Gaelic Journal

Last updated

Gaelic Journal
Frontcover Gaelic Journal.jpg
TypeMonthly magazine
Owner(s) Gaelic League
Editor Eoin Mac Néill
Founded1882
Political alignmentNationalist / Republican
Ceased publication1909

The Gaelic Journal (Irish : Irisleabhar na Gaedhilge) was a periodical publication "exclusively devoted to the preservation and cultivation of the Irish Language". According to Tomas O Flannghaile it was "the first journal devoted to the living Irish language". [1] It has been described by the historian Donnchadh Ó Corráin as "the first important bilingual Irish periodical". [2] An early manifestation of the Gaelic revival, it was established with the help of Douglas Hyde, [2] and first published in 1882, by the Gaelic Union, and from 1893 by Conradh na Gaeilge. After some initial irregularities, the journal was published monthly until 1909. [3]

From 1894 the frontcover got a new logo, where the Irish name of the publication features more dominantly. Gaelic Journal Vol 5.jpg
From 1894 the frontcover got a new logo, where the Irish name of the publication features more dominantly.

Its first editor was David Comyn, followed by John Fleming, Eoghan O'Growney and from November 1894 Eoin MacNeill. MacNeill was succeeded by Seosamh Laoide in 1899. [4] From 1902 to 1909 the editor was Tadhg Ó Donnchadha. [3]

The first 48 issues were numbered consecutively, with Volume 1 consisting of numbers 1–12, Volume 2 numbers 13–24 and so on. From Volume 5 in 1894 the numbering was 1–12 for each Volume.

The Gaelic Journal was bilingual, with texts in Irish and English. There were also occasionally texts published in other languages, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh and French. The content spanned many genres; folktales, literary texts, poetry, historical studies, fiction and drama, as well as articles on topics both academic and controversial. [3] There was also a series of "Simple lessons in Irish", adapted from the series originally created by O'Growney for the Weekly Freeman. [4]

In an article that appeared under the title "Our Position" in the third number of the Gaelic Journal in January 1883, the causes and agencies that made the Gaelic Journal a reality are mentioned, as

(1) a growing taste among the reading portion of our people for things national, and a juster idea of the value of such things as we can still call our own; (2) the labours of devoted Irish scholars during the last fifty years—as O'Donovan, O'Curry, Davis, Petrie, Todd, Archbishop MacHale, Canon Bourke, S. H. O'Grady, John Fleming, Hennessy and Whitley Stokes—some of whom, happily, we have still amongst us; (3) the labours of continental scholars in the general field of Indo-European philology, and more particularly those of Pictet, Zeuss, Ebel, Gaidoz, de Jubainville, and others in the special field of Celtic philology; (4) the labours of learned bodies like the Royal Irish Academy, the Celtic Society, even those of the Irish Archaeological Society, but more especially those of the Ossianic Society; (5) the establishment of the "Society for the Preservation of the Irish Language;" and (6) above all the formation of the Gaelic Union, for no other society or body had ever thought or would ever think of so practical a means of cultivating the language—or indeed, of cultivating the living language at all.

The causes that had "operated against the rise of a vernacular Irish press" are described as "beyond the scope and province of this journal to discuss," before it is added that "but as they are obvious, there is all the less need to refer to them here". [1]

Related Research Articles

Conradh na Gaeilge is a social and cultural organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide. The organisation was founded in 1893 with Douglas Hyde as its first president, when it emerged as the successor of several 19th century groups such as the Gaelic Union. The organisation was a spearhead of the Gaelic revival and of Gaeilgeoir activism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eoin MacNeill</span> Irish politician and scholar (1867–1945)

Eoin MacNeill was an Irish scholar, Irish language enthusiast, Gaelic revivalist, nationalist and politician who served as Minister for Education from 1922 to 1925, Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann from 1921 to 1922, Minister for Industries 1919 to 1921 and Minister for Finance January 1919 to April 1919. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1918 to 1927. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Londonderry City from 1918 to 1922 and a Member of the Northern Ireland Parliament (MP) for Londonderry from 1921 to 1925.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaelic revival</span> 19th-century Irish language revival

The Gaelic revival was the late-nineteenth-century national revival of interest in the Irish language and Irish Gaelic culture. Irish had diminished as a spoken tongue, remaining the main daily language only in isolated rural areas, with English having become the dominant language in the majority of Ireland.

The Irish Literary Revival was a flowering of Irish literary talent in the late 19th and early 20th century. It includes works of poetry, music, art, and literature.

Events from the year 1893 in Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iverni</span> A people of early Ireland

The Iverni were a people of early Ireland first mentioned in Ptolemy's 2nd century Geography as living in the extreme south-west of the island. He also locates a "city" called Ivernis in their territory, and observes that this settlement has the same name as the island as a whole, Ivernia. It was probably once the name given to all the peoples of Ireland, but by Ptolemy's time had a more restricted usage applicable to the inhabitants of the south-west. These Iverni can be identified linguistically with the Érainn, a people attested in Munster and elsewhere in the early Middle Ages.

