Irish language

Irish ([Gaeilge] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)), a Goidelic language spoken in Ireland, is constitutionally recognised as the first official language of the Republic of Ireland, an official language of the European Union, and has official recognition in Northern Ireland as well.

Irish
Gaeilge
Pronunciation	ˈgeːlʲɟə
Native to	Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland
Region	Gaeltachtaí, mainly in the west and north-west of Ireland.
Native speakers	est. 380,000 fluent speakers.
Language family	Indo-European Celtic Insular Celtic Goidelic Irish
Writing system	Latin (Irish variant)
Official status
Official language in	Ireland, European Union
Regulated by	Foras na Gaeilge
Language codes
ISO 639-1	ga
ISO 639-2	gle
ISO 639-3	gle
ELP	Irish

According to census figures released by the Central Statistics Office in 2004, out of the Republic's 4.2 million residents, there are approximately 1.6 million who regard themselves as competent in Irish. Of these, 350,000 reported using Irish every day, 155,000 weekly, 585,000 less often, 460,000 never, and 30,000 didn't state how often. Of the 350,000 who were reported to use Irish every day, the majority are schoolchildren who use it during their classes in Irish. The number of people in the Gaeltacht who use the language as their daily mother tongue has been variously cited as 70,000 and 83,000

It has been argued that previous censuses have overestimated the true number of Irish speakers, as those speaking it only in the schools are included. The recent 2006 Census may provide a more accurate estimate of the Irish-speaking population, because of changes to ask the respondents how often they speak the language and where. Other data state that 168,000 people in Northern Ireland can speak Irish "with varying degrees of ability". The results of the United States Census, 2000 suggest that some 25,000 people use the language at home in the United States. Irish is currently the 6th most spoken language in the Republic of Ireland after English, Polish, Russian, Chinese (Mandarin) and Urdu On 13 June 2005, EU foreign ministers unanimously decided to make Irish an official language of the European Union. The new arrangements came into effect on 1 January 2007.

There also exists a cant called Shelta, based partly on English and partly on Irish, in use by the Irish Travellers. For the English language as it is spoken in Ireland, see Hiberno-English. Template:IPA-ga

Names of the language

In English

The language is usually referred to in English as Irish, and less often as Gaelic (IPA: /ˈgeɪlɪk/) or Irish Gaelic. Gaelic or Irish Gaelic is often used in the Irish diaspora (also see below). Within many parts of Ireland, the choice of name has inevitably on occasion acquired political significance. Some people believe that referring to the language as "Gaelic" suggests that the language is as distant and unrelated to modern Irish life as the civilization of the ancient Gaels. Calling it Irish, on the other hand, is a more precise indication of its constitutional status as the national language of the Irish people. Irish is the term generally accepted among scholars; it is also the term used in the Republic of Ireland's Constitution.

Closely related languages which descend from Old Irish include Scottish Gaelic ([Gàidhlig] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)), and Manx Gaelic ([Gaelg] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)), languages spoken in Scotland and the Isle of Man, though the term Irish Gaelic instead of Irish is often used when the three languages and their relationship to one another are being discussed. Scottish Gaelic is often referred to in English as simply Gaelic (IPA: /ˈgeɪlɪk/ or /ˈgæːlɪk/).

The use of the term Gaelic instead of Irish Gaelic can be quite misleading for beginners in the diaspora. For example the Teach Yourself series of books has Teach Yourself Gaelic (Scottish Gaelic) and Teach Yourself Irish (Irish Gaelic).

The archaic term Erse (from Erisch), originally a Scots form of the word Irish, is no longer used and in most current contexts is considered derogatory.

In Irish

In the [Caighdeán Oifigiúil] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (the official written standard) the name of the language is [Gaeilge] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (IPA: /ˈgeːlʲɟə/), which reflects the southern Connacht pronunciation.

Before the spelling reform of 1948, this form was spelled [Gaedhilge] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help); originally this was the genitive of [Gaedhealg] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), the form used in classical Modern Irish. Older spellings of this include [Gaoidhealg] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) in Middle Irish and [Goídelc] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) in Old Irish.

