School of Irish Learning in 1913 The School of Irish Learning was a centre for Irish studies in Dublin founded in 1903 by

Kuno Meyer Kuno Meyer (20 December 1858 – 11 October 1919) was a German scholar, distinguished in the field of Celtic philology and literature. His pro-German stance at the start of World War I in the United States was a source of controversy. His brothe ...

, who talked of "the necessity of bringing the rish revivalistmovement into direct and intimate relations with scholarship, to provide an avenue for every student of Irish to the higher regions of study and research, to crown the whole edifice by a revival of native scholarship, and thus to bring about a second golden age of Irish learning." The school's honorary secretary was R. I. Best, and among the first students were

Osborn Bergin Osborn Joseph BerginOsborn Ó hAimhirgín (26 November 1873 – 6 October 1950) was an Irish scholar of the Irish language and early Irish literature, who discovered what is now known as Bergin's law. Biography Bergin was born in Cork, sixth ...

and T. F. O'Rahilly. The school published books on language and history which remain standard textbooks for undergraduate courses in Irish, and in 1904 it instituted the scholarly journal ''

Ériu In Irish mythology, Ériu (; ), daughter of Delbáeth and Ernmas of the Tuatha Dé Danann, was the eponymous matron goddess of Ireland. The English name for Ireland comes from the name Ériu and the Germanic languages, Germanic (Old Norse or ...

'', of which Meyer was the editor.

The principal object of the School was to provide a thorough professional grounding in linguistics, philology, and textual studies for students who had an advanced competence in Irish and Celtic languages. Instruction was for the most part organized in the form of intensive Summer Schools which were conducted by distinguished scholars invited from overseas, e.g. by Holger Pedersen,
Henry Sweet Henry Sweet (15 September 1845 – 30 April 1912) was an English philologist, phonetician and grammarian.''Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language'', as hosted oencyclopedia.com/ref> As a philologist, he specialized in the Germanic lang ...
, and Rudolf Thurneysen. John Strachan had a more central rôle, almost equal to that of Kuno Meyer himself. Because its activities were organized in this way, and because it had to depend on uncertain sources of funding, the School from the outset had the character of a temporary expedient... Inevitably, the School would become largely redundant once effective undergraduate and postgraduate training in Irish and Celtic languages had been properly established in Irish Universities...

The governors and trustees applied to have the school incorporated into the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...

; the terms of incorporation were agreed on in 1925, the academy undertaking to maintain the school's publications in print, and in 1926 the school ended its existence.

References

External links

History of the School of Irish Learning
{{DEFAULTSORT:School of Irish Learning Educational institutions established in 1903 Learned societies of Ireland Educational institutions disestablished in 1926

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Organisations based in Dublin (city) 1903 establishments in Ireland