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The Irish diaspora mainly settled in English-speaking countries, chiefly Britain and North America. In some instances the Irish language was retained for several generations.
The official status of the Irish language has remained high in the Republic of Ireland from foundation. This reflects the dominance of the language in Irish cultural and social history until the nineteenth century and its role in Irish cultural identity. In 2022, strong recognition was added in Northern Ireland also.
Aug 23, 2020 · While the Irish language still exists, with tens of thousands of people in the country able to speak it, the vast majority of Irish people use English. So why is this? When did English become the most used language in Ireland?
- 5 min
- 1082
- Where Have All The Gaeilgeoirí Gone?
- Not A Legal Matter
- Educational Issues
- The Prime Culprit: An Gorta Mór
- Flash Forward to The 21st Century
- On The Positive Side
- Growth Outside of Ireland
- Far from Dead
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Despite centuries of attempts to suppress it, Irish was the majority language in Ireland right up through the 19th century. How could a language that was spoken by most of the people all but disappear, to the point where many people outside of Ireland don’t even realize that there is such a thing as an Irish language?
It would be easy to point to laws restricting the use of Irish, such as the infamous Statutes of Kilkenny, as culprits in the disappearance of Irish. “Easy,” but not really valid. These laws were aimed primarily at the Norman population, which the English government thought was becoming “too Irish” (and were, for the most part, unenforceable in any...
One institution that is credited with doing a great deal of harm, if not to the language as a whole, at least to individual Irish speakers, was the national school system. Established in 1830, the national schools offered the only chance for most Irish children to receive an education. Unfortunately, they were also rabidly “anti-Irish.” Children we...
Sadly, what law really couldn’t touch, hunger came very close to destroying. For seven years, from 1845 to 1852, the potato crop, on which 1/3 of the Irish population depended entirely for sustenance, failed utterly, succumbing to a disease commonly known as “potato blight.” While outside of Ireland this is often referred to as the “Irish Potato Fa...
Despite the best efforts of promoters of the language, Irish has never really recovered from the Famine. In the latest Republic of Ireland census, only 77,185 people indicated that they speak Irish daily outside of the school system (source: Wikipedia: Irish Language). You can dig deeper at Ireland’s Central Statistics Officein their census figures...
On the other hand, there is a real movement, especially in the cities, of parents (not themselves native Irish speakers) raising their children through Irish. This, combined with the growing demand for Gaelscoileanna (Irish-medium public schools) may well be one of the best things that could happen for the language. You can meet one such family, Si...
Perhaps the greatest growth in interest in the language, however, has been outside of Ireland. The internet has made it possible for people from all over the world, many of them descendants of Irish speakers driven from home by the Famine, to learn and promote the language. In fact, 2007 saw the official opening of the very first designated Gaeltac...
To sum up, while the Famine and the national schools delivered a severe blow to the Irish language — one that might well have killed it —it was not, in fact, a death blow. Will Irish ever again be the majority language in Ireland? The practical side of me says “probably not,” but the eternal optimist side of me that sees (with great pleasure!) the ...
Did you already know all this about the history of the Irish language? If you’re currently learning Irish, teaching Irish, or have plans to study Irish, what are your reasons for doing so? Let us know your thoughts below!
Jun 4, 2018 · To a layman, Ireland and the UK may seem similar in many ways but the truth is that these two countries couldn’t be more unique. Although most of the Irish population does speak English, the English used in Ireland is very different to UK English.
In English. In English (including Hiberno-English), the language is usually referred to as Irish, as well as Gaelic and Irish Gaelic. [18][19] The term Irish Gaelic may be seen when English speakers discuss the relationship between the three Goidelic languages (Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx). [20]
Jun 29, 2024 · English is the predominant language in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. According to the findings from the census, nearly the entire population speaks English. The Gaeltacht areas, mainly located in coastal regions of the west, showcase a higher concentration of Irish speakers.
