possibly be introduced into the curriculum of the College except by the exclusion of some other subject of certainly more pressing importance.
Mr. Sexton said this matter was one which excited considerable interest in Ireland, and he asked whether the right hon. gentleman would undertake to reconsider the case.
Mr. Morley—I quite understand this subject being interesting to gentlemen from Ireland, and I will ascer- tain a little more precisely whether there are any good arguments against the establishment of an Irish chair.
Results’ Fees for Irish.
Mr. Sexton (for Captain Donelan)—I beg to ask the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that results’ fees for Irish are not allowed to National School Teachers in Ire- land in respect to pupils under the fifth class; and whether, in view of the importance in Irish-speaking districts of employing the vernacular in the junior classes as a means of teaching English, and of the fact that the majority of pupils leave school before reaching the fifth class, he will advise the Commissioners of National Edu- cation in Ireland to consider the desirability of extending the system of results fees in Ireland to all classes.
The Chief Secretary—The results’ fees for Irish are not paid for pupils lower than the fifth class. As regards the second paragraph, the Commissioners have informed me that the existing arrangement limiting the award of results fees for proficiency in the Irish language to pupils in the fifth and sixth classes, was only determined after mature consideration, and that at present they see no sufficient reason or altering the arrangement.
Mr. Sexton—As most of the children in Ireland leave school before the fifth class is reached, does it not appear that the exclusion of Irish deprives them of the oppor- tunity of being taught English through the vernacular in districts where Irish is the only language spoken?
The Chief Secretary—I think that is an argument for consideration.
GAELIC NOTES.
Part I. of the Easy Lessons compiled by Father O’Growney is now on sale in book form, price 3d. It contains all the Lessons published in the Gaelic Journal as far as No. 53. Messrs. M. H. Gill and Son, Dublin, are the publishers.
I have had an opportunity of speaking to many who have commenced the study of Irish by the aid of these lessons. All agree in saying that the method of explanation, whether of the sound, meaning, or use of the words, is incomparably simple and intelligible, contrasting favourably not only with other books of elementary instruction in Irish, but even with similar books of instruction in other languages.
The readers of the Gaelic Journal will be pleased to learn that Father O’Growney’s health has much improved. Professor, editor, and author, he has undertaken and carried out the work of three good men, and no wonder if the strain has proved severe.
Anyone who has tried to teach Irish to a small class can realize the labour employed in delivering lectures on Irish to hundreds of students in every grade of proficiency. The difficulty lies in the want of suitable books of instruction, and that difficulty Father O’Growney has tackled with success, having prepared and printed privately for the use of his students a temporary series of admirable brochures containing selections of Irish literature and lessons in grammar and composition, the instructions in each section being made interdependent and co-ordinate.
Under Father O’Growney’s management, the annual rate of circulation of the Gaelic Journal has increased tenfold Its pages, from month to month, have won the encomiums of the Press not only in Ireland but all over the globe, and are read with interest by the lovers and students of the Gaelic tongue in every land. There is good ground for hope that, as the movement for the preservation, study, and cultivation of Gaelic grows in intensity, the Gaelic Journal will be more and more recognised as the point of union of every phase and section of that movement, which already owes much to the fresh impetus imparted to it by the exertions of Father O’Growney.
We will all hope that a temporary rest from the tension of his work will give Father O’Growney back to us restored to perfect health.
Irish has been adopted as a subject of instruction at the City of Dublin Technical Schools, under the control of the Dublin Corporation, and Mr. Michael Cusack has been appointed instructor. The credit of this step is in a large measure due to Alderman Sir Robert Sexton, who urged on the authorities the necessity of a knowledge of Irish for those engaged in the industrial development of the western counties.
Our next number will contain some particulars of the recent examinations of National Teachers for certificates in Irish.
In the New Ireland Review for September appears a paper by Mr. T. O’Neill Russell, on “The Making of Gaelic,” in which the writer sets forth his views on the cleavage between the Gaelic of Ireland and of Scotland.
The Central Branch of the Gaelic League adjourned its meetings and classes over the months of August and September. At the close of the month’s work the weekly attendances were still increasing, and the interest in the conversation lessons was unabated. The branch enters on its second year’s work on the first Tuesday of October.
The League is going ahead in Cork. At a meeting held on the 5th ult., a lecture, musically illustrated, was delivered by Mr. L. Fleming on “The Vision Songs of Ireland.” Gaelic songs were rendered and Gaelic poems recited in connection with the lecture by Miss Bergen and Messrs. C. O’Kelly, P. Lynch, J. J. Murphy, T. Murphy, and J. Moynihan. Mr. D. Horgan presided. A vote of thanks to the lecturer was proposed and responded to in Gaelic, and a Gaelic chorus closed the proceedings. This is a new dawn of National culture in Ireland.
Mr. David Nutt (270 Strand, London) will shortly publish a volume, to be entitled “Tales and Traditions of the Western Highlands, collected and edited by the late Rev. J. G. Campbell of Tiree.” This work will form the fifth volume of Mr. Nutt’s admirable series of Waifs and Strays of Celtic Tradition. From the prospectus of
