Irish Language

Irish Railway Record Society

The Irish Language on the Railways

Tim Moriarity

Even if it were not national policy to restore Irish, CIÉ would use the language in many circumstances. (CIÉ PR & Publicity Dept. 1968).

‘Sé abhar an staidéar seo ná an feidhm a bhaineadh as an Ghaeilge ar na bóithre iarainn in ndiaidh Acta na Bóithre Iarainn 1924 agus freisin í measc an foireann roimh agus taréis corprú an comhluch cónascadh í 1925 (i.e. MI an D – Mór-Bhóithre Iarann an Deiscirt nó Mór-Iarnróid an Deiscirt). Feicfear freisin ar na mbusanna agus Luas comh maith leis an ghaelige foilsithe ‘sna h-irisleabhair cuideachtaint, í leabhair, ‘sna páipéirí agus í gcómhfreagracht. As ómós do daoiní gan ghaeilge, nuair a luitear sliochta, leanan an aistriúchán Béarla díreach in a dhiaidh nó a mhalairt go crinn más gá. Is leis an scríobhnóir féin na h-aistriúcháin. Níl aón tuairimí láidire aige í dtaobh an teanga ach bíonn Gaeilge ar úsáid aige uaireanta go h-oifigiúil’.

Translation.’This study examines the use of the Irish Language on the railways – Great Southern Railways (GSR), otherwise the Amalgamated company – following the Railways Act of 1924 and also by staff before and after the amalgamations of 1925. It also looks at the use of Irish in the bus services and the Luas as well as the content of company publications, newspapers, books and in correspondence with the railways. For readers who do not understand Irish, English translations are provided. These are the responsibility of the present writer, who has no strong views about the language but uses it occasionally in his professional capacity.

PRELUDE

It is necessary briefly to outline the position, decline and revival of Irish in the 19th century when the railways were being built. Thereafter the following aspects of the subject are examined: the part played by railway employees in the revival of Irish at the turn of the 19^th century; the implications of the Railways Act of 1924 which stipulated that the language of public notices, station names and tickets should be in both Irish and English and also that Irish be a compulsory subject for railway clerical appointments; the use of Irish in the official in-house literature of GSR/CIÉ and in contemporary literature about the railways; the endeavours of railway management and staff to promote and use the language in dealing with the public together with the facilities made available for the study, promotion and practice of Irish; the Language Equality Act of 2003 and the railways.

DECLINE & REVIVAL

In the 19^th century, while the railways developed and prospered the Irish language was in decline. Mark Tierney the Benedictine historian, gave five reasons for the decline which included Lord Stanley’s Education Bill of 1830 which forbade the teaching of Irish, Irish history and literature in schools, and the Famine (1845-9). The Irish revival began with the foundation of the Gaelic League (Conradh na Gaeilge) in 1893, at first a cultural organisation but which later became political and revolutionary: many of those who fought in the GPO in 1916 were said to be Gaelic Leaguers.

The revival and acceptance of Irish was a gradual one. Teaching was fostered by the Christian Brothers and acceptance in public commerce promoted by the Gaelic League. It became a mainstream optional subject in the national school system in 1900 and by 1906 was accepted as a suitable teaching medium in Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking areas) schools. In Maynooth College Irish classes were obligatory for students intended for the ministry in these areas. Irish became a compulsory matriculation subject for University entry in 1913 but appears since 1910 to have been optional for Railway Clerk examinations, at least on the GS&WR, with the inclusion of a prescribed poem ‘Eachtra Ghiolla an Amaráin’ (‘Wanderings of a Luckless Fellow’) by the Waterford poet Donncha Rua McNamara. Candidates taking French, German or Irish were expected to ‘translate at sight passages relating to Railway travel’. Irish was also an optional subject in the MGWR exams where candidates could take ‘at their option shorthand (80wpm) and Irish’. It was to become a compulsory subject for clerical entry following the Railways Act of 1924 (s56) on the Amalgamated Company. Meanwhile the Post Office was obliged to accept letters and parcels addressed in Irish from 1905, although in 1903 the GS&WR had refused to accept a parcel addressed in Irish only.

For the new Government of the Irish Free State established in 1922 the revival of Irish as the daily spoken language became an important national if unrealised objective which permeated the schools, Government Departments and State-sponsored bodies for some 40 years into the 1960s. Militating against this objective (with the benefit of hindsight) were the magnitude of the task itself; the apathy of some; the dislike by others and the cynicism of those who believed that over the years the language was being prostituted for gain, grants and advancement. Government policy encouraged schools to teach some or all subjects, English excepted, through Irish. By the 1940s some 55 per cent of all schools were doing so and Irish versions of some standard textbooks were produced. However, as we shall see, students of Irish-medium schools were perceived to be at a disadvantage when it came to the railway clerical officer entrance examinations.

Undoubtedly the use of Irish on the railways reflected the Government policy in various ways, but whatever the fortunes of the language this paper simply offers an historic view of the subject.

RAILWAY EMPLOYEES

There was no lack of enthusiasm for the language amongst railway employees themselves. Those who were members of the Gaelic League were to play a significant part in the revival, aided by concessionary rail travel which allowed them to promote the language, study the folklore and organise branches of the Gaelic League in the remotest parts of the country in their spare time.

In this regard the lives and roles of a number of staff members including Willie Rooney, Joseph Lloyd, Ernest Joynt, and of course Seán Heuston himself, will be examined.

Liam Ó Maolrúanaigh (William Rooney 1873-1901), a close friend of the political figure Arthur Griffith, was born in Dublin 's inner city. He completed his schooling while working in a solicitor’s office, became a clerk on the Midland Great Western Railway (another source says the GS&WR) in 1887 and a member of the Gaelic League from its beginning.

Railway clerks worked a six day week and it was not uncommon for Liam and others to travel to the West of Ireland by the MGWR's night mail on a Saturday evening to talk to local branches of the League or to act as guide for visitors to Irish warriors’ graves, returning by the night mail on Sundays.

Liam worked in his official capacity as a clerk during the day and laboured at night for the Irish language cause. It is believed that pressure of work was a contributory cause of his untimely death. He was instrumental in founding the Inchicore Branch of the Conradh and both he and Arthur Griffith attended the inaugural meeting in Goldenbridge school in 1900. Railwaymen at Inchicore Works with an interest in the language would have been members of this branch: these included William, later Counsellor, Partridge who had great difficulty learning Irish despite a number of unsuccessful attempts. He was a fitter in Inchicore and a staunch supporter of the National Insurance Bill of 1911. He was later to be dismissed for refusing to retract a letter criticising the nepotism and sectarianism of the Works management.

In 1941 the ‘Willie Rooney Shield’ was instituted to foster competency in Irish in the printing industry and in 1953 it was hoped that a photograph of him would some day hang in the CIÉ Club in Earl Place , Dublin .

The remainder of this article appears in IRRS Journal number 162, published February 2007.