The Irish standard., 1902-09-27
THE IRISH LANGUAGE.
he Movement for Its Restoration
is Spreading.

on the shore,
4sWhere the Barrow, and the Erne, and
/ Loeb Swilly's waters roar.
SA;h! magic Tongue that round us wove
it's spells so soft ana dear.
|! All! pleasant Tongue. whose murmurs
|f were as music to the ear!
All! glorious Tongue whose accents
could each Celtic he1ft enthrall.
/ All! rushing Tongue, that sounded like
s$ the swollen torrents fall.
+ The tongue that in the Senate was
sH lightning flashing bright
u Whose echo in the battle was the
thunder in its might.
1 That Tongue, which once in chief
tain's hall poured loud the min
strel lay!
As chieftlin. serf or minstrel old, is
silent there today.
Tlat Tongue whose shout dismayed
the foe at Kong and Mullagh,
h mast,
Like those who nobly persisted there
" is numbered with the past
The Celtic Tongue is passing. and we
stand coldly by.
Without Il pang within the heart. !,
tear within the eye
Without one pulse for freedom stirred
i one effort made to save
\ Tle Language of our Fathers from
/ dark oblivion'S "rava"
When the poet-priest, athcr MI
chael Mullen. was laid to rest in Il
western grave thirty-three years ago,
it seemed that the fears exprpSscu in
his beautiful poem, 'The Celtic
Tongue" We're to be realized beyond
all doubt, writes NJ ]. Murphy.
i The old people of the Irish
| speaking districts We're dying out and
( che people in the prime of life were
emig1slting to America, England and
| every other place Oh thu face of the
I globe where 4 market cuulu be found
for honest. sturdy hands and willing
| araims. In tlmt "(;rpnter Ireland"
across the seas there were golden
hopes held out to the oppressed farm
er of the west and the manufacturer
of the north. Ireland was a CONNER
cial ruin Her Industries DESTROYED by
organized English competition, gave
80 hope of future employment to the
skilled artisan. What other path could
they see to tread but that which led
toward that sunset land where their
brethren had already achieved fame
nn1 Won golden rewards? The out
sook fnr an Irish speaking race then
sTas ndrr, bleak ana hopeless.
Were Father Mullen to arise from
lis grave today what difference
@onld IN, behold in the situation. Over
fhe sacred hills and valleys of the old
San,1 NOW arises Il new spirit of Irish
HTns1'ess. For the first time in a gen
eusatiOn the people have dared to be
Irish and claim tile rights of an Irish
areland. The Irish speaking popula-
zion, which fell away more than 20
sIer cent i'll Il quarter of a century. bids
iair to rise again in another decade
On two to Il majority Of the population.
tTadeslnen are proud to place sign
i,boye their door announcing, in the
i ssntaonal language. the wares they are
s'aepared to supply, and the anti-Irish
( taunts which have done SO much to
Keep race, ever sensitive Of 1idicule,
from pr0claiming their love and admir-
ntion of things Irish, now fall uDon
closed ears.
Mulch OF this great advance in ma
,tlolfal feeling and spirit is due to the
'-HOl'ns OF the Gaelic League, an or-;,n
hZatiOn which came into being in 1So:
1'nd whose motto has ever been "An
srsh Ireland" When it's standard was
sllst unfurled there gathered together
4rneath it's fold some of the most .r-
sient spirits of the Irish race, not only
a sn Ireland but all over the world
where the Irish people were scattered.
I Among them were DR.. Douglas HYDE,
\tnf most famous of modern Gaelic
clol'rs. Father O'Growney. Or. ST.
sArson and many Other. men whose
a4Gvity in propa@,ting the movement
Y *ild not cease for Il moment until the
cause was upon a solid foundation.
q Poor Father O'Growney llas gone to
mis- last reward, but his fame will be
+ a npoblr and more lasting monument
10 his memory than the greatest mono
Lith that could be erected. Many of
i the others are still in the movement.
I Dllf their zeal and activity have never
diminished.
One Of the most pleasing features of
& the movement is tlra genuine enthusi
assn with which it has been spread
tng. The report of the honorable sec
fetary. Patrick O'Daly, date March 81
aNtc. shows that the number OF
branches was 412, as against 227 OH
the same date last year, showing q
gain of more than 80 per cent in
Twelve months. During the existence
OF this body numerous concessions
nave been wrung from the national
a Board Of Education and durnr +,