An cúpla focal IRISH: From an inauspicious beginning, the newspaper is now a firm and consistent supporter of the Irish language DEAGLÁN DE BRÉADÚN

Although The Irish Times supported WT Cosgrave and Cumann na nGaedheal (predecessor of Fine Gael) against Éamon de Valera and the other opponents of the Treaty, the paper objected to the introduction of compulsory Irish in the schools by the newly-established State. Indeed, Minister for Education JM O'Sullivan accused The Irish Times of attempting to "stir up sectarian strife" and "hostility to the native language". 

John Healy, who had been Editor for 27 years, died in May 1934 and was succeeded by the colourful and gregarious RM "Bertie" Smyllie. Although it was often suggested to the new editor that he should carry a column in Irish, he resisted the idea because of his objections to the policy of compulsion.

Finally he agreed to publish a column from a talented young civil servant, Brian O'Nolan, who wrote novels as Flann O'Brien and used the pseudonym Myles na gCopaleen (a character in a play by Dion Boucicault: the English translation is "Myles of the Little Horses") in The Irish Times. The latter's irreverent attitude to the language revival appealed to Smyllie, who said later in an interview with The Bell:

"He is the only person, to my knowledge, who was ever funny in Gaelic. He is untranslatable. He has actually made people brush up their Irish who have forgotten it since they left school."

The new column, entitled "Cruiskeen Lawn" (an anglicised spelling of "Crúiscin Lán" or "little brimming jug") first appeared on October 4th, 1940. The first column was bilingual and written under the pseudonym "An Broc" (The Badger). The Irish-language element was written in fluent Ulster dialect and satirised, in equal parts, a recent editorial in the paper on the inadequacies of Irish vocabulary when it came to discussions of the war and the attempts of the Gaelic movement to remedy those shortcomings. 

The next one, published on October 10th and written mostly in Irish – but this time in a Gaelic typeface – appeared under the name Myles na gCopaleen. The next piece, published on October 12th, was exclusively in Irish, apart from a sub-heading in English. Another column appeared on October 16th and on October 17th three letters were published, one from a "West-Briton Nationalist" which criticised the new column for poking fun at the language movement, whereas the other two heaped praise on the paper for, as one of  them put it, meeting "a long-felt want". It is quite possible all three letters were written by the columnist himself.

The humour was often surreal. During the days of rationing in the "Emergency",  as the second World War was officially known in this State, Myles suggested that the dative case or "tuiseal tabharthach" in Irish be sacrificed as an unnecessary luxury.

The column generally appeared three times a week until the end of 1941 and was initially written almost exclusively in Irish, but then it began to appear on a daily basis, alternating between Irish and English. From March 1944 until the author's death in April 1966, the little brimming jug rarely drew from the Gaelic well, although the paper tried to encourage the columnist to write more often in Irish. In 1952, Myles changed the spelling to Gopaleen rather than gCopaleen. Legend has it that this was the result of a row with the paper during which he declared that "Myles na gCopaleen" would never again write for The Irish Times. The change of spelling allowed him to retreat from that position yet retain his dignity!

The second phase of the paper's interest in the language came with the introduction of a weekly column of news and comment in Irish on January 27th, 1971, entitled "Tuarascáil" ("Report" in English). The column, which continues to appear to this day, won the prize for "Best Coverage in Irish" in the Hibernia magazine press awards for 1971 and the citation went as follows: "A major breakthrough. Its success was immediate. It was first with a number of major news stories, its comment is incisive and usually fair and it maintains a very high standard week after week. It treats readers of Irish as ordinary people and exhibits a nice line in satire."

The moving spirit behind the launch of "Tuarascáil" was news editor Donal Foley  who played a major role under the editorship of Douglas Gageby in modernising the paper and broadening its appeal. A native speaker of the language from the Ring Gaeltacht in Co Waterford, Foley quickly ensured that The Irish Times became the prime outlet for good journalism in Irish. 

A talented platoon of writers assembled under Foley's leadership to inform and entertain the readers. Among them were Eileen O'Brien, who edited "Tuarascáil" and regular outside contributors such as Breandán Ó hEithir,  broadcaster Seán Mac Réamoinn, the poet Seán Ó Ríordáin and others. So dedicated was Eileen O'Brien to her craft and to the language that, when she became ill in the newsroom in late 1985, shortly before her death, she objected that she could not be brought away for treatment until she had finished that week's "Tuarascáil".

The present writer was appointed Eagarthóir Gaeilge/Irish Language Editor in 1987 with responsibility for "Tuarascáil" and other columns and articles. Six years later, in 1993, Uinsionn Mac Dubghaill took on the job and the current holder of the position is Pól Ó Muirí.

By the time of his death in 1990, Breandán Ó hEithir had been contributing articles in Irish – and English – to The Irish Times for a total of 28 years. Shortly before his death Ó hEithir stopped writing his column and nominated another excellent writer, Liam Ó Muirthile, in his place. The latter contributed An Peann Coitianta ("The Common Pen") on a weekly basis until 2003.

The paper continues to publish three weekly columns in Irish: "Beocheist" (Live Issue) which is contributed by different writers every Tuesday; "Tuarascáil" on Wednesdays; and a Thursday column by Alan Titley. There is an Irish-language section, "An Teanga Bheo" (The Living Language) on the website at irishtimes.com/anteangabheo

Whether it reflects increasing globalisation or the State's retreat from the Gaelic Ireland project, the proportion of Irish-language content in our newspapers has declined considerably in recent decades.  Few would have forecast back in the 1920s that what was then seen as the unionist, ascendancy paper would be virtually the last bastion of Irish in the mainstream print media more than 80 years later. π