Gaelic Journal
Encyclopedia
The Gaelic Journal was a periodical publication
"exclusively devoted to the preservation and cultivation of the Irish Language". According to Tomas O Flannghaile it was "the first journal devoted to the living Irish language". It has been described by the historian Donnchadh Ó Corráin
as "the first important bilingual Irish periodical". It was established with the help of Douglas Hyde
, and first published in 1882, by the Gaelic Union, and from 1893 by the Gaelic League. After some initial irregularities, the journal was published monthly until 1909.
Its first editor was David Comyn, followed by John Fleming, Eoghan O'Growney
and from November 1894 Eoin MacNeill
. MacNeill was succeeded by Seosamh Laoide in 1899. From 1902 to 1909 the editor was Tadhg Ó Donnchadha
.
The first 48 issues were numbered consecutively, with Volume 1 consisting of numbers 1–12, Volume 2 numbers 13–24 and so on. From Volume 5 in 1894 the numbering was 1–12 for each Volume.
The Gaelic Journal was bilingual, with texts in Irish and English. There was also occasionally texts published in other languages, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh and French. The content spanned many genres; folktales, literary texts, poetry, historical studies, fiction and drama, as well as articles on topics both academic and controversial. There was also a series of "Simple lessons in Irish", adapted from the series originally created by O'Growney for the Weekly Freeman.
In an article that appeared under the title "Our Position" in the third number of the Gaelic Journal in January 1883, the causes and agencies that made the Gaelic Journal a reality are mentioned, as
The causes that had "operated against the rise of a vernacular Irish press" are described as "beyond the scope and province of this journal to discuss," before it is added that "but as they are obvious, there is all the less need to refer to them here".
Periodical publication
Periodical literature is a published work that appears in a new edition on a regular schedule. The most familiar examples are the newspaper, often published daily, or weekly; or the magazine, typically published weekly, monthly or as a quarterly...
"exclusively devoted to the preservation and cultivation of the Irish Language". According to Tomas O Flannghaile it was "the first journal devoted to the living Irish language". It has been described by the historian Donnchadh Ó Corráin
Donnchadh Ó Corráin
Donnchadh Ó Corráin is an Irish historian and Professor Emeritus of Medieval History at University College Cork. He is an early Irish and mediaeval historian and has published on the Viking Wars, Ireland in the pre-Hiberno-Norman period and the origin of Irish language names.-Works:Ó Corráin's...
as "the first important bilingual Irish periodical". It was established with the help of Douglas Hyde
Douglas Hyde
Douglas Hyde , known as An Craoibhín Aoibhinn , was an Irish scholar of the Irish language who served as the first President of Ireland from 1938 to 1945...
, and first published in 1882, by the Gaelic Union, and from 1893 by the Gaelic League. After some initial irregularities, the journal was published monthly until 1909.
Its first editor was David Comyn, followed by John Fleming, Eoghan O'Growney
Eugene O'Growney
Eugene O'Growney , was an Irish priest and scholar....
and from November 1894 Eoin MacNeill
Eoin MacNeill
Eoin MacNeill was an Irish scholar, nationalist, revolutionary and politician. MacNeill is regarded as the father of the modern study of early Irish medieval history. He was a co-founder of the Gaelic League, to preserve Irish language and culture, going on to establish the Irish Volunteers...
. MacNeill was succeeded by Seosamh Laoide in 1899. From 1902 to 1909 the editor was Tadhg Ó Donnchadha
Tadhg Ó Donnchadha
Tadhg Ó Donnchadha was an Irish writer, poet, editor, translator and a prominent member of the Gaelic League and the Gaelic Athletic Association....
.
The first 48 issues were numbered consecutively, with Volume 1 consisting of numbers 1–12, Volume 2 numbers 13–24 and so on. From Volume 5 in 1894 the numbering was 1–12 for each Volume.
