The virtual disappearance of Latin and Greek from the school system represented a significant transformation in language teaching in Ireland during recent decades, it was argued at the Merriman Summer School at Ennistymon, Co Clare, yesterday.
Dr Neil Buttimer, of the Department of Modern Irish at University College, Cork, said the consequences of dropping these subjects had not been fully appreciated or investigated.
"Students can no longer be assumed to show awareness of grammatical terminology which contact with the classics previously ensured.
"This lack of familiarity poses challenges to those lecturing on Irish. However, he added that, looked at in a different way, somewhat unexpectedly, it also presents new opportunities.
"Rather than focusing in the first instance on explaining linguistic minutiae, other elements within writing or speech may be explored when offering instruction.
"They include the grounding of discourse on natural phenomena, the shape and purpose of dialogue, the identity and workings of language-based media like story-telling, and other factors.
"These features are illustrated with reference to 20th century West Kerry authors like Tomas O Cinneide or Padraig O Maoileoin, or the Co Clare seanchai, Stiofan O hEalaoire, but previous Thomond compilations - from the late medieval recopying of pre-Norman legal texts through to Brian Merriman's musings on individual freedom versus communal constraints at the end of the 1700s - further exemplify the range of situations in which language operated in the Gaelic world," he said.