() is an

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

sentence which translates as "our day will come". It is a

slogan A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a clan, political slogan, political, Advertising slogan, commercial, religious, and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose, with the goal of persuading members of the publi ...

Irish Republicanism Irish republicanism ( ga, poblachtánachas Éireannach) is the political movement for the unity and independence of Ireland under a republic. Irish republicans view British rule in any part of Ireland as inherently illegitimate. The develop ...

. "Our day" is the date hoped for by

Irish nationalists Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of cu ...

on which a

united Ireland United Ireland, also referred to as Irish reunification, is the proposition that all of Ireland should be a single sovereign state. At present, the island is divided politically; the sovereign Republic of Ireland has jurisdiction over the maj ...

is achieved. The slogan was coined in the 1970s during

the Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

and variously credited to

Bobby Sands Robert Gerard Sands ( ga, Roibeárd Gearóid Ó Seachnasaigh; 9 March 1954 – 5 May 1981) was a member (and leader in the Maze prison) of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) who died on hunger strike while imprisoned at HM Prison Maze ...

Gerry Adams Gerard Adams ( ga, Gearóid Mac Ádhaimh; born 6 October 1948) is an Irish republican politician who was the president of Sinn Féin between 13 November 1983 and 10 February 2018, and served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Louth from 2011 to 2020 ...

. It has been used by Sinn Féin representatives, appeared on

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

and political murals, and been shouted by

IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...

defendants being convicted in British and Irish courts, and by their supporters in the public gallery. For

Timothy Shanahan Timothy Shanahan may refer to: * Timothy Shanahan (philosopher) (born 1960), American philosopher *Timothy Shanahan (educator) Timothy Shanahan is an educator, researcher, and education policy-maker focused on literacy education. He is Distinguish ...

, the slogan "captures confident sense of historical destiny".

Derek Lundy Derek Lundy (born December 14, 1946) is a Canadian author. His first published book was ''Scott Turow: Meeting the Enemy''. He achieved bestseller status with his second work, ''Godforsaken Sea: Racing the World's Most Dangerous Waters'', an accou ...

comments, "Its meaning is ambiguous. It promises a new day for a hitherto repressed community, but it is also redolent of payback and reprisal."

Origins

The literal English phrase "our day will come" has been used in unrelated contexts, for example as the title of a 1963 pop song by

Ruby & the Romantics Ruby & the Romantics were an Akron, Ohio-based American R&B group in the 1960s, comprising Ruby Nash, George Lee, Ronald Mosely, Leroy Fann and Ed Roberts. The group had several pop and R&B hit records, topping the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 c ...

. A foreshadowing of the republican slogan is in

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

's ''

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man ''A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man'' is the first novel of Irish writer James Joyce. A ''Künstlerroman'' written in a modernist style, it traces the religious and intellectual awakening of young Stephen Dedalus, Joyce's fictional alter ...

'', when the

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

Michael Davin (based on George Clancy) says Irish republicans "died for their ideals, Stevie. Our day will come yet, believe me." The Irish phrase is attributed to

Provisional IRA The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, fa ...

prisoner

, who uses it in several writings smuggled out of the

Maze Prison Her Majesty's Prison Maze (previously Long Kesh Detention Centre, and known colloquially as The Maze or H-Blocks) was a prison in Northern Ireland that was used to house alleged paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles from August 1971 to Sept ...

. It is the last sentence of the diary he kept of the

1981 hunger strike The 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during the Troubles by Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland. The protest began as the blanket protest in 1976, when the British government withdrew Special Cat ...

in which he died, published in 1983 as ''One Day in my Life''. However,

Diarmait Mac Giolla Chríost Diarmait Mac Giolla Chriost is an Irish academic in the area of linguistics. Life Born and raised in Ireland, Mac Giolla Chríost became a lecturer in the School of Welsh at Cardiff University , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the Un ...

has antedated the slogan to a pamphlet published 1975–77 by

of his experiences in the Maze. Adams himself has ascribed the slogan to republican prisoners generally, both men in the Maze and women in

Armagh Prison Armagh Prison in Armagh, Northern Ireland, is a former prison. The construction of the prison began in the 1780 and it was extended in the style of Pentonville Prison in the 1840 and 1850s. For most of its working life Armagh Gaol was the prim ...

