Barbarthacht, bochtanas, fiántas agus Gaelainn an iarthair

Ó Dhún Chaoin go Dún na nGall, ní inniu ná inné a thosnaigh an chaint ar 'Wild Atlantic Way'.

Dingle-coastline-View-of-Blaskets

Caithfidh go bhfuil na comharthaí feicthe agaibh. Chaithfeá a bheith bunchaoch gan iad a fheiscint.

Ó Inis Eoghain thuaidh go Cionn tSáile theas, tá cósta thiar na tíre breac le comharthaí gorma le siombal i bhfoirm ‘WAW’ orthu.

Sin agaibh an ‘Wild Atlantic Way’, nó Slí an Atlantaigh Fhiain (nó ‘Fiáin’, mar a bhíonn acu i ndroch-chaint na gcanúintí eile!), an cúrsa tiomána cósta is faide ar domhan, dar le Fáilte Ireland.

Is é seo ‘táirge’ nua na heagraíochta; tá béim á cur acu ar fhiantas an iarthair agus iad ag iarraidh na sluaite a mhealladh d’fhonn bús a chur fé chúrsaí turasóireachta abhus.

Ina bhfoclaibh féin, tá eispéireas ar leith le fáil ar an gcósta thiar. Tá radhairc ar leith, daoine ar leith, cultúr agus oidhreacht ar leith agus fiú teanga ar leith ann, agus táid ar a gcroídhícheall pacáistiú a dhéanamh ar an méid seo.

Rith sé liom nárbh aon rud nua an tuiscint seo, is é sin go bhfuil difríocht le brath san iarthar seachas san oirthear.

Ó thús na fichiú haoise anuas go dtí an lá atá inniu ann, ba mhó trácht a bhí ar an scoilt thuaidh/theas in Éirinn seachas an scoilt thoir/thiar, ach roimhe sin ba anuas trí bholg na tíre a bhí an teorainn i dtuiscintí na linne, idir shíodúlacht, fhorbairt, shaibhreas, shibhialtacht agus Bhéarla an oirthir agus barbarthacht, bochtanas, iargúltacht, fiantas agus Gaelainn an iarthair.

Níor tháinig puinn athrú ar an meon sin nó gur thosnaigh leithéidí Synge, Yeats agus scríbhneoirí eile ag tarraingt aird ar bhuanna an iarthair ag tús na fichiú haoise, agus d’fhéadfaí a rá go bhfuil iarsma den meon úd fós le brath ar uairibh.

Is léir na tuiscintí áirithe sin i scríbhinní na linne, go háirithe i litríocht taistil a bhí go mór sa treis i rith na naoú haoise déag. Ba bheag an meas a bhí á léiriú ar mhuintir an iarthair ag na scríbhneoirí go minic.

Thug Mrs. Lydia Jane Leadbeater Fisher sciuird go Corca Dhuibhne in 1845, agus is mar seo a cuirtear síos ar bhunaidh Dhún Chaoin fén dteideal ‘The Aborigines of Dunquin’:

She says that Dunquin where they were first stationed is the wildest place in the whole wide world. The women dress like men, and the men like women indiscriminately. The men wearing petticoats till they are going to be married, when, by hook or crook, the manly toga is provided in which to go before the priest, and to uphold from thenceforth the dignity of the sex; that they have no law, nor respect for the law….

Ní raibh puinn measa aici ar mhuintir an Daingin ach chomh beag:

Indeed it is deplorable to see how little influence the advice of Father Matthew has had here. I have seen more drunken men since our arrival, than for twelve months in Limerick — a certain token of want of civilization…. In general, the women appear to grow prematurely old; in fact, there are no young women; there are girls and children, the latter pretty, the former less pretty — then all of a sudden they are old, withered, ugly … Perhaps this is the effect of the sea air and mountain breeze, combined with poverty, laziness, and filth; for they are unusually dirty.

Timpeall na bliana 1840 thug grúpa, Mrs D.P Thompson ina measc, cuairt ar an mBlascaod Mór, agus ba dhóigh leat gur ag trácht ar speiceas éagsúil ar fad lena speiceas féin a bhí sí:

“There are about 150 inhabitants on the great Blasquett; these people are in a state of extreme ignorance, not a single individual in the island could read, write, or speak a word of English … I was more affected than I have power to describe, by witnessing human nature reduced to the savage state it is among these islanders, within almost ear-shot of religious light and civilisation.” TheIgnorantVote5w

Bhí an ciníochas laistiar den dtuiscint seo – gurbh ionann muintir an Iarthair agus fospéiceas. Nochtar é sin go ríshoiléir sa sliocht seo ón scríbhneoir Sasanach Charles Kingsley agus é ar sodar trí Chonnachta sna 1860daí:

But I am haunted by the human chimpanzees I saw along that hundred miles of horrible country. I don’t believe they are our fault. I believe there are not only many of them than of old, but they are happier, better, more comfortably fed and lodged under our rule than they ever were. But to see white chimpanzees is dreadful; if they were black, one would not feel it so much, but their skins, except where tanned by exposure, are as white as ours.

Ní gá ach féachaint ar chartúin ‘Punch’ chun an léiriú seo den Éireannach mar fhospéiceas ar chuma an mhoncaí a fheiscint. Ar scála na gciníocha, bhí an tÉireannach, go háirithe an tÉireannach iartharach, in íochtar. Gan dabht, ba é an Sasanach geal a bhí in uachtar.

Idir na blianta 1890 agus 1900 thug foireann ón Saotharlann Antraipeaméadrach i gColáiste na Tríonóide, Baile Átha Cliath, cuairteanna ar phobail Ghaeltachta éagsúla i gcontaetha Chiarraí, na Gaillimhe agus Mhaigh Eo agus é i gceist acu suirbhéanna a dhéanamh ar na daoine a mhair iontu, d’fhonn cruthúnas a fháil gur cine éagsúl ar fad a bhí ar chósta thiar na hÉireann.

Deineadh tuairiscí iontacha ar phobail na gcontaetha úd. Ina measc, tá an chur síos seo ar mhuintir an Mhuirthid i gCo. Mhaigh Eo:

The people on the whole are good-looking, especially when young; many of the girls and young women are very handsome, but they appear to age rapidly and early become wrinkled.

Thugadar an t-eolas spéisiúil seo ar mhuintir Mhaigh Eo chomh maith:

A statement, originally made by an anonymous writer, has somehow gained currency, and has been repeatedly quoted abroad, that the descendants of the Ulster people driven two centuries ago into Sligo and Mayo, had dwindled into dwarfs of five feet two inches high, prognathous and pot-bellied. This most certainly does not apply to any section of the inhabitants of this part of Mayo, if indeed it were ever true of any part of the counties named, which repeated inquiries and personal observation agree in denying most positively.

N’fheadar an bhfuil fianaise sa mhéid sin ar cad fáth a laghad craobhacha Uile-Éireann a bheith buaite ag Co. Mhaigh Eo!

Le bheith fírinneach, caithfear fáiltiú roimh thogra seo an WAW – le cúnamh Dé cuirfidh sé breis fostaíochta ar fáil in áiteanna atá bánaithe ag an imirce le déanaí.

Tá ana-sheans linn ar an gcósta thiar, agus go deimhin ar fud na tíre, go bhfuil na gnéithe ar fad a bhíonn á lorg ag formhór de thurasóirí – áilleacht tíre, seirbhísí den scoth agus fíorchaoin fáilte – ar fáil go forleathan.

Ach caithfear an cheist a chur; an ag trácht ar thaobh tíre ‘fiáin’ atáthar, nó ar dhaoine fiáine?