“Gael an Taobh Thuaidh”: The Irish Language in Brendan Behan’s Journalistic Writing

28 “GAEL AN TAOBH THUAIDH”: THE IRISH LANGUAGE IN BRENDAN BEHAN’S JOURNALISTIC WRITING1 Rad an Ma kus DOI: h ps://doi.o g/10.14712/2571452X.2024.67.3 Abs ac : The a icle explo es Behan’s jou nalis ic ou pu in I ish as well as he ole o I ish in his English a icles o The I ish P ess, published be ween 1951 and 1957. I pays a en ion o ins ances o mul ilingualism, he e oglossia, and hyb idi y in he co pus, u he co obo a ing he idea o Behan as a undamen ally mul ilingual w i e , who did no en i ely abandon I ish e en a e choosing English as his main a is ic medium. This can be also seen om he ange o li e a y e e ences o I ish-language wo ks made in he a icles. Behan’s ideological posi ions a e highligh ed, including his mis us o he o icial use o I ish, his admi a ion o he A an Islands, and his keen e o o connec I ish o wo king-class Dublin and he p o ince o Leins e in gene al. In a bold mo e, Behan uses I ish o build b idges no only be ween I eland and F ance, bu also be ween I ish Ca holics and P o es an s, and ul ima ely be ween I eland and England. The language eme ges no me ely as a ma ke o na ional iden i y o a emnan o a p e- colonial pas , bu as a hyb id in e ace enabling he au ho o each ou ac oss a ious cul u al di ides. Keywo ds: B endan Behan, I ish language, hyb idi y, mul ilingualism, jou nalism While B endan Behan gained his ame p ima ily as an Anglophone w i e , his engagemen wi h he I ish language was mul i- ace ed and mani old. O e he decades, a deg ee o c i ical a en ion has been de o ed o his dimension o he au ho ’s wo k, especially o he conside able quali ies o his ea ly I ish-language 1 This wo k was suppo ed by he Eu opean Regional De elopmen Fund p ojec “Beyond Secu i y: Role o Con lic in Resilience-Building” ( eg. no.: CZ.02.01.01/00/ 22_008/0004595). “Gael an Taobh Thuaidh” 29 poems,2 he ela ion o An Giall o The Hos age,3 as well as he use o I ish in The Qua e Fellow.4 In an ea lie a icle co-w i en wi h James Li le, I ha e a gued ha he ypical iew o Behan as an au ho who simply swi ched om I ish o English is o e ly simple.5 I is mo e enligh ening o see him p incipally as a mul ilingual and he e oglossic w i e who me ely changed he main medium o his ou pu – ou o a desi e o gain a la ge audience, bu also o a is ic easons. Despi e his p o iciency and wide eading in I ish, his s ylis ic command o he language was no su icien o c ea e he he e oglossic apes y ha cha ac e ises his ma u e w i ing. Mo eo e , he medium o I ish denied him he oppo uni y o inco po a e a ious dialec s o English, which a e an inhe en ma ke o his s yle. Ye , I ish emained an o en-used ing edien in his English ex s, se ing no me ely as an embellishmen , bu as a ehicle o con ey impo an meanings, mo e o en han no unde mining es ablished au ho i y. Behan’s A icles in Comha This endency is appa en no only in his li e a y ex s, bu also in his jou nalis ic w i ing, which is he subjec o he p esen a icle. Some ea ly examples o Behan’s jou nalism can be ound in he I ish-language jou nal Comha , which had al eady been publishing his poe y since he mid-1940s.6 As he o me edi o o Comha , Rioba d Mac Gó áin, has eminisced, Bhí de nós ag B eandán Ó Beacháin a á nach aibh ach dhá i is ann a bh éad adh sé bhei h ag b a h o hu a shao ha a hoilsiú nuai a bhí sé ina sc íbhneoi óg gan ai d. Ba iadsan Poin s i bPá as agus Comha in Éi inn. 2 Colbe Kea ney, “An Rannai e: Filíoch Bh eandáin Uí Bheacháin,” Sc íobh 3 (1978): 44-57; John B annigan, B endan Behan: Cul u al Na ionalism and he Re isionis W i e (Dublin: Fou Cou s P ess, 2002), 61-67. Rióna Ní Fh ighil, “B endan Behan’s I ish-Language Poe y,” in Reading B endan Behan, ed. John McCou (Co k: Co k Uni e si y P ess, 2019), 93-116. 