Newry and Mourne Museum has opened a new temporary exhibition entitled ‘Categorically Celtic – Traditional Design in Irish Art, Politics and Popular Culture,’ which explores the significance of Celtic art within Irish life, tracing its evolution from its ancient origins to contemporary everyday use.
The exhibition maps the trajectory of the artform from its Iron Age roots to the present, where we can see its influence in imagery such as sports branding, school logos, and even the modern resurgence of Celtic-inspired tattoos.
The cultural prominence that these art forms enjoy today has not always been the norm. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, a series of influential organizations emerged with the mission of reviving Irish sport, literature, art, and especially language from decline.
Among the earliest were the Young Irelanders, who in the 1840s sought to intertwine political independence with a cultural awakening. By championing the study of Irish history and the revival of the Irish language, they established these traditions as the essential pillars of Irish nationality.
By the late 19th century, there was a greater urgency to revitalize the Irish language. The impact of the Famine on Irish society was devastating. In the 1841 census, the population of Ireland was approximately 8.2 million, but by 1851 this had decreased to 6.6 million. A vast number of those who died or emigrated were native speakers, which accelerated the language’s decline.
The Gaelic League (Conradh na Gaeilge), founded in 1893, was in many ways the vanguard of this revival. The core aims of the League were to fight against the erosion of Irish culture and sports and to reintroduce the language into schools, as the National School system taught only in English. The organization was non-political and non-sectarian, aiming to involve people of different religious and political loyalties in a common cultural effort.
The Gaelic Literary Revival of the late 19th century, inspired by the Gaelic League sought to create and inspire a national literature by drawing on Irish myth, folklore, and popular culture. Some of the revival's most visible proponents and practitioners included William Butler Yeats, Lady Gregory, and John Millington Synge.
In 1882 Yeats together with John O’Leary and Douglas Hyde founded the National Literary Society which was aimed at publicising the literature, legends and folklore of Ireland. Also in the 1890s, he worked with Lady Gregory and Edward Martyn to establish a distinctively Irish national theatre, their efforts culminating in the Irish Literary Theatre (1898). The Abbey Theatre, established in 1904 with the support of Yeats, served as the nation’s first stage for Irish drama set against the growing cultural nationalist movement
Sport also played a vital role in cultural revival. The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), founded in Thurles on November 1, 1884, was set up to standardise the rules of Gaelic games such as hurling, but also to establish a body to govern Irish sports. The Association also promotes Irish music, song and dance and the Irish language as an integral part of its objectives. Today, there are in the region of 2,300 clubs based in Ireland.
It also continues to develop abroad. The Irish who emigrated brought their national games with them with both regional and club units now well established in the United States, Australia, Britain, mainland Europe, Canada, Asia and many other parts of the world. 400 clubs promote the activities of the GAA around the world.
In Newry and Mourne this revival has taken many forms. The influence of the Gaelic League encouraged the revival of Irish dance and led to the establishment of the first Warrenpoint Feis in 1905, followed by the Newry Musical Feis in 1928, which fostered traditional music and verse speaking. Several Irish dance costumes can be seen on display in the new exhibition. There are several Irish language schools in the area, Bunscoil an Iúir in Newry, Gaelscoil na mBeann in Kilkeel and St Patricks Crossmaglen PS and Irish Medium Unit Gaelscoil Phadraig Naofa.
There is also Gaeláras Mhic Ardghail in Newry, which is a language and local studies centre. It is also the home of the Newry Branch, Ulster Executive, Gaelic League. The branch was founded in 1897 and has been active ever since. Many of the artefacts on display in the new exhibition are on loan from the group.
Much of the exhibition draws inspiration from the Celtic Revival of the 19th and early 20th centuries, which sought to preserve Irish literature, music, and language. Celtic design was widely used in banners, publications, stained glass, architecture, and national monuments, helping to connect Ireland’s ancient past with its cultural reawakening.
These themes come together in ‘Categorically Celtic – Traditional Design in Irish Art, Politics and Popular Culture’, on display at Newry and Mourne Museum until September.
A new temporary exhibition looking at the history of Celtic art, from the Iron Age to the present day
