Dindsenchas nua: the sites every Gael must visit

There is a reason 'tuath' means both a folk as well as the region in which that people live.

Introduction

Too often as ‘Irish people’ do we take for granted the earth upon which we walk. This emanates from the rootless, technocratic order which runs our country (north and south) - content to see emigration sweep our youth away to foreign lands, de-Gaelicising the soil upon which we are inextricably bound. For this post, I wish to ensure readers are acquainted with some of the most vital sites which exemplify both our heroic past as well as the tremendous need for the Gaelic reconquest of Ireland.

Oileán Mhic Dara, Contae na Gaillimhe.

Also called Cruach na Cara, this island has hosted the Féile Mhic Dara every 16th of July for over a thousand years in ode to the patron saint of seafarers and the Galway hooker. Obviously an ancient holy site of the pious medieval Gaels, the island and its ancient Church have recently become an image of the revitalised, athbheochan of the Gaels. Thanks to a momentous campaign of community organising and public pressure by the Gluaiseacht Chearta Sibhialta na Gaeltachta, lead by native Seosaimh Ó Cuaig as well as Dubliner Desmond Fennell, the dilapidated roof of the Church was repaired, with the ancient celebration of the mass revitalised, all with a renaissance of the great Galway hooker racing tradition.

Gleann Cholm Cille, Contae Thír Chonaill.

Moving up to Cúige Ulladh, on the southwestern coast of O’Donnell’s great county, we have an absolute gem of historical and cultural ethnos, with sites still rich in cultural vitalism from thousands of years back. One could bask all day in the momentous natural power of sites like the Sliabh Liag cliffs and the horse-shoe shaped Tráigh Bhán — as well the equally otherworldly but deeply human and Gaelic Turas Cholmcille: an ancient penitential pilgrimage around a 3,000 year-old cairn.

Most important for this list however is that this area is home of Oideas Gael, which has a wonderful folk musuem there, providing any visiting Gaels with a cosmic portal into the ethos of our oidhreacht, as well as the still living (but threatened) traditional way of life of the county's southwest Gaeltacht.

An Cheathrú Ghaeltachta, Contae Aontroma.

With the explosion of Kneecap and young working-class speakers here, it is no doubt most young Gaels are already well acquainted with the appeal of the Nation's fastest growing and most energetic community of Gaels outside the official Gaeltacht. Anyone who has strolled down even the Falls will know that there are more ethnically conscious and activated Gaels in Béal Feriste's working class than there are in many of the remaining towns of the “official” tourism-friendly Gaeltacht of places like An Daingean.

Ros Muc, Contae na Gaillimhe.

There are few sites more iconic than the cottage of An Phiarsach. Representing the cultural and spiritual essence of all that was to be in the Éire Nua which the men and women of ‘16 dreamt of, it is a necessary rite of passage for Gaelicists.

From this era of the Éirí Amach we clearly move beyond the quaint ‘old-Irelandism’ of the Free Staters and De Valera. No one who truly understands the ethos of Ros Muc can take from it a static, reformist approach for the Gaels. Instead, it is the Mecca of radical Gaelicism.

9, Sráid Uí Chonaill, Contae Bhaile Átha Cliath.

To end off I wish to speak of the founding site of Conradh na Gaeilge. While certainly lacking the dramatic grandeur of the some of the other spots on this list, I believe it deserves to be the centralising image of the direction of the inevitable athbheochan an todhcaí. With nothing more than a faded plaque in the middle of the globalised Pale, the stark contrast of our Nation's Gaelic past stands gallantly against the Spire -- the ur-symbol of our de-nationalised provinciality.

The next generation of An Gluaiseacht should hone in on this calamity, not in the service of despair, but in order to inspire a more fitting, ambitious and altogether National recognition of our Gaelic heritage. A polishing of the plaque would be a start, but why not more? -- cast away the coffee shops, international banks and fast food slop -- and imagine a museum of Gaelicism, and why not a bust of Dubhghlas de hÍde?