AN GAOḊAL.
171
IRISH SPEAKERS.
In an article in the Dublin Gaelic Journal Mr.
Fleming has published a very curious and highly
interesting exhibit of the superior intelligence of
the people of the Irish speaking over those of the
English speaking counties of Ireland. This exhib¬
it is taken from a source that cannot in any sense
be accused of favoring the Iris speaking coun¬
ties namely, the report of the Government Board
of Education, and is founded on the Results Sys¬
tem as follows — Taking six English speaking coun-
ties viz. Carlow, Queen, Wickow, Kildare, An¬
trim and Dublin, the average Result is 5.5: and
taking six Irish speaking counties viz, Clare, Ker¬
ry, Waterford, Cork, Sligo, and Leitrim, the aver¬
age is 6.7 ! This is an unpleasant nut to crack for
those who would in throw a slur on those who
speak Irish. If our English speaking countrymen
do not take heed they will in a few generations be
as dull in intellect as their English prototypes.
The counties of Galway and Mayo are not men¬
tioned in the Report because the greater part of
them include the Archiocese of Tuam and the
National system of education was not recognized
there during the lifetime of Archbishop MacHale.
In this connection it is worthy of note that Dub¬
lin, which was earliest within the English Pale,
shows the lowest average intelligence, being only
4.8, while Clare and Sligo show over 7, respective¬
ly. After that exhibit we would advise our Lein¬
ster writers who have not a word on their lip but
bogs and mountains for those who speak their na¬
tive language to shut up or bury themselves in
the Bog of Allen. By a simple process of the
Simple Rule of Three we find from the above
that the Gaelic speaking or bilingual counties are
nearly 22 per cent more intelligent than those of
the English speaking counties, and this, it must
be remembered, is at the average age of fifteen
years; we take it that that age is the outside of
the average of school children. Continue this pro¬
portion until the age of thirty and then you have
the surprising result of close on 50 per cent of in¬
telligence in the Irish speaking natives beyond
that of their English speaking neighbors!
Reader, this is no fancy flight of ours; the facts
are inexorable, and gleaned from a source inimi¬
cal to everything Irish — the Government Board
of Education. Nothing can be more creditable to
the Irish Nation than the foregoing exhibit, even
to the non-Irish speaking portion of it, because
the fault is not in them but in the system which
deprived them of their native intelligence. This,
then, being so pre-eminently creditable to the na¬
tive and characteristically Irish people, how is it
that the so called national press has not said one
word on the matter? It is strange! and, to be char¬
itable, we must attribute their non notice of so im¬
portant and incontrovertible a proof of the intel¬
lectual superiority of their Gaelic speaking coun-
trymen to the very facts which the exhibit demon¬
strates, namely: the intellectual decay of non¬
Irish speaking Irishmen.
SENT JAIL FOR TELLING THE TRUTH. — Mr.
McPhilpin, proprietor of the Tuam News has
been sent to Galway jail for a term of two
months under the Crimes Act, of ’82. Mr. Mc¬
Philpin's offence is that he permitted a description
of an eviction scene, which took place near Lough¬
re to be published in his paper. In reply to the
argument of the attorney for the defense, the pe¬
siding Justice said that the truth of the article was
not to be questioned! Then it comes to this in that
unfortunate land, if you tell the truth it is a penal
offense.
THE DUBLIN SOCIETIES.
The following letter from His Grace, Archbish¬
op Croke, Patron of the Dublin Irish Language,
Societies, recommending the merging of the two
societies into one is at hand.
"The Palace, Thurles, Jan. 5.
"MY DEAR FATHER NOLAN,
Several influential persons who take a deep in¬
terest in the preservation of the Irish language,
and approve highly of the publication of an Irish
Journal, have spoken and written to me on the
subject of merging the two Irish Societies, now
acting independently of each other, into one, ha¬
ing a powerful Irish Journal as its organ and out¬
come.
"I am entirely of that way of thinking; there is
no room for two Irish Societies and two Irish
Journals.
"Why not take steps to have this desirable amal¬
gamation brought about ? You surely ought to be
able to affect it.
"I remain,
"My dear Father Nolan,
"Your faithful servant,
"T. W. CROKE,
"Archbishop"
Hence, steps are being taken to bring about that
end. If it be for the good of the cause we hope it
will be accomplished. At a recent meeting of the
Council of the Gaelic Union presided over by the
Right Hon. the Lord Mayor, committees were ap¬
pointed to carry out the recommendation of Arch¬
bishop Croke. The Gaelic Union deserves the
unanimous support of the Irish people. The ener¬
getic Hon. Sec. Rev. J. E. Nolan O. D. C. has en¬
listed the cooperation of the leading men in Ire¬
land to his support. Are we going to be behind
here, in this New Ireland? We hope not;
We hope our countrymen will combine and enable
the GAEL to appear weekly. It would be a shame
for us to permit ourselves to be left in the shade.
If we had many like Mr. McCosker and Major
Maher, we would very soon have a weekly Irish
paper. Let every subscriber try and secure anoth¬
er and by that means the GAEL will have a good
circulation in a short time.
Bean aig gul, bean aig gáire,
Is bean eile fágáil a náire —
Cia acu is mó díol truaiḋe ?
