What aspects of your cultural heritage are you most proud of or interested in?
Living in Northern Ireland I am a citizen of both the United Kingdom and Ireland.
I actually like to see myself as Northern Irish having a foot in both camps.
My ancestry also shows up some Scottish and some Sardinian dna 🧬. The Sardinian was quite a surprise.
I must confess to be more influenced by British culture such as TV programmes, way of life etc but I also enjoy a lot of Irish culture, the music, the poetry and the famous writers who hailed from Ireland.
Before partition Gaelic was spoken by a large section of the population and many place names in and around NI reflect the language.
The town-land where I live is called. Ballycloghan, which comes from the Irish, ‘Baile Clocháin’ meaning “townland of the ford/row of stepping stones” I speak a little Irish and it is coming back to the area with many schools teaching Irish as their first language.
This doesn’t go down well with many of the Unionist ( British) population who believe that is a political gesture that is trying to weaken the union with the UK. All very complicated.
Same with the GAA.
The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) is Ireland’s largest sporting organisation. It is celebrated as one of the great amateur sporting associations in the world.
It is part of the Irish consciousness and plays an influential role in Irish society that extends far beyond the basic aim of promoting Gaelic games. This is Irish culture and is rejected by many of those with a British affinity.
Everyone has heard of St.Patrick and all over the world St.Patrick’s Day is celebrated. Nowadays more for the drinking and parades than the religious aspect.
It should be possible to celebrate the diversity of both cultures as long as there is harmony but unfortunately we haven’t quite reached that stage in NI and I don’t expect it will happen in my lifetime, although things are changing slowly.
CHATTER 