A chara, – In “Off the beaten track: 10 amazing alternatives to Ireland’s most popular tourist attractions”, Travel, August 11th), Inis Meáin is described as “the less populated but genuinely Irish-speaking island”. The implication being that the other two islands are not “genuine” Irish-speaking Gaeltacht areas. All three of the Aran Islands are living Gaeltacht areas, where, for the huge majority of the people, Irish is their first language. The fact that there were coastguard stations based on Inis Oírr and on Inis Mór in previous centuries does mean that there has, historically, been more English spoken on these two islands. However, there is not a Gaeltacht in the country that does not have a bilingual population.
The islanders speak English to visitors who don’t have any Irish. The islands have always attracted creative people, some of whom make the islands their home. Islanders have always moved away and returned with spouses and young children (as my mother did), and in recent years a lot of young people from other parts of Europe have come to work and stayed to marry in to the islands and raise families. Not all of these people learn to speak Irish fluently, but all of their children go to the island schools and become Irish speakers. To some people (usually people from outside the Gaeltacht) these things might seem like a watering down of the “genuine” Gaeltacht. To those of us whose families are, and always have been, the fabric of these Gaeltacht communities, these are the things that allow these communities to survive and to thrive.
All three of the Aran Islands are strong, active Gaeltacht communities full of life, full of history and with a bright future. All three of the islands are worth a visit. Come for more than a day trip, walk for 10 minutes up any of the bóithríní away from the main roads, and you will find immediate peace. – Yours, etc,
JAYME STREET,
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Cill Ronáin,
Inis Mór,
Oileáin Árainn,
Co na Gaillimhe.