Lugaid is a popular medieval Irish name, thought to be derived from the god Lug. It is borne by a number of figures from Irish history and mythology, including:

Crimthann Mór, son of Fidach, also written Crimthand Mór, was a semi-mythological king of Munster and High King of Ireland of the 4th century. He gained territory in Britain and Gaul, but died poisoned by his sister Mongfind. It is possible that he was also recognized as king of Scotland. This Crimthann is to be distinguished from two previous High Kings of Ireland of the same name, two Kings of Leinster, and another King of Munster, among others. Importantly, he is included in the Baile Chuinn Chétchathaig (summary), and is thus the last High King of Ireland from Munster until Brian Bóruma, over six hundred years later.

The Déisi were a social class in Ireland between the ancient and early medieval period. The various peoples listed under the heading déis shared a similar status in Gaelic Ireland, and had little or no actual kinship, though they were often thought of as genetically related. During the era of Roman rule in Britain, many members of the Déisi were recorded as settling in western coastal areas.

Túath is the Old Irish term for the basic political and jurisdictional unit of Gaelic Ireland. Túath can refer to both a geographical territory as well the people who lived in that territory.

The Annals of Tigernach are chronicles probably originating in Clonmacnoise, Ireland. The language is a mixture of Latin and Old and Middle Irish.

Rí, or commonly ríg (genitive), is an ancient Gaelic word meaning 'king'. It is used in historical texts referring to the Irish and Scottish kings, and those of similar rank. While the Modern Irish word is exactly the same, in modern Scottish Gaelic it is rìgh, apparently derived from the genitive. Cognates include Gaulish Rix, Latin rex/regis, Spanish rey, French roi, Sanskrit raja, and German Reich.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uí Liatháin</span>

The Uí Liatháin were an early kingdom of Munster in southern Ireland. They belonged the same kindred as the Uí Fidgenti, and the two are considered together in the earliest sources, for example The Expulsion of the Déisi (incidentally). The two have been given various origins among both the early or proto-Eóganachta and among the Érainn or Dáirine by different scholars working in a number of traditions, with no agreement ever reached or appearing reachable. It is entirely possible that they were the product of a combination of lineages from both these royal kindreds, or alternatively of another origin entirely.

The Dáirine, later known dynastically as the Corcu Loígde and associated, were the proto-historical rulers of Munster before the rise of the Eóganachta in the 7th century AD. They were derived from or closely associated with the Darini of Ptolemy and were also related to the Ulaid and Dál Riata of Ulster and Scotland. Their ancestors appear frequently in the Ulster Cycle. In historical times the Dáirine were represented, as stated, by the Corcu Loígde, the Uí Fidgenti and Uí Liatháin, as well as a few other early historical kindreds of both Munster and Ulster. In ancient genealogical schemes, the historical Dál Fiatach of Ulaid also belong to the Dáirine.

Íar mac Dedad was a legendary King of Munster. He is the father, or in some sources more distant ancestor, of Eterscél Mór, and grandfather of the famous Conaire Mór, both High Kings of Ireland.

Dáire Doimthech, alias Dáire Sírchréchtach, son of Sithbolg, was a legendary King of Tara and High King of Ireland, and one of the eponymous ancestors of the proto-historical Dáirine and historical Corcu Loígde of Munster. A son of his was Lugaid Loígde, an ancestor of Lugaid Mac Con. In the Scéla Mosauluim, Dáire Doimthech is referred to as one of the five kings of Tara from Munster, or alternatively one of five Dáires to rule at Tara.

Dáire Drechlethan "Dáire of the Broad Face" is a king of Tara listed in the Old Irish Baile Chuinn Chétchathaig. His identity with any king of Tara from Irish legend remains uncertain because his epithet is unique in the surviving corpus related to Tara.

Dáire is an Old Irish name which fell out of use at an early period, remaining restricted essentially to legendary and ancestral figures, usually male. It has come back into fashion since the 18th century. The anglicised form of this name is Dara.

Irish genealogy is the study of individuals and families who originated on the island of Ireland.

References

  1. 1 2 O Flannghaile, Tomas (1896). "The Starting of the Gaelic Journal, November 1882" . Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  2. 1 2 Ó Corráin, Donnchadh. "Douglas Hyde". University College Cork, Multitext Project in Irish History. Archived from the original on 1 October 2011. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 O'Leary, Philip (1994). The Prose Literature of the Gaelic Revival, 1881–1921: Ideology and Innovation. Pennsylvania State University Press. pp. 8, 386. ISBN   978-0-271-02596-4.
  4. 1 2 Ryan, John (December 1945). "Eoin Mac Neill 1867-1945". Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review. 34 (136). Irish Province of the Society of Jesus: 433–448. JSTOR   30100064.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.