Politics destroying the Gaelic League

Tyrone, 8 December 1914 - Agnes O'Farrelly, a Gaelic League activist, has called for the members of the organisation to support the attempts of their President, Douglas Hyde, to resist all moves towards politicisation.

Speaking at a meeting in Co. Tyrone, she stated: ‘To interfere with politics at the present moment would be to ring the death knell of the Gaelic League.'

Miss O'Farrelly claimed that there is an inherent danger in marking the Irish language as being something that belongs to one particular political grouping: ‘The thing is unthinkable! If the language of this country is to prosper and spread it must remain common property.’

[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]