From Dingle to Dangle: What’s in a name
St Petersburg doesn’t get any tourists. It used to when it was Leningrad but then they changed the name and the tourists all went to Vladivostock instead because they couldn’t find Leiningrad. Because people are stupid.
So Irish. And so funny. Follow this if you can. A town called Dingle. In Irish, An Daingean, or it’s full name Daingean Uí Chúis. On the Dingle peninsula. In Irish, Corcha Dhuibhne.
It’s also in a Gaeltacht, and the Minister responsible has said that the Irish version is the official name. That’s normal procedure for the Gaeltacht. Indeed you might argue it’s the very point of the Gaeltacht. Down the road from Dingle is Ventry. The signs say Ceann Trá.
But we make our money from tourism and the tourists won’t find Dingle anymore because Dingle won’t be on the maps. And people are stupid. So where will all these tourists intending to go to Dingle be?
Will they make it as far as the Dingle peninsula? And possibly ask in the biggest town on the Dingle peninsula - the former Dingle - where Dingle might be? Or will they keep going around Slea Head and take a boat to the Blaskets as they ignore every tourist sign and business sign that refers to Dingle. No honey, I know all the unofficial signs say this is Dingle but the official one says it’s An Daingean, whatever that means, so I ain’t stopping.
Will Fungi now be the Daingean Dolphin?
But there’s already a town in Ireland called Daingean, and people looking for An Daingean will get confused and go there instead of our town. That’s right, people looking for a coastal town by mountains in the province of Munster in the county of Kerry, will end up in a midlands town by bogs in the province of Leinster in the county of Offaly. Because people are stupid.
Rather than go with the plebiscite (result due tomorrow) suggestion of adopting the bilingual name of “Dingle/Daingean Uí Chúis” I suggest everyone compromise and go with a new name for both languages, Dangle.
And why discuss it on IrishKC? None other than Dublin’s Eddie Delahunt is former resident of some reknown, of the town - Let’s call it X as local councillor Breandan MacGearailt suggests it could be (via BBC). I like that; the Malcolm X approach. Reminiscent of Stroke City for Derry. Oh, don’t start that one.
The Guardian has more background. And Wikipedia tells you the basics, the basics that the tourists won’t dream of checking online before they fly to Shannon to look for the lost town of Dingle, and end up spending their money in Ventry instead.
LOOK for yourself:
A beautiful picture of the peninsula (1Mb - scroll and enjoy)
Eolaí gan Fhéile:
Do you know if they still paint over the English in white? Like at the edges of the Gaeltacht, or has this form of ‘protest’ died off since the new legislation? I remember this from Conemara and Donegal years ago but I don’t live in Ireland anymore. Maybe there’ll be an English language activist group running about the Gaeltacht in the middle of the night with buckets of white gloss paint. But seriously has anybody seen anything like this in the past year?