The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1911-09-09

past decade, especially since the
death Of thinner, no foreigner has
done more for the promotion of Gel
TIC study. In proposing the resolu-
ton to confer upon this German
scholar the freedom Of the Irish CAPT
tai, Alderman Kelly said that during
the last decade or SO there had been
remarkable development Of interest
in all that concerns the Irish nation,
her literature, art, and industries. In
no department had that revival been
more marked than in that of Celtic
studies. More striking still, the re-
vival of interest in these subjects was
almost as marked in the great Uni
versities of Germany, France, and
England as it was in Ireland No
university was now considered COM
pletely equipped without a chair Of
Celtic. This change, the speaker
said, was in no small measure due to
the quiet, self-sacrificing work of the
scholars of the German universities
who devoted their lives and abilities
to the cause of the Irish language and
to proving the antiquity, richness,
variety and originality of early Irish
literature. In honoring DR.. Meyer the
Corporation would be paying it's tri-
butte of gratitude to the famous group
OF European scholars who had work
ed so successfully for Ireland AS to
Canon O'Leary, almost everyone in
Ireland who had ever handled a book
in Irish knew and loved his name.
His numerous works in Irish were
the standard by which thousands of
young Irish scholars measured their
competency to speak or write Irish.
The true value of his great work
could only be fully gagged years
hence, when Ireland has restored her
language to it's rightful place on the
tongues of the people. 1T was fit
ting" he continued, 'to bracket these
two names together. DR.. Meyers
Irish studies had enabled them to
trace the history of the Irish tongue
and the progress of the race from the
earliest up to modern days. Canon
O'Leary taught what the Irish Ian
guage of today is in the mouths of
the people-the pure fountain to
which all who wish to learn must
turn. In bestowing the city's freedom
Jointly on these two, they were link
ing up the two races represented by
an enduring bond of friendship" Mr.
Cosgrave, in seconding, said they
were honoring these two ripe schol-
ars chiefly because they regarded
them as nation-builders. Ireland just
ly acknowledged that she owed a debt
of gratitude to Germany for the fruit
full harvest of Gallo literature. What
Thackeray and Dickens had done for
English, Father O'Leary had done for
Irish.
CATHOLIC IRELAND AND cATHo-
Lie GERMANY.
Unfortunately Professor Meyer has
not the Catholic faith and spirit in
which Middle Irish was written and
he follows his former master, Profess
ser thinner, in the groundless theory
that the conversion of Ireland was
not due to St. Patrick have thought
these items would be of interest to
Catholics in America where of late
years the two races have been draw
ing closer together in the bond of
fraternity and Catholic endeavor.
The bonds uniting Catholic Ireland
and Catholic Germany are old and
honorable and they have had their
effect, too, on this very question of
the study and revival of the Irish
language For over three centuries
in the early Middle Ages constant
stream of missionaries went forth
from Ireland to the continent and
spread over in particular the prov
fnces of the Rhine, Bavaria, Switzer
land, the Tyrol and upper Austria.
They were not mere temporary strag-
g1ers but in these provinces they
founded monasteries that became
fruitful centers of missionary activity.
In the last century when German
scholarship turned it's attention to the
study of Celtic they found rich treas
ures in the so-called glossaries, pre-
served in the old libraries of these
old monasteries. These we're nothing
else than copious marginal common
taries on the Holy Scriptures and on
the works of the Fathers. The ammo
tations were written in Celtic and it
was easily proved by these German
scholars that the Celtic in which they
were written was the Irish of the
sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth GEN.
turtles. The research of these German
scholars and particularly the publica-
ton of the great Grammatical Gel
tica," gave the first and great i'm
petus to Celtic studies on the CONT
nent, and brought into relief the past
glory of the little island away off in
the Atlantic ocean. Apart from the
literary harvest that has been made
available by the research of these