. Many republicans learned Irish in prison (a phenomenon known as "Jailtacht", a pun on ), 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 Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of cu ...

, particularly in Northern Ireland. has been called "the

battle cry A battle cry or war cry is a yell or chant taken up in battle, usually by members of the same combatant group. Battle cries are not necessarily articulate (e.g. "Eulaliaaaa!", "Alala"..), although they often aim to invoke patriotic or religious ...

of the blanketmen".Mac Giolla Chríost 2012 p.63 Republican

consciousness raising Consciousness raising (also called awareness raising) is a form of activism popularized by United States feminists in the late 1960s. It often takes the form of a group of people attempting to focus the attention of a wider group on some cause or ...

around the hunger strikes increased awareness of the Irish language in Northern Ireland's nationalist community. Some Irish-language speakers, including

Ciarán Carson Ciaran Gerard Carson (9 October 1948 – 6 October 2019) was a Northern Ireland-born poet and novelist. Biography Ciaran Carson was born in Belfast into an Irish-speaking family. His father, William, was a postman and his mother, Mary, wo ...

, contend that is

ungrammatical In linguistics, grammaticality is determined by the conformity to language usage as derived by the grammar of a particular speech variety. The notion of grammaticality rose alongside the theory of generative grammar, the goal of which is to form ...

or at least unidiomatic, reflecting L1 interference from English, a phenomenon dubbed . Mac Giolla Chríost is less categorical, on the basis that ('the day will come') is standard Irish;Mac Giolla Chríost 2012, p.52 on the other hand, he says typifies the " deviant" nature of Jailtacht Irish.

Instances

Patrick Magee said after being sentenced in 1986 for the 1984

Brighton hotel bombing A Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) assassination attempt against members of the British government took place on 12 October 1984 at the Grand Hotel in Brighton, East Sussex, England, United Kingdom. A long-delay time bomb was plante ...

, while his wife in the gallery wore a

Katharine Hamnett Katharine E. Hamnett (born 16 August 1947, in Gravesend, Kent) is an English fashion designer best known for her political T-shirts. Early life Hamnett was born on 16 August 1947, the daughter of James Appleton, a group captain. She attende ...

-style T-shirt with the slogan. Loyalist paramilitary Michael Stone got past the republican security cordon to commit the 1988

Milltown Cemetery attack The Milltown Cemetery attack (also known as the Milltown Cemetery killings or Milltown massacre) took place on 16 March 1988 at Milltown Cemetery in Belfast, Northern Ireland. During the large funeral of three Provisional IRA members killed ...

by saying . One of four loyalist paramilitaries shouted the phrase at a court sentencing in 2002. At the 2018 Sinn Féin

ard fheis or ''ardfheis'' ( , ; "high assembly"; plural ''ardfheiseanna'') is the name used by many Irish political parties for their annual party conference. The term was first used by Conradh na Gaeilge, the Irish language cultural organisation, for it ...

, new party leader

Mary Lou McDonald Mary Louise McDonald (born 1 May 1969) is an Irish politician who has served as Leader of the Opposition in Ireland since June 2020 and President of Sinn Féin since February 2018. She has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Central const ...

concluded her speech with . The phrase, which was not on the script circulated in advance, was criticised by politicians from

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christian- ...

("hark back to a very dark time"),

Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil � ...

("irresponsible"), and the

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule movem ...

("stale rhetoric"). (TÁL) is the name of a

fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by fan (person), enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) ...

for

Celtic F.C. The Celtic Football Club, commonly known as Celtic (), is a Scottish professional football club based in Glasgow, which plays in the Scottish Premiership. The club was founded in 1887 with the purpose of alleviating poverty in the immigran ...

's Irish republican

ultras Ultras are a type of association football fans who are renowned for their fanatical support. The term originated in Italy, but is used worldwide to describe predominantly organised fans of association football teams. The behavioural tende ...

. It was established in 1991, at which time Celtic were enduring a period of prolonged inferiority to

Rangers F.C. Rangers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the Govan district of Glasgow which plays in the Scottish Premiership. Although not its official name, it is often referred to as Glasgow Rangers outside Scotland. The fou ...

