{"id":601202,"date":"2026-08-22T12:52:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T12:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/601202\/"},"modified":"2026-08-22T12:52:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T12:52:10","slug":"government-rejected-plan-to-migrate-gaeltacht-population-to-better-land-in-1926","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/601202\/","title":{"rendered":"Government rejected plan to migrate Gaeltacht population to better land in 1926"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Seo alt \u00f3n\u00e1r bhfoireann Gaeltachta. Is f\u00e9idir an bunleagan as Gaeilge a l\u00e9amh anseo<\/a>)<\/p>\n

A PROPOSAL BY one of the State\u2019s earliest commissions to move most of the Gaeltacht population to better land was rejected by the then Free State Government back in 1926, the author of a major new work on the report of the 1926 Gaeltacht Commission has said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dr John Walsh, Associate Professor of Irish at the University of Galway and author of a forthcoming book on the report –\u00a0Ar L\u00e1mh Sh\u00e1bh\u00e1la: Coimisi\u00fan na Gaeltachta 1926 \u2013 was speaking to The Journal, reflecting on the lessons to be learned from what happened to that Commission\u2019s report.<\/p>\n

The Gaeltacht Commission was established in 1925, the first commission of its kind set up in the State\u2019s early years \u2013 a reflection of the interest in the Irish language held by those central to governing the country at the time. In many cases, it was a passion for the language that had drawn them toward the revolutionary movement in the first place.<\/p>\n

The final report, published in August 1926, contained more than eighty recommendations, of which, according to Professor Walsh, roughly 40% were implemented.<\/p>\n

One of the rejected recommendations in the report was for a massive migration scheme, relocating people from the Gaeltacht to better land elsewhere.<\/p>\n

The scheme envisaged by the Commission was so large that it would have taken up all the available land held by the State at the time \u2013 which would have meant there\u2019d be nowhere left to relocate other people living in overcrowded areas outside the Gaeltacht.<\/p>\n

There was never any chance of the Government accepting that, because it was too ambitious.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, as we know, the idea didn\u2019t die out completely, because Fianna F\u00e1il went on to establish the Gaeltacht at R\u00e1th Cairn ten years later, albeit on a far smaller scale.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that ministers found it difficult to defend schemes to support the Gaeltacht during speeches to the D\u00e1il as it was being pointed out to them by other TDs that areas such as Dublin\u2019s inner city were also experiencing deprivation.<\/p>\n

The lesson from that episode was that recommendations need to be politically realistic.<\/p>\n

Other recommendations succeeded, such as a grant paid to native speakers building houses in the Gaeltacht \u2013 a scheme that survived right up until the economic and banking crisis of around 2009\/10.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"layout-1\"
\n The book will be published in October by Cl\u00f3 Iar Chonnachta. Clifford Hayes<\/p>\n

Clifford Hayes\n<\/p>\n

According to Walsh, the Commission was very idealistic. \u201cThey were steeped in the thinking of the (Gaelic) Revival and cultural nationalism, all of that \u2013 and Riste\u00e1rd \u00d3 Maolchatha, the Commission\u2019s chairman, belonged to a generation that believed deeply in those ideals.<\/p>\n

The ideals were fine, the ideas were fine in themselves, but the Government, on the other hand, was very conservative.<\/p>\n

He said that two of the eleven commissioners \u2013 all of them men \u2013 had supported one important recommendation that was rejected when it went before the Government. The two were a priest from Donegal, Fr Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Cuinneag\u00e1in, and the secretary general of the Department of Lands and Fisheries, Laurence Moriarty.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose two commissioners wanted a permanent organisation, or institute, or commission to be established for the Gaeltacht \u2013 one that would coordinate policy across the board, that would have its own budget, and that would have statutory powers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was rejected. What happened in the end was that responsibility for the Gaeltacht was handed to the Department of Lands and Fisheries, but the problem with that was, of course, that the Department had no expertise in Gaeltacht affairs or in language matters, and they were marginalised within Government.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took until 1950 for the Department of the Gaeltacht to be established.\u201d<\/p>\n

Walsh said that this was \u201cone of the biggest lessons to be learned from the report.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you want to implement a credible language policy backed by real powers, you have to establish the right structure \u2013 and I\u2019d say that was the greatest missed opportunity in 1926.<\/p>\n

