Cause for Action Essay -- Essays Papers

Cause for Action Imagine a country where a person’s belongings could be taken at any moment and then given to someone else for no apparent reason. Likewise, that same person’s culture, their way of life, would be disregarded, and they would be forced to use a new language and adapt to a different culture. After the culture is done away with, those who remember it die off rapidly. Even with the declining culture, religious persecution becomes apparent along with the long political conflicts. This very incident occurred at the end of the 19th century. It happened in Ireland to the Gaelic culture, but a man by the name of Douglas Hyde wasn’t about to let his culture disappear. Thus the Gaelic League was created. Many problems had to pave the way for this unique and distinctive league to form in 1893. It took a previous group, the Gaelic Athletic Association, to motivate the strong opposition of eliminating the Irish heritage. Also the Home Rule Act, set in place by England, added yet another harsh tone to Ireland. Furthermore the Irish education was showing a bleak outlook for the future. This created a need for Irish independence therefore making the Gaelic League possible. The Irish population dropped rapidly during the Great Potato Famine causing much of what was left of the Irish speaking people to be no more. The potato was a major crop in Ireland at the time and yet today; in the mid 1800’s it was their only crop because of the amount of nutrients supplied in one potato and the number of potatoes yielded in each acre. The Irish farmers were too poor and had very little money to invest in any other crop except potato. Consequently when a virus went through the land killing most... ...ivities. The League became a base for the Irish spirit to grow. The League declared St. Patrick’s Day a national holiday and removed a law that banned Irish names from being written on the front of stores. All mail addressed in Irish that once would no longer be delivered was once again being delivered thanks to the Gaelic League. The Gaelic League was a savior for the Gaelic Culture and is still very active. Many American cities have their own Gaelic Leagues and many hold athletic competitions still today. St. Patrick’s Day is also a much celebrated holiday in the United States even for people who are not of the Irish culture. The Gaelic culture was dwindling fast due to many unfortunate factors, but thanks to Douglas Hyde stepping up and creating the Gaelic League, the Gaelic culture is still going strong today all over the world.