3 B annigan, B endan Behan 102-106. Clíona Ní Río dáin, “B endan Behan’s The Hos age: T ansla ion, Adap a ion o Rec ea ion o An Giall?” in Reading B endan Behan, 117-26. 4 Richa d Rankin Russell, “B endan Behan’s Lamen o Gaelic I eland: The Qua e Fellow,” New Hibe nia Re iew / I is Éi eannach Nua 6, no. 1 (Sp ing 2002): 73-93. 5 James Li le and Rad an Ma kus, “Coe ci e Con inemen and I ish Languages: Ó Cadhain, Behan, Heaney, Oko ie,” Re iew o I ish S udies in Eu ope 5, no. 2 (2022): 25, h ps:// doi.o g/10.32803/ ise. 5i2.3073. 6 Ní Fh ighil, “B endan Behan’s I ish-Language Poe y,” 93. Rad an Ma kus 30 [B endan Behan used o say ha he e had been only wo jou nals ha he could ely on o publish his wo k when he was a young w i e wi hou a en ion. These we e Poin s in Pa is and Comha in I eland.]7 The i s o he a icles was published in Ap il 1951 and con ains Behan’s accoun o he un inished pilg image o Rome ha he unde ook wi h An hony C onin he yea be o e.8 Apa om en e aining anecdo es and a desc ip ion o he alling ou be ween he wo iends, he a icle is ema kable o mixing languages – alongside I ish we can ind nume ous ph ases in F ench, and occasional English wo ds. In addi ion, he Ge man ph ase, “S ad lu mach ei” [ he ci y ai libe a es], is employed in a a ia ion on Behan’s cons an heme, i.e. ex olling he i ues o he ci y as opposed o he coun yside, in de iance o he ideal I eland as imagined by Éamon de Vale a.9 An exquisi e example o mul ilingual in e play appea s when Behan gi es, in I ish spelling, an app oxima ion o he F ench p onuncia ion o he English name o he I ish capi al: “Dubleadh, I lande.”10 In 1952 and 1953, he e ollowed a se ies o six a icles, en i led “Pléascáin i Sasana” [Explosi es in England]. These ocus on he IRA bombing campaign in England in 1939-1940; al hough hey a e a guably no eliable as a ac ual accoun ,11 hey con ain many seeds o he app oach applied la e in Bo s al Boy, o en ee ing away om his o y and ideology o humo ous anecdo es and i id pe sonal encoun e s. Despi e he mili an heme, hey occasionally show sympa hy wi h o dina y people in England and cas i onic doub on Behan’s you h ul commi men o he cause. A good example is an accoun o a Republican pa ade on O’Connell S ee on Eas e Sunday, 1939, whe e Behan and his iend, Ca hal Goulding, we e appoin ed as o e see s. Behan deal udely wi h some English ou is s who we e aking pic u es o he op o a am, o ce ully aking ilms ou o hei came as. In e ospec , he no es he Lancashi e accen o one o hem and unde s ands “nach aibh aon huada aoin bh ea seo ach éaló a eadh cúpla lá ó dhea ach Rochdale nó Bol on” [ ha his man me ely s o e o escape o a ew days om he Rochdale o Bol on smog].12 He concludes by a c i ical 7 Rioba d Mac Gó áin, “B eandán Ó Beacháin: ‘Nach bh uilimse in ann Gaeilge a sc íobh?’” Comha 43, no. 3 (1984): 10. T ansla ions o I ish-language quo a ions in his a icle a e my own unless s a ed o he wise. 8 Mái éad Ní Chinnéide, “Sao ha P óis Gaeilge Uí Bheacháin,” Comha 69, no. 4 (2009): 22. 9 B eandán Ó Beacháin, “Na hOili h igh,” Comha 10, no. 4 (1951): 21. 10 Ó Beacháin, “Na hOili h igh,” 22. 11 Ní Chinnéide, “Sao ha P óis,” 22-23. 