It’s all about the ‘a’ccent as Gaelic error corrected at Eden Court Theatre, Inverness
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EAGLE-eyed theatre goers will notice a subtle difference next time they make a visit to Eden Court, after an inappropriate accent in a Gaelic welcome was corrected.
A wrongly accented letter in the Gaelic word fàilte, or welcome, had given rise to comments over the years, but it was n-t until an internationally-renowned singer mentioned it to the chief executive that a change was made.
Eden Court is the flagship home of the Royal National Mod in 2020.
The inflection used on the welcome sign was in fact from the Irish Gaelic use of the word, fáilte, which means welcome.
Last week Eden Court bosses made the change to the welcome sign at the door of the building in Inverness with the incorrectly accented fàilte – 11 years after it was initially installed.
Explaining the change to customers, Eden Court told followers on social media: “When we reopened in 2008 the accent on fàilte was the wrong way around.”
Tagging Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis and Gaelic-language campaigners and educators Bord na Gaidhlig, the tweet continued: “Our Gaelic welcome is important to us, and so now, albeit after some time, we have corrected it.”
A spokeswoman for the city theatre said: “Julie Fowlis mentioned to our chief executive James Mackenzie-Blackman that the accent was the wrong way round and on the wrong letter.
“James wanted to get it changed.
“This taking place is also timed with the appointment of a producer for Gaelic and traditional arts Seona McClintock.
“Seona has joined us following funding support from Bòrd na Gàidhlig for Eden Court.”
