Associated with the wider Celtic Revival, he promoted his ideas primarily through his journal, The Leader, and compilations of his articles such as the book The Philosophy of Irish Ireland.

[4] Despite the failure of the 1893 Home Rule Bill and the division of the Irish Parliamentary Party in 1891, nationalists took heart from Douglas Hyde's 1892 speech, entitled "The Necessity for De-anglicising Ireland".

In the longer term, when Irish became again the language of the people, its use would enable a de facto censorship of any foreign and unwelcome ideas written in English.

[8] While Moran argued that the idea of 'the Gael' was one that could assimilate others, he also felt that it would be hard if not impossible for members of the Church of Ireland who supported the British Empire to ever qualify as Irish, being 'resident aliens'.

[citation needed] His paper published numerous articles by the future TD Arthur Clery (writing under the pen-name "Chanel"), who advocated partition on the grounds that Ulster unionists were a separate nation, but Moran himself disagreed and: "refused to concede the legitimacy of a northern Protestant identity.

[citation needed] He claimed Irish life and culture had to be protected from foreign influences, including the twin evils of the music hall and the English press.