, their

Old Firm The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply em ...

rivals, giving "our day will come" an extra resonance. Irish-American folk-rock band LeperKhanz released a 2005 album named ''Tiocfaidh Ár Lá''. The 1992 and 1993 editions of

Macmillan MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to: People * McMillan (surname) * Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan * Harold Macmillan, British statesman and politician * James MacMillan, Scottish composer * William Duncan MacMillan ...

's ''The Student Book: The Indispensable Applicant's Guide to UK Colleges, Polytechnics and Universities'' advised potential

University of Ulster sco, Ulstèr Universitie , image = Ulster University coat of arms.png , caption = , motto_lang = , mottoeng = , latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae , established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...

students that "Tiocfaioh ar la" icwas 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. In ''

A Reality Tour A Reality Tour was a worldwide concert tour by David Bowie in support of the ''Reality'' album. The tour began on 7 October 2003 at the Forum Copenhagen, Denmark, continuing through Europe, North America, Asia, including a return to New Zealan ...

'', a 2003 concert filmed at the

Point Depot The Point Theatre (sometimes referred to as the Point Depot or simply as the Point) was a concert and events venue in Dublin, Ireland, that operated from 1988 to 2007, visited by in excess of 2 million people. It was located on the North Wall Qu ...

in Dublin,

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

says during the applause after "

Rebel Rebel "Rebel Rebel" is a song by English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was released in the UK in February 1974 by RCA Records as the lead single from the album ''Diamond Dogs''. Written and produced by Bowie, the song is based around a distinctiv ...

Gerry Leonard Gerry Leonard is an Irish lead guitarist and solo artist, known for his harmonic and ambient guitar style and for his work with David Bowie. He has lived and worked in Dublin, Copenhagen, and Manhattan. Hinterland From Clontarf in Dublin, Le ...

claims to have suggested it to Bowie. In 2019,

Una Mullally Una Mullally is an Irish journalist and broadcaster from Dublin. She is a columnist with ''The Irish Times''. Background Mullally grew-up in Deansgrange in South County Dublin and attended Coláiste Íosagáin where she was head girl in her fina ...

commented about an upsurge in the appropriation of Troubles-era slogans by young Irish people on both sides of the border: "There's a tacit understanding that a lot of the mindless repetition of IRA slogans such as 'Tiocfaidh ár lá', 'Up the RA' and 'Brits out' is purposefully goofy — even if the latter two at least are offensive." A performance the same year in

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

Kneecap The patella, also known as the kneecap, is a flat, rounded triangular bone which articulates with the femur (thigh bone) and covers and protects the anterior articular surface of the knee joint. The patella is found in many tetrapods, such as m ...

, an Irish-language hip hop trio from West Belfast, was terminated when they led the audience in a chant of , breaching the university's

policies Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an organ ...

for "Dignity", "Respect", and "Equality, Diversity & Inclusion".

JD Sports JD Sports Fashion plc, more commonly known as JD Sports or JD, is a British sports-fashion retail company based in Bury, Greater Manchester, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. Pentlan ...

apologised in 2020 when its online catalogue depicted branded kit for the

Northern Ireland football team The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. From 1882 to 1920, all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Foo ...

worn by a model with a visible tattoo reading "ticofaidh ár lá" . In 2021, a Derry charity video

Christmas card A Christmas card is a greeting card sent as part of the traditional celebration of Christmas in order to convey between people a range of sentiments related to Christmastide and the holiday season. Christmas cards are usually exchanged during t ...

was withdrawn after protests of its depiction of Gerry Adams singing "

Deck the Halls "Deck the Hall” is a traditional Christmas carol. The melody is Welsh, dating back to the sixteenth century, and belongs to a winter carol, "Nos Galan", while the English lyrics, written by the Scottish musician Thomas Oliphant, date to 1862. ...

" with "Fa, la, la, la, la, la ..." changed to "tiocfaidh ár lá, lá, lá ...".

