“As our language wanes and dies, the golden legends of the far-off…” — Douglas Hyde | V2Melody

“As our language wanes and dies, the golden legends of the far-off centuries fade and pass away. No one sees their influence upon culture; no one sees their educational power.”

Connecting the loss of Irish to the fading of cultural memory and learning · Essay, A Plea for the Irish Language, 1886

About Douglas Hyde

Douglas Hyde

17 January 1860–12 July 1949

Douglas Hyde was born on 17 January 1860, near Castlerea in County Roscommon, into an Ireland whose languages, loyalties, and social memories were deeply divided. He died on 12 July 1949, having lived long enough to see the cultural cause that had occupied his youth become central to the public identity of an…

More by Douglas Hyde

Poems by Douglas Hyde

More remarks by Douglas Hyde

“The Gaelic League is founded not upon hatred of England, but upon love of Ireland. Hatred is a negative passion; it is powerful - a very powerful destroyer; but it is useless for building up. Love, on the other hand, is like faith; it can move mountains, and faith, we have mountains to move.”

Stressing constructive love of Ireland over destructive hatred of England · Essays and lectures

“My aim was to save the Irish language from death - it was dying then as fast as ever it could died - and that ambition did not lend itself to English writing except for propaganda purposes”

Summarising his central purpose in the language revival · Statement, Dublin Magazine, 1938

“It is a most disgraceful shame the way in which Irishmen are brought up. They are ashamed of their language, institutions, and of everything Irish.”

Lamenting the cultural self-shame taught to Irish people · Diary entry, 1878