Robert Shipboy MacAdam facts for kids

Robert Shipboy MacAdam (born 1808, died 1895) was an important person in Belfast, Ireland. He was an expert in old things (an antiquary), a collector of traditional stories (a folklorist), and someone who knew many languages (a linguist). He was a key figure among the Presbyterian community who helped bring back the Irish language in the early 1800s.

MacAdam was a secretary for the Cuideacht Gaoidhilge Uladh (the Ulster Gaelic Society). He also became president of the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society. He was the first editor of the Ulster Journal of Archaeology. Today, his memory is honored along with a 20th-century Irish language scholar, Cardinal Tomás Ó Fiaich. Since 1991, Belfast's Irish-language cultural center is named after them: Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich.

Life and Work

Family and Business

Robert MacAdam was born to Jane Shipboy (1774–1827) and James MacAdam (1755–1821). His family lived next to their hardware shop in High Street, Belfast. Robert went to the new Belfast Academical Institution. This school was started with modern ideas by William Drennan and others who had been involved in politics in the 1790s.

Before he started training to work for his father, Robert learned a lot at school. His uncle, Robert MacAdam, who collected old Irish songs, might have first sparked his interest in the Irish language. At school, his interest grew even more because of Rev. William Neilson. He was a Presbyterian minister and a scholar who wrote An Introduction to the Irish Language in 1808.

People said MacAdam became fluent in about twelve languages. He got really good at Irish while traveling all over Ireland for his family's business.

In 1846, Robert and his older brother, James MacAdam, started a factory called the Soho Foundry in Townsend Street. The factory grew very successful. Before his brother died in 1861, the company had 250 workers. It was known around the world for making powerful water wheels called turbine engines.

MacAdam was a member of the Non-Subscribing First Presbyterian Church in Rosemary Street.

The Ulster Gaelic Society

Robert MacAdam joined the Cuideacht Gaoidhilge Uladh (the Ulster Gaelic Society) in 1828. This group was led by Dr. James MacDonnell. Its goal was to support the Irish language. The members were interested in the everyday Irish spoken by people, not just the old language found in manuscripts.

MacAdam became a joint secretary of the society. He believed that trying to change people's religion through the language was harmful. He said it had "done more harm to the language than foreign persecution for 300 years." He also thought that Catholic priests should have taught and preached in Irish more often.

MacAdam did not seem to agree with the movement for Irish self-government. This movement was led by Daniel O'Connell. O'Connell spoke Irish, but he said he didn't mind if the language of his ancestors slowly disappeared.

When Queen Victoria visited Belfast in 1849, MacAdam wrote special messages in Irish for her. These messages were displayed publicly. They welcomed "Ireland's Queen" from her "loving and loyal" subjects.

MacAdam worked hard to collect Irish folklore and old writings. He also promoted the study of Irish and helped publish books in the language. The society published Irish translations of Maria Edgeworth’s stories, Forgive and Forget and Rosanna. They also published An introduction to the Irish language, a grammar book that MacAdam helped write.

Ulster Journal of Archaeology and Later Projects

The Ulster Gaelic Society stopped working in 1843. After that, MacAdam hired a poet named Aodh Mac Domhnaill (Hugh McDonnell). Hugh worked with MacAdam at the Soho foundry. His job was to write down and collect songs, folklore, and Irish-language manuscripts full-time. MacAdam also collected many things himself during his business trips across Ulster and north Leinster.

He found a lot of material from Irish-speaking people who had moved to Belfast. For example, he discovered that Charlement Street was full of Irish-speaking basket-makers from Omeath. This street is now under the Castle Court shopping centre.

MacAdam was the main person who suggested adding a question about knowing Irish to the 1851 Census. In 1852, he and his brother organized a big exhibition. This was for a conference of the British Association for the Advancement of Science held at the Belfast Museum. MacAdam was a co-founder of the museum as a member of the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society. The exhibition was meant to show visitors the "nature and extent of our ancient [Irish] civilisation."

This led to the Ulster Journal of Archaeology. This was a yearly publication that MacAdam edited until 1862. In his plan for the journal, MacAdam wanted to cover many different topics. He wrote that "Archaeology... does not stand by itself but is continually coming into contact with other sciences." He believed that archaeology, history, language study, and other subjects were all connected.

MacAdam wrote in the first edition of the Ulster Journal of Archaeology that society in Ulster seemed to be changing very quickly. He felt that old Irish traditions were disappearing fast. He compared the speed of change to a "magic lantern show," where images quickly dissolve. He noted that new things like steam power and education were changing areas that "conquest and colonisation failed to effect in centuries." The journal also published 600 Irish proverbs that MacAdam had collected. However, many other projects to save and bring new life to the Irish past were never finished.

For example, an English–Irish dictionary that MacAdam worked on with Mac Domhnaill was never published. It had over 1,000 pages of handwritten notes. It stayed hidden in the Queen's University Library until 1996. His collection of 400 Irish songs and his idea for an Irish language newspaper also never happened.

Despite this, MacAdam's work was recognized by the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society. He had been going to their meetings since he was 13. In 1888, the society chose him as their president.

Death and Legacy

Robert MacAdam never married. He lived with his brother at 18 College Square East, Belfast. He died there on January 3, 1895. He was buried in Knockbreda churchyard.

Even though his friends eventually helped him live comfortably, MacAdam's last years were difficult due to poor health and money problems. In 1894, the Townend Street factory had to close. In 1889, he sold an important collection of Irish manuscripts to William Reeves. Reeves was an expert in old things and a bishop. After Reeves died in 1892, Maxwell Close bought this collection for the Royal Irish Academy. It is still there today, called "The Mac Adam and Reeves Collection." Other papers belonging to MacAdam are kept at the Belfast Central Library and the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland.

In 1894, MacAdam supported the return of the Ulster Journal of Archaeology. After 30 years, its new editor was Francis Joseph Bigger. He was a key person in a new effort to revive the Irish language in the north. The next year, shortly after MacAdam's death, the first branch of the Gaelic League was started in Belfast. This group helped boost the Irish language even more. More than half of its first committee members were Protestants, showing it brought people together.

The Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich was founded in 1991. It was created after the Broadway Presbyterian Church on Falls Road, Belfast, was bought. It is named after Robert MacAdam and the 20th-century Irish language scholar Cardinal Tomás Ó Fiaich.