To those always looking for new reading material in Gaelic, especially from North America, we recommend a visit to the website of the Nova Scotia Archives. There, in a section on historical newspapers, you’ll find four Scottish Gaelic periodicals, all published in Sydney, Cape Breton, in the first half of the 20th century: Teachdaire nan Gaidheal (1924-1934), Fear na Céilidh (1928-1930), Mosgladh (1922-1933) and An Solus Iùil (1925-1927).

These newspapers followed Mac-Talla, a biweekly newspaper published by Jonathan MacKinnon from Sydney between 1892 and 1904. The entire corpus of Mac-Talla is available online through Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, the Scottish Gaelic university on the Isle of Skye. Some issues are also available through the Nova Scotia archives.

The periodicals are only part of the records preserved by the Nova Scotia Archives that document the province’s rich Gaelic roots and continuing Gaelic-language culture, heritage, and traditions. Some additional links to resources are collected under the archive’s Gaelic Resources: Goireasan Gàidhlig page.

The archives presented these four Gaelic newspapers in partnership with the Beaton Institute, Cape Breton University, and Nova Scotia’s Office of Gaelic Affairs.