New Law Bans English on Official Irish Maps

Takeing a holiday in the delightful West coast of Ireland has just got a bit confusing.

(PRWEB) April 3, 2005 -- If your planing a holiday along the delightful West Coast of Ireland beware: Your guide book may tell you the way to Dingle in County Kerry, but all the road signs will be pointing you toward An Daingean in Contae an Ciarrai instead.

The legal map of Ireland changed Monday March 28, 2005 in a bid to promote the country's little-used official tongue, Gaelic, versus its universally spoken rival, English.

The change affects the names of more than 2,300 towns, villages and crossroads in the Gaeltacht, many of which traditionally have been known both by their Gaelic and English names.

Locals concede the switch will confuse foreigners in an area that depends heavily on tourism, but they say it's the price of patriotism.

Many visitors coming to the area rent self-catering cottages along the coast in Cork, Kerry and Clare might find it a bit difficult says Sarah Brosnan, assistant manager of the Dingle Bay Hotel, which like most things connected to the tourist trade won't be changing its name.

On the breathtakingly beautiful Dingle peninsula in northwest County Kerry, signs with English spellings were taken down weeks before, even in cases where the English versions remain popular in local parlance. Local villages still principally known as Ballydavid, Castlegregory and Ventry are now called only Baile na nGall, Caislean Ghriaire and Ceann Tra.

Gaelic enthusiasts say such place names are redolent of local history and eventually will prove less confusing for visitors so long as they are armed with updated or Gaelic-friendly maps. How to vacation in Ireland: http://tinyurl.com/5fxzh

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