a beautiful speech (by an irish leader) I wish to share with the under 30s only (and a few progressive over 30s) listen to this irishman. he adores and cherishes his country and people. this is for the young ones to read and enjoy (under 30s). i am not worried about the over 30s, they will say they are busy with important matters, i am certain; they rarely ever have time for the simple things that should matter: “..during the first centuries of struggle, everything was taken from the irish people...little by little , almost all that was taken away has been won back, and today the greater part of the country is once more in the ownership and subject to the rule of the irish people. ireland has taught the world that a brave and resolute nation can never be conquered.. ..the irish language is one of the oldest, and, from the point of view of the philologist, one of the most interesting in europe. it is a member of the indo-european family, principal of the celtic group..irish is closely related to greek and sanskrit, and still more closely related to latin.. ..the tradition of irish learning – the creation of the monastic and bardic schools – was not wholly lost even during the darkest period of english occupation..the “hedge schools”, taught by wandering scholars, frustrated in a measure the design to reduce the people to illiteracy, and kept the flame of knowledge alight, however feebly, throughout island.. ..some of the finest poems were written during those years by men who spent their years in poverty, dependent on the hospitality of an impoverished and outcast peasantry. but they were welcome everywhere, and their songs, whether they were inspired by anger at the oppression of their country, by some false hope of foreign aid, by love, by incidents of their daily lives or by the irrepressible gaiety of their race, were a source of consolation and joy to the people.. ..anglo-irish literature, though far less characteristic of the nation than that produced in the irish language, includes much that is of lasting worth. ireland has produced in dean swift, perhaps the greatest satirist in the english language; in edmund burke, probably the greatest writer on politics; in william carleton, a novelist of first rank; in oliver goldsmith, a poet of rare merit.. ..ireland’s music is of singular beauty..the strange fitfulness of the lamentations and love songs, the transition from gladness to phathos, have thrilled the experts, and made them proclaim our music the most varied and the most poetical in the world. equal in rhythmic variety are our dance tunes – spirited and energetic, in keeping with temperament of our people..” de valera (irish rebel and statesman) ..to be continued
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 08:31:13 +0000
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