The Irish standard., 1912-07-13
In Ten Years Queenstown has been
Transformed From an English
to an Irish City.
Now has Many Shops Handling
Irish Goods, Some of Them Deal
ing in Nothing Else.
Irish Once More Spoken in the
Streets and in the Churches
and Schools.

Miss Mary Synon, an irish news
paper correspondent of broad expert
snce and recognized ability. is in Ire-
land for the purpose of reporting the
results of the Parliament Of the
Gaelic League to q syndicate of AM
erlcan newspapers, among them the
Minneapolis Journal Miss Synon 10
herself a member of a distinguished
Irish family and her interest In Irish
questions is racial as we'll as that Of
student. In her first letter on tho
Irish revival Miss Synon writes Of
Queenstown as follows:
Queenstown Now Irish City.
Ten years ago Queenstown was an
English city. Today, in spite Of the
Warships in the harbor, of the guard
ing ports Of the island out on the bay
that was so long the penal island for
Irish patriots, in spite of the gar
khaki-clad soldiers Of the English
king who flock down Harbour row.
Queenstown is once more an Irish
city. st. Colman. looking down from
the pinnance OF his towering cath
edral on the most beautiful harbor
of western Europe. sees the old city
bright with June lilacs and fuchsia,
soft with lichcn and ivy over mel
lcw-toned stucco houses. But the
children Of st. Colman who built hin,
the glorious cathedral, dreams set in
stone, because in their poverty they
ever remembered that man does not
live by bread alone, are seeing closer
to the ground signs of the changing
times. And it is they who have set
beside the cathedral door, under the
imprimatur Of Robert, Bishop Of
Cloync, a set of publications Of the
Catholic Truth Society of Ireland.
There among them l found one, en-
titled Popular and Patriotic Poetry"
On the terrace of the cathedral, be-
side the Celtic cross. looking down
on the warship and revenue cutters.
l read those poems Of Davis. Of
O'Hagan, Of Fahy. of Emily Lawless,
of Managan, of Sir Charles Gaven
Duffy. Fire they are. Fire of spirit.
And while they live England's war;
ships menace Irish ports in vain. For
even while the Gaelic tongue seemed
to die, the essence of Gaelic thought
lived through its English expression
so that now the very children in the
streets and lanes Of Queenstown go
back to Gaelic with the ease of es-
scntial understanding.
Irish Goods in Shops.
It is typical Of Queenstown, as Of
other parts Of Ireland. Anglicized in
speech, that only q few of the very
old. the teachers and the children
have the Gaelic speech. The others
lack it and begin to feel their lack.
But these are the ones who are re-
vealing their connection with the
spirit of the revival by their interest
in the revival q. Irish industries.
Down Harbor row are shops filled
with Irish goods. One of them,
Towers, handles nothing else. And
the laces, Limerick and Carrick-ma-
cross. and Point and crochet, and
Youghal. are of such beauty that
wise American husbands never tell
their wives of the place. For the shop
represents the hay the workers have
made while the sun of fashion shines
on Irish lace. And every piece of
lace is as strong part of the revival
of Ireland as is every Gaelic word.
! For it means work, and work means
the ability to stay at home. MI
Last week only fifteen emigrants
left Queenstown on one Of the largest
transatlantic steamers. Five years
ago no ship went out with less than
$50, not surprising under a govern
mental system that subsidized emf.
grafton. The answer is the Amer
ican market the Gaelic league Il has
opened to Irish cottage crafts.
And SO it is that these elements Of
reawakened language and rebuilt An
J dustry, that have made QuesnstSwn
an Irish CITY once more 4 ~ Az /, - 49,