Giving a Focal (prn. fuk – il)
In this day and age of wars and conflict across the planet, I am feeling more and more in love with my own country every day; our famous welcome, our rich heritage and our beautiful language. We are a small but mighty nation with connections and influence all over the globe, peacefully earned through our hugely successful people, who have travelled the world, bringing their excellence in literature, art, music, business, science and much more to a global audience.
While Ireland has had a checkered past and is by no means a perfect haven, we are proud to promote peace where ever we go. Our national police force is called An Garda Síochána or Guardians of Peace. Our heritage is full of wonderful literature, art, music and healing folklore which many of us try to hold onto or reintroduce into our daily lives. Some of us do this through reviving the cúpla focal. Our native language is full of blessings and well wishes, mixed into all the everyday conversational phrases and when translated is simply beautiful. Mar shampla : Dia dhuit, the only way to say hello in Irish, means God be with you. Slán leat – roughly meaning: good health or safety go with you, is our standard and only goodbye. Our full traditional version of goodbye as learned in school many moons ago was: Slán agus beannacht agus go dté tú slán, agus go n’eirí an bóthar leat
Roughly translated: May you travel safely with blessings and may the road rise to meet you. How lovely is that? Maybe not the best goodbye to use when breaking up with someone.
And while we may not be able to solve the world’s problems, surely if our vast diaspora, spread across all continents, were to engage in even a little of our cultural inheritance, spreading some Irish magic, maybe someday we could turn the whole world green and return to a more peaceful way of living.
I am in my fifties (shock-horror) and with far less influence over others today, than I may have had in my youth, but I have time now to look around me and see the beauty of our legacy. To embrace my ancestors’ past. So I have been meeting like-minded people for…
…cúpla focal as Gaeilge gach seachtain. Níl Gaeilgeoir ar bith mise, ach ba mhaith liom mo theanga fhíor a úsàid níos mó.
In other words we chat in Irish every week. I am not a fluent speaker of Irish by any means, but I would like to use my true language more. To share what I forgot I know and pick up a few more focal nó frásaí along the way. Indeed I have taken to texting one friend as Gaeilge as much as possible…
…agus ag caint leí as Gaeilge, nuair a buaileamar le chéile sa teach tabhairne, nó aon áit eile poiblí.
I have even taken to chatting with my friend in Irish when we are out in the pub or other public places.
Does it matter if I’m not any good? If my grammar is incorrect, my tenses askew. Not at all. As someone wise once said “Is fearr Gaeilge bhriste nà Béarla cliste”. Broken or bad Irish is preferable to clever English, in a country where many oppressors have tried and failed to obliterate our language and our culture, from our hearts, our minds and our history books. We need to normalize the use of our language again. Throw a few words into our every-day conversation until it comes easy. Becomes common place. Reciprocated.
So I will speak my cúpla focal wherever, whenever I can, just for the craic, but also to honour my ancestors, who fought so hard to save our native tongue. My cúpla focal may not matter in the grand scheme of things, but by sharing them with a wider audience online, perhaps some of my fellow Irish blooded people in other parts of the globe will feel the grá tire again and dabble in cúpla focal freisin. Our little Gaeilge revolution will be a peaceful one and hopefully spread some of the famous Irish good will and síochán to every corner of the earth. Now wouldn’t that be deas? (nice)
Ag Fáil Síochána
Éistigí leis an chogar
Fuaimeanna de Máthair an Nadúir,
Na gaoithe boga
ag damhsa tríd na duilleoga,
Na h’éin beaga
Ag canadh sna h’áirde,
Na h’ainmhithe óige
Ag spraoi ar fud na h’áite,
‘S plobarnach na srutháin
Ag gliogarnach thar na clocha
Tá sé in am ciúnas a fháil,
Suaimhneas agus síochán,
Nóiméad amháin gan troid,
An domhan ar fad in a thost,
Gach duine breá beathaithe
Gan eagla roimh an mbás,
Gach duine ‘s anmhí slán
Gan fuath, nó díobháil,
Ag tabhairt aire do na crainn, na mbláth,
‘S gach áit lán de ghrá
Finding Peace
Listen to the murmur
The sounds of Mother Nature
The soft winds
Dancing through the leaves
The little birds
Singing in the heights
The young animals
Having fun all over the place
And the gurgle of the stream
Tinkling over the stones
It is time to find silence
Tranquility and peace
One moment without fighting
The whole world quiet
Every one well fed
Without fear of death
Every person and creature safe
Free from hate or harm
Caring for the trees, the flowers
And everywhere full of love
(c) Mary Egan Campbell 2025
