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The Belfast in China, right?
NOS CULTURLANN MCADAM O FIAICH? Yes, we might send that letter to China as well.
On this of all weeks, when memories of the Leaving Cert wash over us along with that much-welcomed Vitamin D that comes with the glorious exam weather, it is easy to feel for people who are baffled by the Irish language.
But the bewildered don’t just include students. Has anybody thought of the postmen?
“It’s nothing new that letters addressed in Irish can sometimes create a challenge for postmen,” Tomaí Ó Conghaile told TheJournal.ie earlier today after his magazine received a letter four weeks late.
Why the delay?
The correspondence from a bank had somehow made its way to Macau, China.
“At first we thought it was a joke,” said Ó Conghaile, who is the editor of NÓS. “But there was a Chinese stamp mark on the back of the envelope – and it had ‘Missent to Macau’ printed across the front – so it seems the letter had been on a bit of an Asian adventure.”
The Belfast-based publication works from an Irish-language cultural and business hub called ‘Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich’.
“We’re guessing that somebody in Royal Mail confused ‘McAdam’ with ‘Macau’ and sent our mail to China. We can’t think of any other explanation as Belfast was even written in English,” mused the editor.
“Irish is taught at university level in Beijing and one of the most popular short films as Gaeilge is ‘Yu Ming Is Ainm Dom’ whose main character is a young Irish speaker from China. Maybe our missent letter is just part of this Irish-Chinese cultural exchange… we’ll be keeping our well-travelled envelope as a souvenir anyway.”
The letter was eventually sent back from Macau – a special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China and a former Portuguese colony – and Nos now has a nice souvenir for its office.
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The Chinese, a great bunch of lads for returning that letter.
It is considering Micheal Martin impression of a chinaman some years ago.
Heard once that quite a lot of New Zealand mail for the Cook Islands kept arriving in Cork, Ireland…that is until they fixed the mail sortation software in Auckland.
Because the word Belfast sounds very oriental………
As John says, the movie mentioned above Yu Ming Is Ainm Dom is great. Check it out.
And, by the way, the guys at NÓS publish what is probably the best designed magazine in the country. I’m sure the quality would surprise a lot of people who haven’t heard of it – http://www.nosmag.com
Maith sibh!
Its an orange joke well they probably think its funny.
Can’t imagine Germans or French or Swedes or Serbs regarding their own language as a foreign language.
The Irish do.
The English won.
How on earth can this happen when I can’t even achieve delivery of a card from England to Monkstown?! Baffling if not strangely amusing!
With the word ‘BELFAST’ in the address it is clear that English also poses a challenge for the postman involved.
If you haven’t watched the movie mentioned above – do. Tis very good. http://youtu.be/qA0a62wmd1A
Surely the postage paid should give some indication….
This is where the Irish name places on estates will cost lives as sat nabs and non national drivers will be delayed from trying to work out the Irish names. Kids will die snd sick people will suffer as a result of bloody Irish language agenda from SF. Trying to divide society like Belfast. Irish should be banished from schools snd the money spent creating jobs.
Yeah. I think the government shouldn’t get involved in what language people want to speak or learn in schools. Irish place names and people’s names in Irish are so hard to pronounce and spell. I don’t know why people change their English language sounding names to something unpronounceable.
Jesus Christ
I’m not very good at Irish but my god the last few comments above are horrendous! What is wrong with you people?
This has to be a joke… Irish is the forst language of the republic… I don’t think there is even a small minority who would support your statement…. Bilingualism is part of our culture, and I am proud to have an Irish name!
I don’t have any trouble pronouncing them, but then I suppose I am Irish and live in Ireland, you know, where Irish is the national language? Just a thought.
By that logic we wouldn’t have formal education in Ireland. There are well over 100 different languages spoken in Ireland today how would you propose we educate are children? And surely you’re ability to pronounce in most cases is directly related to your ability in said language e.g. I’d say my surname might be difficult for someone who doesn’t know the dh is silent. Presumably, the same is true for most surnames with which are not familiar to you.
SO TRUE, FRANK2521!!!!! DID YA SEE WHAT THEM ONES ARE DOING TO STREET SIGNS IN BRITISH ULSTÈR?!?!?!
http://americaphile.wordpress.com/2013/02/05/sinn-feinirasdlpalliance-go-for-the-nuclear-option/
IT’S ALL PART OF THEIR CULTURE WAR, JACK!!!!!!
http://americaphile.wordpress.com/2013/02/19/tweeting-death-threats-from-outer-space/
This doesn’t surprise me at all. In 1982 when my son was born we were living in Boston and sent Birth Notice cards to all our friends in Ireland. Not a word heard back for three months and we were baffled. I’d addressed the cards “Eire” and they’d all gone to Ecuador! So it happens and continues to happen.
I sent my car keys from England to Ireland, clearly stated the address and it went to Columbia somehow too
IF YOU WANT TO SPEAK LEPRECHAUN, YOU KNOW WHERE THE BORDER IS!!!!!
http://americaphile.wordpress.com/2013/05/28/the-carrickfergus-response/
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