Achill Island
The GaeltachtCertain areas of Achill are considered as being part of what is termed 'The Gaeltacht'. The Gaeltacht is a term to describe various areas around Ireland where it is considered that the Irish (Gaeilge) language is spoken by the local inhabitants on a daily basis for their ordinary everyday interactions. Unfortunately, areas of Achill which are in the Achill Gaeltacht area rarely hear the sound of Gaeilge being spoken on a regular basis. The reasons for the decline of spoken Irish is partially due to the centuries of British rule - they attempted to stamp out the Gaelic language, naturally enough. But the famine years (in the mid 19th century) in which about one million Irish died, and the subsequent emigration of one and a half million Irish people didn't help matters. Between 1840 and 1911 the population of Ireland changed from eight million down to just over four million. Naturally enough, the Irish psyche was severely drained and weakened. Since the early 1920s, when Ireland became free from British rule (southern Ireland only, unfortunately), there has been constant emigration of people from the west of Ireland to Britain and America. In Achill the older generation can talk Gaeilge fluently but the passing of time is diminishing that number slowly but surely. Sadly, even in the past few years, some elderly neighbours have died taking with them knowledge of the local area and the naturalness of speaking Gaeilge as a real language rather than merely some subject which one reluctantly has to learn in school. If you are interested in learning a few phrases of Gaeilge check out my Teach yourself Gaeilge page, but don't rush. Stay here for a while and check out the rest of the Achill pages first! SlievemoreSlievemore is the highest of 2 mountains in Achill. It is not very high as such - by world, or even Irish, standards. The Gaelic word Slievemore means big mountain (Sliabh [pronounced sleeve] = mountain, mór [pronounced more] = big). The other mountain in Achill is called the Minaun Heights (they are actually cliffs). Some visitors like to climb the mountains because the views from the top are wonderful on a fine clear day. I have never yet considered doing anything so tiring. The attitude of those climbers seems to be - they are there so they must be climbed. My attitude is - they are there so I will look at them, and appreciate them, photograph them, and paint them, FROM GROUND LEVEL - much more sensible! See the art and photographs pages in this Achill Section. At present most of the land is bare and rugged, with wide open spaces, but there is evidence that, at one time, forests reigned supreme in Achill. When cutting turf (see below) one often comes across a root, or stump, of a tree - a tree which grew and died a thousand, if not a few thousand, years ago. There are some bogs where you can actually see many tree stumps above ground level, showing that Achill must have been very different in the past, with forests covering a lot of the land. I wish they were still growing - they would shelter us from the wind! When cutting turf last year I actually came across a pine cone in the bog which survived there, all covered up, for many centuries and more. The bog is very good at preserving matter - as far as I know, it is the lack of oxygen in the water which prevents the usual decay, or at least it delays it for very long periods. This page isn't finished, yet. . . . . more to follow !! Updated: 27th January 2011 |
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