12 B eandán Ó Beacháin, “Anonn go Sasana,” Comha 11, no. 12 (1952): 24. “Gael an Taobh Thuaidh” 31 assessmen o his own ole in he e en : “Sin baois agus buaileam scia h na hóige.” [Tha is he olly and b aggadocio o you h.]13 The e is e idence ha Behan planned, as a ollow-up on his se ies, o publish an I ish-language book on his expe ience in English p isons.14 He, o cou se, w o e Bo s al Boy ins ead, bu i is o no e ha in 1956, Comha published an anecdo e desc ibing Behan’s encoun e , in Li e pool jail, wi h he amous hangman Albe Pie epoin .15 The I ish P ess A icles: Mul ilingualism and Li e a y Re e ences Simul aneously wi h his wo k o Comha , Behan w o e English a icles, ske ches and essays o The I ish P ess, s a ing in Augus 1951. These sho ex s, including he weekly columns which he p oduced om 1953 o 1956, we e ecen ly edi ed by John B annigan unde he i le A Bi o a W i e : B endan Behan’s Collec ed Sho P ose (2023), and he p esen s udy is g ea ly indeb ed o his in aluable sou ce. Th ee o Behan’s I ish P ess a icles we e w i en in I ish (al hough hey did no make i in o he collec ed olume), which u he es i ies o he au ho ’s commi men o he language in his pe iod.16 In he analysis ha ollows, signi ican use will be made o hese, as hey con ain much ha is ele an o he hemes o his s udy. The e is no denying, howe e , ha Behan’s main jou nalis ic ou pu was in English, as amply illus a ed by he 109 a icles in B annigan’s collec ion. I is a de ini e ea u e o Behan’s mul ilingual s yle ha mos o he I ish P ess a icles in English con ain, in some o m o ano he , I ish wo ds, ph ases o whole passages. Again, his happens alongside he use o F ench (especially in a icles desc ibing Behan’s expe ience in Pa is) and he i ual omnip esence o a ious dialec s o English (o Hibe no-English). Ou o he a icles, only a ba e minimum con ain well-known ph ases (a g á, a cha a, ná bac leis)17 which migh ha e been 13 Ó Beacháin, “Anonn go Sasana,” 24. 14 Cian Ó hÉigea aigh and Aoileann Nic Gea ail , Sái séal agus Dill 1947-1981: Scéal Foilsi heo a (Ind eabhán: Cló Ia -Chonnach , 2014), 115-29. 15 B eandán Ó Beacháin, “Cú saí C oiche,” Comha 15, no. 5 (1956): 13-14. All in all, Behan w o e eigh a icles o Comha unde his own name. In addi ion o i , Ní Chinnéide claims ha he is he au ho o an a icle on Maud Gonne om June 1953, signed “An I.R.A. Nua” [ he new IRA]. Ní Chinnéide, “Sao ha P óis,” 23. 16 B eandán Ó Beacháin, “Smaoin e a Á ainn,” I ish P ess, 9 Augus 1954, 2; “Oigh each an Ghaeil sa Li íoch ,” I ish P ess, 17 Ma ch 1955, 2; “Micheál Ó Maoláin,” I ish P ess, 21 Augus 1955, 2. I ish Newspape A chi es. 17 John B annigan, ed. A Bi o a W i e : B endan Behan’s Collec ed Sho P ose (Dublin: The Lillipu P ess, 2023), 40, 215, 344. Fu he e e ences o his edi ion a e gi en in pa en heses in he ex . The i s o he exp essions, a g á, lacks he leni ion equi ed by Rad an Ma kus 32 employed o gi e he ex an ‘I ish la ou .’ I a single wo d o sho ph ase is used, i seems o be mo e an exp ession o a mind ha is accus omed o hink in wo (o se e al) languages and happens o come ac oss he igh concep in an idiom ha is no he p ima y medium o he ex . Behan e e s, o ins ance, o “ he ligh and ae ach [gay] days o my you h” (216), o s a es ha he chose “sli o dha na measa dhac a” [sic; he golden pa h o mode a ion] when deciding wha song o sing in he company o O angemen (49). Mos o he I ish passages, hough, a e much longe , and e en hen a ely accompanied by a ansla ion. The esul is ha Behan’s a icles a e uly maca onic ex s, ully unde s andable only o hose well e