Talk:Coláiste na bhFiann

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[edit] The Origins

This entry (as well as its companion page on Irish-language Vicipéid) is a little gem for two reasons. Firstly, it reads like an advertisement for Coláiste na bhFiann, and much of its content closely resembles the information on the College's own website. It is, in fact, under no circumstances, a work of objective information. No attempt is made to allow for critical analysis or debate. Indeed, from the stair (history) page on Vicipéid, it would appear that both entries were written by the College Acting President, Caitríona ní Cheallaigh. The clincher is the link "About us," or on Vicipéid, "Eolas fúinn," which are not the type of links one should find on an encyclopedia. And it should be noted that the Honour Roll of former students is essentially confined to those whose career accomplishments revolve around the Irish Language Movement. The second reason why this page is a little gem is because it ignores the origins and the original aims of Coláiste na bhFiann, and, in particular, the man whose energy and charisma were the driving force of the College in its early years: Domhnall Ó Lubhlaí.

The origins of Coláiste na bhFiann go back to a scheme, in the 1960's, administered by Gael-Linn, and partly financed by the Irish Government. A child (10--14) from an English-speaking area would be sent to the Gaeltacht, for three months, to live in a family where there were children of the child's own age. He or she would live as a member of the family, attending the local school and participating in local sports events. The scheme seemed successful and it was decided to open a summer one-month college for "past pupils." This led to Coláiste Mhac Dara in An Ceathrú Rua (Carraroe). Groups of boys and girls stayed in local houses. The Árdmháistir (Headmaster) was Domhnall Ó Lubhlaí and he set up a disciplinary system, largely based on his experience when a soldier in An Céad Cath Gaelach (The Irish-speaking First Battalion) in Galway. The system relied on a hierarchy of cinnirí (student leaders) ranging from a cinnire seomra (room leader) to the príomh-cinnirí (principle leaders), one for the boys and one for the girls. The day began with mass, after which, the girls were sent back to their lodgings, while the boys did a half-hour of military drill. The high-point was a march, in formation, from the ("new") school to the lake at the entrance to An Ceathrú Rua. The morning was then devoted to classes, the afternoon to swimming, sports and other activities and the evening to a céilí, where students learnt and danced Irish set-dances. (This was obviously before the days of Riverdance!)

In or about 1968, Ó Lubhlaí and Gael-Linn parted company and Ó Lubhlaí decided to set up his own college in Rosmuc. The then parish priest, An t-Athair Ó Mórán, was opposed to "Muintir Bhláth Cliath" (Dublin people) coming to corrupt his parishioners, but a meeting was held and the mná tí (women-of-the-house) prevailed. That summer, Rosmuc received its first 60 students, displacing themselves by bicycle and holding classes, dances and other activities in the sean-scoil (old school). At evening, after the céilí (dance), the shouts would be heard, "Seas le do rothar" (Stand by your bicycle) as the students prepared to return to their host families. And, as a result, the tradition developed of singing the National Anthem before the last dance. To Ó Lubhlaí, however, Rosmuc was holy ground as the patriot-poet, Pádraig Mac Piarais (Patrick Pearse) had bought a small cottage there and had walked the roads of the area. Mac Piarais had also set many of his short stories in and around Rosmuc. It may be noted, in passing, that Ó Lubhlaí venerated Mac Piarais to the point of idolatry. At first, he wanted to call his college Coláiste ĺosagán, after the name given to the boy Jesus, when, in one of Mac Piarais's stories, He visited an infirm old man in Rosmuc. Someone, however, remembered that there was a boarding-school of that name in the County Cork Gaeltacht. So, Coláiste na bhFiann came into being! The semi-military discipline was toned down, but there were still quasi-military parades, at morning and evening, attended by the girls as well as the boys, for the raising and lowering of the College flag and the Irish Tricolour. The system of cinnirí was perfected. (It should be noted that the system, as then practiced on Coláiste na bhFiann, was not identical to that practiced now; to find a parallel with the College's then system, one might profitably look to Coláiste Chamuis!) As if to counteract this semi-military ethos, Ó Lubhlaí allowed a certain relaxing of discipline in other areas. Cigarette-smoking was permitted. By the standards of the time, and remembering that the students came from gender-segregated schools, a certain mild sexual license was allowed (although it was also part of the plan to encourage the teenagers to eventually marry other past-pupils of the College, thus creating families loyal to the Coláiste's ethos!). In addition, Ó Lubhlaí was, at the time, a heavy drinker and he permitted, even encouraged, senior boy students to drink in local hostelries. The situation reached its most absurd when the two principle girl cinnirí came to Ó Lubhlaí to ask why the senior girl students could not also frequent public houses. They were rapidly fobbed off. With the semi-military discipline revolving around Ó Lubhlaí, the College was effectively run as a series of "inner circles" inside other "inner circles," the most influential being that which revolved around Ó Lubhlaí, when he was drinking.

