Name

Eamon de Valera

Biography

Irish Taoiseach who in 1948 sent recording equipment across to the Isle of Man to capture the voices of the last Manx speakers, because the Manx government at that time would not. It was an Irish intervention that preserved the spoken form of a Gaelic language the Manx authorities had allowed to die. The recordings made possible the revival that followed — Bunscoill Ghaelgagh, the language society, the children learning mathematics in the language their great-great-grandmothers had spoken.

Active Period

1882–1975

Place

Dublin

Isle of Man

Period

Modern Era

Role / Office

Taoiseach

Head of State

Book Chapter

Chapter 18