The Irish Language in the United States: A Historical, Sociolinguistic, and Applied Linguistic Survey Review

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The Irish Language in the United States: A Historical, Sociolinguistic, and Applied Linguistic Survey ReviewI happened to come across this fascinating book in the library. What an interesting concept for a book! Irish speakers in the U.S.? Have there really been Irish-American communities which have kept up the old tongue? If this idea is intriguing to you, I highly recommend checking out this thoughtfully conceived, intelligently compiled little volume.
Thomas Ihde lays out his material in two primary sections. First, there are the scholarly articles, of which there are eleven included. This section contains historical and sociolinguistic essays, which, by the way, are quite readable even to the non-linguist. These essays include surveys of Irish usage among Irish-Americans, from all geographic regions, and from all historic periods. We learn about the social stigma of speaking Irish, among actual Irish people as well as among the general American community. Yet, these essays reveal an increasing interest, in recent decades, in reviving the ancient, nearly-lost tongue of the Emerald Isle.
I have two favorite parts, in this section of the book. First, there is the interview with a native Irish speaker (which is incredibly rare, even in Ireland) who teaches Irish classes to Americans. He has a nice sense of humor, and has developed some creative ways to teach Irish to his students. Second, I enjoyed hearing about the small community of "Travellers" in South Carolina and Texas, who are kind of like Irish gypsies. They have actually maintained a core vocabulary of an odd Irish/English hybrid speech, since their arrival in America around the time of the Civil War. We only learn a tantalizingly small amount about these folks, but there is a helpful bibliography for further reading.
The end of the first section includes surveys and descriptions of available teaching materials, including discussions of their comparative merits. These sections are mostly written by Thomas Ihde personally, although some others have contributed their thoughts. The second section of the book, "Personal Essays," is largely a continuation of this part of the first section. There are seven of these essays -- most of them are only a few pages long. People describe their efforts to learn or teach Irish, and also describe the significance of their classes to themselves, or to the Irish-American community. There are some really thoughtful contributions here. I enjoyed some contributions which might not be completely appropriate for inclusion here, in the strictest terms, but which nevertheless added to the book. I'm thinking particularly of an essay by Liam O'Murchadha and Caitlin Ui Murchadha, describing their visit to Ireland and their efforts to communicate and learn the language.
I myself happen to be partially of Irish descent. Like many others of this ethnicity, I grew up with a vague sense that while other foreign countries had their own actual languages, Ireland only seemed to have English with a funny accent. This unusual book helps me get a whole new perspective on Irish, as an American and simply as a human being. Two thumbs up.The Irish Language in the United States: A Historical, Sociolinguistic, and Applied Linguistic Survey OverviewMany Irish-Americans feel like outsiders when the topic turns to the Irish language. This collection of essays will inform them of the history of the language in America, the role this language plays in Irish-American identity, and the best way to go about learning it. The sociolinguistic essays concentrate on Irish as an American ethnic language, including interviews with native Irish speakers in the United States today, surveys of Irish usage, and an examination of letters by immigrants back to Ireland in the nineteenth century. Applied linguistic essays describe the Irish language student population in the United States, survey materials and methods used to teach Americans, and tell the story of one Irish language teacher in California whose work has led to great personal satisfaction and considerable Irish-American group solidarity. This is the first major work in English on the Irish language in America.

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