The author said opposition from the Department of Finance \u2013 whose minister at the time, Ernest Blythe, was an Irish speaker from County Antrim \u2013 was the decisive factor behind the rejection.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey didn\u2019t want their own authority interfered with, as the most powerful department in Government, and they understood that if a body with power and, so to speak, backbone were operating in this area, it could create problems for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Department of the Gaeltacht \u2013 now part of the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht \u2013 was established in 1950, followed by Gaeltarra \u00c9ireann, the forerunner of \u00dadar\u00e1s na Gaeltachta, in the 1960s. The \u00dadar\u00e1s succeeded it in 1980. Since then, Foras na Gaeilge and An Coimisin\u00e9ir Teanga [the Language Commissioner] have also been established.<\/p>\n

Another successful scheme ensured that pupils in Gaeltacht schools received meals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was, of course, huge poverty at the time, and pupils might have to walk a couple of miles to school every day.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder an Act introduced in 1930, a hot meal was made available to them every day throughout the Gaeltacht.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Minister spent time in the D\u00e1il defending those schemes, because there were also major poverty problems in Dublin.\u201d<\/p>\n

The professor said that what was actually implemented showed how campaigns work.<\/p>\n

You push hard for the strongest version of something, and then you end up getting something weaker in the end \u2013 but at least there\u2019s been progress.<\/p>\n

He said the Gaeltacht Commission\u2019s report laid down a kind of template for policies that followed \u2013 such as the Commission for the Restoration of the Irish Language in the 1960s, Comhairle na Gaeilge in the 1970s, the Comprehensive Linguistic Study in 2007, and the 20-year strategy in place since 2010.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a pattern where some recommendations are adopted and others are thrown out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Walsh does not believe a body similar to the Gaeltacht Commission should be established again, since, in his view, there is now enough knowledge and understanding of where the challenges and problems lie.<\/p>\n

He did, however, have one recommendation for the way forward. \u201cWe have a system that\u2019s weak and lacking \u2013 the language-planning process \u2013 and rather than starting from scratch and going back to zero, I would say that system should be strengthened, with far more investment in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said what was needed was \u201cmore effective implementation of the structures we already have.\u201d<\/p>\n

We\u2019re still talking about the juggernaut of English, the most powerful language in the world, which happens to be right next door to us.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat presents us with the biggest challenge, perhaps bigger than any other language would.\u201d<\/p>\n

He referred to the frequency with which language-planning officers change roles and leave their posts. \u201cThey have no long-term job security,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s no career development for them either \u2013 there isn\u2019t, say, a career ladder they could stay on and apply for promotion up to a higher level,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though many of them are very dedicated, and the committees supporting them are very dedicated too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lack of investment in the system, which means they\u2019re trying to perform miracles on limited resources and limited support.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think the State would be willing to do that for many other areas, but it seems to be acceptable when it comes to the Gaeltacht.<\/p>\n

He called for major development of language planning both inside and outside the Gaeltacht. He also pointed to the targets that had been missed under the Official Languages Act \u2013 the amending legislation passed in 2021 \u2013 saying there was a need for \u201cmore effective implementation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we had more effective implementation of the structures we already have, I think things would be better. But we\u2019re talking about the \u2018juggernaut of English,\u2019 the most powerful language in the world, which happens to be right next door to us, and that\u2019s our biggest challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said we should keep learning from other cases, such as those of Wales and the Basque Country.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have plenty of challenges too, but I can see what\u2019s happening on the ground there, and language policy is more central to the work of government [in those countries].<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not as sidelined as it is here in Ireland, and they have more ambitious targets in both countries as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cl\u00f3 Iar-Chonnacht will publish Ar L\u00e1mh Sh\u00e1bh\u00e1la: Coimisi\u00fan na Gaeltachta 1926 later this autumn.<\/p>\n

Speaking during last year\u2019s presidential election campaign, President Catherine Connolly said she would like to hold a symposium and a series of other events on the Gaeltacht Commission this year, the centenary of its establishment. No details have yet been announced regarding these events.<\/p>\n

The Journal\u2019s Gaeltacht initiative is supported by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.<\/p>\n

This article was originally written in the reporter\u2019s native Irish and has been translated to English here. AI was used as part of the translation process before final edits.<\/p>\n

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