Presbyterians and the Irish Language

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This book is the first to establish the rightful place of the Irish language in the Presbyterian heritage in Ireland. It traces the Presbyterian Irish-speaking tradition from its early roots in Gaelic Scotland through the Plantation and Williamite War periods to its successive revivals in the later decades of each of the 18th, 19th and, most recently, 20th centuries. There are detailed biographies of influential Irish-speaking Presbyterians, clerical and lay, whose love of the language helped to ensure its survival. The author contends that the origins of the Gaelic League are as likely to be found in Presbyterian Belfast as in Catholic Dublin. At a time when the Irish Language was losing ground to a combination of demographic, political and educational forces, it was Presbyterians who were to the fore in saving valuable manuscripts, in teaching through the language and in publishing works in Irish-for example, the first Irish-language magazine was produced in Belfast. The result is an absorbing account of an integral but little-known strand in the fabric of Presbyterianism. It will add significantly to the mutual understanding between the main traditions on our island and will provide new evidence for the view that we share more than divides us.