According to the unnamed narrator, O’Neill, needing a break from his pursuit of a mathematics degree, takes a long summer holiday to the Netherlands to master the Dutch language and acquaint himself with Dutch literature. O’Neill’s tale begins in Dublin, where he’s gathered with friends in his student accommodation when the conversation turns to his recent trip across the Channel. First published in 1908 under the pen name Cuey-na-Gael, the book was in fact written by Rev Dr John Irwin Brown, an Anglo-Irish preacher at the Scottish Church in Rotterdam. The short book, only 134 pages, recounts the experience of Jack O’Neill, an Irish student at Trinity College Dublin, who has moved to the Netherlands to learn the Dutch language.
It was written more than 100 years ago, but the struggles faced by the protagonist in An Irishman’s Difficulties with the Dutch Language will still be very relatable to those learning Dutch today.
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