Tiocfaidh ár lá ([ˈtʲʊki aːɾˠ ˈl̪ˠaː]) is an Irish language phrase which translates as "our day will come", referring to a potential future united Ireland. It was commonly used by Physical force Irish republicans, especially the Provisional IRA. It is now more commonly used by nationalists/citizens who believe in the prospect of a united Ireland and also by people who want to promote the Irish language.
Contents
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 Mark, 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
Similar slogans include:
Parodies of tiocfaidh ár lá include: