Sir, I'm not keen to engage Mr Rosenstock (June 8th) in debate because I know how tedious this sort of thing can become. But I'd like to defend my statement that Irish has not been, in any significant sense, the language of Dublin for the better part of a thousand years.
Dublin was dominated by the Norsemen since the 10th century. Indeed they donated some of their own words to the Gaelic of the hinterland (e.g., margadh, pingin). From the 12th century, Dublin was the stronghold of Anglo Norman power, then of the English administration. I'm not claiming that the Irish language was unknown in Dublin over the centuries but it was certainly not the dominant language in the city. The Earl of Ormond, bless him, was not a Dub.
Relying on place names to argue the significance of Irish in greater Dublin is rather dodgy. The monastery from which the name Monkstown is taken dates from the 14th century and was a Norman foundation from a mother house close to Oxmantown. Not very Gaelic really, and I suspect it was known, from early times, as the town of the monks. Baile na Manach sounds as if it dates from about 1923, but I may be wrong.
Mr Rosenstock's logic suggests, admittedly in a rather roundabout way, that the great Duke of Marlborough was Irish. Why? Around the time of my meanteist, if that's the word I want, I remember noticing that Churchill Terrace in Sandymount was translated as Ardan Siursil. Q.E.D.
And however Mr Rosen stock might like to goad me, that's my last word on the matter. Yours, etc., Belgrave Square, Monkstown, Co Dublin.