School of Irish Learning in 1913 The School of Irish Learning was a centre for Irish studies in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

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 brother ...

, 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 Bergin (26 November 1873 – 6 October 1950) was a scholar of the Irish language and early Irish literature, who discovered Bergin's Law. He was born in Cork, sixth child and eldest son of Osborn Roberts Bergin and Sarah Reddin, a ...

and

T. F. O'Rahilly Thomas Francis O'Rahilly ( ga, Tomás Ó Rathile; 11 November 1882 – 16 November 1953)Ó Sé, Diarmuid.O'Rahilly, Thomas Francis (‘T. F.’). ''Dictionary of Irish Biography''. (ed.) James McGuire, James Quinn. Cambridge, United Kingdom: C ...

. 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 (; modern ga, Éire ), 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, Germani ...

'', 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 Eduard Rudolf Thurneysen (March 14, 1857 – 9 August 1940) was a Swiss linguist and Celticist. Biography Born in Basel, Thurneysen studied classical philology in Basel, Leipzig, Berlin and Paris. His teachers included Ernst Windisch and Hei ...
.
John Strachan John Strachan (; 12 April 1778 – 1 November 1867) was a notable figure in Upper Canada and the first Anglican Bishop of Toronto. He is best known as a political bishop who held many government positions and promoted education from common sch ...
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...History of the School of Irish Learning
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The Governors and Trustees applied to have the School incorporated into the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ga, Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned socie ...

; 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 ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Organisations based in Dublin (city) 1903 establishments in Ireland