Le Suzanne M. Pegley,
ISBN9781846822971,
Lth/72,
I 1935 cruthaíodh Coilíneacht Ghaeltachta i mbaile fearainn Ráth Cairn, Co. na Mí, le haghaidh seacht dteaghlach is fiche a raibh Gaeilge acu. Bhí tromlach iomlán bainte amach ag Fianna Fáil tar éis toghchán 1933 agus d’iompaigh siad ar réiteach a fháil ar an bplódú agus ar an mbochtaineacht in iarthar na hÉireann. Sa tréimhse iar-neamhspleách díreach díreach bhí an stát nuabhunaithe Éireannach ag iarraidh féiniúlacht a bhunú a bheadh ar leith ón gcumhacht choilíneach a bhí ann roimhe seo agus b’é an teanga bealach amháin chun é sin a dhéanamh. I gcomhthéacs na bpolasaithe athchóirithe talún níos leithne bhraith siad gurb í an imirce an cur chuige ab éifeachtaí agus go mbainfí creidiúnacht pholaitiúil amach dá laghdódh siad an brú tráchta sna contaetha san iarthar agus scaipeadh na Gaeilge. I 1934 d’fhógair an páirtí go gcruthódh siad Coilíneacht Ghaeltachta i mbaile fearainn Ráth Cairn. Innealtóireacht shóisialta cheannródaíoch a bhí anseo agus in aghaidh roinnt freasúra, fuarthas tailte féaraigh torthúla i lár na tíre agus roinneadh an talamh ar fheirmeacha beaga a bheadh mar an chéad choilíneacht Ghaeltachta. In ainneoin an chostais agus an aird ar mhionsonraí bhí an tionscadal, mar a léireoidh an staidéar seo, bunúsach lochtach.
In 1935 a Gaeltacht Colony was created in the townland of Ráth Cairn, Co. Meath, for twenty-seven Irish-speaking families. Fianna Fail had achieved an overall majority in the wake of the 1933 election and they turned to resolving the overcrowding and poverty in the west of Ireland. In the immediate post independent period the newly formed Irish state was anxious to establish an identity separate from the previous colonial power and language was one way to do it. Within the context of the wider land reform policies they perceived that migration was the most effective approach and that political credibility would be achieved if they were to alleviate congestion in the western counties and spread the Irish language. In 1934 the party announced they would create a Gaeltacht Colony in the townland of Ráth Cairn. This was ground-breaking social engineering and against some opposition, fertile grasslands in the midlands were acquired and the land divided into small farms which would become the first Gaeltacht colony. Despite the expense and attention to detail the project, as this study will show, was fundamentally flawed.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.