“D'éireannaighibh an Baile Móir Seo: The Irish Language Department in the Monitor of San Francisco, 1888-1893.”

On 14 March 1888, without any prior announcement or fanfare, the “Irish Language Department” became a weekly feature in the San Francisco Monitor, with material and editorials contributed by members of the local An Cumann Gaedhilge. Like other Irish- Language columns in the United States at the time, the Monitor published original poetry and prose, “Easy Lessons” in Irish, translations of folklore and English tales, manuscript material, and songs and ballads--yet these columns and this newspaper have been entirely left out of the historiography of the Irish-language revival in the United States. Further, unlike other newspapers running Irish-language columns at the time, the Monitor was an organ of the Catholic Church and not, like the Irish-American, Irish People, An Gaodhal, or the IrishEcho, an open proponent of Irish nationalism. This paper will examine the ways in which the Monitor attempted to revive and cultivate the Irish language through its editorial essays, published poetry, genealogy, history, and graded lessons. This hitherto unappreciated newspaper and the efforts of the San Francisco Gaelic Society to promote the Irish language will be fully explored in this paper.