Irish language

Irish, also called Gaelic, is a special language from the Indo-European language family. It is the original language of the Irish people and was spoken by most people in Ireland until the 1800s. After that, English became more common.

Today, many people in Ireland still speak Irish, especially in areas called Gaeltacht regions. Irish is very old and has a special writing system. It is the national and first official language of the Republic of Ireland. It also has official status in Northern Ireland and the European Union. People work hard to keep the language alive. The language also influenced places like Scotland and the Isle of Man and has one of the oldest literary traditions in Western Europe.

Name of the language

In Irish

In the official written standard called An Caighdeán Oifigiúil, the name of the language is Gaeilge. This name comes from a form used in the south called Connacht.

Gaeilge is also used to talk about two other close languages, Scottish Gaelic and Manx. When needed, these are called Gaeilge na hAlban, Gaeilge Mhanann, and Gaeilge na hÉireann.

In English

In English, the language is usually called Irish, or sometimes Gaelic or Irish Gaelic. The word Gaelic is a general name for a group of languages that includes Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx.

History

Main article: History of the Irish language

The Irish language has a long and interesting history. It first appeared in writings from the 4th century AD, called Primitive Irish. These early writings were found all over Ireland and along the west coast of Great Britain.

Over time, the language changed. By the 6th century, it became known as Old Irish and used the Latin alphabet. Many Latin words entered the language during this time. By the 10th century, it evolved further into Middle Irish, which was spoken across Ireland, the Isle of Man, and parts of Scotland. This was the language of many important stories and books.

In the late 18th century, the use of Irish began to decline in some areas. This was because of policies that encouraged using English instead. Despite this, Irish remained widely used, especially among ordinary people. Even in the 19th century, millions of people still spoke Irish as their first language.

In the late 1800s, there was a movement to bring Irish back into everyday use. This was called the Gaelic Revival. Groups like the Gaelic League worked hard to teach and promote the language. They held meetings, published newspapers, and pushed for Irish to be taught in schools. This helped renew interest in the language and its rich culture.

Main article: Gaelic Revival

Status and policy

Main article: Status of the Irish language

Ireland

Irish is recognised by the Constitution of Ireland as the national and first official language of the Republic of Ireland, with English being the other official language. Most government work and talks happen in English.

In 1938, the founder of Conradh na Gaeilge (Gaelic League), Douglas Hyde, was made the first President of Ireland. His speech at the event in Roscommon Irish is one of the few recordings of that way of speaking.

In the 2016 census, 10.5% of people said they spoke Irish, either every day or a few times a week, while over 70,000 people (4.2%) use it as their main way of talking each day.

Since the Irish Free State began in 1922 (see History of the Republic of Ireland), new government workers, including postal workers, tax collectors, and police, were required to know some Irish. By law, if a police officer was spoken to in Irish, they had to reply in Irish too.

In 1974, the rule changed so that public service workers only needed to know one official language.

Irish is still a required subject in all schools that get public money in Ireland. Teachers in primary schools must pass a test called Scrúdú Cáilíochta sa Ghaeilge. Since 2005, police recruits need to pass Irish or English and get lessons in Irish during their training. Official documents must be published in both Irish and English.

The National University of Ireland requires students to pass Irish if they want to study there, unless they were born or went to school outside Ireland, or have dyslexia.

The University of Galway must hire people who know Irish, as long as they are good at the job too. In 2016, there was some talk when they planned to hire a president who did not speak Irish. After some talks, they hired Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh, who speaks Irish well. He became president in 2018 but said in June 2024 he would leave at the start of the next school year.

There has been much talk about why most students in schools where English is the main language still find Irish hard, even after many years of learning it. The falling number of people who speak Irish as their first language has also been a concern.

In 2007, a filmmaker named Manchán Magan found few Irish speakers in Dublin and had trouble doing everyday things when trying to speak only Irish, as shown in his documentary No Béarla.

However, there are more Irish speakers in cities like Dublin, especially in schools where Irish is the main language of teaching. These schools are called Gaelscoileanna. They often report better results for students than schools where English is the main language. In 2009, a report suggested that within a generation, Irish speakers in cities might become a small group of educated people from middle-class backgrounds.

Article 25.4 of the Constitution of Ireland says that if a law is passed in one official language, it must be translated into the other official language right away. However, many laws are only available in English.

In November 2016, RTÉ reported that over 2.3 million people around the world were learning Irish using the Duolingo app. In 2017, Michael D. Higgins, president of Ireland, praised volunteers who created the Irish version of the app, saying the effort to protect Irish language rights is still not finished.

