The Gaelic League of London (GLL) was founded in 1896 and by the early 1900s had about 2,000 members engaged in language learning and cultural activities. This article describes how the GLL reached out to children, believing that while the parents might be beyond ‘redemption’, the children offered new hope for the future of the Irish language. The article also examines the themes and tropes which underpinned this strategy. Irish language tuition was seen as a preparation for return to Ireland for children who were ‘unfortunate’ to be born to Irish exiles. Their lives in London were critiqued as bleak and sad, while Ireland was portrayed as a place which would lift their spirits, and was pure and good. The different strategies adopted by the GLL such as drama, essay competitions and holidays in the Gaeltacht are examined and the reaction of the children to their Irish heritage is analysed. Ultimately, however, as the article demonstrates, it was difficult to hold the interest of these children and many adults queried the value of teaching them Irish while they were destined to live in London. By 1913, the heyday of GLL activities for children was over.

中文翻译：

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“那些沉浸在外国影响海洋中的孩子们”：1900 年代初期在伦敦向儿童教授爱尔兰语言和文化

伦敦盖尔联盟 (GLL) 成立于 1896 年，到 1900 年代初，约有 2,000 名成员从事语言学习和文化活动。这篇文章描述了 GLL 如何与孩子们接触，相信虽然父母可能无法“救赎”，但孩子们为爱尔兰语的未来带来了新的希望。本文还研究了支撑这一战略的主题和比喻。爱尔兰语言学费被视为为“不幸”出生于爱尔兰流亡者的儿童返回爱尔兰做准备。他们在伦敦的生活被批评为黯淡和悲伤，而爱尔兰则被描绘成一个可以振奋他们精神的地方，是纯洁而美好的。GLL 采用的不同策略，例如戏剧、考察了盖尔特语的征文比赛和假期，并分析了孩子们对爱尔兰传统的反应。然而，最终，正如文章所表明的那样，很难引起这些孩子的兴趣，许多成年人质疑在他们注定要住在伦敦的时候教他们爱尔兰语的价值。到 1913 年，GLL 儿童活动的鼎盛时期结束了。