678.
AN GAODHAL.
BY THE GREAT
Ollamh Fodhla ere yet a stone was laid on the
foundation of ancient Rome, — the | language in
which our pagan forefathers at the Temorian Fes
or Triennial parliaments of Tara displayed a gen¬
ius and an eloquence "all Erin's own" — the lan¬
guage in which our pagan Brehons wrote laws
so just and equitable that Christian Erin after
wards called them Divine — the language in which
the great King Cormac-Mac-Art, the Solomon of
Ireland, pronounced just judgments and wrote so
many beautiful precepts of wisdom — the language
in which Ossian sang in such thrilling strains the
daring deeds of Erin's warriors — the language
that gave Ireland her saintly missionaries whose
fervor and zeal evangelized the greater part of
Europe from the 6th to the 9th century — the lan¬
guage whose magic notes resounded through the
literary halls of Armagh and Lismore, and charmed
the ears of ten thousand foreign students — the mel¬
odius language of Erin's minstrels and bards — the
language for which the proud invaders of our land
flung away in disgust the Saxon gibberish and
became “Hiberniores ipsis Hibernis" — for such a
language, I say, so venerable and so historic a
change of inflection could only be made for the
worse, † and would not I am sure be for a moment
countenanced by Erin's daughters or sons, either
at home or abroad. Our faith and our language
are the only remnants of our nationality that are
left us; we have bravely defended the one against
the most furious attacks of Hell and England, and
we cannot fail in preserving the other if we only
throw aside apathy and disunion. Let us work in
concord and unanimity and we shall yet revive, and
save from extinction our dear old language.
Respectfully yours
P. H. O'Donnell, O. S. A.
St. Thomas' College,
Villanova, Pa., 31st, December 1886.
How many of our modern Irish scholars can
read the language as then written ?
[ † Commencing with king Cormac,
how many of our Irish words lettered
now as they were then? We then
had den, bheg, we write them now deun,
beag. etc. Again, all our modern gram¬
marians or note agree that the Deriva¬
tive verb in the 3rd. sing. cond. should
end in ochadh, and we have shown that
that verb is eight to one of the other
verb; and all grammarians admit that
the f is not sounded in the "minority"
verb. Why, then, retain it? And sub¬
stituting ch for f is no change of inflec¬
tion because both forms are used by writers but on¬
ly one form by the speakers — and we advocate the
form used by both — especially when it embraces a
large majority of verbs
In this discussion no author should be misquot¬
ed It is beyond the precincts of respectable dis¬
cussion to do so.
So as to let the College Irish Grammar speak
for itself, we take from the paradigm, page 128,
the future and conditional of the second conjuga¬
tion, as follows, —
Future.
1. grádhochad, or gradhóchthad. I will or
shall love.
2. grádhóchair, thou shalt love.
3. gradhóchaidh sé, he shall love.
Plural.
1. grádhóchamuid, we shall love.
2. grádhóchaidh, ye shall love.
3. grádhóchaid, they shall love.
CONDITIONAL MOOD.
1. ghrádhóchainn, I would love.
2. ghrádhóchá, thou wouldst love.
3. ghrághóchadh sé, he would love.
Plural
1. ghrádhóchamuis, we would love.
2. ghrádhóchaidh, ye would love.
3. ghrádhóchadís, they would love.
These are its rules applied to practice, and if
Mr O'Donnell connot read them aright it is no
the fault of the grammar. It settles the question
of what Canon Bourke did or did not in relation to
the future and conditional of the second conjuga¬
tion.
Dr. Kirby, Archbishop and rector of the Irish
College at Rome, sends the following letter to
Father Walsh acknowledging the reception of a
beautifully bound copy of the Irish Imitation of
Christ which Father Walsh sent to his Holiness the
Pope:
Rev. Dear Sir — On yesterday I had the honor and
happiness of laying your beautiful edition of the
Irish Imitation of Christ at the feet of the Holy
Father which he was pleased to receive most cor¬
dially. He carefully looked over it and inquired
how far the Irish language was still in use, and ex¬
pressed his gratification that it was still spoken by
a considerable number of his Irish children and
that a society of learned Irish scholars existed who
devote themselves to the preservation and propaga¬
tion of this venerable monument of our country,
when it was the recognized domicile of saints and
sages.
His Holiness was pleased to authorize me to
send you his Apostolic benediction and the same
to the gentlemen who cooperate with you in the
above noble undertaking, I remain with great es¬
teem reverend and dear sir,
Yours very sincerly in Christ
T. Kirby
Archbishop of Ephesus Rector &c.
The. Rev. P. A. Walsh. C. M.
St. Vincent's Cork ,Ireland.
Let every subscriber of the Gael constitute him¬
self into a committee of one to push it. Ten years
ago you could nearly count on your fingers all the
Irishmen in this country who could write Irish, now
we get half a dozen Gaelic communications every
week. That is a good showing in the face of many
difficulties and ought to be an incentive to further
exertions.