The Gaelic Journal was bilingual, with texts in Irish and English. There was also occasionally texts published in other languages, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh and French. The content spanned many genres; folktales, literary texts, poetry, historical studies, fiction and drama, as well as articles on topics both academic and controversial. There was also a series of "Simple lessons in Irish", adapted from the series originally created by O'Growney for the Weekly Freeman.
In an article that appeared under the title "Our Position" in the third number of the Gaelic Journal in January 1883, the causes and agencies that made the Gaelic Journal a reality are mentioned, as
(1) a growing taste among the reading portion of our people for things national, and a juster idea of the value of such things as we can still call our own; (2) the labours of devoted Irish scholars during the last fifty years—as O'DonovanJohn O'Donovan (scholar)John O'Donovan , from Atateemore, in the parish of Kilcolumb, County Kilkenny, and educated at Hunt's Academy, Waterford, was an Irish language scholar from Ireland.-Life:...
, O'CurryEugene O'Curry-Life:He was born at Doonaha, near Carrigaholt, County Clare, the son of Eoghan Ó Comhraí, a farmer, and his wife Cáit. Eoghan had spent some time as a travelling pedlar and had developed an interest in Irish folklore and music. Unusually for someone of his background, he appears to have been...
, Davis, Petrie, ToddJames Henthorn ToddJames Henthorn Todd was a biblical scholar, educator, and Irish historian. He is noted for his efforts to place religious disagreements on a rational historical footing, for his advocacy of a liberal form of Protestantism, and for his endeavours as an educator, librarian, and scholar in Irish...
, Archbishop MacHaleJohn MacHaleJohn MacHale was the Irish Roman Catholic Archbishop of Tuam, and Irish Nationalist.He laboured and wrote to secure Catholic Emancipation, legislative independence, justice for tenants and the poor, and vigorously assailed the proselytizers and the anti-Catholic anti-national system of public...
, Canon Bourke, S. H. O'GradyStandish Hayes O'GradyStandish Hayes O'Grady was an Irish antiquarian. He was born at Erinagh House, Castleconnell, County Limerick, the son of Admiral Hayes O'Grady. He was a cousin of the writer Standish James O'Grady, with whom he is sometimes confused. As a child, he learnt Irish from the native speakers of his...
, John Fleming, Hennessy and Whitley StokesWhitley StokesWhitley Stokes, CSI, CIE was an Irish lawyer and Celtic scholar.-Background:He was a son of William Stokes , and a grandson of Whitley Stokes , each of whom was Regius Professor of Physic at the University of Dublin...
—some of whom, happily, we have still amongst us; (3) the labours of continental scholars in the general field of Indo-European philology, and more particularly those of Pictet, Zeuss, EbelHermann Wilhelm EbelHermann Wilhelm Ebel was a German philologist.Ebel was born in Berlin. He displayed in his early years a remarkable capacity for the study of languages, and at the same time a passionate fondness for music and poetry....
, GaidozHenri GaidozHenri Gaidoz , was a collector and researcher of materials relating to folklore. His works and expertise was in the fields of philology, Celtic studies, archaeology, religion, and mythology....
, de Jubainville, and others in the special field of Celtic philology; (4) the labours of learned bodies like the Royal Irish Academy, the Celtic Society, even those of the Irish Archaeological Society, but more especially those of the Ossianic SocietyOssianic SocietyThe Ossianic Society was an Irish literary society founded in Dublin on St Patrick's Day 1853, taking its name from the poetic material associated with the ancient narrator Oisín....
; (5) the establishment of the "Society for the Preservation of the Irish Language;" and (6) above all the formation of the Gaelic Union, for no other society or body had ever thought or would ever think of so practical a means of cultivating the language—or indeed, of cultivating the living language at all.
The causes that had "operated against the rise of a vernacular Irish press" are described as "beyond the scope and province of this journal to discuss," before it is added that "but as they are obvious, there is all the less need to refer to them here".