Legal cases

The 2007 arrest of Irish-language activist Máire Nic an Bhaird in Belfast was allegedly in part for saying to

Police Service of Northern Ireland The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI; ga, Seirbhís Póilíneachta Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ') is the police, police force that serves Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabu ...

officers, although she claimed to have said ("your day will come"). In 2014, a man who shouted the phrase outside a

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

in Belfast was convicted of disorderly behaviour when his

defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

freedom of expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...

was rejected. In 2017, the Fair Employment Tribunal awarded damages to a Catholic employee who had been dismissed after taking sick leave in response to a Protestant manager shouting at her.

Allusions

Poetry

Sinéad Morrissey Sinéad Morrissey (born 24 April 1972 in Portadown, County Armagh) is a Northern Irish poet. In January 2014 she won the T. S. Eliot Prize for her fifth collection ''Parallax'' and in 2017 she won the Forward Prize for Poetry for her sixth coll ...

's 2002 poem "Tourism", describing the economic boom that followed the peace process, states ironically "Our day has come." Gearóid Mac Lochlainn, a Belfast-born Irish-language poet, uses the phrase in a 2002 poem, "" ("Shopping"), characterised by Mac Giolla Chríost as "the voice of youthful rebellion, ... of hip-hop".Mac Giolla Chríost 2012 p.79 In Mac Lochlainn's own English translation of his poem, is left untranslated.

Paul Muldoon Paul Muldoon (born 20 June 1951) is an Irish poet. He has published more than thirty collections and won a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the T. S. Eliot Prize. At Princeton University he is currently both the Howard G. B. Clark '21 University Pr ...

's 2011 poem "Barrage Balloons, Buck Alec, Bird Flu and You", dedicated to Dermot Seymour, contains the lines "Even Christ's checking us out from his

observation post An observation post (commonly abbreviated OP), temporary or fixed, is a position from which soldiers can watch enemy movements, to warn of approaching soldiers (such as in trench warfare), or to direct fire. In strict military terminology, an ...

. / Even he can’t quite bend ''Tiocfaidh Ár Lá'' to the tune of ' Ghost / Riders in the Sky.'" Kevin Higgins' 2019 English-language poem "" your day will come"is a satire directed at a unionist who will be forced to learn Irish.

Other

Margo Harkin Margo Harkin (born October 1951 in Derry) is an Irish filmmaker. Best known for the drama ''Hush-a-Bye Baby'' and the documentary ''Bloody Sunday: A Derry Diary'', Harkin produced the surfing documentary ''Waveriders'' in 2008. Biography Marg ...

's Derry-set 1990 film ''Hush-A-Bye Baby'' has "a witty scene which nevertheless offended many nationalists": a republican youth confronts a British soldier with a disjointed mishmash of Irish-language names and phrases, ending with , only for the soldier to challenge him in fluent Irish. In 1993

Desmond Fennell Desmond Carolan Fennell (29 June 1929 – 16 July 2021) was an Irish writer, essayist, cultural philosopher and linguist. Throughout his career, Fennell repeatedly departed from prevailing norms. In the 1950s and early 1960s, with his extensiv ...

charged the

Dublin 4 Dublin 4, also rendered as D4 and D04, is a historic postal district of Dublin, Ireland including Baggot Street Upper, the southernmost fringes of the Dublin Docklands, and the suburbs of Ballsbridge, Donnybrook, Irishtown, Merrion, Ringsend ...

establishment with

neoliberalism Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...

and

cultural cringe Cultural cringe, in cultural studies and social anthropology, is an internalized inferiority complex that causes people in a country to dismiss their own culture as inferior to the cultures of other countries. It is closely related to the concept ...

, ends with a call for a "deprovincialised, deimperialised world ... Tiocfaidh ár lá."

Gerald Dawe Gerald Dawe (born 1952) is an Irish poet. Early life Gerald Dawe was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and grew up with his mother, sister and grandmother. He attended Orangefield High School across the city in East Belfast, a leading progress ...

said this "reads like the old '

Irish-Ireland David Patrick Moran ( ga, Dáithí Pádraig Ó Móráin; 22 March 1869 – 31 January 1936), better known as simply D. P. Moran, was an Irish journalist, activist and cultural-political theorist, known as the principal advocate of a specificall ...

' cultural missal". The introduction, by Stephen Brown of

Ulster University sco, Ulstèr Universitie , image = Ulster University coat of arms.png , caption = , motto_lang = , mottoeng = , latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae , established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...

