Douglas Hyde

“It is a most disgraceful shame the way in which Irishmen are brought up. They are ashamed of their language, institutions, and of everything Irish.”

“I - and there are hundreds of thousands of Irishmen who felt on this subject as I do - have always liked my Celtic countrymen and disliked the English nation; it is a national trait of character, and I cannot help it.”

“I do not share the wish to see my language dead and decently buried.”

“Every crag and gnarled tree and lonely valley has its own strange and graceful legend attached to it.”

“As our language wanes and dies, the golden legends of the far-off centuries fade and pass away. No one sees their influence upon culture; no one sees their educational power.”