sed bo h in English and I ish. The impo ance o I ish in he a icles is u he unde sco ed by he ac ha hey equen ly quo e o e e o I ish-language li e a u e om he se en een h cen u y o he au ho ’s p esen . Behan e e ences eigh een h-cen u y songs like “Cill Cais” (19) and “Sliabh na mBan” (25, 268, 291), as well as he nine een h- cen u y dia y Cinnlae Amhlaoibh Uí Shúileabháin (290). Special a en ion is de o ed o B ian Me iman’s Cúi an Mheán-Oíche, which, acco ding o an I ish-language a icle om Ma ch 1955, Behan encoun e ed a school, al hough he ins uc ion did no go beyond he innocuous p ologue. He hen sea ched o he es o he poem in he Na ional Lib a y, whe e he ead i along wi h i s Ge man ansla ion, a maca onic expe ience pa excellence. La e in he a icle, he c i icises he Cla e Coun y Council ha hey would no le a memo ial be buil on Me iman’s g a e, on accoun o he pe cei ed immo ali y o he poem.18 Behan u he quo es he opening lines o he poem in wo English a icles (63, 272), he second ime accompanying hem by his own I ish-language qua ain in p aise o he poe w i en in he s yle o he Cúi i sel . The la e a icle, published in July 1955, also con ains a passage om he beginning o Me iman’s mas e piece in Behan’s own ansla ion, ai ly simila o he one ha appea ed la e in Bo s al Boy. The only signi ican di e ence is he ende ing o he line “An séi hleach sea bh gan sealbh gan saibh eas,”19 which appea s as “Le hopeless eyes, long s uped in gall” (272) in he a icle, bu as “Le a wi he ed old ballocks, bu ich, in gall” in he no el.20 The la e ansla ion is no only close o he le e o he o iginal, bu also o i s i e e en one. The appea ance o he passage in I ish g amma (a gh á). Such g amma ical mis akes abound in he a icles (as opposed o hose in Comha ), no doub due o he absence o an I ish-language edi o . 18 Ó Beacháin, “Oigh each an Ghaeil,” 2. 19 B ian Me iman, Cúi an Mheon-Oíche, ed. Liam P. Ó Mu chú (Dublin: An Clóchomha , 1982), 19. 20 B endan Behan, Bo s al Boy (London: A ow Books, 1990), 310. “Gael an Taobh Thuaidh” 33 The I ish P ess in 1955 is an in e es ing piece o e idence conce ning he his o y o Behan’s ansla ion o he Cúi , he manusc ip o which, as he admi s in he same a icle, had al eady been los .21 Ye , Behan e ained he opening passage in memo y and de eloped i be ween 1955 and 1958, when Bo s al Boy was published. O was he me ely mo e ou spoken in a book published in London as opposed o an a icle in a majo I ish newspape ? Behan’s web o e e ence, howe e , is no limi ed o eigh een h-cen u y mas e pieces. He is a equal ease discussing mode n wo ks like Mícheál B ea hnach’s Seilg i measc na nAlp (1917), Peada Ó Laoghai e’s Mo Sgéal Féin (1915) o Liam Ó Rinn’s Mo Cha a S io án (1939) (125, 358, 250). Subs an ial passages in wo a icles a e de o ed o a s o y om Tomás Ó Máille’s collec ion o a icles An Ghao h Ania (1920) abou he possible eal-li e inspi a ion o Ch is y Mahon in J.M. Synge’s The Playboy o he Wes e n Wo ld (251-52, 254-56).22 This ou each es i ies o Behan’s wide eading in I ish-language li e a u e, ini ia ed a school, widened in he I ish p isons, and con inued e en du ing he yea s in which he w o e p edominan ly in English. His s a emen om a 1954 a icle, “I ha e ne e done much o he I ish language, beyond wha I w o e and was paid o ” (148), seems, in his ligh , o e ly modes . Ideological Posi ioning In a numbe o he I ish P ess a icles, Behan posi ions I ish wi hin he ideological discou ses o he ime. As in his o he w i ings, he is suspicious abou