The Gaelic quarterly Gairm, founded by Derick Thomson (Ruaraidh MacThomais) and Finlay J MacDonald (Fionnlagh Iain MacDhomhnaill), was a major force in the Gaelic world for fifty years: 1952-2002. One of its aims was to encourage discussion of international topics, in the field of politics, culture, history, philosophy, and others, through the medium of Gaelic.
This openness and intellectual curiosity is evident in contributions across genres, including editorials, essays, travelogues, and reviews. The magazine also regularly featured translations from a number of languages into Gaelic and welcomed contributors from other countries.
This paper is going to explore the importance of this cosmopolitan outlook for the revitalisation of Gaelic as envisaged by the editors.