The Gaelic League: Preservation American Culture

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The Preservation of a Culture: The Gaelic League

Imagine what if much of today’s freedoms that we take for granted were never even there to begin with? In Ireland this is what most of the people were realizing when the Government was starting to take control. The Government was getting irritated and wanted to get rid of all Ireland’s language and culture. During the 1800’s Ireland was a thriving culture with much going on. Ireland had many things coming to an end and also starting a new beginning. One new beginning was the organization of the Gaelic League that people looked to for support of their Irish culture and heritage (Bottigheimer 213). The Gaelic League was an invention by two men who had an idea and wanted to preserve …show more content…

To promote such an organization takes many dedicated people. Many Irish teachers were asked to be a part of a revolution of Gaelic nationalism. The nationalism at this time was incredible. The Irish people wanted to keep their heritage of Gaelic traditions. This immense rise nationalism was the main goal of the Gaelic League (Hughes 22). The Gaelic League was created in part to preserve the Irish language and keep the culture alive; the League itself was a big success. By preserving aspects of Irish culture, the Gaelic League was able to incorporate sports, music, and literary revivals into a society that revolutionized clubs (Beckett 148). The Gaelic League branched out with support from not only Catholics but Protestants also. Teachers helped out and were used in competing in Feiseanna’s. A Feiseanna is a competition in Irish music and …show more content…

One of MacNeil and Hyde partners had commented that the Gaelic League was ‘the most revolutionary force that has ever come into Irish history’ (Beckett 149). The importance of the invention of the Gaelic League has been seen and noted throughout history. The Gaelic League’s goal was to save the culture, keep the Irish language and get Irelanders involved (Bottigheimer 214). MacNeil and Hyde did just that, if not more for their people. The Gaelic League was a great accomplishment. Today there are many organizations that focus on Irish traditions, customs, heritage and language. If it wouldn’t have been for the revolutionist, nationalist attitude we might not even have any clue to what Gaelic is. William Butler Yeats describes this best by saying, “Think like a wise man but communicate in the language of the people.” Today, students all over the world have the opportunity to learn and study Irish culture, Irish language, or read about Ireland’s history (Hughes 5). If there hadn’t had been so many breakthroughs for the Irish people, much of their culture would be lost

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