The Irish language: 100 years after the first Gaeltacht Commission, our support still matters

Tom Fitzgerald, the Irish-American businessman behind the online Irish language bookseller Litríocht, has left an estate valued at just over €14 million following his death in 2024. His will, recently published by the probate office, outlines provisions for his family and several Irish charities, including the Simon Community, Focus Ireland, and the Irish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA). Born in Cill Chúile, a village in the west Kerry Gaeltacht, Fitzgerald emigrated to the United States in the late 1960s. During the Vietnam War, he enlisted in the US Air Force. After his service, he spent three years working on the Alaska pipeline before pursuing studies in arts at the University of San Francisco and later earning qualifications in marketing and management from the London Business School. His career took off with the establishment of Bárd International, a company based in Silicon Valley, where he wrote technical manuals for major American firms such as Adobe, Intel, Nortel Networks, and BT North America. While balancing his professional life between Ireland and the United States during the 1990s, he founded Bárd na nGleann, a company headquartered in Béal Átha’n Ghaorthaidh, part of the west Cork Gaeltacht. This enterprise became a key employer in the region and maintained a network of remote or contract workers across the US, UK, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. In addition to his business ventures, Fitzgerald played a pivotal role in promoting the Irish language through the creation of Litríocht, an online platform dedicated to Irish language literature. Launched in 1999, the site began operations from Cill Chúile on the Dingle peninsula and later moved to Beal Átha an Ghaorthaidh in the Muskerry Gaeltacht, County Cork. Today, Litríocht stands as the world's largest online Irish language bookshop, serving customers in over 65 countries and offering a collection of more than 6,000 books. Litríocht has been recognized for its contributions to Irish language education, receiving the Golden Spider Award for e-commerce twice, once in 2008 and again in 2013. The platform also earned a letter of gratitude from the US Library of Congress for its efforts in cataloging Irish books. Beyond his commercial achievements, Fitzgerald was actively involved in community initiatives. He served as a founding chairman of Gaelscoil Bheanntraí in County Cork. He and his wife, Sally, had two children, William and Kate, though both predeceased him in 2011. Fitzgerald passed away on January 27, 2024, at the Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital in California. In his will, he allocated half of his estate, including his share in the family home at Sea Ranch, California, to his wife. A further 20 percent went to his son William. Sums ranging from €30,000 to €50,000 were distributed among his siblings, nieces, a nephew, and grandchildren. To ensure ongoing support for Irish communities, Fitzgerald stipulated the creation of a charitable trust in his name. Each year, for as long as the funds last, €5,000 will be given to the Simon Community of Ireland, St Colums GAA in Bantry, Focus Ireland, and the ISPCA.