Ireland: Disgust in Dingle

There's a ring to Dingle, Irish say

By Brian Lavery International Herald Tribune
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2005


DINGLE, Ireland Everyone knows that it's a long way to Tipperary. But how far is An Daingean?

Six months ago, the picturesque harbor town called Dingle, in a remote corner of southwestern Ireland, became officially known by a Gaelic version of its name - pronounced awn-DANG-in. An Daingean, which means The Fortress, will eventually replace Dingle, which means Valley, on road signs and in government paperwork.

The change has been heralded by champions of Gaelic, the ancient tongue known for its bulky strings of unpronounced letters, which is spoken fluently by a small minority of Irish people.

More than 2,300 places in the dwindling areas where Irish, as it is called here, is still in daily use are now referred to only by Gaelic names.

But Dingle is in County Kerry, and its people pride themselves on their independence. The residents are resentful of a decision that they say was imposed on them by Dublin, hundreds of miles away.

"It was thrown upon us with the stroke of a pen," said Fergus O Flaithbheartaigh, working at his popular pub in the town. His name is often seen in its Anglicized form, O'Flaherty, and the Gaelic version - many letters longer - is pronounced much the same way.

Liam O'Neill, a painter who grew up outside Dingle, did not learn to speak English until he was 14. Commenting on the name change, he invoked the hated history of the British imposition of English on Ireland. "It was like the way Cromwell did it," he said. "People have taken to the trenches about it now."

But perhaps most of all, the people of Dingle fear that the move will befuddle tourists already confused by the country's bilingual - or missing - road signs.

Ever since Dingle was used as the setting of the film "Ryan's Daughter" in 1970, it has relied on tourism like no other place in Ireland. About half of its 1,500 residents work in the sector, and during summer months visitors outnumber locals by six to one. And most tourists asked recently were disappointed to learn that they were officially in An Daingean rather than Dingle.

"One of the reasons people come here is because the language isn't a barrier," said Shawn Foldesy, 29, a visitor from Dallas who was traveling through Ireland with friends. She said the town's whimsical-sounding name "probably had more of an effect on our coming here than we think."

"Dingle is something that captures the imagination," said Michael Finn, 75, on vacation from Williamsburg, Virginia. His wife, Antoinette, added, "It just gives me a feeling of lightness."

Local business owners say that they have worked for decades to build up the impression of a place that mixes quirkiness with tradition in a beautiful natural setting, an impression that they say will be damaged by the switch to An Daingean, which does not have quite the same ring as Dingle.

"It absolutely is a brand," said Susan Callery, owner of the Green Lane art gallery. "I've spent 15 years working on it."

The debate is part of a national argument over how to protect Ireland's native language.

The country's 2002 census found that 43 percent of the population spoke Gaelic, but officials admit that the figure is exaggerated because it includes children, who study the language as a mandatory school subject, and because adults with little fluency may have marked themselves down as speaking the language.

Officials in the department that oversees Irish-speaking areas point out that business names will not be affected, only road signs.

The government minister behind the change, Eamon O Cuiv, said recently that locals could still call the town whatever they wanted - Dingle, or Beverly Hills, or, he suggested, Fungi. That is the name of a dolphin that has returned to the harbor year after year and has many fans.

Some linguists have other problems with the change. "It is a bit dangerous to begin tampering with something that's so well known," said Terry Dolan, a professor at University College Dublin who recently published a dictionary of Hiberno-English. "It's manipulating the language from the top down."

For the record, O Flaithbheartaigh said that the national government had chosen the wrong name for the town, which is also known as Daingean Ui Chuis, or Fortress of the Husseys (named after a clan).

But at least some Dingle residents are taking the change in stride.

"We're enjoying the notoriety," said the Reverend Padraig O Fiannachta, 78, a Roman Catholic priest and Gaelic scholar who grew up in Dingle and who insisted that he would still use the familiar name while singing his favorite ballad, "The Dingle Puck Goat."

If it is the official language (by the constitution?) it sounds like the implications of that haven't floated down to the populace uniformly.

Article 8

1. The Irish language as the national language is the first official language.

2. The English language is recognised as a second official language.

Dingle fights to keep its name

· Port holds referendum on switch to Irish version
· Change could confuse tourists, locals claim

Owen Bowcott, Ireland correspondent
Thursday October 19, 2006
The Guardian


A referendum to decide whether a remote fishing port formerly known as Dingle can readopt its anglicised name has become a battleground for the future of the Irish language. The row comes amid preparations for Irish to become an official EU language next year.
The result of what is technically a plebiscite among 1,222 Co Kerry voters is due tomorrow and is expected to reveal strong resentment towards the imposition of an Irish placename, An Daingean. The council has been replacing road signs bearing the word Dingle.


The town is within a Gaeltacht, one of the country's few designated Irish-speaking areas. The minister for rural, Gaeltacht and community affairs, Éamon O Cuív, has the power to order that only Irish place-names be used in those areas and he has warned that his department cannot act on the ballot because it is not legally possible to have an English or bilingual name in a Gaeltacht area.
But locals argue that if they win 612 votes - more than 50% - it will be a moral victory and should prompt a government rethink. The proposal in the referendum is to rebrand the port with a bilingual name: Dingle An Daingean Uí Chúis.

The owner of the Barr na Sráide pub in the port, David Geaney, said: "People feel they are being bullied. They have lived with Dingle all their lives. The fishing industry is nearly dead and farming is struggling. So 70%-80% of the town's business is in tourism. If you are a tourist and trying to find the area it will be a bit of joke if you can't find the name you recognise. We are all proud of our heritage but we want to be able to speak both [languages] and the minister is denying us the opportunity for that."

Critics warn that there is a town simply called Daingean in Co Offaly, and the name change could confuse visitors.

The chair of Dingle Peninsula Tourism, Sile Gorman, endorses the bilingual solution. "Twenty years ago our children had to emigrate because there was no employment in the area," she said. "Now, because of tourism, our children have a real choice and can remain on the peninsula." She added: "The government have spent millions promoting the Dingle peninsula brand and now they want to throw it away."

A vote by An Daingean to adopt the bilingual name would be embarrassing for the government. On January 1, Irish will become an official EU language and an advertising campaign is under way to find those qualified to do simultaneous translations for the European parliament. Six potential recruits are receiving training.

Around 100,000 people are believed to use Irish as their main language on a daily basis, and in the cities many families, particularly among the middle classes, send their children to schools where the whole curriculum is taught in Irish.

A spokeswoman for the department for rural, Gaeltacht and community affairs said: "The town name has always been An Daingean. The only thing that has changed is that the Irish form now has official status. If people want to put up tourist signs pointing to Dingle, that's fine."