Founded in 1966, the Language Freedom Movement (Irish: Gluaiseacht Saoirse Teanga) was a political organisation opposed to some aspects of the state-attempted revival of the

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. ...

, which had the backing of several notable Irish-speaking writers including Séamus Ó Grianna ("Máire") and

John B. Keane John Brendan Keane (21 July 1928 – 30 May 2002) was an Irish playwright, novelist and essayist from Listowel, County Kerry. Biography A son of a national school teacher, William B. Keane, and his wife Hannah (née Purtill), Keane was ed ...

.Wars of Words: The Politics of Language in Ireland 1537–2004
Tony Crowley,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...

, 2005, , 9780199273430

The Movement's concerns

Examinations

At the time the Movement was formed, if a student failed the Irish paper in their

Leaving Certificate A secondary school leaving qualification is a document signifying that the holder has fulfilled any secondary education requirements of their locality, often including the passage of a final qualification examination. For each leaving certifica ...

they were deemed to have failed the whole exam. This requirement was abolished in 1973, although students are still obliged to study Irish as part of the Leaving Certificate programme, and a pass is required for Irish students entering almost all Irish universities (but not for foreign students). In 1974 Irish was removed as a requirement for entry to the

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

Textbooks

Significant changes in the Leaving Certificate maths curriculum were reflected in two new textbooks produced by the Irish Christian Brothers. However, material for the new honours (higher-level) syllabus was offered only in a government-subsidised book in Irish, while the pass (lower-level) material was published in English. The situation continued for several years, until affordable alternative textbooks eventually became available.

Mansion House meeting

The Movement organised a meeting in the

Mansion House, Dublin The Mansion House ( ga, Teach an Ard-Mhéara) is a house on Dawson Street, Dublin, which has been the official residence of the Lord Mayor of Dublin since 1715, and was also the meeting place of the Dáil Éireann from 1919 until 1922. Histor ...

on 21 September 1966. It was advertised by a poster with a cartoon depicting the "Gaelic language policy" as a well-fed cow sitting atop the educational system. The meeting was chaired by broadcaster

Gay Byrne Gabriel Mary "Gay" Byrne (5 August 1934 – 4 November 2019) was an Irish presenter and host of radio and television. His most notable role was first host of '' The Late Late Show'' over a 37-year period spanning 1962 until 1999. ''The Late Lat ...

. About 2000 people turned up, though most of them seemed opposed to the Movement.From Language Revival to Survival
Donncha Ó hEallaithe, anghaeltacht.net, originally published in , citing Opponents taunted the organisers by waving

Union Jacks ''Union Jacks'' is The Babys’ fourth album, which peaked at number 42 on the ''Billboard'' 200 in 1980. The lead single "True Love True Confession" failed to chart and was succeeded by the minor hit "Midnight Rendezvous," and finally the hit ...

at them and singing "

God save the Queen "God Save the King" is the national and/or royal anthem of the United Kingdom, most of the Commonwealth realms, their territories, and the British Crown Dependencies. The author of the tune is unknown and it may originate in plainchant, bu ...

". As

got up to speak one man seized an

Irish Tricolour The national flag of Ireland ( ga, bratach na hÉireann), frequently referred to in Ireland as 'the tricolour' () and elsewhere as the Irish tricolour is a vertical tricolour of green (at the hoist), white and orange. The proportions of the ...

from the table used by the movement, shouting that the flag should not be displayed at such a meeting. A fight involving ten men broke out and calm was only restored when the LFM agreed to four of their opponents speaking at the meeting. Gardaí were present. At the request of the organisers, Patrick Byrne TD had asked the Garda Commissioner to ensure law and order prevailed. Irish language writer

Máirtín Ó Cadhain Máirtín Ó Cadhain (; 1906 – 18 October 1970) was one of the most prominent Irish language writers of the twentieth century. Perhaps best known for his 1949 novel '' Cré na Cille'', Ó Cadhain played a key role in reintroducing literary mo ...

and Mick Ryan, the IRA O/C of Dublin were involved in the disruption of the meeting.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Clip of RTE ''7 Days'' report from 1967
(

Windows Media Player Windows Media Player (WMP) is the first media player and media library application that was developed by Microsoft for playing audio, video and viewing images on personal computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, as well as ...

). News report on the Language Freedom Movement public meeting at the Mansion House.
James Hardiman Library Archives - G44 - Language Freedom Movement
- archive of materials from 1966 to 1974 held at

NUI Galway The University of Galway ( ga, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe) is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. A tertiary education and research institution, the university was awarded the full five QS stars for excellence in 201 ...

1966 establishments in Ireland History of the Republic of Ireland Politics of the Republic of Ireland Political organisations based in Ireland Organizations established in 1966