1. BUILDING A NEW IRELAND – PROMOTING CULTURAL IDENTITY
The Twin pillars of Irish identity to justify the new state were IRISH LANGUAGE POLICY and THE CATHOLIC RELIGION.
When the British left Irish people were free to build the kind of Ireland they wanted.
They were strongly influenced by the Gaelic League – wanted to create an Ireland where Irish was the language of the people – wanted to revive the language – revivalism.
Patrick Pearce – an Ireland not only free but Gaelic.

2. They believed that without Irish the Irish nation would lose its soul and the claim to Irish Independence would be undermined.
Change place names.
Used the schools to revive Irish. (see notes)

3. Grants :
They gave grants to Irish speaking households in the Gaeltacht.
Schoolchildren got grants to spend time in the Gaeltacht.
To get a government job you had to pass a test in Irish.

4. Good points of the revival policy (see notes)
BUT
Most people used English in their everyday lives and the number of people using Irish continued to shrink.
Irish was of little use after school as all daily business was conducted in English.

5. Making Irish compulsory and a requirement to get certain jobs created a feeling of resentment against the language which was seen as an imposition and an obstacle.
In 1941 the (INTO) Primary teachers published a report stating that teaching so much Irish was damaging children’s general education.

6. In the 1950s the emphasis on Irish began to ease and people criticised the narrow focus on Irish in education and in job selection policies. The attitude to the language began to relax and it became a valued part of the common inheritance of all Irish people but there was not so much pressure to learn the language. People were not punished for not knowing the language as well as others.