“Irish Reading Lessons” (1904)

Cultural Nationalism and Language Reclamation

Related Exhibit: “Historians For Hire: Imagining Éireann.” Curated by Bella Crum, Scott Hudson, Evan Orjala, and Maddie Smith. Part of HIST 200: Historians for Hire, Prof. Susannah Ottaway. Spring 2024. Gould Library, Carleton College.

By: Bella Crum

By 1904, English was the common tongue in most of colonized Ireland. Other than in small pockets of rural communities, the Irish language was disappearing. This Gaelic Irish language book serves as a testament to the efforts of those who fought for cultural revival. Three chapters of Ceaċhta Beaga Gaedhilge (Irish Reading Lessons) were published in Dublin in Norma Borthwick’s Léighean Éirea (Read Ireland) series. Provided by Carleton Special Collections, these chapters come bound together, giving a complete picture of the intended journey towards speaking and writing in Irish.

Norma Borthwick, an English woman, spent her career as a tutor in Irish. Her bilingual language skills enabled her to write an instruction book that could work for leaners at various levels of proficiency. Irish speaking children and adults who wished to learn the written language should be able to teach themselves through the lessons. Borthwick recognized that for English speakers starting afresh in Irish, accompanying instruction with a tutor to coach pronunciation was necessary. Her hope was that cultural revival was possible beginning at the level of the working class public. Ceaċhta Beaga Gaedhilge today serves, but as a piece of material evidence to a moment in Irish history where perhaps for the first time in centuries, large scale resistance to the English colonial project was within reach, one Gaeilge letter at a time.

“Irish speaking children should not be made to read any of the English matter in these books”.

Norma Borthwick, p. iii

The Lessons

Use of the Gaeilge (rather than English) alphabet revives the precolonial tradition of speaking and writing. Today, written Irish, like English, uses a variation of the Latin script. But Borthwick thought it important to resurrect the Gaeilge alphabet for learners. This acted as a move of resistance: Gaeilge lettering was foreign to English settlers and their economies and communications. Thus, Gaelic-Irish for the author was something traditional and sacred. To try to bring it back was an exercise in cultural nationalism.

Native speaker and Catholic priest Reverend Peter O’Leary assisted with translation, lending to the appearance of Christian vocabulary in the lessons. Readers are immersed in the world of Irish Catholicism with stories of saints like the one below, terms for holidays and salutations like “go mbeannuiġiḋ dia ḋuit” (may god bless you).

Artist Jack Yeats, brother of famed nationalist and poet W. B. Yeats, provided the illustrations that thoughtfully decorate each page. They act as a learning tool in visualizing the story. But more than that, they serve the project of cultural nationalism in that most of them illustrate children. Images of the young Irish symbolize the hope for a new generation immersed in cultural understanding. In additional to children, the other common motif is scenes of agricultural life. A plethora of animals decorate lesson pages, nostalgic for a working class lifeway with strong familial values and connection to the land.

Going through the lessons with teach learners everything from “I am dead from rheumatism” (Tá fiar-ṡúul ar an ḃfear soin) to “The Pig Buyer’s Association” (Cumann nagceannuiġṫeóirí Mac). Here it is clear that the book has a practical intention beyond simply an act of language preservation to be archived on a shelf. Irish learners become familiar with the tools to speak in Irish in their everyday life: they can talk to their priest, their neighbors, and conduct guinness in Irish.

Flipping through Ceaċhta Beaga Gaedhilge creates a reading experience that immerses the learner in scenes of traditional Irish agricultural life, familial values, and subtle nationalism.

Try your skills at written Irish!

Works Cited

Borthwick, Norma. Ceaċhta Beaga Gaedhilge = Irish Reading Lessons. Dublin: Irish Book Co., 1904. Carleton Library Special Collections (Books) (PB1351 .C4 1901)