Society for the Preservation of the Irish Language

The Society for the Preservation of the Irish Language (SPIL) was a cultural organisation in 19th-century Ireland, which was part of the Gaelic revival of the period.

It was founded on 29 December 1876.[1] Unlike similar organisations of the time, which were antiquarian in nature, the SPIL aimed at protecting the status of the Irish language, which was threatened with extinction at the time.[2] The society succeeded in having Irish included on the curriculum of primary and secondary schools and third-level colleges.[3]

The membership of the SPIL included Protestant Ascendancy figures such as Lord de Vesci and Colonel W. E. A. Macdonnell. It took a conciliatory approach to the British government and civil service in pursuing its aims, in contrast to the later Gaelic League, which was anti-British in character.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Society for the Preservation of the Irish Language, Concise Oxford Companion to Irish Literature
  2. ↑ Aidan Doyle (2015), A History of the Irish Language, p. 165
  3. ↑ Background on the Irish language, Údarás na Gaeltachta
  4. ↑ Doyle (2015), p. 170
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