, to a 2006 survey of "

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

marketing" was titled "". Commenting on unionist

Peter Robinson Peter Robinson may refer to: Entertainment * Peter Robinson (sideshow artist) (1873–1947), American actor and sideshow performer, known for his appearance in film ''Freaks'' (1932) * J. Peter Robinson (born 1945), British musician and film score ...

's impending retirement at a 2015 meeting of the

North/South Ministerial Council The North/South Ministerial Council (NSMC) ( ga, An Chomhairle Aireachta Thuaidh-Theas, Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is a body established under the Good Friday Agreement to co-ordinate activity and exercise certain governmental powers ac ...

, Sinn Féin's

Martin McGuinness James Martin Pacelli McGuinness ( ga, Séamus Máirtín Pacelli Mag Aonghusa; 23 May 1950 – 21 March 2017) was an Irish republican politician and statesman from Sinn Féin and a leader within the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) during ...

said, "my day too will come at some stage", at which Robinson sparked laughter by responding, "It's Tiocfaidh ár Lá isn't it." Bookmaker

Paddy Power Paddy Power is an Irish gambling company founded in 1988. Its product offering includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. The business is split into two divisions, UK Ireland (UKI) and International. UKI operations ...

advertised its odds for the outcome of Ireland's 2015 same-sex marriage referendum using a photo of kissing men wearing paramilitary-style balaclavas and the tagline . In October 2021, former

UK Independence Party The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest par ...

leader

Nigel Farage Nigel Paul Farage (; born 3 April 1964) is a British broadcaster and former politician who was List of UK Independence Party leaders, Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 to 2009 and 2010 to 2016 and Brexit Party#Leaders, Lea ...

unwittingly used republican slogans in several scripted video clips ordered via Cameo, including a putative birthday message to "

Gerard Gerard is a masculine forename of Proto-Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constituents put together. In this ca ...

" from " Con and

Maggie Maggie is a common short form of the name Magdalena, Magnolia, Margaret. Maggie may refer to: People Women * Maggie Adamson, Scottish musician * Maggie Aderin-Pocock (born 1968), British scientist * Maggie Alderson (born 1959), Aust ...

" at "Chucky Arlaw's in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

Variants

Similar slogans include: Beidh ár lá linn mural

;{{lang, ga, Beidh an lá linn : ({{IPA-ga, bʲɛj ən ˈl̪ˠaː lʲɪnʲ) literally translates as "the day will be with us".{{cite book , last=Carson , first=Ciarán , title=The Star Factory , publisher=Arcade Publishing , year=1998 , pages=41–2 , isbn=1-55970-465-9 Ciarán Carson says it is more idiomatic Irish than {{lang, ga, tiocfaidh ár lá. The hybrid form {{lang, ga, beidh ár lá linn ({{IPA-ga, bʲɛj aːɾˠ ˈl̪ˠaː lʲɪnʲ "our day will be with us") is also found among republicans. ;{{lang, ga, Beidh lá eile ag an bPaorach! : ({{IPA-ga, bʲɛj ˈl̪ˠaː ɛlʲə ɡə bˠiːɾˠəx, "Power will have another day!") were the last words from the gallows of Edmund Power of

Dungarvan Dungarvan () is a coastal town and harbour in County Waterford, on the south-east coast of Ireland. Prior to the merger of Waterford County Council with Waterford City Council in 2014, Dungarvan was the county town and administrative centre of ...

, executed for his part in the

Wexford Rebellion The Wexford Rebellion refers to the outbreak in County Wexford, Ireland in May 1798 of the Society of United Irishmen's rebellion against the British rule in Ireland, British rule. It was the most successful and most destructive of all the upri ...

of 1798. The phrase was often cited by

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of governm ...

. It occurs in the play {{lang, ga, An Giall, by

Brendan Behan Brendan Francis Aidan Behan (christened Francis Behan) ( ; ga, Breandán Ó Beacháin; 9 February 1923 – 20 March 1964) was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and Irish Republican activist who wrote in both English an ...

