Gaelic League, the (Connradh na Gaeilge), was founded at 9 Lower O'Connell St., Dublin, on 31 July 1893, with the purpose of keeping the Irish language spoken in Ireland at a time when census returns indicated that the number of native Irish-speakers was in rapid decline as a consequence of high emigration and the abandonment of the language in favour of English. The founding members were Douglas Hyde (President), Eoin MacNeill (Secretary), Fr. William Hayden, SJ, Thomas O'Neill Russell, Charles P. Bushe, Pádraig Ó Briain, Mártan Ó Ceallaigh, Patrick Hogan, James Cogan, and Thomas W. Ellerkerr. In seeking to revive Irish as a living language the Gaelic League followed the aims of its immediate precursors, the Society for the Preservation of the Irish Language of 1876 and the Gaelic Union of 1880. While insisting from the outset on its non-sectarian and non-political character, the League's vision was broadly nationalist, building on the ideas promoted by Hyde in his lecture ‘On the Necessity for De-Anglicizing Ireland’ to the National Literary Society [see literary revival] in 1892. The Gaelic League broke new ground in establishing itself as a popular movement based on a branch structure throughout the country. An important part in the dissemination of League ideas was played by the timirí (messengers), whose visits were often followed by the múinteoir taistil (travelling teacher). Administrative skills developed by the Land League and the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) supplied a significant input to the new organization, while opportunities for social mixing between young men and women offered a widely attested stimulus to new membership. By 1908 there were almost 600 branches, chiefly in English-speaking areas. However, the League's foothold in the Gaeltacht areas was negligible. The activities of the branches included Irish-language classes and social gatherings where Irish music and dancing were promoted. The League also produced a weekly newspaper—originally Fáinne an Lae, followed by An Claidheamh Soluis, among whose editors were MacNeill and Patrick Pearse. A publishing house was established in 1900, and already by 1909 some 150 books had appeared under the Connradh na Gaeilge imprint. The list of authors included virtually every major writer involved in the creation of a modern literature in Irish, among them Pearse, Pádraic Ó Conaire, P. S. Ó Duinnín, and An tAth. Peadar Ó Laoghaire. As time went by many of the more ardent Gaelic Leaguers became increasingly impatient with the non-political stance of the leadership. Hyde tried in vain to keep the League a broad cultural movement clear of political involvement, but a vote in favour of committing the organization to ‘a free, Gaelic-speaking Ireland’, at the 1915 Ard Fheis (annual conference), drove him to resign as President. Numerous Leaguers went on to participate in the Easter Rising in 1916. The educational policy of the new State was deeply coloured by Gaelic League ideas, while the special status given to Irish in the 1937 Constitution was consistent with the League's primary objective.
Bibliography
Proinsias Mac Aonghusa, Ar Son na Gaeilge: Conradh na Gaeilge 1893-1993: Stair Sheanchais (1993).
