Athbheochan na Gaeilge – Réamhrá
The Gaelic Revival – Introduction
Athbheochan na Gaeilge a tugtar ar an dtréimhse ama úd i stair na hÉireann, ó dheireadh na 1800í agus isteach sna blianta luatha de na 1900í, nuair a chonacthas an tsuim a bhíothas a chur sa teanga, sa chultúr agus sa stair ag fás agus an mórtas cine agus ar an mbá leis an gcultúr dúchais ag dul i méad. Ba ins sa tréimhse seo a leagadh an bóthar, cuid mhaith, d’Éirí Amach na Cásca agus do Chogadh na Saoirse ar ball.
B’é Dubhghlas de hÍde chéad Uachtaran Chonradh na Gaeilge. Chuir an Conradh roimis an Ghaeilge a chur chun cinn mar theanga náisiúnta na tíre agus labhairt na teangan a leathadh ar fuaid na hÉireann. Chuir sé roimis chomh maith suim a mhúscailt i staidéar agus i bhfoilsiú litriocht na nGael maraon le litríocht nua-aimseartha a cheapadh.1 De réir mar a mhéadaigh an tóir ar an gConradh chun an dúil san abhar dúchais a shásamh, osclaíodh brainsí ar fuaid na tíre. Laistigh de bheagán aimsire bhí 671 brainse in Éirinn gan trácht ar an líon ar an gcoigríoch.3 Sa bhliain 1899, d’fhoilsigh an eagraíocht an chéad nuachtá dá chuid, An Claidheamh Soluis, fé eagarthóireacht Eoin MacNeill.
Chuir eagraíochtaí eile rompu an cultúr dúchais a shaothrú ag an am gur chuir neart sa mhórtas cine mar a fuarthas sa Chuman Lúthchleas Gael. Orthu san, a bheag nó a mhór, bhí Cumann Lúthchleas Gael a bunaíodh in 1884;4 Cumann Ealaíona agus Ceardaíochta na hÉireann a ceapadh in 1895;5 Bráithreachas Phoblacht na hÉireann, a bhunaíodh i 1858,6 agus a chuaigh i líonmhaire sa tréimhse seo; Amharclann na Mainistreach in 1904, a léirigh an fás a bhí ag teacht fén spéis i mbéaloideas na hÉireann.7
Le imeacht aimsire, chuaigh i líonmhaire iad siúd a raibh bá leis na Fíníní acu a cheap gur cheart Éire a bheith neamhspleách ar an mBreatain ar ais nó ar éigean. Chonacthas don BPE gur machairí méithe earcaíochta Conradh na Gaeilge agus Cumann Lúthchleas Gael dá n-eagraíocht féin. Sa bhliain 1913, dúirt Pádraig Mac Piarais: ““Chuamar ar scoil i gConradh na Gaeilge. Ba mhaith an scoil í … ach ní hamhlaidh is áil linn fanacht inár mbuachaillí scoile.”8
Sa bhliain 1915, ghlac BPE ceannas ar an gCoiste Gnótha, coiste feidhmiúcháin an Chonartha, agus iad i mbun Éirí Amach 1916 a phleanáil. Glacadh leis an rún: “Go gcuirfí ar ceal an tseanriail a dhearbhaigh seasamh neamhpholaitiúil na heagraíochta seo is go nglacfaí ina háit leis an leasú a fhógraíonn Saoirse na hÉireann ar aidhmeanna an Chonartha.” Éiríonn Dubhghlas de hÍde, a chreid go dílis sa Chonradh mar eagraíocht neamhpholaitiúil as an uachtarántacht agus ceapadh Eoin Mac Néill i gcomharbacht air.9
Bhí sé de thoradh ar an spéis a bhíothas á chur i gcaomhnú agus i gcur chun cinn na teanga le linn na hAthbheochana gur osclaíodh, i mBéal Átha ‘n Ghaorthaidh in 1904, an chéad choláiste oiliúna sa Ghaeilge, Coláiste Múinteoireachta na Mumhan. Bhain an sráidbhaile seasamh náisiúnta amach i ngluaiseacht na teangan agus a d’fháiltigh, dá réir, roimh go leor de lucht cinn riain na hAthbheochana a ghlacfadh páirt ar leithligh ar ball i SaorStát Éireann a bhunú in 1922.
