Can Ireland Afford to Fatten a Sacred Cow? #ExploreArchives

Fifty years ago in the late 1960’s, Ireland was commemorating the 50^th 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.

The Papers of the Language Freedom Movement

 

We are happy to announce the recent cataloguing of the papers of the Language Freedom Movement, which are now available to researchers here at the archives and special collections service of the James Hardiman Library!  The collection provides a thoroughly alternative view of the modern history of the Irish language, and offers another unique snapshot into an exciting decade of social change in Ireland.

This collection of papers spans the activities of the Language Freedom Movement from soon after its inception in 1966, until 1974 when its activities drew to a close.  A civil liberties advocacy group who campaigned for a change in state policy on the Irish language, the movement weighed in on a language debate that had been gaining momentum since 1961, from Fine Gael’s general election campaign in which they called for an end to the policy of compulsory Irish in state examinations, to the 1965 government White Paper on 'The Restoration of the Irish Language'. 

The LFM objected to the compulsory element of Irish language education, and they believed the large amount of time devoted to teaching it affected the future prospects of children by drawing attention away from other subjects.  

Poster advertising public meeting of the LFM, September 1966

The debate raged on amid the backdrop of the 50^th anniversary of the 1916 Rising, quickly becoming one of the most emotive issues of the decade.  Impassioned exchanges took place at public meetings, at debates, and in the press, while more heated correspondence was exchanged behind closed doors.  Public meetings held by the LFM often descended into total chaos, with one notorious incident at the Mansion House in 1966 when a group of opponents turned up at the meeting, a stink bomb was let off, and a fight broke out.  Union Jacks were waved derisively at the stage.  The event took up many column inches in the days and weeks that followed.  





The momentum was sustained by vigorous opponents in the field.  Christopher Morris, the President of the LFM took on critics with zeal, which sometimes yielded to frustration over the frequent misinterpretation of the movement’s intentions, commonly held to have been out to destroy the Irish language.  Counted among its ranks were the playwright John B Keane, and the writer Séamus Ó’Grianna.  On the opposing side of the debate, Dónall Ó’Móráin of Gael-Linn and Proinsias Mac Aonghusa, both of whom feature prominently in this collection, resolutely defended the validity of language revival and its methods.  Other noteworthy participants in the debate include Proinsias Mac an Bheatha and Pádraig Ó’Mathúna, whose collections are also among those held by the James Hardiman Library Archives.  

The collection consists of files of press releases, speeches, correspondence, ephemera, and drafts for publications, and covers topics including the education system, political agendas, language disputes elsewhere in Wales and Belgium, RTÉ, as well as more philosophical issues such as civil liberties and nationalism. 

It is available for viewing, and for further information, including accessing the finding aid, please phone 091-493353, or email aisling.keane@nuigalway.ie. 

LFM campaign seeking language policy reform at the 1967-1968 by-elections.