THE NAME "ENGLISH"

Cover of Albert's 1958 book "Aiséirí Flóndrais"

Albert was very taken with the similarity between the Celtic and the Flemish cross and he puzzled over this for a number of years. He finally came up with an explanation of his own and it seemed quite logical, so he included it in the book he published in Irish in 1958.

And this is what he said (translation):

Permit me to divert from my story for a moment.

In 1949 when myself and my wife had just escaped from “Little Belgium with the big heart” and we were walking along Pearse St. in Dublin, she stopped suddenly and said: “Look Albert, a Flemish cross !”. We wondered at this.

The wonder was soon replaced by astonishment when we saw a sculptor's shop full of this type of crosses. We had difficulty accepting that these were actually Irish crosses until we paid a visit to the National Museum.

We thought a lot about what might be the cause of the resemblance between the two types of cross and this is the explanation we came up with, as far as we could see: the man who first designed the Flemish cross was called Joe English.

This was a nickname he was given because English was his native language. But he was an Irishman and, for whatever reason, he turned into a great Flemish nationalist. And when he was asked to design a gravestone for the dead soldiers the Celtic cross came to mind and he based the Flemish cross on it.

Before long that cross became fashionable on Catholic graves in Flanders so that you would be forgiven for thinking that it was connected with Flanders and only Flanders. The following was inscribed on the four faces of the cross:

A
V V K
V
that is the first letters of the words, “Alles Voor Vlaanderen, Vlaanderen Voor Kristus”, “All for Flanders, Flanders for Christ”.

Now you have to remember that in 1958 there was no internet. If you wanted to know something you had to go to your local library, or better still the National Library, and consult the encyclopedias or such specialised books as were available. Also remembering that Albert was in Ireland at that stage. So the chances of finding an explanation was pretty remote and his own invented one was probably as near as you would get.

There was one little clue lurking in the background though but it never struck Albert at the time.

Aiséirí was printed in Wexford by John English Ltd., Printers.

When Leentje came to write her book the internet was only a click away and the real story popped up.

You can read it in the post on this blog entitled "Of Flemish and Celtic Crosses"

Get the book .

The book is available to readers in Europe here, and to those outside Europe, and particularly in the USA here