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Article: An Irishman's Diary
- Article from:
- The Irish Times
- Article date:
- August 28, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2009 The Irish Times. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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IN A CHIP SHOP in Killybegs last week, the young one behind the
counter asked me if I was on holidays in the area. So I told her yes
and no: that it was a working holiday, because I was doing an Irish
course out in Glencolmcille.
At which news she paused just long enough to sprinkle salt and
vinegar on the question that was coming. And then, in a withering
Donegal accent, she said: "Why?" If the baldness of the query hadn't
caught me off balance, I might have explained that, well, for good
or bad, I thought Irish was part of what we are. That ever since
scraping a Leaving Cert pass in it, I had considered the language
unfinished business: to which I would return one day. I might have
added ...