The Revival of the Irish Language
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The people of Wales have now newspapers, magazines—in a word, literary works of all kinds, in their own tongue, because they learn their own language first, and, through it, English, etc. In Ireland nobody learns to read his own language first, and the effects are that the children in the Irish-speaking districts are never able to become scholars, and these children are, beyond all comparison, the most intellectual in the island. Had the children of Wales been brought up since 1730, as they were then, the principality would be now as low in the scale of education as those of Donegal or the Middle Island of Arran. From this fate they were preserved by the patriotism of two humble clergymen. Sir Robert Kane tells us that a couple of centuries ago Ireland and England were equally manufacturers of iron, but when the wood for melting the iron had been burned out, Dudley in England invented or discovered the process by which coal could be used in the smelting process; and he adds, "But Ireland had no Dudley." Alas, Ireland had neither Griffith Jones nor a Thomas Charley. It is sad to think how many millions of the brightest intellects under the sun have been left to rust for want of such men.
Readers of the Fireside, in a few years hundreds, thousands, of you will be taking an active part in the affairs of Ireland. Will you not today resolve to give your help towards the education of these poor children, and will you not now, one and all, begin to learn your own tongue, so that you may no longer have the finger of scorn pointed at you, as being from the "country where they have no language?" To any of you who will begin this study even now, a promise can be held out that very shortly they may look for material assistance.