he o icial ole o he language, including (somewha pa adoxically, gi en he way Behan himsel mas e ed I ish) i s s a us as an obliga o y subjec a school. In “Oigh each an Ghaeil sa Lí ioch ” [The Gaelic Li e a y Legacy], he 1955 a icle e e enced abo e, he i onically s a es ha he is one o he “Gaeilgeoi í éigean acha” [compulso y I ish speake s] and admi s ha he did no especially enjoy he I ish- medium schooling ha he wen h ough, despi e his g a i ude o he educa ion sys em o exposing him o he gems o eigh een h-cen u y poe y.23 Elsewhe e, he no es he dis us o he inhabi an s o Dublin’s No hside owa ds s a e 21 Acco ding o Ulick O’Conno , Behan eci ed he ull ansla ion in 1952 in McDaid’s pub in Dublin, bu los he manusc ip in a igh in he Conse a i e Club in Yo k S ee h ee days la e . See Ulick O’Conno , B endan Behan (London: G anada, 1979), 122. In he a icle, hough, Behan claims ha he manusc ip was mislaid by his ellow pain e du ing a econs uc ion o a chu ch in he same s ee (272). F om his i appea s ha he s o y abou he manusc ip ’s loss had a leas wo e sions. 22 Tomás Ó Máille, An Ghao h Ania (Dublin: Comhluch Oideachais na hÉi eann, 1920), 93-98. 23 Ó Beacháin, “Oigh each an Ghaeil,” 2. Rad an Ma kus 34 employees coming om o he pa s o he coun y, no ing ha “We ha e ne e me a ci ic gua d o a eache o a doc o in he hospi al ha spoke like ou sel es.”24 This e e s p ima ily o he di e ence in he dialec o English, ye as an example o a eache ’s speech Behan uses he I ish ph ase Sin amach do lamh [sic; s e ch ou you hand], p esumably applied be o e he adminis a ion o co po al punishmen (24). The connec ion o I ish (o any o he language) wi h au ho i y clea ly does no mee wi h Behan’s app o al. Seemingly mo e in line wi h he ideology o de Vale a’s I eland is Behan’s emo ional a achmen o he Blaske s and he A an Islands. A he same ime, hough, he dissocia es he islands om he idealiza ion o u al li e as p ac iced by de Vale a, and e en in an A an se ing, does no hesi a e o claim: “I su e om he na ional disease, ag ophobia o ea o ag icul u e” (29). Like J.M. Synge be o e him, he connec s he islands wi h eedom and a is ic inspi a ion, imagining hem as a pa adise o w i e s, “ he Shang i-La o he I ish in elligen sia” (192). Behan alks abou he A an islande s’ espec o a in a ious o ms, men ioning ha hey ake w i ing “as se iously as any o he so o wo k” (30). Wi h sa is ac ion, he no es: “Nowhe e else ha e I ound i so easy o si down a he ypew i e , and wo k away, wi hou eeling ha I was in any way ega ded as a c iminal luna ic o idle endencies.” (31) In con as o Synge, howe e , pu i y o cul u e o language does no play a ole in his high app ecia ion: Behan is happy o ep oduce he mixing o I ish and English in he islande s’ speech (26) and epo on a “hooley” on Inishmo e which included “hal -a-dozen Eu opean na ionali ies” (358). A u he di e ence lies in he ac ha while Synge a emp ed o po ay he islande s as i ually un ouched by mode ni y, Behan seconds hei wish o mode n echnological imp o emen s, such as awle s which would allow hem “ o go ou a ew miles and ca ch he ish ha lie o hei sho es” (28). In an I ish- language a icle om Augus 1954, de o ed wholly o he p aise o A an, he no es he use o “ luo escen ligh ing” in some o he houses, ollowing he islande s’ own hyb id speech pa e n in lea ing he ph ase in English. In a e o o hose who would p e e o see he islands as p emode n, Behan laconically s a es: “Bhoil, pé ud a d’ hág Dia de dhí h o ha ní hé an uiscin , an mheanmnach , nó an dul-a -aghaidh é.” [Well, wha e e God le hem lacking i is no unde s anding, in elligence o p og ess.]25 In his app oach o he Gael ach as a place in need o mode niza ion, Behan was likely inspi ed by his iend and men o , he celeb a ed I ish-language w i e Mái ín Ó Cadhain, whom he knew om Fianna Éi eann and he IRA and encoun e ed again in he Cu agh Camp in 1944 a he onse o 24 Fo a discussion o his passage, see also B annigan, B endan Behan, 68. 