The so-called Gaelic Revival was a period in Ireland from the late 1800s to the early 1900s when interest and pride in the Irish language, culture, history and sense of Celtic identity flourished. Its cornerstone was the Gaelic League which was formed in 1893. Over time, this contributed significantly to the national pride which fuelled the 1916 Easter Rising and the War of Independence.
The first president of the Gaelic League was Dubhghlas de hÍde/Douglas Hyde. The organisation aimed to preserve Irish as the national language of the country and extend the use of spoken Irish. It also aimed to encourage the study and publication of Celtic literature and cultivate modern literature in the Irish language. 1 As the Gaelic League grew in popularity, as a conduit for people’s growing sense of national identity, it opened up branches all around the country. Within twenty years, there were 500 branches, 2 growing to 671 only five years after that. 3 In 1899, the organisation first published its voice-piece magazine, Claidheamh Soluis (The Sword of Light). Eoin MacNeill was its first editor.
Other organisations and movements also promoted Irishness at the time and contributed to the growing sense of national pride embodied by the Gaelic League. These included, to varying degrees: the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) founded in 1884; 4 the Arts and Crafts Movement, formalised by the founding of the Arts and Crafts Society of Ireland in 1895; 5 the growth in membership of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) founded in 18586 and the growing interest in Celtic folklore, as evidenced by the opening of the Abbey Theatre in 1904.7
As time went by, there was an increase in the number of individuals with Fenian sympathies who came to believe that Ireland should be granted independence from Britain, by violent means if necessary. The IRB saw the Gaelic League and the GAA as potential recruiting grounds for their organization. In 1913, Pádraig Mac Piarais stated: “We went to school in the Gaelic League. It was a good school . . . but we do not propose to remain schoolboys…”8
In 1915, the League’s executive committee, Coiste Gnótha, was taken over by the IRB, already planning the 1916 Rising. A motion was passed: “the previous Gaelic League rule, that it be non-political, be abolished and a clause inserted stating that a free Ireland be included in the aims of the league”. Dubhghlas de hÍde/Douglas Hyde, who was committed to the League as a non-political organisation, resigned and Eoin MacNeill became President.9
In Ballingeary, during the Gaelic Revival, interest in the preservation and promotion of the Irish language saw the opening of Ireland’s first Irish language teaching college in 1904, Coláiste Múinteoireachta na Mumhan. The village was of national importance to the language movement and, as such, it hosted numerous figures who were significant to the Gaelic Revival and who went on to be significant in the formation of the Irish Free State in 1922.
1 https://www.yourirish.com/history/19th-century/the-foundation-of-the-gaelic-league-1893 (accessed 13/10/2020).
2 RTE [online]: https://www.rte.ie/centuryireland/index.php/articles/the-gaelic-league-and-the-1916-rising (accessed 16/10/2020).
3 T.G. MacMahon, ‘The Gaelic Revival’ in J. Crowley, D. Ó Drisceoil, M. Murphy (eds), Atlas of the Irish Revolution (Cork: CUP, 2017), p.99.
4 GAA [online]: https://www.gaa.ie/the-gaa/history/1884-1945(accessed 16/10/2020).
5 Artist Biographies [online]: https://www.artbiogs.co.uk/2/societies/arts-crafts-society-ireland (accessed 16/10/2020).
6 History Ireland [online]: https://www.historyireland.com/18th-19th-century-history/the-irish-republican-brotherhood/ (accessed 16/10/2020).
7 Abbey Theatre [online]: https://www.abbeytheatre.ie/about/history/ (accessed 16/10/2020).
8 The Irish Times, 24/07/2015 [online]: https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/an-irishman-s-diary-on-the-gaelic-league-and-the-irb-1.2294965 (accessed 16/10/2020).
9 The Irish Times, 24/07/2015 [online]: https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/an-irishman-s-diary-on-the-gaelic-league-and-the-irb-1.2294965 (accessed 16/10/2020).
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