In this powerful and reflective episode of Undercover Irish, we dive into the brutal colonial legacy of language suppression, beginning with the story of An Bata Scóir — the notched tally stick used to punish Irish children for speaking their native tongue. More than a tool of discipline, An Bata Scóir represents the systemic violence inflicted by the British Empire in its efforts to erase the Irish language as part of its wider colonisation strategy.

But Ireland wasn’t alone. This episode explores how the island served as a testing ground for linguistic oppression — experiments that would later echo across the empire, from Wales to Africa and Aotearoa (New Zealand).

We mark the passing of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, a literary giant who, like Bobby Sands MP, used his native language as a form of resistance behind prison walls. We draw connections between their acts of defiance — between Kikuyu and Gaeilge — and the universal power of indigenous language as both identity and insurrection.

• 📰 "Oidhreacht Shaibhir Fágtha" by Róisín Nic Liam – DEARG
• A tribute to Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o and the enduring legacy of language activism.
• 📰 "Irish and Kikuyu – Colonialism and Resistance" by Luke Callinan – An Phoblacht
• A thought-provoking article on shared experiences of colonial linguistic suppression in Ireland and Kenya.
• 📚 "Language, Resistance and Revival: Republican Prisoners and the Irish Language in the North of Ireland" by Feargal Mac Ionnrachtaigh
• An essential study of how Gaeilge became a language of resistance in Northern prisons.
• 🔗 Buy the book here from Pluto Press

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