Revival of the Irish Culture Essay -- Essays Papers

Revival of the Irish CulturePeople of Irish decent share a pride in their national heritage perhaps unlike any other culture today. Many Irish homes are decorated with clovers, flags, and other Celtic symbols even today. This enthusiasm for Irish culture has not always been around. In fact, this source of pride can be traced back to one cultural revitalisation movement in Ireland during the 1800s. During this time, the large number of Ireland formed the Gaelic League to unify their country, and to give themselves a national identity of where they came from. Due to the persecution of the Catholic Church, the Great spud Famine, and many forms of persecution from the British, Ireland needed a way to remember their rich cultural history. Many factors go into making a country transform into a nation. Eoin MacNeill, the starting time president of the Gaelic League, believed in this full heartedly. He believed that it took much more then simply political sovereignty to unify a c ountry into a nation (Hachey and Hernon Jr. and McCaffrey 140). MacNeill knew that in order for Ireland to unify, they were going to need to have a rich cultural history. His solution to this lack of culture was the Gaelic League. MacNeill urged the people of Ireland to be proud of not only their language, but their art, literature, sports, and dance. Almost immediately the people of Ireland took to this new sense of cultural nationalism. The Irish began to believe that their language was not merely a way to communicate, but a way of cultural values and a way of life (Hachey and Hernon Jr. and McCaffrey 140). People from the urban affection class, who previously knew nothing of the Gaelic history, began joining the league in massive amounts of numbers. Soon, many... ...nal heritage. Although many argue that no other Irish cultural movements succeeded during this time period, the Gaelic League perhaps did enough for all of them. Today Irish are proud of who they were, and w hat they have become.Works CitedCastle, Gregory. Modernism and the Celtic Revival. Cambridge CambridgeUP, 2001.Hachey, Thamas E., Joseph M. Hernon Jr., and Lawrence J. McCaffrey. The IrishExperience. Englewood Cliffs Prentice-Hall Inc., 1989.Hepburn, A.C.. Language, Religion and subject Identity in Ireland since 1880. Perspectives on European Politics & Society 02.2 (2001) Academic Search PremierMiller, David W. Irish Catholicism and the Great Famine. Journal of Social bill 09.1 (Fall 1975) Academic Search Premier.