The politicisation of Pádraig Mac Piarais

Remembering the Past

By Mícheál Mac Donncha

PÁDRAIG Mac PIARAIS (PH Pearse) grew up in a comfortable middle-class family in Dublin but one which influenced the revolutionary direction of his politics. From an aunt in County Meath he heard stories and songs of Irish nationalism, 1798 and the Fenians. His father, an English sculptor, was radical in politics. And the young man matured during Ireland’s cultural revival, quickly becoming a leader in the Gaelic League.

Between 1899 and 1909, Mac Piarais was immersed in the work of the League. He was editor of the League’s weekly bilingual paper, An Claidheamh Soluis, between 1903 and 1909 and showed a natural flair for journalism and propaganda, turning the paper into a lively promoter of the Irish language and the varied activities and campaigns of the League.

While often portrayed as a remote idealist, Mac Piarais had a very practical side when it came to the internal politics of the League and steering the organisation through the choppy waters of Irish nationalist politics. He surprised some by his support for the Irish Council Bill of 1907, a British Government proposal which fell short of even limited Home Rule. But Mac Piarais, like Traolach Mac Suibhne (Terence Mac Swiney), argued that it could be used to gain more and would give the Irish people control over their education system.

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