Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam
Written for English speakers and editorial rather than sourced. It will get you close enough to be understood, and it is not a substitute for a native speaker. Recorded audio is planned; see About.
When to use it For language-revival contexts, a rallying cry rather than a blessing.
About this saying
The motto of the language revival, and the line that carried a movement: a country without a language is a country without a soul. It is universally attributed to Patrick Pearse, Pádraig Mac Piarais, teacher, writer, and executed leader of the 1916 Rising. Though he may have adopted an existing slogan rather than coined it, and the record’s note says so. Unusually for this site, it is a modern authored saying rather than folk tradition, published under the policy that attributed modern sayings are in scope when the page states the attribution.
Provenance
Where this wording comes from. We publish nothing we cannot point at.
- GovernmentGovernment of Ireland: ireland.ie11 seanfhocail (proverbs) that unlock timeless wisdom through the Irish languageattested in the page’s image captions: "Irish seanfhocail: Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam"
- Published useBitesize Irish: bitesize.irishHow to say an Irish historical motto in Irish — Bitesize Irishprints “Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam” and attributes it to Pádraig Mac Piarais (Patrick Pearse)