Gaeltacht

Main article: Gaeltacht

There are rural parts of Ireland where Irish is still spoken every day by some people. These areas are called the Gaeltacht. Though the number of fluent Irish speakers here is small (around 20–30,000), they make up a larger part of the speakers than in other areas, and Irish is still used as a everyday language in these places.

According to data from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, only 1/4 of households in Gaeltacht areas speak Irish fluently.

In the 1920s, when the Irish Free State started, Irish was still spoken in some western coastal areas. In the 1930s, places where more than 25% of people spoke Irish were named Gaeltacht. Today, the biggest Gaeltacht areas are in South Connemara, the west of the Dingle Peninsula, and northwest Donegal, where many people still use Irish as their main language. These places are called the Fíor-Ghaeltacht.

Gaeltacht regions are in these counties:

• County Galway (Contae na Gaillimhe)
  • Connemara (Conamara)
  • Aran Islands (Oileáin Árann)
  • Carraroe (An Cheathrú Rua)
  • Spiddal (An Spidéal)
• County Mayo (Contae Mhaigh Eo)
• County Donegal (Contae Dhún na nGall)
• County Kerry (Contae Chiarraí)
  • Dingle Peninsula (Corca Dhuibhne)
  • Iveragh Peninsula (Uibh Rathach)
• County Cork (Contae Chorcaí)
• County Waterford (Contae Phort Láirge)
• County Meath (Contae na Mí)

Gweedore (Gaoth Dobhair), in County Donegal, is the largest Gaeltacht area in Ireland. Irish language summer schools in the Gaeltacht are popular with teenagers. Students stay with families, attend classes, take part in sports, go to céilithe, and must speak Irish. Irish culture and traditions are fully celebrated.

Policy

Official Languages Act 2003

Main article: Official Languages Act 2003

The Act was passed on 14 July 2003 to improve public services in Irish. It is monitored by An Coimisinéir Teanga, established in 2004. The Act explains how Irish is used in courts, official documents, and place names. It was updated in December 2019 using data from online surveys and written comments.

Official Languages Scheme 2019–2022

The Official Languages Scheme started on 1 July 2019. It is an 18-page document following the Official Languages Act 2003. Its goal is to offer services in Irish and/or English to build a successful society and future for Ireland.

20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010–2030

In December 2010, the government of Ireland began the 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010–2030. This 30-page plan runs until 2030 and aims to revive the Irish language. It has four phases and focuses on nine areas: Education, the Gaeltacht, Family Use of the Language, Administration and Community Services, Media and Technology, Dictionaries, Laws and Status, Economic Life, and Other Projects.

In June 2018, Joe McHugh, Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, started the first plan for this strategy to work from 2018 to 2022.

The strategy wants to increase daily Irish speakers from 83,000 to 250,000 by 2030.

Northern Ireland

Before Ireland was divided in 1921, Irish was a school subject and considered a “Celtic” language in some universities. Between 1921 and 1972, the government in Northern Ireland did not support the language because it was mainly used by nationalists. Irish was not allowed on radio or television for almost 50 years.

After the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, Irish gained some formal recognition in the United Kingdom. In 2003, the British government agreed to use the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages for Irish in Northern Ireland. In the 2006 St Andrews Agreement, the British government promised to make laws to support the language, and in 2022 it approved laws to recognise Irish as an official language alongside English. The law was approved on 6 December 2022.

European Parliament

Irish became an official language of the EU on 1 January 2007. This means Irish speakers can use Irish in the European Parliament and committees, but they must tell interpreters ahead of time so they can translate.

Although Irish was an official EU language, full use was limited until 2022 because of a five-year delay requested by Ireland when it became official. Ireland promised to train enough translators and interpreters and pay for them. After 1 January 2022, Irish became a fully recognised EU language. Before that, only important EU documents were available in Irish.

Outside Ireland

The Irish language was taken abroad by many people, mainly to Great Britain and North America, but also to Australia, New Zealand and Argentina.

Big movements started in the 17th century after the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, when many Irish people were sent to the West Indies. Irish emigration to the United States grew in the 18th century and increased in the 1840s when people fled the Famine. This also affected Britain. Until then, most emigrants spoke Irish as their first language, though English was becoming more common. Irish speakers first arrived in Australia in the late 18th century as convicts and soldiers, and many Irish-speaking settlers followed, especially in the 1860s. New Zealand also got some Irish speakers. Argentina, which did not speak English, received many Irish emigrants, though few of them spoke Irish.

Few emigrants could read or write Irish, but they brought manuscripts in Irish to Australia and the United States. The first newspaper using Irish was An Gaodhal in the United States. Australia also had Irish in print. The Gaelic revival that began in Ireland in the 1890s spread to other countries, with branches of Conradh na Gaeilge forming wherever Irish speakers had moved.

