THE TRUSTEES OF THE ULSTER HISTORICAL FOUNDATION
AND THE ULTACH TRUST
cordially invite you to the launch of
Presbyterians Preispitéirigh and the agus an Irish Language Ghaeilge
Roger Blaney
GUEST SPEAKERS
DR IAN ADAMSON OBE
AODÁN MAC PÓILIN
ROGER BLANEY
e-mail: enquiry@uhf.org.uk
R E F R E SHME N T S P ROV I D E D
The Library, Union Theological College, 108 Botanic Avenue,Belfast BT7 1JT
Thursday 17 May 2012
7.00pm for 7.30pm
This book is the first to establish the rightful place of the Irish language in the Presbyterian heritage in Ireland.
It traces the Presbyterian Irish-speaking tradition from its early roots in Gaelic Scotland through the Plantation and Williamite War periods to its successive revivals in later decades of each of the eighteenth, nineteenth and most recently, twentieth centuries.
There are detailed biographies of influential Irish-speaking Presbyterians, clerical and lay, whose love of the language helped to ensure its survival. The author contends that the origins of the Gaelic League are as likely to be found in Presbyterian Belfast as in Catholic Dublin. At a time when the Irish language was losing ground to a combination of demographic, political and educational forces, it was Presbyterians who were to the fore in saving valuable manuscripts, in teaching through the language and in publishing works in Irish – for example, the first Irish-language magazine was produced in Belfast.
The result is an absorbing account of an integral but little-known strand in the fabric of Presbyterianism. It will add significantly to the mutual understanding between the main traditions on our island and will provide new evidence for the view that we share more than divides us.
VISIT OUR ONLINE BOOKSTORE
www.booksireland.org.uk
Price £9.99
RETURN ADDRESS
Ulster Historical Foundation
49 Malone Road, Belfast BT9 6RY
Tonight ,as a close longtime friend of Roger Blaney and Advisor on History and Culture to the Lord Bannside, Rev Dr Ian Paisley, I spoke of the Biblical Tarshish, of Tartessos and the Celtic, Hamitic and Semitic origins of the Irish Language there. I am very proud of Roger and his wonderful book.