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The Douglas Hyde Interpretive Centre ( Gairdin an Craoibhin , "Garden of the Little Branch") (May-Sept Tues-Fri 2-5pm, Sat & Sun 2-6pm; donation suggested), in FRENCHPARK, is housed in an old Church of Ireland church. Hyde (1860-1949), one of the founders of the Gaelic League in 1893 and the leading exponent of the importance of the Irish language and culture in the Nationalist movement, was - like his approximate contemporaries, the poet W.B. Yeats and the playwright J.M. Synge - of Anglo-Irish background. The son of the rector of Tibohine, he was sent home from boarding school when he contracted measles, and was brought up here among Irish-speakers, and later did much to record the rich vernacular tradition, as well as writing in the language - he collaborated with Lady Gregory on a number of Irish-language plays, many of which he published under the pen name An Craoibhin Aoibhinn, "delightful little branch", from which the centre gets its name. Hyde's quixotic aim, to unite all classes in Ireland through the use of Irish language, was bound to end in disappointment and his naive idealism resulted in his disenchantment with the Gaelic League, most especially its espousal of revolutionary violence. After resigning from the Gaelic League, Hyde withdrew from public political life until he was elected as first president of Ireland. With the re-emergence of interest to preserve the language in recent years, there is some sign that Hyde's legacy, which had sometimes seemed a conservative and retrograde form of nationalism, may still be of importance. Hyde is buried in the graveyard of this simple church.
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