Fifty years ago in the late 1960’s, Ireland was
commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1916 Rising. As with this
year’s centenary celebrations, Ireland’s citizens contemplated the direction our
nation was taking, considering issues like our nationhood, our place in the
world, and the Irish language and its revival.
There were some who objected to the elevated status
the Irish language received in school
curriculums and in public sector
recruitment, on the grounds that Irish was not the principal language spoken in
the state, and the large amount of time devoted to teaching it compromised the
standard of education received in schools. An organisation called the Language
Freedom Movement (LFM) was established who believed the State had an
unrealistic attitude towards the Irish language, and noted there were few
opportunities to speak the language in everyday life, while Irish-speaking
areas were shrinking due to economic circumstances leading to emigration.
The Irish language became a highly emotive issue
through the 1960s, and the growth of television broadcasting during this decade
amplified the reach of the debate.
The LFM organised many public meetings, which tended
to descend into total chaos. A public meeting organised in 1966 was advertised
by a provocative poster, shown here. It depicts a bloated cow named ‘Gaelic
Language Policy’. The cow is sprawled on an armchair named ‘Irish Education’. A child is pinned beneath the chair, and the
cow smokes a currency note from a large barrel filled with money.
On the night
of the meeting, approximately 2,000 people, mostly unfriendly to the organisers
of the meeting turned up. An eyewitness commented:
“Union Jacks were waved derisively at the platform. On
the platform itself was an Irish tricolour which a member of the audience made
haste to seize at the outset, shouting that the national flag should not be
displayed at a meeting of this kind. As he was hustled away, a shower of papers
was flung at the stage, and a stink bomb was let off. Immediately after this, a
fight broke out, involving about 10 men. It was evident there was going to be
serious trouble unless something was done to lower the temperature”.
A report from RTE’s Seven Days programme shows some footage from one of the meetings.
The Language Freedom Movement continued their campaign
into the early 1970s, with involvement in the by-election campaigns of the late
1960s, and involvement with parents involved in disputes with schools about
education standards.
The archive is one of the collections in NUI Galway,
which documents their campaigns, and correspondence with members of Connradh na
Gaeilge and Gael-Linn. The archive is complemented by other papers relating to
the time, notably the archive of Prionsias Mac an Bheatha, who was involved in
the other side of the debate.
If you are interested in finding out more, you can view
the descriptive list.
The collection can be viewed in full in the Archives
and Special Collections Reading Room.
