Tiocfaidh ár lá

Tiocfaidh ár lá (Irish pronunciation: [ˈtʲʊki aːɾˠ ˈl̪ˠaː]) is an Irish language phrase which translates as "our day will come", referring to a potential future united Ireland.

Origins

The English phrase "our day will come" has been used in various contexts. "Our Day Will Come", a pop song about love, was a 1963 hit for Ruby & the Romantics. In the context of Irish politics, in James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, the nationalist Michael Davin (based on George Clancy) says Irish freedom fighters "died for their ideals, Stevie. Our day will come yet, believe me."

The Irish phrase tiocfaidh ár lá is attributed to Provisional IRA prisoner Bobby Sands, who uses it in several writings smuggled out of the Maze Prison. It is the last sentence of One Day in my Life, the diary he kept of the 1981 hunger strike in which he died, published in 1983. Diarmait Mac Giolla Chríost antedates this to a pamphlet published c.1975–77 by Gerry Adams of his experiences in the Maze. Many republicans learned Irish in prison, (a phenomenon known as "Jailtacht", a pun on Gaeltacht) and conversed regularly with each other through Irish, both for cultural reasons and to keep secrets from the wardens. The Irish language revival movement has often overlapped with Irish nationalism, particularly in Northern Ireland. Tiocfaidh ár lá has been called "the battle cry of the blanketmen". The upsurge in republican consciousness in the wake of the hunger strikes also increased awareness of the Irish language in republican areas.

Use

The slogan has been used by Sinn Féin representatives, appeared on graffiti and political murals, and been shouted by Provisional IRA defendants being convicted in British and Irish courts, and by their supporters in the public gallery. Patrick Magee said it after being sentenced in 1986 for the 1984 Brighton hotel bombing.

Michael Stone got past the republican security cordon to commit the 1988 Milltown Cemetery attack by saying tiocfaidh ár lá.

The 1992 and 1993 editions of Macmillan's The Student Book: The Indispensable Applicant's Guide to UK Colleges, Polytechnics and Universities advised potential University of Ulster students that "Tiocfaioh ar la" [sic] was a common greeting on campus and meant "pleased to meet you". This error, suspected to be the result of a prank, was expunged from the 1994 edition.

The 2007 arrest of Irish-language activist Máire Nic an Bhaird in Belfast was allegedly partly for saying tiocfaidh ár lá to Police Service of Northern Ireland officers, although she claimed to have said tiocfaidh bhur lá ("your day will come").

Gearóid Mac Lochlainn, a Belfast-born Irish-language poet, uses the phrase in a 2002 poem 'Ag Siopadóireacht' ("Shopping") characterised by Mac Giolla Chríost as "the voice of youthful rebellion, ... of hip-hop". In Mac Lochlainn's own English translation of his poem, Tiocfaidh ár lá is left untranslated.

Tiocfaidh Ár Lá (TÁL) is the name of a fanzine for Celtic F.C.'s Irish republican ultras. It was established in 1991, at which time Celtic was enduring a period of prolonged inferiority to Rangers F.C., their Old Firm rivals, giving "our day will come" an extra resonance.

Variants

File:Beidh ár lá linn mural.jpg

Beidh ár lá linn mural in Andersonstown in 1989.

Similar slogans include:

Beidh an lá linn 

(Irish pronunciation: [bʲɛj ən ˈl̪ˠaː lʲɪnʲ]) literally translates as "the day will be with us". Some Irish-language speakers, including Ciarán Carson, contend that tiocfaidh ár lá is a less idiomatic expression, reflecting English-language conventions (see Béarlachas). Mac Giolla Chríost disputes this, on the basis that Tiocfaidh an lá ("The day will come") is standard Irish. The hybrid form beidh ár lá linn (Irish pronunciation: [bʲɛj aːɾˠ ˈl̪ˠaː lʲɪnʲ] "our day will be with us") is also found among Republicans.

Beidh lá eile ag an bPaorach! 

(Irish pronunciation: [bʲɛj ˈl̪ˠaː ɛlʲə ɡə bˠiːɾˠəx], "Power will have another day!") were the last words from the gallows of Edmund Power of Dungarvan, executed for his part in the Wexford Rebellion of 1798. The phrase was often cited by Éamon de Valera. It occurs in the play An Giall, by Brendan Behan; his English translation, The Hostage, renders it "we'll have another day". It is not exclusively a political slogan, and may simply mean "another chance will come".

Parodies of tiocfaidh ár lá include:

Chucky

an English-language pronunciation spelling of tiocfaidh, it is slang for an Irish Republican (sometimes shortened to Chuck).

"Tiocfaidh Armani"

mocking Sinn Féin's move towards respectability from the peace process

"Tiocfaidh Ar La La"

on T-shirts depicting the eponymous Teletubby as an IRA member.

See also

• Irish language in Northern Ireland
• Slán Abhaile, "safe home", ironic Republican farewell to British Army forces
• Siege of Derry, origin of the loyalist slogan "No Surrender"