As Irish declined in Ireland and emigration slowed, the language also declined abroad, along with natural changes in other countries. However, small groups kept learning and using Irish in these countries, especially from the mid-20th century. Today, Irish is taught in universities in North America, Australia, and Europe. Irish speakers outside Ireland help with journalism and writing in the language. There are big Irish-speaking groups in the United States and Canada.

The Irish language is one of the languages of the Celtic League, a group that promotes self-determination, Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man, known as the Celtic nations.

Irish was spoken as a community language until the early 20th century on the island of Newfoundland, in a form known as Newfoundland Irish. Some Irish words, grammar, and pronunciation are still part of modern Newfoundland English.

Usage

The Irish government checks how many people can speak Irish every few years. In 2022, about 1.9 million people in Ireland said they could speak Irish. This means 40% of people aged 3 and older could speak some Irish. About 13% of people use Irish every day, and 4% use it outside of school.

Many young people between 15 and 19 speak Irish better than older people. They often say they speak it "well" or "very well."

Social media helps keep the Irish language alive. Influencers on Instagram and TikTok share Irish lessons and fun challenges. On YouTube, channels like Briathra - The Irish Language and TG Lurgan teach Irish through videos.

Dialects

Irish has many traditional dialects and some newer forms in cities. These newer forms have many speakers. The differences between dialects change how words are stressed, how sentences sound, the words used, and sentence structure.

The three main dialect areas are linked to the provinces of Connacht, Munster, and Ulster. Some records of dialects from Leinster exist thanks to the Irish Folklore Commission. Newfoundland in Canada has a form of Irish that comes from Munster Irish of the 1700s (see Newfoundland Irish).

Connacht

Connacht Irish is in the west of an old dialect area that once covered more of Ireland. The strongest form is in Connemara and the Aran Islands. There are differences between the South Connemara form, the Mid-Connacht form near the border of Galway and Mayo, and the Achill and Erris forms in the northwest.

Munster

Munster Irish is spoken in Gaeltacht areas of Cork, Kerry, and Waterford. The areas in Cork are Cape Clear Island and Muskerry; in Kerry, they are Corca Dhuibhne and the Iveragh Peninsula; and in Waterford, they are Ring and Old Parish.

Ulster

Ulster Irish is spoken in Gaeltacht regions of Donegal. These areas have kept Irish as a first language for generations. The most important Ulster dialect today is spoken in Gweedore and The Rosses.

Leinster

Irish was widely spoken in Leinster until the early 1800s. There wasn’t one single Leinster dialect; instead, the main dialect was a mix influenced by areas from west Connacht to the Liffey estuary and down to Wexford. Some smaller areas had Ulster-like speech in Meath and Louth, and a Munster-like dialect in Kilkenny and south Laois.

Urban use from the Middle Ages to the 19th century

Irish was commonly spoken in towns and cities until the 1800s. In Dublin and other places, it was used widely even among English speakers. Over time, English became more dominant, and Irish use declined.

Modern urban usage

In recent years, there has been a revival of Irish in cities, especially through schools that teach entirely in Irish. Dublin now has many Irish speakers, and urban Irish is developing its own style. Some think it might become a new dialect over time.

Standardisation

There is no single official way to pronounce Irish. An Caighdeán Oifigiúil is a standard for writing and spelling Irish, used by most schools. It was created by the Irish government in 1953 and updated in 2012 and 2017.

Phonology

Main article: Irish phonology

Irish pronunciation is similar to Scottish Gaelic and Manx. In Irish, most sounds come in pairs. One pair is "broad" (pronounced with the back of the tongue) and the other is "slender" (pronounced with the middle of the tongue). These pairs help show meaning.

The language also uses special sound combinations called diphthongs.

Syntax and morphology

Main articles: Irish grammar, Irish declension, Irish conjugation, and Irish syntax

Irish is a special kind of language where the order of words is very fixed. It changes words in special ways to show meaning.

Nouns change to show if they are one, two, or many. Verbs change to show time and who is doing the action. There are rules for how words fit together, making the language unique.

Orthography

Main article: Irish orthography

The Irish language once used a special writing system called Ogham. In the 5th century CE, it started using a new way of writing called the Latin script. After that, Irish was written with a special typeface known as Gaelic type. But in the middle of the last century, it changed to use the more common Roman type.

Traditionally, the Irish alphabet had 18 letters. Today, Irish uses all the letters of the Latin alphabet, including some new ones from other languages.

Letters can have marks above them, like ⟨á, é, í, ó, ú⟩, to show how they sound. There is also a special dot over some letters to change their sound, though this is mostly seen in old designs.

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Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights