The Stubborn Gael
Next week is the Gael’s week. The Language Movement will for eight days dominate Irish life to the exclusion of almost every other public or private interest. In the churches Irish prayers will be offered, Irish hymns will be sung, Irish sermons will be preached.
In the streets of the towns and cities dense masses of men and women will march to the stirring strains of Irish music, or gather round platforms in open spaces to listen in rapt attention to the burning words of orators.
In the theatres, and assembly rooms of cities, in the parochial halls and stores of small towns, in country schoolhouses and barns, delighted audiences will laugh at “An tAthrughadh Mor” or melt with the pathos of “An Posadh”; glad, resonant voices will join in the singing of “Go Mairidh ar nGaedhilg Slan”; feet will be set wagging as the jovial piobaire or fidleir strikes up the first notes of some familiar port.
So much for one aspect of the Week. In its other aspect it is a week of toil and stress, for from early morn till eve zealous missionaries of Irish Ireland will tramp the streets of cities, and the long white country roads, and the winding boithrini which lead to hillside cottages, pleading with all they meet for help for the good cause, telling of the work that has been done and of the work that is yet to do, gathering in Ireland’s willing tribute to the war-store of those who have once more planted the banner of traditional Gaelic nationality on the heights, sending forth anew the old rallying cry:
“Beiḋ Éire fós ag Cáit Ní Ḋuiḃir!”
Thus, in both of its aspects the Week will see a notable re-assertion of the continuity, the vitality, the indomitable persistence and insistence of Irish nationality. Here is a thing that refuses to be crushed. You may stamp it under foot; it springs up again. You may enclose it within prison bars; it walks abroad free.
You may hurt, and bruise, and maim it; you cannot kill it. Essence of the soil of Ireland, coeval with her hills and her streams, this mysterious spirit is one of the rarest and most beautiful things in the world, one of the tenderest and most delicate; yet one of the fiercest and most passionate, and assuredly one of the strongest and most enduring. Twenty or thirty years ago men like MacHale, O’Donovan, and O’Curry thought it dead or dying; later on English statesmen and newspaper gloated over its passing, and an Irish patriot sadly admitted – “We are all English now.”
But they were mistaken; this stubborn thing that inheres in Irish human nature cannot be so easily killed. Today no one really thinks that Ireland is dying; but both the friends and the foes of Ireland are asking themselves; “What will this nation do when she is free from the intellectual thraldom which has bound her for so long?” We shall see; meantime it is good to know that freedom is at hand and that every day we are straining nearer to it.
Pádraig Pearse
Article originally published on: Saturday 16th March 1907If you'd like to help with producing further articles, please sign up here!
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An Interview with Patrick Quinlan from the National Party
Welcome to another in our series of interviews with prominent figures and rising stars in contemporary Irish nationalism!
Today we're talking to Patrick Quinlan from the National Party, a rapidly growing and influential political organisation in Ireland, one of the few if not the only such group with actual elected representatives. Read on to learn about engaging with the system, winning hearts and minds, and the political future for Irish nationalism!
Perhaps you could tell us a little bit about yourself to begin with?
I'm Patrick Quin
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An interview with Rob Carry
Good afternoon! As part of our ongoing series on rising nationalist stars and voices in Ireland, we're delighted to be able to introduce local community activist, businessman and politician, Rob Carry!
We've been talking about his amazing work for and with his community, as well as his aspirations and plans for the future.
ACS: Can you tell us a little about yourself, your background, and where you're coming from?
RC: Sure. So I’m a small business owner (I run a commercial gym, a martial arts club
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An Interview with Gavin from Offgrid Ireland
Good morning and welcome to another in our series of interviews with prominent figures and rising stars in modern Irish nationalism!
Today we're talking to Gavin from a prominent and influential online discussion group, the X SPACES Éire Community. This very active group has at one time or another hosted many well-known nationalist names and continues to grow in both size and influence.
ACS: Can you share with our readers some of your background and a little about who you are?
OI: I am an Offaly man, born and bred, now in my la
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A New Voice For Ireland
We are pleased to introduce a new rising star among Irish nationalists - although she needs no introduction for many of you who have attended Irish Ireland protests recently - Ciara Ní Mhainnín! Her uncompromising voice offers a clear challenge to the establishment and a great example for us all to follow.
Ciara very kindly took the time to join us in an online interview, which we are delighted to publish here.
ACS: What made you decide to get involved with the Irish Ireland cause, was there one particular event or was it more of a process?
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The last address of Thomas MacDonagh
There is not much left to say. The Proclamation of the Irish Republic has been adduced in evidence against me as one of the Signatories. I adhere to every statement in the Proclamation. You think it already a dead and buried letter, but it lives, it lives. From minds alight with Ireland’s vivid intellect it sprang; in hearts aflame with Ireland’s mighty love it was conceived. Such documents do not die.
The British occupation of Ireland has never for more than one hundred years been compelled to confront in the field of fight a Rising so formidable as that which overwhe
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From A Hermitage - DECEMBER 1913
I was once stranded on a desert island with a single companion. When two people are stranded on a desert island they naturally converse. We conversed. We sat on a stony beach and talked for hours. When we had exhausted all the unimportant subjects either of us could think of, we commenced to talk about important subjects. (I have observed that even on a desert island it is not considered good form to talk of important things while unimportant things remain to be discussed.)
We had very different points of views, and very different temperaments. I was a boy; my companion was
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