25 Ó Beacháin, “Smaoin e a Á ainn,” 2. “Gael an Taobh Thuaidh” 35 his w i ing ca ee .26 Th ough much o his li e, Ó Cadhain ehemen ly a gued agains he endency o making I ish-speaking a eas a ‘museum’ o old ways o li e and campaigned o economic imp o emen s in hese egions.27 These obse a ions p o ide an impo an con ex o Behan’s sen imen al a achmen o he A an Islands as well as he depopula ed Blaske s, exp essed in he poem “Jackeen ag Caoineadh na mBlascaod” [A Jackeen Lamen ing he Blaske s],28 o in he ollowing s a emen in one o he I ish P ess a icles: “ hank God ha A an had las ed up o my ime, anyway. Tha I hadn’ died wi hou seeing i .” (28) This sen imen is, in essence, de ian o he I ish s a e, which neglec ed he economic de elopmen o he o sho e islands and o e saw he e acua ion o he Blaske s in 1953.29 Making I ish a Home in Dublin and Leins e Despi e his lo e o he islands, Behan s ays a “jackeen” a all imes and de o es much space o he sub le, highly nuanced and o en ambiguous connec ions be ween I ish and Dublin, especially he No hside. Despi e he ideological ensions, hese links do exis , i only o he ac ha in Behan’s ime many Dubline s we e jus a ew gene a ions emo ed om na i e I ish speake s. Behan ema ks abou his g ea -g andmo he ha “she spoke good I ish” and ha “ he e was good I ish in he Coun y Mea h,” om whe e she s emmed, a leas un il he 1860s (205). Remnan s o he o iginal language hen su i ed in he o dina y Dubline s’ English in a ious o ms. An in iguing po ayal o Dublin use o I ish appea s in one o Behan’s comic ske ches ha qui e equen ly appea ed in he columns. In his pa icula ins ance, he cha ac e “C ippen” claims ha he has composed poe y in I ish, dispa aging Behan’s own claim o he knowledge o he language by a guing ha “i ’s only he new s u hey ha e in schools. Do s and 26 Ó Beacháin, “Micheál Ó Maoláin,” 2; Mai iú Ó Néill, “Faoi Ghlas ag Gaeil,” Comha 30, no. 10 (1971): 8. The e is also e idence ha Ó Cadhain admi ed Behan’s poe y: see Mái ín Ó Cadhain, As an nGéibheann: Li eacha chuig Tomás Bai éad (Dublin: Sái séal agus Dill 1973), 201. Ó Cadhain’s in luence on Behan is also discussed in B annigan, B endan Behan, 62. 27 See, o ins ance, Mái ín Ó Cadhain, “Béaloideas,” in Ó Cadhain i bhFeas a, ed. Seán Ó Laighin (Dublin: Clódhanna Teo an a, 1990), 129-69; Aind ias Ó Ca hasaigh, Ag Samhlú T oda: Mái ín Ó Cadhain 1905-1970 (Dublin: Coiscéim 2002), 154-55 e passim. 28 B eandán Ó Beacháin, “Jackeen ag Caoineadh na mBlascaod,” in Nuabhéa saíoch , ed. Seán Ó Tuama (Dublin: Sái séal agus Dill, 1950), 106. 