National Anthem

The Irish Times, this country’s paper of record, held a contest challenging readers to write a new national anthem. They published the winning entry on Monday. It epitomizes Irish humor on many levels, and I can’t do the song justice in words. I recommend a quick listen. You can hear it by logging onto http://www.irishtimes.com, type “National Anthem” in the search box and then you’ll be able to click on the blood boiling winning entry to hear it. I will provide the following background: the sheep’s baaaa in the song masks the word -- you guessed it -- “fucking.” The bits of Irish language (Gaeilge) spoken are meant to be ironic. (They are the first words Irish kids learn in elementary school: “one, two, three; yes teacher, I am present today.”) The mockery of the language has many cultural connections. Most Irish people find Gaeilge annoying: it’s an official language of the country, so the government mandates that all schoolchildren learn it well, and that all public signs, documents, etc. are written in it. It is practically a dead language, spoken only in a few remote regions by old codgers who people suspect just speak it for the government stipend involved. Yet it is, paradoxically, also a beloved language, as it’s revival at the turn of the century symbolized the rejection of English rule and the re-establishment of an independent Irish national identity. Finally, the current real Irish national anthem is in Irish, so nobody really understands it when it’s sung before sports matches.

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