Chair of Gaelic, Glasgow

Chair of Gaelic University of Glasgow
Incumbent Roibeard Ó Maolalaigh
Established	2010
Founder	University Court
Inaugural holder	Roibeard Ó Maolalaigh
Website	www.gla.ac.uk/celtic

University Gardens, where the Celtic and Gaelic Department is housed

The Chair of Gaelic is a professorship in Scottish Gaelic at the University of Glasgow. It was established in April 2010 and is the first established Chair of Gaelic at a Scottish university.^[1][2][3]

Establishment

A Chair of Celtic had already been established at the University of Glasgow in 1956,^[4] and the Chair of Gaelic was founded in April 2010 as part of the University's aim to establish itself as "a centre of excellence for the study of Celtic and Gaelic."^[2] The establishment of the Chair was announced on the same day as Glasgow City Council launched its new Gaelic Language Plan with an aim of making Gaelic a commonly used language by 2020.^[2][3] The Scottish Government has been putting efforts into the support and revival of Gaelic in Scotland in recent years, in line with their duties under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. The Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005 established the Bòrd na Gàidhlig, a non-governmental public body responsible for the promomotion of Gaelic language in Scotland.

The first holder of the post is Professor Roibeard Ó Maolalaigh, Head of the Department of Celtic and Gaelic at the University who had previously held a personal professorship in Gaelic. Professor Ó Maolalaigh was educated at University College Dublin and lectured at the University of Edinburgh whilst completing his PhD there.^[5] He was then appointed Assistant Professor of Celtic Studies at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, before moving to Glasgow.^[1] As Head of the Department at Glasgow, he appointed the first ever Gaelic Language Officer at a Scottish university. He is Director of the Digital Archive of Scottish Gaelic, a project funded by the British Academy, and is also involved in Soillse, a project led by the University of the Highlands and Islands developing a research capacity for the maintenance and revitalisation of Gaelic in Scotland.^[1]

Professors of Gaelic

• 2010-present: Roibeard Ó Maolalaigh

See also

• Chair of Celtic, Glasgow

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Glasgow creates first Chair of Gaelic in Scotland". Hebrides News Today. 6 April 2010. http://hebridestoday.com/2010/04/glasgow-creates-first-chair-of-gaelic-in-scotland/. Retrieved 7 April 2010. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} "City launches ambitious bid to reverse decline in Gaelic". The Herald (Glasgow). 6 April 2010. http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/city-launches-ambitious-bid-to-reverse-decline-in-gaelic-1.1018921. Retrieved 7 April 2010. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Mclaughlin, Martyn (7 April 2010). "Campaigners aim to have Gaelic used 'in our schools, shops and streets' by 2020". Edinburgh: The Scotsman. http://news.scotsman.com/glasgow/Campaigners-aim-to-have-Gaelic.6207658.jp. Retrieved 7 April 2010. 
4. ^ "Professorships: Celtic". University of Glasgow. 10 April 2008. http://www.universitystory.gla.ac.uk/chair-and-lectureship/?id=124. Retrieved 7 April 2010. 
5. ^ "Professor Roibeard Ó Maolalaigh". University of Glasgow. http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/celtic/ourstaff/profroibeardomaolalaigh/. Retrieved 7 April 2010. 

External links

• University of Glasgow Department of Celtic and Gaelic