland (no grandparents from Cork or Co. Donegal, etc.) I find myself following their politics quite a bit. This is because of Brexit. Brexit is stupid, of course, but Theresa May or whatever Tory figurehead that will replace her (Prime Minister of Great Britain, Northern Ireland and assorted territories) and the Tory party are staying the course. This bit of cretinism affects other countries, most specifically the border between Northern Ireland the Republic of Ireland. You know, the two places that were fighting up until the Good Friday Agreement in 1998/1999.
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It probably won’t come to anything bad…but there’s a chance the border (which you can easily go across if you have a hankering to visit the whole island) will become a pain in the ass. 

Watching strange British politicians act like it’s no biggie is strangely warped.

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Title: Motherfoclóir: Dispatches from a not so dead language
Author: Darach ó Séaghdha
Page Number: 222, hardback
Genre: nonfiction, reference, humor
Publisher: Head of Zeus, Ltd. An independent publisher based in the UK. 
Year: 2017

'Motherfoclóir' [focloir means 'dictionary' and is pronounced like a rather more vulgar English epithet] is a book based on the popular Twitter account @theirishfor.

As the title suggests, 'Motherfoclóir' takes an irreverent, pun-friendly and contemporary approach to the Irish language. The translations are expanded on and arranged into broad categories that allow interesting connections to be made, and sprinkled with anecdotes and observations about Irish and Ireland itself, as well as language in general. The author includes stories about his own relationship with Irish, and how it fits in with the most important events in his life.

This is a book for all lovers of the quirks of language.

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This book doesn’t dwell on politics or the troubles. ó Séaghdha’s book (I’m not sure if a capital O with fada is the norm…this is not my kin) deals with the Irish language. The most 'political' this gets is the explanation of Ireland's chosen two languages that their laws are written in.

Ireland’s laws and its constitution are written in two languages. First in Irish and then in English. This creates a way to codify any law down to specifics in a way that one language cannot. In fact, many other countries in the European Union do similar things, which is not surprising. I found this fascinating because the United States doesn’t have an official language (although our laws are in English, they can be translated into any language spoken here and still considered legitimate as far as I know).

Vignettes of history and culture (mostly Irish) are sprinkled throughout. This was brilliant because I spent some time looking up things I didn't know (Gaeltacht and Aislings) and refreshing my limited knowledge (The Tain). ó Séaghdha also brings moments of his life onto the pages, mostly through his relationship with his dad and growing up in Ireland.

• Oh My God, What A Complete Aisling - This is born from an online Facebook group where a certain archetype of woman is known to many. There is a book and a movie coming about this. 
• Gaeltacht, AKA Irish Camp – where young teens go to practice the Irish language, usually in the areas of Ireland that speak Irish most frequently.
• Cúchulainn, the mythical Irish hero is referred to as “the James Bond of the Iron age.” This isn’t wrong in the slightest and its totally amazing.  
• The shape of some of our vernacular would have been different if William Barnes had gotten his way. Barnes wanted to name new inventions with English bases instead of Greek. Some of the examples given are photograph (Barnes: “sunprint” or “lightwriting”) and politics (“statecraft”). Although state craft is not obsolete. 
• American English is referred to as a wonder of the modern world (as in, how it came about). I agree. Not just out of snooty national pride but because it’s fun to see how it all changed with an ocean apart and then connected with technology again. The Brits aren’t super happy about it of course, but I also learned that Winston Churchill used “OMG” in the 1940s in a letter from this book, so…suck it.
• Both the Irish and English languages are used in Irish law. This is not totally uncommon, especially in the European Union, which deals with multiple languages. Irish is listed first and then English (e.g. Eighth Amendment of 1983)  This can help codify the intent of any law because the language must be precise. I suppose I found this so interesting because America has no official language.
• This is the second book I’ve read that recommended Danish TV shows (these exact three: The Killing, The Bridge, and Borgen) so I suppose I need to hurry up and add them to my list. Irish television shows were mentioned, Love/Hate and Pure Mule, they seem to be dramas. Which isn’t my thing to be honest but maybe they’re good?  
• Ah, the Danes. The book notes that there was an Irish Declaration of War against Denmark still on the statue books until 2014. Having met several Danes, this is not surprising.
• Ireland has had two referendums to their laws recently. One is to allow gay marriage and the other is to overturn the eighth amendment (abortion legalization). Watching the last one play out recently from America was interesting, especially when random Americans (or bots…who knows) would be upset about it (it doesn’t affect them at all) and would demand the Irish rise up with their second amendment to defeat the government. The second amendment in Ireland is an omnibus that does not deal with guns at all. Anyways, “Ta” was used in both to say “yes” (as in Yes to marriage and Yes to a woman’s choice). Ta is Irish for “it is.”

I noted some of my favorite phrases and words because they were new to me and I enjoyed the way they were pronounced:

• How to pronounce Gardaí. These are the police of Ireland (state/local/federal). I’ve heard them referred to as Guards. They feature prominently in Irish murder mysteries. 
• The word neamhbhalbh exists. Although, I still cannot pronounce it.
• The Ogham alphabet, a pre-Latin alphabet of the ancient Celtic people in Ireland. Each letter is named after a plant or a tree. This was a rabbit hole because I had never heard of this before. 
• Astronomy is featured!
  • Milky way- Claí Mór na Réaltaí (Ditch of Stars) or Bealach na Bó Finne (Way of the Fair Cow)
  • Asteroid -Astaróideach
  • Comets- réalta mhongach (long-haired star).
• Gloaming or dusk is amhdorchacht, which translated to uncooked darkness. Which I just loved for some reason. 
• Níl cara ag cumha ach cuimhne means “Memory is sorrow’s only friend.”

​A fada (ú, í, é, ó) can make the difference:

• Fáil (destiny) and fail (hiccup)- this is important because the Republican (not that type of Republican) party in Ireland is called Fianna Fáil.
• Also, Éire (Ireland) and eire (a burden).
• Another, antioisceach (extremist) and An Taoiseach (the Irish Prime Minister). The current Taoiseach is Leo Varadkar, who is from the Fine Gael party. Ireland also has a President (Michael D. Higgins and his dogs) and a Táinste (deputy prime minister; at the moment Simon Coveney). If you take anything from this…know that Higgins has the cutest dogs ever.

There is a twitter, @theirishfor and a podcast, titled Motherfocloir and another book, Craic Baby. Other than the new Tana French book, I'm on a financial no-buy to bulk up my savings but his second book has been added to my list.

The prose is fast-paced and each page is crammed with information. The overall tone is witty and light. I cannot note enough the absolute care of language that ó Séaghdha gives to each chapter. I really enjoyed the connections, origins and current meanings of the Irish words, which were all new to me. I rated it quite high on goodreads because I enjoyed it so much.

It's a tiny bit of a memoir, dictionary and Irish culture/history book all wrapped in one. You're not going to start speaking the language from this book (it's not the purpose) but Duolingo has an Irish language learning section, so that can be helpful. The twitter account gives an idea of how he breaks down words. 

The other takeaway is that I found the name for my next cat , “púca,” which means mischievous fairy.