Only In Ireland
Posted: December 22nd, 2004, 7:04 am
Gaeltacht towns change address without going anywhere
GIVEN the season that's in it, you would have thought we would all be up for plenty of 'out with the old and in with the new'.
We're throwing away the mileage road signs and replacing them with kilometres - so what's the big deal about changing a mere 2,319 place names in Gaeltacht areas?
Judging by the howls of protest from some tourism and media commentators, you'd imagine we were about to turn Newgrange into a theme park or replace the Book of Kells with a website.
Those quirky but utterly meaningless English place names that have afflicted Gaeltacht areas for decades are about to be replaced by their proper Irish language titles.
So it's out with Achill Sound and in with Gob an Choire, goodbye Recess and welcome An Sraith Salach.
Good riddance to the bastardised, makey-uppy Muckanaghederdauhaulia and failte mor roimh Muiceanach idir dha Shaile.
Gaeltacht Minister Eamon O Cuiv yesterday formally signed the Placenames Order (Gaeltacht Districts) 2004, which sees all (publicly owned) English placenames replaced solely by the Irish language versions from March 28 next.
The minister and his team take the view that it is in fact a case of 'out with the new and in with the old'.
But what about the tourists? Imagine arriving in Galway city and asking for directions to Clonbur in north Connemara. As you land within spitting distance of the minister's own parish of Corr na Mona, you see the sign for An Fhairche. Where did Clonbur go?
"Look," said Mr O Cuiv. "People coming to Ireland are not looking for something that they get or see in their own everyday lives. They are looking for something distinctive and different. "Certainly, if I'm going to visit the Czech Republic, I'm not looking for something that I can get in Dublin, Bristol or New York. It's got to be distinctive."
So that's the visitors taken care of. All that's left now is ourselves.
GIVEN the season that's in it, you would have thought we would all be up for plenty of 'out with the old and in with the new'.
We're throwing away the mileage road signs and replacing them with kilometres - so what's the big deal about changing a mere 2,319 place names in Gaeltacht areas?
Judging by the howls of protest from some tourism and media commentators, you'd imagine we were about to turn Newgrange into a theme park or replace the Book of Kells with a website.
Those quirky but utterly meaningless English place names that have afflicted Gaeltacht areas for decades are about to be replaced by their proper Irish language titles.
So it's out with Achill Sound and in with Gob an Choire, goodbye Recess and welcome An Sraith Salach.
Good riddance to the bastardised, makey-uppy Muckanaghederdauhaulia and failte mor roimh Muiceanach idir dha Shaile.
Gaeltacht Minister Eamon O Cuiv yesterday formally signed the Placenames Order (Gaeltacht Districts) 2004, which sees all (publicly owned) English placenames replaced solely by the Irish language versions from March 28 next.
The minister and his team take the view that it is in fact a case of 'out with the new and in with the old'.
But what about the tourists? Imagine arriving in Galway city and asking for directions to Clonbur in north Connemara. As you land within spitting distance of the minister's own parish of Corr na Mona, you see the sign for An Fhairche. Where did Clonbur go?
"Look," said Mr O Cuiv. "People coming to Ireland are not looking for something that they get or see in their own everyday lives. They are looking for something distinctive and different. "Certainly, if I'm going to visit the Czech Republic, I'm not looking for something that I can get in Dublin, Bristol or New York. It's got to be distinctive."
So that's the visitors taken care of. All that's left now is ourselves.
Absolutely.