GAELIC LEAGUE
General Historical Information prior to 1900 An organization devoted to the preservation, cultivation, and extension of the Gaelic language, particularly in Ireland. From the time of the Statute of Kilkenny in 1367, when laws were enacted forbidding the use of the Irish language, dress, or surnames within the limits of the Pale, on penalty of death or confiscation, every effort had been made by the English Government to crush out or discourage the native language; and on the establishment of the so-called National Schools in 1833, the instruction in which was in the English language, the Gaelic language, even then spoken by a majority of the Irish peasantry, received its most decisive blow. Through the efforts of the "Society for the Preservation of the Irish Language," about twenty-five years ago, some partial concessions were obtained for the language in the schools, but with little practical result, owing to the indifference of the local authorities. Matters were apparently at their lowest mark in all things national when, in 1893, the Gaelic League was organized, chiefly through the effort of Douglas Hyde and Father O'Growney, the two most accomplished Gaelic scholars in Ireland. An active educational campaign was at once begun throughout the country, resulting in the establishment of branches of the League in every important centre. In 1898 the movement spread to America. Gaelic is now taught in a large number of National schools, and in nearly all the Catholic Church parish schools in Ireland, the last report showing about 3500 students of Gaelic in Dublin alone. Trinity College, Dublin, and the Roman Catholic Seminary of Maynooth, maintain Gaelic chairs, and a revival in Gaelic literature has since developed, including a revival of Gaelic music and the drama. In the United States and Canada there were in 1902 about forty branches of the League, each of which conducted classes for the study of the language, besides rendering efficient help to the Irish organization. Gaelic or Celtic chairs are also established at Harvard University, the Catholic University of America, Washington, and at Notre Dame University, Indiana. Substantial aid has been rendered by the Hibernian Order, which endowed the Washington chair, and has regularly contributed to the work in Ireland. Source: The New International Encyclopaedia Publisher: Dodd, Mead and Company-New York Copyright: 1902-1905 Total of 21 Volumes Transcribed by Miriam Medina RETURN to SOCIETY Main RETURN to BROOKLYN MAIN