29 Dia maid Fe i e , On he Edge: I eland’s O sho e Islands: A Mode n His o y (London: P o ile Books, 2018), Kindle edi ion. See especially Chap e 2, “The Islands and he I ish S a e, 1922-53.” Rad an Ma kus 36 dashes.” (112)30 Two poems in Hibe no-English ollow, in e spe sed wi h I ish e ms and in e jec ions such as “Pillaloo,” “shillelagh,” “Na Backlesh,” and “Musha, and allanna, as o e, iggin oo.” (112-13) While he poems ha e mo e han a inge o he s age I ish abou hem, hey a e a he same ime a celeb a ion o li ing, he e oglossic, hyb id speech, no subjec o any imposed ules – a kind o speech ha Behan knew well om he Dublin ballads ha he enjoyed singing.31 A ouching encoun e be ween Behan’s ‘school I ish’ and he es iges o he language in Dublin English e nacula can be ound in an accoun o his g andmo he , who add essed he ca as lanna walla,32 “unde he imp ession ha she was speaking o he beas in he I ish language” (375). She u he main ained ha b u een was an exp ession o a li le ca ,33 ehemen ly e using Behan’s claim o he con a y (375). The passage is, despi e he di e ence in one, eminiscen o Joyce’s “E eline,” whe e he p o agonis ’s mo he u e s, in a i o men al illness, he non-sensical bu I ish-sounding wo ds “De e aun Se aun.”34 In his analysis o Joyce’s sho s o y and he ensuing accoun o he language shi om I ish o English, Ba y McC ea pu s emphasis on he language loss and he esul ing auma.35 Behan, on he o he hand, seems o ejoice in he humou o he si ua ion and elishes in he mix u e o languages and language egis e s ha he shi has b ough abou : “Me poo llanna walla,” she’d c oon, and he old ca would wag his head slowly, “su e i ’s he quee d isheen I’d be a e beg udging you,” upon which she would p oduce a piece o He Youks e e ’s good I ish black pudding, and his happened egula ly, hough Beeshams was es ic ed o Sundays and Pa ick’s Day in Len . (375-76) 30 This e e s o he Gaelic sc ip , whe e do s we e placed abo e consonan s o ma k leni ion, and o he equen use o hyphens in I ish o hog aphy. 31 An accoun o he in luence o o ali y and e nacula speech on Behan can be ound in Colbe Kea ney, “B endan Behan and he O al T adi ion o Dublin Ci y,” in Féile Zozimus, Vol. 2: B endan Behan: The Man, The My h, The Genius, ed. Vi ian Uíbh Eachach and Dónal Ó Faoláin (Dublin: Gael-Linn, 1993), 37-54. 32 The exp ession is appa en ly based on he I ish wo ds “lán a’ mhála” [a ull bag], wi h he meaning “some hing o hink abou , a ‘belly ul.’” J.J. Hogan and Pa ick C. O’Neill, “A No h-Coun y Dublin Glossa y,” Comha 17, no. 1/2 (1947): 274. 33 The I ish exp ession “b úi ín” means “mashed po a oes.” 34 James Joyce, Dubline s (London: Jona han Cape, 1926), 41. 35 Ba y McC ea, Languages o he Nigh : Mino Languages and he Li e a y Imagina ion in Twen ie h-Cen u y I eland and Eu ope (New Ha en and London: Yale Uni e si y P ess, 2015), 20-46. “Gael an Taobh Thuaidh” 43 Behan’s app oach o I ish could be, pe haps, mos ui ully g asped in spa ial e ms. In con as o hose who would like o see he language as a u opia (p emode n, p ecolonial, e i alis , na ional o o he ), Behan p esen s i as a Thi d Space, he ecogni ion o which, in Homi Bhabha’s wo ds, “may open he way o concep ualize an in e na ional cul u e, based no on he exo icism o mul i- cul u alism o he di e si y o cul u es, bu on he insc ip ion and a icula ion o cul u e’s hyb idi y.”51 In Behan’s jou nalis ic p ose, I ish, despi e i s mino i ized s a us, unc ions as such a hyb id in e ace and is hus able o b idge eligious and poli ical di ides, as well as each ou side o I eland. BIBLIOGRAPHY Behan, B endan. A Bi o a W i e : B endan Behan’s Collec ed Sho P ose. Edi ed by John B annigan. Dublin: Lillipu P ess, 2023. Behan, B endan. Bo s al Boy. London: A ow Books, 1990. Behan, B endan. B endan Behan’s Island. London: Co gi, 1965. Behan, B endan. “Jou ney o he Jewel o Wicklow.” I ish P ess, 25 Oc obe 1952. I ish Newspape A chi es. Bhabha, Homi K. The Loca ion o Cul u e. 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