The Irish standard., 1905-05-27
High Tribute to A. o. II.

The New York Evening Telegram,
in an interesting article on Celtic
studies at Harvard, makes reference
as follows to the endowment by the
Ancient Order of Hibernians of the
United States of Celtic chair in the
Catholic University at Washington.
THE only endowed chair of Celtic
in the United States is that at the
Catholic University in Washington,
presided over by Prof. Joseph Dunn,
who was formerly a pupil of Prof.
Robnson's, at Harvard, and later a
student under Celtic scholars in Ger
many and France. The story of the
establishment of Dr. Dunn's chair by
popular subscription among Irishmen
is a familiar one. OF it Douglas Hyde
says eloquently in his Literary His
tory of Ireland:
~ hardly know a sharper contrast
in the history of human thought than
the true, traditional literary instinct
which, four years ago. prompted fifty
thousand poor. Woodworking Irishmen
in the United States to contribute
each a dollar toward the foundation
of Il Celtic chair in the Catholic Uni
versity in Washington-in the land of
their adoption-choosing out a fit
man and sending him to study under
the great Celtists of Germany, in the
hope that his scholarship might one
day reflect credit upon the far-off
very country by far the richest col
lege in one of the wealthiest colleges
of the world allows it's so-called Irish
Professorship" to be an adjunct of its
divinity school, founded and paid for
by a society for the conversion of
Irish Roman Catholics through the
medium of their own language
The college here referred to is
Trinity College, Dublin, founded by
Queen Elizabeth on the confiscated
estates OF Irish Catholics, from the
revenues of which the institution is
still largely maintained. Its Irish
professorship" was, as DR.. Hyde OBJ
serves, established for the purpose of
aiding in the work of Protestant
proselytism in Ireland. This was
sought to be done by means of Prot
estant Bibles and tracts translated
into the native Irish language and cir
culated among the poorer elements of
the Catholic people, in addition to a
more material agency in the shape of
creature comforts, including soup,
from which practice the proselyters
got the sobriquet of "soupers." But.
needless to say, the soupers didn't
succeed in their converting" project
in Ireland. though they had the Trim
ity College Irish professorship" at
their back, as we'll as ample funds
contributed by pious old ladies in
England The Evening Telegram,
after quoting DR.. Hyde's eloquent
tribute to the Irish literary instinct"
as illustrated by the A. o. H. fund for
the Celtic chair at Washington, goes
on to remark that:
"One thing that has operated here
tofore against the endowment of
chairs of Celtic in American univer-
stiles and colleges is the fact that the
lrishmen, Welchmen and Scotchmen
who are most interested in the litera-
ture of their native lands are not u.s.
ually found among the prosperous
business men,"
But there are Scotch millionaires,
Andrew Carnegie, to-wit, and we have
Irish millionaires, too. What of them
Apparently their tastes are not in the
direction of the ancient literature of
l their fatherland, so highly appreci
ated by scholars not of Irish or Celtic
blood, says the Freeman's Journal.