Among the people the principles of the Gaelic League flourished apace. Branches to the number of about 1,000 were formed not only in Ireland but also among people of Irish birth or descent in England, the United States of America, Canada, South America, and Australasia. A long-continued struggle resulted in the admission to the mails of letters, postal cards, newspapers, and parcels addressed in the Irish character, and in forcing banks to accept checks similarly signed, all of which meant that postal clerks and bank clerks with a read ing knowledge of Irish had to be employed, and that Irish had to be introduced as a sub ject into the competitive examinations by which such officials are selected in Ireland. One week in the year was set aside as °Irish language week," and a collection for its propagation was taken up. Festivals were organized at which there were competitions in Irish story-telling, Irish dances, Irish songs, Irish music, Irish games. The national festival, the Oireachtas, held annually in Dublin from 1897, carried out these proceedings on a national scale. Under the auspices of the League, Irish concerts were held and lectures on Irish history, art, antiqui ties, and literature were delivered. Organizers were appointed to keep the Irish language alive in the districts where it still existed and to spread its use in others where it had decayed. Distinctive Irish schools were established and the Irish School of Learning for higher Celtic studies, with a publication of its own named Eriu, was founded. Similar works, like (Gadelica) (1912-13), were from time to time brought out. Sermons were preached and pub lic prayers were recited in Irish. A national drama in the national tongue sprang into exist ence and was presented by capable actors to understanding and appreciative audiences. The industrial revival in peculiarly Irish arts was due in no small degree to the spirit evoked by the Gaelic League. Its influence was also largely felt in that wonderful efflorescence of Irish literature in English which is known, par excellence, as the Irish Literary Revival (q.v.).
When the National University of Ireland was founded by act of Parliament in 1908 and came into being in 1909, the success of the efforts of the League was plainly discerned. In University College, Dublin, one of the Con stituent Colleges of the University, there were established professorships in Celtic Archaeology, in Early and Medixval Irish History, in Early and Mediaeval Irish Language and Literature, and in the National Economics of Ireland, and lectureships in Modern Irish History and in Irish Language; in University College, Cork, another Constituent College, a professorship of Irish Language and Literature and a lecture ship in Modern Irish were provided; and in University College, Galway, the third Constitu ent College, there were founded professorships in Modern Irish Language and Literature and in Celtic Philology. Furthermore, a great agi
tation arose to have a knowledge of Irish made compulsory on students entering the university and up to a certain point in their undergraduate courses. A compromise on this question was finally arrived at, by which it was arranged that a knowledge of Irish was not to be essen tial for the first three _years, but was to be obligatory thereafter. This controversy was made memorable by the declaration of the Standing Committee of the Irish Catholic bish ops, who, while thinking that for the time being Irish ought to be an optional subject, yet went on record as expressing the hope that the day might come when Irish would be not only compulsory but would also be the recognized medium of instruction in the university.
Since then the Gaelic League has pursued its course, not quite so demonstratively per haps, but none the less perseveringly. Political events, like the bitter struggle over the Home Rule bill from 1912 to 1914, the threatened revolt in Ulster in 1912, and the counter-move ment of the Irish Volunteers in 1913 and 1914, as well as the advent of the great World War in the latter year and the developments to which it has led in Ireland, have tended in great measure to curtail the activities of the League. It has not yet by any means suc ceeded in deanglicizing Ireland, nor has it made substantial progress in extending the use of Irish as a spoken tongue. Whether it will succeed in those objects depends largely on the status of Ireland after the war. It is certain, however, that the rebellion of Easter week, 1916, and the spirit generated by its aftermath, as plainly shown in the trend of events since, are likely, when peace is restored, to give the Gaelic League a new lease of life and a fresh and stronger hold on the Irish people.
Bibliography.— Dunn, J., The Revival of Gaelic' (Washington 1905) ; Paul-Dubo's, L., (L'Irlande contemporaine) (Paris 1907) ; D'Alton, E. A.,
of Ireland' (Half Volume VI, 1879-1908, London 1910) ; Lennox, P. J., (The National University of Ireland' (Washington 1910) ; Dunn and Lennox, The Glories of Ireland> (Washington 1914) ; Mor ris, L. R., The Celtic Dawn' (New York 1917); Boyd, E. A.,
Literary Renaissance' (New York 1916), and