“A country without a language is a country without a soul” - a cultural and social history of the Irish language (Birmingham branch talk)

Lars Kabel, the author of many travel guides and Irish-German phrase books, has kindly volunteered to give a talk on the social and cultural history of the Irish language. Please read on for his abstract:

“Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam” (translated in the title) is a famous quote by the poet and nationalist leader Patrick Pearse who was one of the leaders of the Easter Rising in Ireland in 1916. The Irish language, also known as Irish Gaelic, has been the first and often only language of most people in Ireland until the middle of the 19th century. Since then, it has been replaced by English but also became a symbol of Irish nationhood. In this talk, I will discuss the factors which led to the decline of Irish since the 16th century, attempts of revival, and the symbolic functions of the language since the 19th century."

Date: Sunday 15th March

Time and place: 1800,  St. Luke's Church Centre, Great Colmore Street, Lee Bank, Birmingham, B15 2AT.