El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-01-14
Irish Cling To Gaelic Tongue
Churches and stores Aid the Cru
sade to Revive the Ma

tive Lang uaSe.
BY Frederic J. HaSINiB -
-AsHNGTON. D. c., Jan. II.

I
nation will ever have upon the hearts
/ of its people is the affection with
/ which they cling to the old Gaelic
| tongue with all of its ancient tradi-
/ lions. Notwithstanding the fact that
! English supremacy made that language
/ official upon the Emerald Isle there
have been few families who have not
/ in their own circle lapsed frequently
! into the use of some old Gaenc express
The number of native Gaelic speakers
I in Ireland, according to the last cen
/ sus, was $4,000 or about one-seNe IlLn
/ of the population. Many OF tnese never
/ have learned to speak English ana
! those who have still use the oiueI
( tongue upon every. possible oceasloiI y,
Great Britain and Ireland at least l.
OOO. 600 people who claim Gaeuc q
their native language ana SPEAK ~ N ~
preference to any Other- rms INC iuuS55
/ Irish who have settled in England and
/ Scotland. as well as the nauEe Scolch
| Highlanders who also speak GaeIlc.
| Gaelic SpOken in United States.
Because an Irishman IS irish Wnere-
| ever he goes, the interest," IN G5ellG -, -
not confined to the British islands me
| love of the mother tongue has gone
with him in all his journey1ngs ana
wherever there has been an !rlsn COZ
| Ony of long standing there IS apt ~
/ be at least a few who are able. TO
/ speak the ancient Gaelic IN every
/ large American city numbers OF peOpIe
will be found VINO are continually
/ striving to preserve the language IN all
its purity. In the cary 1Os, some pa
| triotic Irish Americans began n, 70 1o oe
/ wise means for the study OF TINS IAN
guage in America and the interest,"
! has increased continuously Largely
1 through the influence of Timothy
! Frederick HaIvey. of Philadelphia, who
/ is widely known in Irish American CIR
| cles as the founder of Robert EnmeI
! schools were established in New York,
/ Chicago, Philadelphia and Buffalo
! From these schools have developed IN
Vulnerable classes so that IN every m
portant city it is easy for an interested
student to receive instruction IN the
| Gaelic language.
The Gaelic language IS taught IN
number of the leading American uni
versities. At Harvard Prof Roblnson;
one of the recognized philologists OF
the world, conducts Gaelic classes and
is an enthusiastic Gaelic scholar a
special course in Gaelic is provided IN
O'Hegerty, a native of Donegal who
was brought over from Ireland to take
conducts Gaelic classes in san Fran
cisco. In the Catholic university OF
Washington. D. c, Gaelic IS tougnt
under the direction of Dr. Joseph X
Dunn, who not only speaks It fluenuy
but gives a large amount of his time
to the translation of ancient irish ut
erature. DR.. Dunn also lectures at
Yale upon the Gaelic language and has
now in press a metrical translation OF
the ancient Gaelic saga, Tain DO Crl-
Gaelic Society in Washington.
There is a flOurishing Gaelic society
in the national capital which has a
number of CORRESPONDING members in
different states. The object is to IN
crease the knowledge and interest IN
this ancient vernacular. It's programs
consist of lectures and translaUOns in
terspersed with old Irish melodies. Al
though only orgs nized IN 1907, TINS
society has been Instrumental in call
ing national attention to the wealth OF
literary achievement in the Gaelic Ian
guage which has been unknown to
Many distinguished French, German
and English scientists are now en-
gagged upon the e!ucidaton OF the Gaeo
lie literature which goes BACK 70 the
eighth or ninth century They began
with no other help than the oldest
Latin text and the dictionary OF MOD
ern Irish From these they were able
by degrees to come down to the mid
die ages and even to the present time
1t is considered a better method to go
from the living language back to the
middle Irish which is still preserved
by innumerable songs, stories. tracts
and hOmilies and from these TO Work
still farther back to the old texts
which seem to obscure Such great
progress has been made that even the
students themselves have been amazed
at the wealth of material revealed
While the Gaelic league is working
YaHantly TO increase interest," IN Lne
preservation of this language, II must
not be assumed that it ever has
been a dead language OF even in dan
ger Of becoming one. There are thou
sands of persons in different parts of
the world who are speaking 1t today
as it was transmitted to them from
their fOrefathers.
~ Churches and stores Aid Work.
The churches, both Catholic and Pro
testant has caught the enthusiasm Tor
rev1v1ng the Gaelic and sermons IN
that language are frequent in all of
the churches. On st. Patricks day /
1912, q churches in Dublin held ser
viz IN r51~a hrrC a G
refuse to speak any other language /
when shopping, thus compelling stores
to employ Gaelic speaking clerks The
street signs IN Dublin ana IN other
Irish cities are now given IN both I
Gaelic and English. and cabmen and /
draymen put Gaelic signs upon their
The interest is not confined to speak
ing the language, for most Of the irish
lie IN their regular editions while otn-
ers print occasional issues in the
ancient text. In addition to these
there are a number of Gaelic period
icals. while each month an increasing
number of Gaelic books are printed 1
and distributed throughout the world !
Several Gaelic publications are issued |
IN the United States as well as in sew
eral other countries.
Gaelic Colony in Nova Scotia.
The strongest Gaelic colony in the |
western hemisphere is in Nova Scotia, |
where the language is spoken by 10
600 people, many of whom do not speak |
native tongue in all its purity. Sew
eral newspapers printed in Gaelic keep
this colony in touch with what trans |
pires in the world This colony was
founded more than a century ago by |
Scottish Highlanders. There are two |
colleges in Nova Scotia attended large !
~ by Gaelic speaking students in !
which the language is taught. One /
of these is Presbyterian and the other /
Catholic
At meeting Of the Washington /
Gaelic society recently. addresses in |
the Gaelic language were made by DR.. !
Donald Macleod, pastor of a prom, /
nent Presbyterian church of that city /
and by Rev. Daniel J. Macdonald, a |
Catholic. clergyman. Both of these |
men are native Gaelic speakers who |
learned the language during their I
childhood in their Nova Scotia homes. I
and both are enthusiastically working |
to increase its use because, although /
of decreasing Unitarian value, Gaelic 4
has yet been associated with much of /
the most interesting history of the /
world
Tomorrow: The Zoo and It's Habit /
ants.