Language in the Irish conflict: The Gaelic "self-made revival" in prison

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the issue of the Irish language revival in Northern Ireland focusing on the case-study of the Republican prisoners’ revival in jail during “The Troubles” time (late 1960s - 1998). After briefly summarizing the troubled history of Ireland, the thesis particularly deals with the historical context of the Irish Revolution and subsequent years (1919 - 1921), with a particular attention to the history of the Irish decay and the institutionalized revival of Gaelic language in the Republic of Ireland as a matter of comparison with the non-governmental organization of the revitalization in the Northern Irish context. The research is carried out taking into account different approaches towards the matter of language revitalization, comparing the successes and failures of the Institutional revival in Ireland, and studying the outcomes of the unique experience of “self-made revival” in the political turmoil which characterized Northern Ireland after WW2. Specifically, particular importance is given to the actual testimonies of the “laboratories of language resistance” in the Ulster prisons, a little - known phenomenon which contributed to the creation of a new chapter of language revival in the country.