The decade following the publication in 1965 of the Irish Government's White Paper on the Restoration of the Irish Language saw a transition to what would now be described as the 'language planning' approach to language revival, characterised by its concerns for (I) fact-finding, (2) planning in the stricter sense, i.e. setting targets and selecting means, (3) implementation, and (4) the use of feedback to direct the entire process. The approach is in sharp contrast to earlier efforts at language revival and maintenance, many of which are indicated in the report of the Commission on the Restoration of the Irish Language, presented in 1964. The paper identifies and describes the principal differences and suggests a general model distinguishing between revival 'by decree' and revival 'by planning'.