The Gaelic Society of Dublin was an effort to save and support 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 ...

.''Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Dublin'', Published by J. Barrow, 1808
/ref> The society first met on January 19, 1807.

Theophilus O'Flanagan Theophilus O’Flanagan ( ga, Tadgh ó'Flanagáin) (c. 1762 – 1814) was an Irish school teacher, translator, and Irish language scholar. Born circa 1762 in Tulla, County Clare, son of a hedge schoolteacher of Irish, he was educated at Trinity C ...

AB, acted as its first secretary. Involved in the setting up of the society were Dr. John Lanigan, Richard MacElligott, Edward O'Reilly, William Halliday, and

Maynooth College St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth ( ga, Coláiste Naoimh Phádraig, Maigh Nuad), is the "National Seminary for Ireland" (a Roman Catholic college), and a pontifical university, located in the town of Maynooth, from Dublin, Ireland. ...

Irish professor Father Paul O'Brien. Pat Lynch acted as secretary from 1815. Published in 1808, ''The Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Dublin'' was one of the first printed documents on the Irish language and documented Gaelic customs such as

Brehon law Early Irish law, historically referred to as (English: Freeman-ism) or (English: Law of Freemen), also called Brehon law, comprised the statutes which governed everyday life in Early Medieval Ireland. They were partially eclipsed by the Norma ...

. The society petered out. A number of years later another effort was made by some of those involved in the society by creating the Iberno-Celtic Society in 1818. Another initiative was the

Irish Archaeological Society The Irish Archaeological Society (sometimes spelled as "Irish Archæological Society") was a learned society, founded in 1840. Among the founders was the Rev. Dr. Todd, who acted as secretary. The Irish Archaeological Society was one of the fir ...

of 1840. In 1854, it merged with the Dublin

Celtic Society The term Celtic Society is used to refer to a type of student society at the four ancient universities of Scotland, which were founded between the late 18th to mid-19th centuries in the wake of the Celtic Revival and Romanticism with the primary ...

, which had formed in 1845. The

Ossianic Society The Ossianic Society was an Irish literary society founded in Dublin on St. Patrick's Day, 1853, taking its name from the poetic material associated with the ancient narrator Oisín. History Founding members included John O'Daly, William Elliot ...

, established in Dublin in 1853,''The Ossianic Society 1853-1863''
by Robert Somerville-Woodward Department of Modern Irish History,

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

. was a rival to the Irish Archaeological and Celtic Society. Other efforts were made by the

Society for the Preservation of the Irish Language The Society for the Preservation of the Irish Language (SPIL; ga, Cumann Buan-Choimeádta na Gaeilge) was a cultural organisation in late 19th-century Ireland, which was part of the Gaelic revival of the period. It was founded on 29 December 187 ...

in 1877, and its successor in the Gaelic Union in 1880. Ultimately the

Gaelic revival The Gaelic revival ( ga, Athbheochan na Gaeilge) was the late-nineteenth-century Romantic nationalism, national revival of interest in the Irish language (also known as Gaelic) and Irish Gaelic culture (including Irish folklore, folklore, Iri ...

succeeded with the successful establishment of the

Gaelic League (; historically known in English as the Gaelic League) is a social and cultural organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide. The organisation was founded in 1893 with Douglas Hyde as its first president, when it emer ...

in 1892.

References

1807 establishments in Ireland