What was the ethos of Coláiste na bhFiann when it first came into being? To discover this, we may profitably look to the "Ámhrán an Choláiste" ("The College Song"). It is available on Coláiste na bhFiann's own website. Having settled on the name of the College, Ó Lubhlaí took the air of the marching song, "The Bold Fenian Men." There were also words in Irish to the air of this march: "Rosc Catha na Mumhan." The final line of each stanza was "Fágaí an bealach, Rosc Catha na Mumhan" ("Leave open the way," or, more vulgarly, "Get out of our way, The Battle Cry of Munster.") Ó Lubhlaí took this line and rendered it as "Fágaí an bealach, Rosc Catha na bhFiann" ("Get out of our way, the Battle Cry of the Fiann(a)"). The words "Fág a' Bealach" became the College motto and were sewn onto its flag. It all fitted neatly together. Then, aided by his wife, Caitlín Bean Uí Lubhlaí (affectionately known to many students as "Caitlín Bean," pronounced "ban"), he wrote the words which were to become, not just "Ámhrán an Choláiste" ("The College Song"), but a statement of Coláiste na bhFiann's objectives and of its ethos--at least, as envisaged by Ó Lubhlaí.

The first two words of the song are telling: "Déagóirí muide" ("sinne") ("Teenagers are we"). In 1968, many of the students had seen on television the events in Paris of what seemed to be a May revolution. Anti-Vietnam War protests were also prevalent, and protest songs were literally "blowing in the wind." While the first College was in session, Russian tanks invaded Czeckoslovakia, putting an end to the "Prague Spring." And in the Bogside, Bernadette Devlin stood on the barricades and was shown on television screens around the world as an Irish revolutionary heroine. In Connemara, Gluaiseacht Cearta Sibhialta na Gaeltachta (The Gaeltacht Civil Rights Movement) had made its appearance, and Ó Lubhlaí turned a blind eye to some of his senior students "moonlighting" on Gluaiseacht activities. 1968 was indeed a heady time to be a teenager; it seemed, at least to the young, that youth was poised to change the world--and for the better. A line from "The College Song" expresses this belief: "Is muide ("sinne") a réiteoidh as seo amach" ("We will sort things out henceforth"). The youth of Coláiste na bhFiann was poised to change Ireland--and for the better.

The objectives of Coláiste na bhFiann, at its inception, can also be found in "The College Song." Ó Lubhlaí often described Ireland's concerns as a three-legged stool and he expressed them in that song as "Gaeilge" (the Irish language), "Geilleagar" (economic activity) and "Gall ins an tír seo" (foreigners in this country). For the purposes of analysis, it may prove useful to take them in reverse order.

On the matter of "foreigners in this land," Ó Lubhlaí made no secret of his own convictions. As a young man, he had been arrested for I.R.A. activities. One Saturday evening, he was seen on Irish television frisking delegates as they arrived at a Provisional Sinn Féin Annual Assembly. Again, his thinking on this subject was heavily influenced by his admiration for Pádraig Mac Piarais. There was a vague consensus among students of the College, with varying degrees of intensity, that the British should not be in any part of Ireland. However, to be fair to Ó Lubhlaí, he never made any attempt to use the College as a recruiting ground.

Economic activity was something that no one on the College really understood. It was passed over with a wise and respectful bow. (Ironically, however, if Connemara is a prosperous place today, at least some small measure of credit must be attributed to Coláiste na bhFiann and to the other coláistí samhradh,--Irish-language summer colleges--that sprung up all over the Gaeltacht.)

The Irish language, however, was the specialty of Coláiste na bhFiann. On the first year of the College (1968), the students were divided into two classes and Ó Lubhlaí taught the senior class. It was as a teacher that his energy and charisma were at their most potent. He taught much of the history of Irish and of the attempts to revive it as a living language. His primary source was the work of Douglas Hyde, "beefed up" by the writings, the life and the death of Mac Piarais. Hyde, founder of The Gaelic League, had called for the complete deanglicisation of Ireland. Irish was to be the sole language of family, education, business, sport and even worship. The words "Aithbheochaint na Gaeilge" ("The Irish Revival") were central to Ó Lubhlaí's teachings, being the ultimate objective of Coláiste na bhFiann. It was a far cry from the desire to "encourage a positive attitude to the language" and "to teach young people to speak Irish in a welcoming environment"--these being the present objectives of Coláiste na bhFiann, as stated on its own website.

But the pioneers of 1968 were to enjoy at least one moment of glory. The 60 students were put onto a cattle truck and transported to Coláiste Lurgan in An Spidéal (Spiddal) so that the students (and teachers) of another college could see the élite of Irish-speaking students.

Coláiste na bhFiann prospered, as can be seen by its website. Its rule whereby one full sentence in English entailed immediate expulsion was brought to extreme proportions, as when a student was sent home for saying, "Pardon me" after she belched. (The College's website now shows various relaxations of this rule!) Cumann na bhFiann also prospered, but that story must be told elsewhere. Unhappily, however, events turned against Ó Lubhlaí and left him in disfavour. None of the College's public utterances, be they oral, written or electronic make mention of his work and of his achievement. And with the expunging of Ó Lubhlaí's name, the origins of Coláiste na bhFiann have been consigned to the scrapheap of non-history.AnGobanSaor (talk) 07:45, 31 May 2008 (UTC)