In Spite of Dungeon, Fire, and Sword: Peadar Ó Gealacáin and the survival of the Gaelic Irish Literary Tradition

As we advance through the 19th century in Ireland, the Irish Gaelic Literary tradition, one of the oldest in Western Europe, found itself in danger of extinction. The failure of the Irish language to find foothold in the towns and cities, and the subsequent failure of the language’s literary movement to transition itself into the printed mode, left the literature and poetry locked within the oral and manuscript traditions. With the ethnic cleansing of Ireland by Westminster well under way, first through forced emigration and then through famine, a small group of scribes set themselves the mammoth task of preserving this national treasure by travelling the country and writing down the songs, poems, and prose which were the result of centuries of literary effort on the part of the native Irish. By the end of the period the population had fallen from almost 9.000.000 at its height to less than 4.000.000: with no monoglot Irish speakers left. However due to the efforts of this small group of individuals we retain most of our literary wealth. This work tells the story of one of them, Peadar Ó Gealacáin.