Eugene O'Growney (; born 25 August 1863 at Ballyfallon,

Athboy Athboy () is a small agricultural town located in County Meath. The town is located on the ''Yellow Ford River'', in wooded country near the County Westmeath border. It is around 15 km west of Navan and 50 km north-west of Dublin. T ...

County Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...

, died 18 October 1899 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

), was an Irish priest and scholar, and a key figure in the

Gaelic revival The Gaelic revival () was the late-nineteenth-century national revival of interest in the Irish language (also known as Gaelic) and Irish Gaelic culture (including folklore, mythology, sports, music, arts, etc.). Irish had diminished as a sp ...

of the late 19th century.

Early life and education

O'Growney was born near

, where the

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...

was no longer widely used and neither of his parents spoke it. He first became interested in the language at school in St. Finian's College and later again when he chanced upon Irish lessons in the nationalist newspaper ''Young Ireland''. He had help at first from a few old people who spoke the language, and while at

St Patrick's College, Maynooth St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth (), is a pontifical Catholic university in the town of Maynooth near Dublin, Ireland Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mou ...

, where he continued his studies for the priesthood from the year 1882, he spent his holidays in Irish-speaking areas in the north, west and south. He got to know the

Aran Islands The Aran Islands ( ; , ) or The Arans ( ) are a group of three islands at the mouth of Galway Bay, off the west coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with a total area around . They constitute the historic barony (Ireland), barony of Aran in ...

and wrote about them in the bilingual ''Gaelic Journal'' (''Irisleabhar na Gaedhilge''), which he was later to edit. He was ordained priest in 1888.

Priest

He served for a short time as a curate in the Diocese of Meath but because of his proficiency in the language was appointed to the re-established Chair of Irish at Maynooth in 1891. He was editor of the ''Gaelic Journal'' between 1894 and 1899 and during his tenure ensured that more material was published in Irish. For O’Growney language, nationality and religion were closely linked. In 1890, writing in the ''Irish Ecclesiastical Review'', he described literature in Irish as "the most Catholic literature in the world". He was aware, however, of its other aspects, adding that "even if Irish were to perish as a spoken language, it would remain valuable from the pure literature point of view". His ''Simple Lessons in Irish'', first published in the newspaper the ''Weekly Freeman'', proved so popular that they were published in booklet form. There were five books in the series, and by 1903 320,000 copies had been sold. In a foreword he states: :The following course of simple lessons in Irish has been drawn up chiefly for the use of those who wish to learn the old language of Ireland, but who are discouraged by what they have heard of its difficulties... But the difficulties of Irish pronunciation and construction have always been exaggerated. A I myself was obliged to study Irish as a foreign language, and as I have been placed in circumstances which have made me rather familiar with the language as now spoken, I have at least a knowledge of the difficulties of those who, like myself, have no teacher. He was a founding member 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 eme ...

, which was created in Dublin in 1893 "for the purpose of keeping the Irish language spoken in Ireland", and later became its vice-president.

Ill health and death

In 1894, failing health caused him to go to Arizona and California, where he died. Some years after, with the aid of Irish sympathisers in the United States, his body was brought back to Ireland His funeral, held on 26 September 1903 at the Catholic Pro-Cathedral, Dublin, was attended by 6000 people, including members of the trade guilds, clerics, politicians, members of the nationalist

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...

and students.McMahon 2008, pp. 9-12. He is buried in the cemetery attached to St. Patrick's College, Maynooth. There is a statue of Fr. Eugene O'Growney in

by famed Irish sculptor James Power.Fr O"Growney statue sculptor James Power dies, aged 90
Meath Chronicle, 22 Apr 2009

References

Sources

Caerwyn Williams J.E & Ní Mhuiríosa, Máirín. ''Traidisiún Liteartha na nGael''. An Clóchomhar Tta 1979. McMahon, Timothy G.. ''Grand Opportunity: The Gaelic Revival and Irish Society, 1893-1910''. Syracuse University Press 2008. O’Leary, Philip. ''Prose Literature of Gaelic Revival, 1881-1921''. Pennsylvania State Press 1994.

External links

The Irish Ecclesiastical Record

Looking at places
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ogrowney, Eugene 1863 births 1899 deaths 19th-century Irish writers 19th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests Writers from County Meath Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth Academics of St Patrick's College, Maynooth Burials at Maynooth College Cemetery People from Athboy Christian clergy from County Meath