The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1899-11-04
In His Death Ireland Has Lost
a Patriotic Priest.
A PERPETUATOR OF ERlN'S TONGUE
Sketch of His Life and Labors
in Cause of Country.

Rev. Eugene O'Growncy, the great
Gaelic scholar died at the Sisters hos
pital i'll Los Angeles, Cal, on the even
ing OF Oct. IS. The following tribute
to his memory appears in the Irish
World and will be read with interest by
all lovers OF the grand old language of
Erin:
OF all the leaders OF the great Gaelic
revival, which is creating such revo-
luton III Ireland. there was none so
deeply cherished SO loved and respect
cd as Father O'Growncy The reverend
gentleman fell into bad hcal,l, in 1894,
and, while no hopes were held OF his
recovery. yet he worked so hard and so
cncrgetically to the end that the news
OF his death came as a surprise and a
shock to Gaelic circles. But it is not to
these alone that his death will cause
sorrow, because to thousands who are
not workers in the Gaelic cause his
name became a household word, and his
sacrticcs-indccd his martyrdom to the
cause of the standardization of Ire
land, cndcarcd him to all
The news of his death reached the
lrisl. World Office on Thursday last, the
10Th inst, from Los Angeles. CAL,
where. in the Sisters Hospital, Father
O'Growncy brcathcd his last the pre-
vious night. 1t became our mournfu
duty to acquant his. friends in the city
and the Gaelic League oi ireland OF the
sad event
Eugene O'Growncy was born at Bal
lyiallon, Athboy, County Meath, in
1865, and was, therefore, only thirty-six
years old when his uEtimcly end came
Needless to say, his parents did not
know Irish, and Father OGowncy often
afterwards related that he did not know
there was an Irish language until he
entered St. Finian's, the Diocesan Sem
mary OF Meath, at Navan This does
not mean that Irish was taught there,
but that there he came to learn by hear
From that time the young student con-
ccivcd he had one great object in life,
second only to the Divine mission to
which he was called, and, indeed it is
well known that he believed the latter
should not be by any means Indifferent
10 the revival OF the language which
was SO much bound up with the rei-
gious as we'll as the national past of the
country. When he discovered there was
a national language, he resolved in the
first place to make himself acquainted
with it, and in the next to do all in his
power to restore it to its proper place
in Ireland, as he conceived it to be an
intolcrable national misfortune and dis
grace il his country should lorsake its
nationality and become an Anglicized
province. In the fall OF 1882, young
OGrowney entered Maynooth College,
where he studied for six years, spending
all his leisure time in studying Irish,
and Irish history and antiquities. He
had the advantage here which he had
longcd for OF meeting Irish-speakng
students, and he commenced systematic
cally to collect a vocabulary, as we'll as
to perfect himself in Irish conversation
Soon he began spending his vacations
in lrisE-spcaking districts, and he made
such remarkable progress that in 1890,
while curatc in the parish OF Bally-
nacargy in Westmcath Qlaving been
ordained in 1880 he was made coeditor
and treasurer OF the Gaelic Journal,
which was started by the Gaelic Union
a few years before Here he also edited
and published some old Gaelic manu-
scripts
On the death OF John Fleming in
1891, Father OGrowney became sole
editor OF the Gaelic Journal, and in the
same year he was appointed professor
OF Irish in Maynooth College, being
the first to hold that position. A great
dcarth OF suitable textbooks being felt
then, he compiled for the students an
Irish grammar, edited some more Irish
texts, and in 1893, on the suggestion of
Archbishop Walsh, he commenced the
publication in the Weekly Freeman and
the Gaelic Journal of his famous "Sim-
pie Lessons in Irish," which have gone
through three large editions, are now
the only textbooks used by students of
Irish all over the world and are recog-
niZcd as the best ever published,
All his publications, and his life, bore
the motto of the Four Masters-"cum