Tinteán

by Pauline Kelly

Connection and transcendence are the feelings that surround me in this moment, feeling connected chuig rud éigin níos mó ná mé féin, but having a contribution a dhéanamh inniu, on this frozen, desolate, beautiful, continent.

We are surrounded by oighear gorm, enormous glaciers, and abundant wild life. Splashes of pristine oighear uisce fuar, disturbed by the Zodiac that we are travelling in, constantly spray my face as we make our way chun seasamh ar thalamh na hAntartaice.

My mind flashes back a few months, ‘an bhfuil tú dáiríre!’…..’ of course you are darling,’ my husband had said, when I suggested to him that we travel to Antarctica and use our travelling experiences to bring Gaeilge to all seven continents den domhan. It turns out we only had three continents left to visit to achieve this.  Would Antarctica be the most challenging? Well, now táimid anseo and about to find out. Bhí cheithre shraith éadaí orainn to keep rain and wind out. We use our snow poles to help us cross a plane of sneachta bándearg agus glas, the sight of which took my breath away. Sneachta watermelon is caused by ice loving algae and adds another layer of beauty to this áit draíochta. We ascend an ice-covered slippery slope to a horizontal ridge where safety was more assured. This was to be the site of our Ciorcal Comhrá or Pop-Up Gaeltacht, ar mhór-roinn na Antartaice.

We spent some time nuair a bhíomar ag taisteal anseo, getting to know others on the trip who had an Irish connection or an interest in a bheith ag éisteacht leis an teanga á labhairt. Now we are gathered together here on this ridge to make this happen and record the occasion, mar creidimid, this is the most southerly ciorcal comhrá ar domhan.

Táim ar bís agus neirbhíseach, even though we have prepared a few words to say. I am pacing up and down hoping not to forget my few lines. I’m distracted by the curious penguins marching along the ridge ag mo chosa, and those observing us from the snow-covered glaciers taobh thiar dúinn. I practise my cúpla focal out loud, they don’t seem to care, they are not bothered by us, perhaps gur chuala siad é uilig cheana. They look important and seem very busy even though there is not a lot for them to do.

Agus mar sin, tá an t-am tagtha, we stand with our back to the penguins and look out over the bay, displaying soaring glaciers and blue icebergs, tá an loinnir ar an uisce.  We can see our ship, our safe place, tá sé ag fanacht go foighneach for our return.

This Ciorcal Comhrá like all others, brings together a range of people with a common interest. There is a couple in our gathering with Irish ancestry, a bhí ag iarraidh pósadh in Éirinn, but they couldn’t find a parish that would allow it. Tá máthair agus mac ann ar mian leo cúpla focal Gaeilge a fhoghlaim to take back to their family and to be part of this experience. There is a girl from Melbourne. Tá sloinne Éireannach uirthi, she has done all the research and knows where her Irish ancestors are from and what brought them to Australia, she wants to feel a connection to them. This gathering includes a team leader from ár long, he’s from Canada, he wants to go chun cónaí ann agus oibriú in Éirinn lá amháin. We talk amongst ourselves about our reason for doing this today and spend some time teaching our cairde nua some Irish words and phrases. We record our achievement, and now we stake our claim. Creidimid this is the most southerly Pop-Up Gaeltacht and Ciorcal Comhrá in the world.

Some resources say the Irish Antarctic explorer Tom Crehan was a cainteoir dúchasach Gaeilge, did he use our language when he was here? Ernest Shackleton was born in Ireland, maybe he exchanged a cúpla focal with Tom when they were on the same voyage, but somehow, I don’t think there was any time for that. If they heard us today, would they be proud of us
ag tabhairt ár dteanga go bun an domhain?

A loud cracking noise drew our attention to our right, all heads turned in unison towards the sound of the distraction, this was followed by a roar like thunder. Ní raibh cuma dhifriúil ar aon rud ar feadh nóiméid, we could see falling sheets of snow and ice enter the water below the glacier. A ripple in the water turned into a small surging wave that grew weaker as it crossed the bay moving towards us. Sheas na daoine go socair, sheas na piongainí go socair, the birds were nowhere to be seen, sheas gach duine ina thost. I felt exhilarated and entranced;

I think my question has been answered.

Born and raised on the east coast of Ireland, Pauline moved to Australia with her husband in the mid 1980s.  Her Australian story started in the Northern Territory, living in Arnhem land then Darwin, before settling in Queensland with her family and their adorable Irish Water Spaniels.

Téarmaí/Terms

Ciorcal Comhrá – A circle/group of conversation
Chuig rud éigin níos mó ná mé féin – To something bigger than myself,
Á dhéanamh inniu – (But making a contribution) there today
Oighear gorm- Blue ice
Oighear uisce fuar – Cold water ice
Seasamh ar thalamh na hAntartaice – To stand on the land of the Antarctic
An bhfuil tu dáiríre? – Are you serious?
Den domhan – Of the world
Táimid anseo – We are here
Bhí cheithre shraith éadaí orainn – We had four layers of clothing on
Sneachta bándearg agus glas – Pink and green snow
Sneachta watermelon – Watermelon snow
Áit draíochta – A magical place
Ar mhór-roinn na Antartaice – On the continent of the Antarctic
Nuair a bhíomar ag taisteal anseo – When we were travelling here
Ag éisteacht leis an teanga á labhairt – Listening to the language being spoken
Mar creidimid – Because we believe
Ciorcal comhrá ar domhan – A conversation circle (in the world)
Táim ar bís agus neirbhíseach – I am stoked and nervous
Ag mo chosa – At my feet
Taobh thiar dúinn – Behind us
Cúpla focal – A few words
Chuala siad é uilig cheana – They’ve heard it all before
Agus mar sin, tá an t-am tagtha – And so, the time has come
Tá an loinnir ar an uisce – The sheen is on the water
Tá sé ag fanacht go foighneach – He is waiting patiently
A bhí ag iarraidh pósadh in Éirinn – That wanted to get married in Ireland
Tá máthair agus mac ann ar mian leo cúpla focal Gaeilge a fhoghlaim -There is a mother and son present who would like to learn a few Irish language words
Tá sloinne Éireannach uirthi – She has an Irish surname
Ár long – Our ship
Chun cónaí ann agus oibriú in Éirinn lá amháin – To live and work in Ireland someday
Cairde nua – New friends
Creidimid – We believe
Cainteoir dúchasach Gaeilge – Native Irish speaker
Ag tabhairt ár dteanga go bun an domhain – Bringing our language to the bottom of the world
Ní raibh cuma dhifriúil ar aon rud ar feadh nóiméad – There was nothing different for a minute
Sheas na daoine go socair, sheas na piongainí go socair – The people stood still, the penguins stood still
Sheas gach duine ina thost – Everyone stood silently