Tír gan Teanga, Tír gan Anam – Irish Language Print

“A country without a language, a country without a soul” — the line that became the motto of the Irish language revival, tying the language directly to national identity.

About this work

Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam — a country without a language, a country without a soul. It is the effective motto of the Irish language revival, carried on banners, quoted in speeches and painted on Gaelscoil walls. It is usually printed as a seanfhocal with no author: it is widely attributed online to Pádraig Pearse, but that attribution cannot be traced to anything he actually wrote, and Irish-language proverb collections list it unattributed. The nearest documented ancestor is Thomas Davis, writing in The Nation in 1843: "A people without a language of its own is only half a nation." The print is an open edition, made to order and shipped worldwide.

Sizes & Format

• 30 × 30 cm / 12 × 12″
• 50 × 50 cm / 20 × 20″
• 70 × 70 cm / 28 × 28″
• Unframed, or framed in black, white or wood

Print & Frame Details

Archival matte paper, 250gsm (110lb), acid-free and FSC-certified — off-white, uncoated. Framed prints: solid oak or ash wood frame, 20mm thick, with shatterproof protective glazing. Ready to hang, hanging kit included. Unframed prints up to A4 ship flat; larger sizes ship rolled in a protective tube.

Free Worldwide Shipping

Framed prints are packed with protective corners and wrap, boxed with reinforced edges, and braced with internal supports for extra rigidity (max 3 frames per package). Every order ships free, made to order and delivered from the hub closest to you: Ireland 3–7 business days · UK 4–8 · USA 5–10 · Canada 6–12 · Australia 7–14.