690
AN GAOḊAL.
characters, and, lastly, because his advocacy of the
abandonment of the latter mainly on the score of
expediency, gives color to the assumption that he
might not hesitate to sacrafice, for like reasons,
grammatical usages ‡ equally venerable.
The ear, to be a safe criterion, must be united
to a correct knowledge of Irish grammar. Rhyme,
though excellent in verse, is not considered indis¬
pensible in conjugation, and our spoken language
cannot be a safe guide, since even the most cultiva¬
ted languages of to-day are as a rule, spoken incor¬
rectly.
If "Dr. Johnson spoke better English than any
man of his day.” then the balance of English speak¬
ing people must have spoken it more or less incor¬
rectly; and if the English language, in the full
blaze of its literary fame, found scarcely one to speak
it grammatically, is it not foolish in us to seek guid¬
ance on this or any other point in the spoken Irish
of to-day, in the fugitive and necessarily incorrect
oral remnants that have survived the neglect and
proscription of centuries?
Why do we not follow the example of other peo¬
ple? The English language, for instance, has many
dialects. Saxons, city and provincial, Scots, Celts,
Welshmen, Yankees, etc., all speak it more or less
differently, yet all recognize a common standard of
excellence, and in cases like this, appeal to and are
governed by that standard.
Without a recognized governing head there must
be anarchy in literature as in political affairs. Let
us, therefore, if we love our ancient tongue and
sincerely wish its revival, instead of wasting our
energies in fruitless bickerings, cast aside our per¬
sonal preferences, opinions and prejudices, and, i¬
mitating all sensible people, decide this matter from
the stand point of authority and common sense.
Fraternally yours,
A. P. Ward.
Phila. Pa. 1. 15 '87.
‡ You make a mistake. — The V. Rev. Canon
does not sustain us, and though we would like his
support very much, we would not claim it at the
cost of truth. In discussing the propriety of hav¬
ing a second conjugation for the verbs which prev¬
ious writers called exceptions, the Rev. Canon says
“But anything that becomes an exception to a gen¬
eral rule is always supposed to belong to a class
which, in number, are fewer than those that consti¬
tute the foundation for the general rule. Is that
the case here? Far from it. The rule can then be
no longer general if the exceptions form a class of
verbs nearly as numerous — nay, perhaps more so
than those regulated by it."
Mr. Ward says he never heard such
forms as, ḋeunóċaḋ, d'ólóċaḋ, or ḃuail¬
eóċaḋ spoken, but he did not say what
forms he did hear. He did not proba¬
bly hear the form, cruinniuġaḋ, used
and it is the recognized form of the
active participle and of the noun, the
termination, iuġaḋ, having the sound
of, oo, simply, as óċaḋ and eóċaḋ have
that of, ṫaċ. We shall tell him, though,
the sound all his neighbors give them,
i. e., ḋeunṫaid, d'ólṫaid, ḃuailṫaid, and
ṡoillseóid, the sound of the final d be¬
ing hardly audible, and it is the sound
he gave them two years ago, when he
sent the "Muiltín.” GAEL, p. 382.
We have recieved the Report of the Dublin S. P.
I. L. tor 1886, and though not as flowery as we
would desire, yet it is, taking all the surroundings
into account, highly encouraging.
The following have been certified as Irish teach¬
ers during the year.
Kerry — Patrick Buckley, John Inglis, Daniel
O’Sullivan, Timothy M’Swiney, William Long,
Denis Leyne, Patrick O'Shea.
Cork — Patrick Lehane, Cornelius O'Keeffe, Tim¬
othy Buckley, James Barry.
Mayo — Cornelius Cronin. William Gillian, Sis¬
ter Mary Paul Fitzgerald, Sister Mary Alphonsus
McHale.
Galway — John Mangan.
Antrim — Michael Hussey, Solomon Morris.
The following number of pupils of the N. schools
were examined in Irish last year, 416. 321 of
whom passed a successful examination. The num¬
ber of pupils who passed in '85 was 161, '84 93,
’83 25, '82 17, and in ’81, 12.
This shows steady, though slow progress.
Mr, Michael Foley, of Ringville, Dungarvan,
writes — "I beg to inform you that I presented for
examination in Irish, on the 19th of October, 1886,
32 pupils, every one of whom passed,” and Mr.
Foley further states that the pupils who passed in
Irish had the highest standing also in English sub¬
jects, namely reading, writing, arithmetic, grammar
geography and agriculture — averaging 90 2 per
cent, all round. And, also, that Sisters of Mercy
are instructing a class of 40 children.
Mr. M. J. McNamara, Caheraden N. school,
Miltownmalbay, intends to get a certificate, and
teach an Irish class.
Sister Mary Gabriel Hegarty, of the convent of
Mercy, Ballinrobe, writes that 34 pupils were pre¬
sented for examination in Irish, and that 27 pass¬
ed.
Mr. J. Egan, of Turlough M. N. School. Castle¬
bar, writes that seven pupils of his school passed
the examination.
Mr. Jas. Barry, Glandore N. School Co. Cork,
has got a certificate and will establish an Irish class.
Sister M. J, McDonnell, Sisters of Mercy Tuam,
has started an Irish class of 40 pupils.
The report says that there was an increase in the
Celtic students at a recent Intermediate Examina¬
tion, the number of passes amounting to 150, of
which the pupils of the Christian Brothers' schools
obtained 126, with three silvar medals, two prizes
of £4, 3 prizes of £3, and 2 prizes of £2 each.
The Christian Brothers desrve the thanks of the
Irish people. The number of pupils who passed
in Celtic in the Intermediate programme for the
last four years, respectively were 150, 99, 66, and
47, showing an increase of 103 students in four
years.
This is good for one institution.
A class of sixty is studying Irish in St. Mary's
Hall, Belfast. But it will be remembered that
Marcus J. Ward, Esq., resides there. Hence the
success in that city.
The Society's publications are used in the Nat¬
ional College of St. Patrick's, Maynooth.
The Celtic movement in Derry, under the di¬
rection of Mr. J. Murphy, the secretary is satis-
