CHAPTER XXVIII

LITERATURE AND LANGUAGE IN THE
NINETEENTH CENTURY

A. LITERARY MOVEMENTS.

Extinction of "Natural " Literature. The early part of the nineteenth century witnessed the practical extinction of "natural” Irish literature. That flame which had, amidst many vicissitudes, illuminated the national life for over ten centuries was extinguished for a period until it was re-lit by a flash of national enthusiasm. Literature using Irish as the natural and spontaneous mode of expression ceased it was to be renewed by those who to a great extent adopted the language consciously and deliberately and for the purposes of propaganda. The burst of song which the Penal days had witnessed prevailed for only a short period of the new century, and practically ended with the Great Famine.

Destruction of Social Life.—The Famine of 1847, and the clearances which soon followed it, completed the destruction of literary activity, and almost brought about the extinction of the language itself. The poetry of the preceding century was the outcome of an intense and vivid social rural life, to which, indeed, it was one of the great stimulants. Both the fabric and the spirit of that social life, however, were swept away by the disastrous famine and the desolating clearances. Neither the creation of, nor an interest in, literature was possible amidst the broken and scattered remnants who still remained in the solitudes of the devastated country. In a few isolated districts where the people were left in neighbourly contact, the traditions of the past were, at least, in some degree preserved. But no new singer of any importance was produced. It was not till after a period of silence, relieved only by some translations and other works by Dr. John MacHale, Archbishop of Tuam, that a new school of writers appeared at the end of the nineteenth century.

Publication of Early Literature.-While the creation of new literature ceased during most of the nineteenth century a new interest, scholarly

and historical rather than literary, was developed in the preservation and study of existing literature. It was an interest shared in only by an intellectual and cultured minority, but it resulted in the publication of a number of works which had lain in manuscript for many centuries. The patriotism and learning of small groups of individuals who succeeded one another throughout the century rescued from oblivion some of the most important collections of the ancient literature. These were now collected and compared and edited with translations and notes by the ablest scholars of the day. In Ireland the greatest of those scholars were John O'Donovan (1809-61), a native of Co. Kilkenny, and Eugene O'Curry (1796-1862) a native of Co. Clare, and they were followed by many others amongst whom the names of Standish Hayes O'Grady and Whitley Stokes are prominent as editors of various texts. On the Continent the foundation of modern Irish scholarship was laid in Germany by Zeuss, who published his "Grammatica Celtica" in 1853, and he was succeeded in Germany by Windisch, Zimmer and Kuno Meyer, and in France by De Jubainville, and by others in those countries, and in Denmark, Norway and Italy. Both in Ireland and in various European countries the study and publication of Irish literary works have been carried on in recent years by a numerous band of zealous and able scholars.

Irish Language Societies.-Some of the publications issued by those editors were initiated by private enterprise, and a few were helped by assistance from the State. But most of them were the result of voluntary societies associated for the purpose. The earliest of these was the "Gaelic Society," formed in Dublin in the first decade of the century. This was succeeded by the " Iberno-Celtic Society," of which the moving spirit was Edward O'Reilly, the compiler of a dictionary (1820), and of a list of "Irish Writers." In Belfast another Gaelic Society" was formed about 1830 by Robert McAdam and Dr. Samuel Bryson. More important and fruitful, however, was the "Irish Archaeological Society," which was founded in 1840 by the exertions of Dr. George Petrie and the Rev. J. H. Todd, and which continued its operations for nearly thirty years. The "Celtic Society," founded on a more popular basis by John O'Daly in 1846, frequently co-operated with the preceding society. Next came the " Ossianic Society," devoting itself to "Fenian " literature, six volumes of which it published. Some of the older texts were also published by the " Society for the Preservation of the Irish Language," founded in 1876, and by the "Gaelic League,' founded in 1893, societies whose other activities will be treated of subsequently. In the meantime official patronage had been stimulated to some extent, and State aid contributed to the publication of some

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volumes of Irish literature in a series known as the Rolls Series" (issued in England under the direction of the Master of the Rolls for the time being), and in the six volumes issued by the "Brehon Laws Commission," established in 1852. In recent years the "Irish Texts Society," founded in 1898 under the influence of the language revival, and devoting itself altogether to publication, has been responsible for the issue of a number of texts. In addition to the volumes issued by those societies, a number of pieces have been published in the Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, in various archæological and other periodicals, in "Eriu" under the auspices of the "Irish School of Learning," in the "Revue Celtique" in France, and in "Zeitschrift fur Celtische Philologie" in Germany.

Publication of Eighteenth Century Poetry.-All the publications just referred to were of works which came from a more or less remote period. No serious attempt had been made to publish the more recent works of the eighteenth-century poets, written in the still living language of the people, and still preserved by popular tradition. This defect was remedied by the Gaelic League. From the first it set itself to provide a popular literature, and when it had succeeded in securing an established position, it proceeded to issue a number of modern texts. In the years following 1900, its Publication Committee, with P. H. Pearse as its moving spirit and Hon. Secretary, issued in rapid succession a series of volumes of the poetry of the eighteenth century. Volumes of poems and prose collections in the idiom of the people have also been issued by various individuals, and numerous scattered pieces have appeared in national and local journals.

