Submitted by karolka on 15 June, 2015 - 16:47.
Dr Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh
NUI Galway
The Gaelic Revival: Ireland and European language movements 1898-1916
Thursday, 18 June 2015, 15.30, 601A Collegium Novum
The Gaelic Revival has undergone reappraisal in recent years by scholars such as Philip O'Leary, Timothy G. McMahon, and Brian Ó Conchubhair. Their work has demonstrated a marked awareness of European affairs on the part of key progressive Revival figures. This paper will explore the receptivity Gaelic Revivalists to European language movements. Drawing on publications such as An Claidheamh Soluis and Fáinne an Lae, as well as W. P. Ryan's pamphlet, & Lessons from Modern Language Movement; this paper will examine the commentary on European language movements. The areas of education and national theatre were of particular significance to the Gaelic Revivalists. They drew on European examples to encourage and motivate their readers. For example, in 1906 Patrick Pearse praised the schoolchildren of Poznan for resisting the efforts of the German authorities to suppress the native Polish language. Interestingly, French newspapers were a major source of information about Europe for the Revivalists. We will consider the reasons for this and the potential influence this would have on how various language movements were regarded.
Biography:
Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh is a lecturer in the Irish Department at the National University of Ireland, Galway. Her doctoral research examined the French influence on the Gaelic Revival, 1893-1922. Her thesis won the Adele Dalsimer Prize for Distinguished Dissertation at the ACIS conference in 2014. She has previously taught at the Université de Bordeaux III, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick and was a Fulbright FLTA at Lehman College, City University of New York.
