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AN GAOḊAL.
In view of the success which has at¬
tended the Gaelic movement it may
not be out of place, for the information
of its young adherents, to give a brief
sketch of what led to its organization,
together with the obstacles which it
had to encounter, —
1872 — Seeing the general tendency
of Irish-Americans to deny their na¬
tionality and everything pertaining to it
a communication signed "Gael" appear¬
ed in the Irish World suggesting the
neglect to cultivate the National tong¬
ue as the cause.
This communication called forth vo¬
lumes of similar sentiments from such
men as Dr. O'Brennan of Chicago, Mr
P J O'Daly of Boston, Capt Power of
Charleston, S C. and hundreds of lesser
note, so that the discussion occupied a
full page of the paper weekly. "Gael"
recommended the formation of classes
and societies for teaching the language
and to conform his actions to his words,
in the Fall of that year (1872), he
formed in the schools of Our Lady of
Victory (of which he was then princi¬
pal), this city, a Philo-Celtic class, the
nucleus of the Brooklyn Philo Celtic
Society. A little later P J O'Daly or¬
ganized the Boston Society,
The longheaded, stolid Englishman see¬
ing that this action led to the rebuild¬
ing of Irish Nationality, he dispatched
Froude to this country to vilify the
race and nip the movement in the bud.
But he met steel — "Tom Burke" sent
him back with his "tail between his
legs."
1877 — Frs. U J Bourke and J Nolan
founded the Dublin Society for the
Preservation of the Irish Language.
That Society having published the ex¬
cellent series of elementary textbooks
now generally used, gave a great impe¬
tus to the older movement in Brooklyn,
so that by '78 about 40 of the Brook¬
lyn members resided in N Y City.
Seeing that these would be a good be¬
ginning to found a branch in N York,
in May '78 a branch was formed at 214
Bowery, and since known as the N Y
Philo-Celtic Society.
1879 — The Brooklyn and N Y So¬
cieties, at one of their annual picnics,
made a presentation of a gold watch
and chain, on the inner cover of which
is engraved the inscription, —
"Presented by the Brooklyn Philo-
Celtic Society to M. J. Logan, organi¬
zer of the Irish Language movement
in America."
1881 — Thinking that the Society
should have some sort of a journal to
bring its efforts prominently before the
public, THE GAEL was founded under
its auspices — the title "Gael" being
suggested by the nom de plume over
which the first move in the matter
had appeared before the public.
The death of Canon Bourke, and Fr
Nolan's removal from Dublin, threw
a dampness on the movement all over.
But the Gael continued the fight, ably
supported by Frs. O'Growney and Kee¬
gan, until the present satisfactory res¬
ult has been attained.
The grand success achieved, each of
you, Gaels, may dot to your credit. In
the meantime, we are not going to
leave it to chance or individual caprice
but record it in the Gaelic Historical
Album, now made feasible by the
great reduction in cost which recently
discovered improvements in the art of
photography have accomplished. That
Album will contain an unbiassed
detailed history of the movement, tak¬
en from contemporary public records
all of which, relating to it, we have on
file. And each Gael knows as well as
we what he has done in the premises.
OBITUARY.
The Gael has another sad duty to perform in re¬
cording the demise of the late Mr Patrick Morris¬
sey, Vice President of the N Y Philo-Celtic Socie¬
ty. Mr Morrissey was connected with the Gaelic
movement since its organization; and one of the
sweetest Irish speakers we ever heard. Mr Mor¬
rissey was a native of Kiltulla, Co. Galway. He
was a very religious man — going to mass every
morning, hail or sunshine, though he was at his
daily occupation at 7, am. Mr Morrissey's sick¬
ness was brief but painful, and his mind wander¬
ing somewhat, he seemed to forget the English
language entirely May his soul rest in peace.
