Malo Bouëssel du BourgDirector of Made in Brittany Fifteen years on, the writer and poet remembers learning about his Breton identity during an internship at a fishery in Connemara, Ireland.

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“I'm 20 years old and I'm finishing my first year at Rouen Business School. My studies have, for some time, taken me away from Brittany and the family background in which I grew up – Breton and Breton. I remember these writers, my father's friends who paraded the house: Per Denes, Ernest Le Barsic…

I also remember going with my family to Bains-sur-Ouest, near Redon, for these festivals, which every year commemorate the Battle of Balon, which ended with Nomino's victory over the Franks in 845. But in Rune, I'm far from all that.

At the end of my first year, I had to complete what was called a “worker internship” in business school. I choose to do this internship in Ireland at a fishery located in Clegane, a small port in County Galway. I spend three months there. Ireland then acts as a trigger: there, in this very small town in Connemara, I feel very Breton. Or the feeling of rediscovering Breton.

I wrote to my father from Clegane to recommend books that would make me think about Breton identity. He would send me about twenty books, including Bursa's braise , History of Brittany Joseph Chardronet, Breton confronts its oppressors By Jorj Abherve-Gwegen…

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Until then, I was clearly aware of having been immersed in a Breton environment since childhood. But in Ireland, one question comes to mind again and again: “What do I do now?” » From that moment, I decided to set out on the road to Brittany Breton language.

From then on I adopted the Breton language. I make it a life choice. During my military service, I will take a Breton license. Later, at the age of 45, I did a master's degree at Breton in Rennes-2. From there, I can write and express myself in Breton. Today I make Breton the language of verbal and literary expression.

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I really believe in this quote from Cioran: “We don't live in a country, we live in a language”. For a long time, physical and historical Brittany was clear to me. Since my father was from Fougeres and my mother from Saint-Malo, I breathed his air from birth. But a more personal turning point and the beginning of this journey into language took place in the small town of Clegane, Ireland. »