Recording the Manx

Recording the Manx

Mon, 10 Jul 2017

A programme has been released to celebrate the 70th anniversary of one of the most important events in the history of the Manx language.

On Tynwald Day 2017, Recording the Manx was presented on Manx Radio, telling the story of the 1947 visit of the Taoiseach of the Irish Republic and the subsequent steps that De Valera took to provide recording equipment and personnel to help local language speakers record the (then) last native speakers of the Manx language. 

This Manx Radio programme, produced and presented by Charles Guard, features various interviews and new insights into this important event in Manx cultural history, including interviews with De Valera’s grandson, Eamon O Cuív, who provides interesting and hitherto unknown background to the visit. Of course, a key part of the story is the thriving Manx language movement in action today, after undergoing a dramatic transformation in the last twenty-five years. At the centre of the interviews is Adrian Cain, the Manx Language Development Officer at Culture Vannin.

Thanks to the generosity of Charles Guard and Manx Radio, the programme is available to listen to again on the Culture Vannin website:

Recording the Manx:
Éamon de Valera's visit to the Isle of Man in 1947