New School of Writers.-This output of popular literature was accompanied by a revival of original literature. The creative spirit that had lain dormant for nearly a century began to manifest itself once more. The revival of the language, due to the activities of the Gaelic League, stimulated the intellect of the Gael, and at the same time created a public for it. New writers arose on all sides, to many of whom the language was one which had been acquired by study and assimilated by enthusiasm. The new school wrote consciously under an external impulse, and under conditions in striking contrast to those under which the earlier writers had worked or sung. Consequently the new literature took a modern form, which differed from that of any previous period. Some of the writers followed the styles of the later "classical" writers: others used the every-day idiom of the people. Only a small proportion of their productions were in poetry. Most were in prose, and nearly all were in forms hitherto unknown. Novels, short stories, literary criticism, narrative history, dramas, and even operas were a new feature in Irish literature. The

relative or absolute merit of this literature cannot yet be properly estimated -its future, and the fame of its creators, are alike in the hands of the new generation of the Irish people.

B. THE LANGUAGE REVIVAL

Neglect of the Living Language.-The various Irish language societies of the nineteenth century had maintained an almost continuous interest in the study and publication of existing Irish literature. To this the operations of practically all of them were confined. They produced no new literature, and they ignored or neglected the living language itself. Yet, while they were thus rescuing from the dust of centuries the works of ancient writers, the language in which these were written bade fair to die away. That language, which, despite seven centuries of disorder and five centuries of hostile legislation, had been still vigorous enough to bind together the nation, and to assimilate the latest colonist, was threatened by internal decay. The cessation of literary activity had been the first sign of a growing weakness in the power of the language amongst the people. To this decay nearly every element in the country contributed. English became more and more the language of religion and of popular agitation: poetry in English voiced the national feelings, and superseded that of the eighteenth-century poets: the "national " schools, established in 1831, were spreading over the country, and from them the Irish language was excluded, and English-speaking teachers endeavoured to teach Irish-speaking children through a tongue that the latter did not understand the development of administrative machinery spread a host of officials over the country, and all its operations were carried out in English: the uprooting of the old social life brought final disaster on the language with which it had been interwoven. Every succeeding census showed a steady decrease in the number of speakers of Irish. The area occupied by the language was steadily shrinking: its geographical continuity, and the strength which that gave it, were being destroyed. An Irish-speaking nation was shattered into a number of isolated "Irish-speaking districts."

The "Society for the Preservation of the Irish Language.”—The first organised effort made to arrest this decay of the language was that of the "Society for the Preservation of the Irish Language," which still exists. In 1876 when the last of the "literary" societies-the " Ossianic " and the "Irish Archæological "—had ceased to operate, this society was founded. It produced a useful series of primers, published a few texts, and, in 1878, succeeded in obtaining a place for the language on the programme of the "national" schools. But creditable as were its

labours, either its methods were ineffective or the conditions of the time (which was the period of the fierce Land League agitation), were adverse and its direct influence was slight.

The "Gaelic Union": The "Gaelic Journal."-The more active of the members of the "Preservation" society became dissatisfied with its methods, and determined to establish a more active organisation. This they did by creating the "Gaelic Union" in 1880. Its most useful work was the establishment of the " Gaelic Journal” in 1882, a periodical which was at once scholarly and propagandist, and it also instituted a system of prizes in the "national" schools for the teaching of Irish. But even this society failed to attract public attention; it soon practically ceased to operate, and eventually became merged in the " Gaelic League."

The Gaelic League Founded.--In 1891 the Rev. Eugene O'Growney, who was appointed in the same year as Professor of Irish in Maynooth College, became editor of the " Gaelic Journal." Active and enthusiastic, he got into close touch with all who took an interest in the language. Prominent amongst these were two new men who had not been identified with any society-Dr. Douglas Hyde, the son of a Roscommon clergyman and a graduate of Trinity College, and John (or Eoin) MacNeill, a civil servant from County Antrim, and a graduate of the Royal University. These three were the moving spirits in the foundation of a new society. This was the " Gaelic League," which was formed on 31st July, 1893, at a meeting attended by only nine persons, possessed of no public influence. The object of the League, it was declared, was "to keep the Irish language spoken in Ireland." Dr. Hyde was the first President a position which he held for twenty-two years.

The State of the Language.-There was, in truth, desperate need for some effort if the Irish language were not to disappear. The census of 1891 returned less than 700,000 speakers of Irish as compared with 1,500,000 thirty years before. These were crowded into congested districts, so that the area they occupied was comparatively small. It was not a compact area, but stretched in a narrow belt around the western coast from Waterford to Derry, with some isolated districts in the north. This belt was interrupted by towns and villages which were centres of Anglicising "influence in which the professional, official, and business classes ignored the language of the people. The people themselves had no active interest in the language, but, on the contrary, were too often ashamed of it, or even hostile to it because of its use by proselytising societies. In the rest of the country-five-sixths of the island-the Irish language did not exist: spoken Irish was never heard; printed Irish was never seen; its literary use was almost unknown. In the Universities it was ignored; in the Intermediate schools a few students