The Savannah morning news., 1903-06-14
IRISH INDUSTRIES.
They VIII BE Given Prominence at
the st. Louis Exposition.

|
cannot fail to appreciate the compli-
ment paid to their numbers and infiu-
ence by the British Royal Commission
who has agreed to make a special ex-
htbit of Irish industries at the st. Louis
Exposition. Several distinguished
Irishmen are members of the commits
sion. Among these are Lord Castleton
and Mr.. Horace Plunkett. vice presi-
| dent of the Department of Agriculture
and Technical Instruction for Ireland.
Mr.. William Redmond, NJ. p, brother
| of the Irish leader in the House of
| Commons. has actively urged the i'm
| portance of the exhibit. Sir Thomas
Upton has been an ardent supporter of
I the project from the beginning and Is
| still working to make 1t a striking feat
ure of the section to be occupied by the
| mother country. The various Hiber-
| MAN societies in this country COM
| menced more than year ago to agitate
the matter. A cablegram recently an
nounced that these concerted efforts
| had been crowned with complete sue
cess and that the project had received
the endorsement of the Royal Commits
| sion.
The industrial exhibit will consist of
| trict, In Kilkenny. admitted by experts
| to be the finest steam coal of it's kind
in the world; gold and silver ore from
| wicklow; granite and marble from
| Donegal and ConnemaTa; slate and iron
from Glare and Wexford: and peat
from the boys of Alien. Specimens of
linen and wooden goods will also be in
cluded. Irish poplin. which is a society
| luxury, will have a corner entirely to
| itself, and in this connection it is pro-
| posed to send over a weaver with his
| old-fashioned loom, such as a few still
have in Dublin. An attempt to repro
| duce an Irish cabin will be made from
materials some of which will be sent
| from Ireland, and one or two Gaelic
speakers will be sent to explain in the
! vernacular the names of the various
articles to those who are students OF
Gaelic in the United States. One of the
most interesting features of the exhibit
will be a panoramic view, which it is
hoped will give some idea OF the indus
trial activity of Ireland about sixty
years ago Just before the famine had
begun to denude the country of its pop
ulation. A wel-known Irish artist has
been engaged on this work for some
months.
number of Irishmen. scholars and
archaeologists in this country and in
Europe are now making an effort to
secure an extension of the scope OF the
exhibit so as to include the ancient
art and literature of Ireland. Mrs.
Aaron Morly Wilcox, president of the
Celtic Memorial Society; DIR. W. ].
MCGEE, and Mr.. Dominic L. Murphy,
all of this city, are the pioneers in this
laudable enterprise
At the Worlds Fair, Chicago, the
goldsmith's art in ancient Erin was for
the first time in this country well rep
resented. Naturally, the st. Louis
| 4TY.ah
sive.
The fact that the late Prince Con-
sort was greatly interested in old
Irish literature and art probably ac-
counts for the prominence the subject
has received during the last half GEN.
fury. The impetus of this revival was
felt in this country, and took shape in
the city of Washington not many years
: ago when the Ancient Order of Hber-
J mans endowed a chair OF Gaelic in
the Catholic University. The archaeol-
ogical societies OF Great Britain have
taken up the subject and are making
2 investigations in both Wales and Ire
land which cannot fail to shed light
on the times of that great people
known to history as the Ancient Brit
ons. Last summer I had the honor of
. an invitation to accompany the ladies'
and gentlemen OF the Cambrian Arch
geological Association of Great Brit
i
yacht around the coast of Wales and
Ireland for the purpose of finding
everything bearing on the life and
manners of a race that successfully
held its own in the mountain fast
nesses of Briton against Caesar and
his conquering iegions. The party
| was successful in securing much VAL
liable data. They found. in Gaelic of
course, many of the songs of the an
| cient bards and heard the melodies to
which they were sung from the lips OF
peasants who had treasured and learn
ed them for successive generations.
, | The minstrel bards of Briton pre-
served in these rhythmic stanzas the
legends traditions, in short, the au-
thentic history of a stirring time and
an illustrious people. 1t is mainly to
some
''Iigh-born Heels harp, or soft
, Llewellyn's lay
that the world owes the story of the
wars, the achievements. the poetry and
the literature of this notable race.
1t is proposed to reproduce for the
Irish exhibit at the Worlds Fair the
valuable collection of antiquities and
manuscripts in Dublin, especially in
the Royal Irish Academy, which COM
| prIses all the later finds" To this
collection will be added reproductions
of the articles of gold in the British
tory OF Britain. In the case of the
metal objects, 1t is proposed to make
the reproduction by electrotype, while
the more valuable manuscripts are
now issued in photo-lithographic cop
les by the Academy in Dublin at a
comparatively small cost. In fact, all
these magnificent collections can be
reproduced. classified, and arranged
without involving any very great meas
ure of expense. The masterpiece of
Gaelic literature the "Lebar Gabhala"
or Book of Conquests" will natural
Iy have a prominent place in the ex-
hibit, the educational value of which
will be inestimable. This antiquarian
compilation purports among other
. | things 40 gave the history of the
Irish from the time of the Deluge.
II the statements it contains are true,
Ireland is oldest nation in Europe.
and its history is perfect and complete
from the days of Noah. In no other
document are historic times re-
corded with such appearance OF au-
/ thenticity and truth.
The industrial Irish exhibit is al
ready an assured fact. That relating
to Irish art and literature is rapidly
, being put into shape and is awaken
, ing widespread interest on both sides
| Of the Atlantic. If carried out as pro-