Athbheochan

Athbheochan na Gaeilge/The Gaelic Revival was a period in which much renewed interest in the Irish language grew.

At that time, the language had been greatly weakened by mass emigration and starvation following An Gorta Mór/The Great Famine. The Irish language was mostly associated with poverty and peripheral communities along the Western seaboard. English was the dominant legal, social, and economic language of Ireland, which had disastrous consequences for Irish speakers. In response to these developments and, indeed, in reappraising the value of native Irish language culture, many dramatists, activists and nationalists, often from an Anglo-Irish background, displayed a fresh interest in and appreciation of traditional Gaelic culture. In the Irish language sphere, this included a revival of many Celtic myths and legends such as Clann Lir/The Children of Lir as well as a focus on caint na ndaoine/the speech of the common people.

Conradh na Gaeilge/The Gaelic League is an Irish-language cultural organisation founded in 1893 to promote both the Irish language and wider Irish culture.

The first president of Conradh na Gaeilge was the academic, linguist and first President of Ireland, Dubhghlas de hÍde/Douglas Hyde. Notably for the time, he was a Protestant, and a supporter of Irish cultural nationalism. The Gaelic League was associated with a rising Irish nationalism, with noted 1916 revolutionary Pádraig Mac Piarais/Patrick Pearse serving as editor of Conradh na Gaeilge’s publication An Claidheamh Soluis/The Sword of Light. There are many archived copies of the publication from this period (the early 20th century) in existence, reflecting the vibrancy of political and cultural debate at the time, as well as the wider upheaval and change apparent in Irish life. We have attached a link below to the archives of An Claidheamh Soluis, which provides examples of the newspaper and the Gaelic Script/An Cló Gaelach, which was used in printing.

Today Conradh na Gaeilge is a cultural and language organisation which aims to promote use of the Irish language in all aspects of daily life. It is one of the lead organisations on the island of Ireland with a lobbying remit for the inclusion and promotion of the Irish language in everyday life.

Updates and information regarding the work of Conradh na Gaeilge can be found at cnag.ie.

Have you ever come across an Irish language group where you come from? What about any other cultural organisations, either Irish or for another language or culture?