LANGUAGE, RELIGION AND
CULTURE 1922-1949
Leaving Cert History
Building a Gaelic State
 Revival of Irish seen by both big
parties as essential to real
independence.
 As soon as the British left some
place names were changed.
 Irish became compulsory in both
primary and secondary schools
in the 1920s.
 Extra grants given to Gael
scoileanna.
 Extra marks given to exams
done in Irish
Building a Gaelic State
 Admission to teachertraining colleges favoured
students from the
Gaeltacht.
 An Irish test had to be
passed by those entering
civil service, Guards, Army
and teaching.
 Radio Eireann had to do
several hours of Irish
programmes.
 1937 Constitution made
Irish the ‘first official
language’.
Success or Failure
 Did not stop the decline
because:
 Still needed for emigration
 English remained the
language the language of
business and employment
 English remained the
language of entertainment
(books, film, radio)
 Compulsion created
resentment
Irish and Catholic?
 After partition 93% were
Catholic.
 Protestants Abandoned by
Craig and North.
 Some killed during War of
Independence and many
great houses burned.
 They did have wealth and
had many big jobs in
banks and business.
Treatment of Protestants by the
New State
 Cosgrave appointed
24 to the Senate
 Proportional
Representation.
 Legally they were
treated equally.
 First president Douglas
Hyde was Protestant
Why did Numbers Decline?
 Children of mixed marriages had to be
Catholic.
 Poor economy
 Became increasingly difficult to be ‘British’
as time went on
 Growing power of the Catholic Church and
interference in education, health and sexual
morality
Concern about Morality
 Imported magazines, films,
radio.
 Women had more
economic and political
freedom.
 Conservative groups were
worried that traditional
values would disappear.
 The most conservative
group were the clergy and
they had enormous power
and support.
Laws were introduced which:
 Censored film
 Banned ‘indecent’ literature.
Really strict and not relaxed
until the 1960s.
 Cut the number of pubs by half
and reduced opening hours
 Banned contraception
 Regulated dance halls.
 By the 1930s Ireland prided
itself as a Catholic state and this
was reflected in the Eucharistic
Congress of 1932
The Eucharistic Congress June
1932 (Case Study)
 Held every 3 years in a
different city to celebrate
the Eucharist.
 Cosgrave’s government
persuaded the Vatican but
Dev was in power.
 Garda Commissioner O
Duffy was the organiser.
 Flags and bunting
everywhere.
 Pilgrims and clergy from
abroad.
The Eucharistic Congress June
1932 (Case Study)
 Floating hotels in Dublin bay.
 Monday 20th June Cardinal
Lauri arrived in Dun Laoghaire.
It lasted a week. Weather was
good.
 Garden party in Blackrock
College and a different mass in
the Park for men, women and
children.
 Sunday was the big mass in the
Park. Latest in loudspeakers to
be used and broadcast on radio.
 Huge altar.
The Eucharistic Congress June
1932 (Case Study)
 Saint Patrick’s bell
used in the Mass.
 John McCormack sang
Panis Angelicus
 Pope’s voice
broadcast from Rome.
 After the mass, a big
procession to O
Connell street for
Benediction
Importance
 Showed we could hold a
big international event.
 Showed strength of
Catholic church and
increased the power of
hierarchy.
 Made government more
ready to legislate against
contraception and divorce
and may have influenced
the Constitution.
 Important for Fianna Fail
as many had been
excommunicated.
Artists and Writers in the New
Ireland
 At the start of the century painters and writers reflected the
nationalist, romantic view of rural western Ireland as
espoused by the GL and Anglo-Irish Literary movement.
 This continued after independence with Paul Henry and the
early Jack B.Yeats.
 Younger painters like Sean Keating continued this tradition
(Shannon Scheme)
 Mainie Jellet and Evie Hone brought cubism and
abstraction to Ireland from France but these were not
popular in conservative Ireland.
 Hone was deeply religious and switched to stained glass
Artists and Writers in the New
Ireland
 The Abbey was controlled by W.B Yeats and Lady
Gregory and in the 1920s they discovered O
Casey. After showing The Shadow of a Gunman,
Juno and the Plough they rejected ‘The Silver
Tassie’ as it was too experimental. O Casey went
to England.
 Ernest Blythe who had, as Minister for Finance,
subsidised the Abbey took it over and there was
no room for experimentation after that until the
1960s.
Artists and Writers in the New
Ireland
 New writers like Frank O
Connor, Liam O Flaherty
and Sean O Faolain
challenged the romantic
view of Ireland and the
struggle for independence.
 However, strict censorship
discouraged writers and
drove very good ones
(Joyce) away.