; his English translation, '' The Hostage'', renders it "we'll have another day". It is echoed in ''There will be another day'', the title of republican

Peadar O'Donnell Peadar O'Donnell ( ga, Peadar Ó Domhnaill; 22 February 1893 – 13 May 1986) was one of the foremost radicals of 20th-century Ireland. O'Donnell became prominent as an Irish republican, socialist activist, politician and writer. Early life Pe ...

's 1963 memoir. The slogan is not exclusively a political slogan, and may simply mean "another chance will come". Parodies of {{lang, ga, tiocfaidh ár lá include: ;Chucky: an

English-language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

pronunciation spelling A pronunciation respelling is a regular phonetic respelling of a word that has a standard spelling but whose pronunciation according to that spelling may be ambiguous, which is used to indicate the pronunciation of that word. Pronunciation respe ...

of ''tiocfaidh'', it is pejorative for an Irish republican (sometimes shortened to Chuck). ;{{lang, ga, Tiocfaidh

Armani Giorgio Armani S.p.A. (), commonly known as Armani, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in Milan by Giorgio Armani which designs, manufactures, distributes and retails haute couture, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, accessories, and ...

: mocking Sinn Féin's move towards respectability from the

peace process A peace process is the set of political sociology, sociopolitical negotiations, agreements and actions that aim to solve a specific armed conflict. Definitions Prior to an armed conflict occurring, peace processes can include the prevention of ...

;"Tiocfaidh Ar La La": on T-shirts depicting the eponymous Teletubby as an IRA member. ;"Tiocfaidh Arlene": various jokes about

Arlene Foster Arlene Isobel Foster, Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee (née Kelly; born 17 July 1970), is a British broadcaster and politician from Northern Ireland who served as First Minister of Northern Ireland from 2016 to 2017 and from 2020 to 2021 and ...

, leader of the

Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. Currently led by J ...

and

First Minister of Northern Ireland The First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland are the joint heads of government of the Northern Ireland Executive and have overall responsibility for the running of the Executive Office. Despite the different titles for the two ...

.{{cite web , last1=McDowell , first1=Iain , title=Newspaper review: 'Tiocfaidh Arlene' and Belfast clasico , url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-39729545 , website=BBC News NI , access-date=14 November 2020 , date=27 April 2017; {{cite news , last1=McFadden , first1=Eithne , title=Theresa May’s deal with the DUP , url=https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/theresa-may-s-deal-with-the-dup-1.3135781 , access-date=14 November 2020 , work=The Irish Times , date=28 June 2017 , language=en; {{cite news , last1=O'Connor , first1=Amy , title=Electric Picnic 2019: Jehovah’s Witnesses, Daniel and Majella, and a Child of Prague , url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/electric-picnic-2019-jehovah-s-witnesses-daniel-and-majella-and-a-child-of-prague-1.4002630 , access-date=14 November 2020 , work=The Irish Times , date=30 August 2019 , language=en

References

Sources

* {{cite book , last=De Brún , first=Fionntán , title=Belfast and the Irish language , publisher=Four Courts Press , year=2006 , isbn=1-85182-939-3 * {{cite book, last=Mac Giolla Chríost, first=Diarmait , title=Jailtacht: The Irish Language, Symbolic Power and Political Violence in Northern Ireland, 1972–2008, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=in2vBwAAQBAJ, access-date=9 December 2015, date=2012-01-05, publisher=University of Wales Press, isbn=9780708324974

Citations

{{Reflist

External links

* {{cite web, url=http://ccdl.libraries.claremont.edu/cdm4/results.php?CISOOP1=all&CISOBOX1=l%C3%A1&CISOFIELD1=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOOP2=exact&CISOBOX2=&CISOFIELD2=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOOP3=any&CISOBOX3=&CISOFIELD3=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOOP4=none&CISOBOX4=&CISOFIELD4=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOROOT=/mni&t=a , first=Tony , last=Crowley , title=Northern Ireland murals containing the word "lá" , work=Murals of Northern Ireland , publisher=

Claremont Colleges The Claremont Colleges (known colloquially as the 7Cs) are a consortium of seven private institutions of higher education located in Claremont, California, United States. They comprise five undergraduate colleges (the 5Cs)—Pomona College, Scr ...

, access-date=30 March 2011 {{DEFAULTSORT:Tiocfaidh ar la Political catchphrases Irish republicanism Irish words and phrases