950
AN GAOḊAL
gus beurfaiḋ na h-aoise neaṁ-ġeinte
beannaċd d'a ainm.
Tá niḋ eile agam le ráḋ. Ba ṁaiṫ
linn aondaċd do ḟeicsin eidir an ċum¬
ann so agus na cumainn eile san d-tír
so, agus in Éirinn a tá taḃarṫa suas
do 'n obair ċeudna. Ċum an aondaċd
so do ċur i g-críoċ tá sé riaċdanaċ
go m-beiḋeaḋ coṁċruinniuġaḋ coit¬
ceann againn san g-caṫair so, nó 'gcaṫ¬
air éigin eile. Tá súil againn naċ ḃ-
fuil an lá ḃ-fad uainn nuair ċíḋfimíd
an ċoṁċruinniuġaḋ so, agus b'ḟéidir le
cungnaṁ Dé go leanfaḋ na neiṫe eile
do luaḋamar na ḋiaġ sin.
Agus, anois, a ṁná-uaisle agus a
ḋaoine-uaisle, gan moill níos sia a ċur
orraiḃ, aon ḟocal aṁáin eile: Deir
duine éigin, "Taḃair dom na dreaċta
tíoraṁala, agus is cuma liom cia ḋeun¬
fas na dliġṫe;" deirim-se liḃ-se cúṁ¬
daiġiḋ ḃur d-teanga duṫċais; biḋiḋ cú¬
ramaċ i d-taoiḃ ḃur g-ceoil, ḃur g-cleas
agus ḃur sean nós, a's ní claoiḋfear
siḃ le cúṁaċt na Sacson nó aon ċine
eile go bráṫ. Agus dála an ċumainn
so, támaoid ag feiṫeaṁ agus ag fuir¬
eaċ "le fáinne geal an lae' le dóċas
diongṁálta in éirige gréine na saoirse,
nuair lasfar suas arís spéire na hÉi¬
reann le soilse an ḟíor-eoluis, agus
ċiḋfimíd na h-ealaḋna arís faoi ḃláṫ
mar a ḃidear fad ó air fuid na tíre
agus ar n-dúiṫċe mar baḋ dual di ḃeiṫ
i m-breiṫriḃ an ḟiliḋ. —
"Mór árd saor, a ġráiḋ,
De'n ṁuir sgaiṫ na seoide — de'n tír
sgaiṫ na m-bláṫ."
Translation.
Mr Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen — You are
heartily welcome here to night. We are much re¬
joiced at seeing you all in this glorious assemblage
of the children of the Gael, for your presence de¬
monstrates to the world that you are not indiffer¬
ent regarding your language and your music, and
that the spirit of true patriotism still burns in
your breasts. And surely it is no wonder that
you are present in such numbers as the cause of
your language is your country's cause and you ful¬
ly appreciate the fact.
But, unfortunately, though there are a great ma¬
ny Irishmen in this city who evince an interest in
our language, how few there are, even in Ireland
and throughout the world, that show the interest
the subject demands. Many of them are ashamed
to acknowledge their Celtic origin, or that they un¬
derstand a word of the language of their fathers.
And why is this shame? It is because they have
not read history. It is because they are ignorant of
Celtic literature. Doubtless, many of them never
heard of Leabhar na h-Uidhre, the Yellow Book
of Leacain, the Book of Rights, etc. We have
thousands of such manuscripts which are so highly
prized by the savants of Europe—the most learned
of the Continental professors—that they devote
much time to the study and even editing and pub¬
lishing of these relics of Erin's past greatness and
civilization. The greater number of these old ma¬
nuscripts are older than any other manuscripts ex¬
tant, with the exception of one or two copies of the
Sacred Scriptures; and all of them are devoted to
the the history of Ireland, the cultivation of the
arts and sciences, and to every thing that pertains
to the life and manners of our ancestors in the old¬
en time.
It is with a view to the cultivation of the language
in which these manuscripts are written — the lang¬
uage of the Geal — that this our Gaelic Society was
founded. We who belong to this society think that
this work is the essence of true patriotism ; for, it
is certain that unless the language of the Gael be
preserved from extinction, in a hundred years there
will be no Gaelic nation left. Whatever character¬
istics we possess as a people, it is certain as an eth¬
nological fact that it is owing to our native lang¬
uage they remain as characteristics with us. We,
therefore, call upon you, children of the Gael, to
extend to us a helping hand in our work on behalf
of our ancient language. We are especially put¬
ting forward our best efforts at this time for the
founding of a chair for the cultivation and study
of the Irish language and the History of Ireland
in the Catholic University at Washington. Can we
count on your aid? Many of you are blessed with
wealth ; and, surely, I know of nothing better cal¬
culated to transmit your memory to posterity than
the bestowal of a portion of this wealth for the
founding of this professorship. I affirm without
fear of contradiction, that whoever founds this
chair may well say of himself, "Exegi monument¬
um aere perennius,” and future generations shall
bless his name.
Another matter also claims attention. We should
like to see union exist between this society and kin¬
dred sccieties, both here and in Ireland. In order
to establish this union it is necessary that a gener¬
al convention should be held in this city, or in some
other central location. We hope to see this conven¬
tion at no distant day, and then, perhaps, with
God’s blessing, the other good things we speak of
will follow.
And, now, ladies and gentlemen, one word more.
Some body has said, “Give me the writing of the
National ballads and let who will make the laws "
but I say to you, cultivate your native language -
be solicitous for the preservation of your music,
your National pastimes and your old customs, and
the power of the Saxon or that of any other Nation¬
ality will never prevail over you. As regards this
society, we are watching and waiting for “the daw¬
ning of the day" with unwavering hope in the ris¬
ing of the sun of freedom, when the intellectual
atmosphere of Ireland will be again illumined
with the light of true learning — when the arts and
sciences shall again blossom throughout the land,
and we shall see our Mothers’ land, in the words of
the poet, —
“Great, glorious and free,
First flower of the earth, and first gem of the sea."