Other forms of the name found in the various modern Irish dialects, in addition to south Connacht [Gaeilge] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) mentioned above, include [Gaedhilic/Gaeilic/Gaeilig] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (IPA: /ˈgeːlʲəc/) or [Gaedhlag] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (IPA: /ˈgeːɫ̪əg/) in Ulster Irish and northern Connacht Irish and [Gaedhealaing/Gaoluinn/Gaelainn] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (IPA: /ˈgeːɫ̪əɲ/) in Munster Irish.

Official status

Irish is given recognition by the Constitution of Ireland as the first official language of Ireland (with English being a second official language), despite the limited distribution of fluency among the population of the country. Since the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922 (see also History of the Republic of Ireland), the Irish Government required a degree of proficiency in Irish for all civil service positions (including postal workers, tax officials, agricultural inspectors, etc.), as well as for employees of state companies (e.g.RTÉ, ESB, etc). Proficiency in Irish for entrance to the public service ceased to be a compulsory requirement in 1974, in part through the actions of protest organizations like the Language Freedom Movement. While the requirement was also dropped for wider public service jobs, such as teaching, Irish remains a required subject of study in all schools within the Republic which receive public money (see also Education in the Republic of Ireland). The need for a pass in Leaving Certificate Irish for entry to the Gardaí (police) was dropped in September 2005, although applicants are given lessons in the language during the two years of training. Most official documents of the Irish Government are published in both Irish and English. On January 18, 2007, Marian Harkin, a North West Independent MEP, became the first person to address European Parliament in Irish.[1]

The National University of Ireland, Galway is required to appoint a person who is competent in the Irish language, as long as they meet all other respects of the vacancy they are appointed to. This requirement is laid down by the University College Galway Act, 1929 (Section 3) and recently was subject of a High Court case on the matter [2] - it is expected that the requirement may be repealed in due course[3].

As a treaty language of the European Union, the highest-level documents of the EU have been translated into Irish. Irish became an official language of the European Union on January 1, 2007.

The language has also received a degree of formal recognition in Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom, under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. The British government promised to create legislation encouraging the language as part of the 2006 St Andrews Agreement through an "Irish Language Act - Acht na Gaeilge".

Gaeltachtaí

There are pockets of Ireland where Irish is spoken as a traditional, native language. These regions are known as Gaeltachtaí. These are in County Galway ([Contae na Gaillimhe] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)), including Connemara ([Conamara] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)), the Aran Islands ([na hOileáin Árann] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) and Spiddal (An Spidéal); on the west coast of County Donegal ([Contae Dhún na nGall] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)); in the part which is known as Tyrconnell ([Tír Chonaill] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)); and Dingle Peninsula ([Corca Dhuibhne] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) in County Kerry ([Contae Chiarraí] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)). Smaller ones also exist in Mayo ([Contae Mhaigh Eo] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)), Meath ([Contae na Mí] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)), Waterford ([Contae Phort Láirge] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)), and Cork ([Contae Chorcaí] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)). However, even within the Gaeltacht areas, the Irish-speaking populations have declined since the Gaeltacht boundaries were drawn up. In 2007 the Gaeltacht boundaries will be getting redrawn, the first time that this has happened since the 1950's.

Gweedore ([Gaoth Dobhair] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)), County Donegal is the largest Gaeltacht parish in Ireland.

The numerically and socially strongest Gaeltacht areas are those of South Connemara, west Dingle and northwest Donegal, in which the majority of residents (although not all in North-West Donegal) use Irish as their primary language. These areas are often referred to as the [Fíor-Ghaeltacht] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("true Gaeltacht") and collectively have a population just under 20,000, of which over 80% use the language daily. The highest proportions of daily Irish speakers in the community are found in Rosmuck ([Ros Muc] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)), County Galway, (over 91%), and around Bloody Foreland ([Cnoc na Fola] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) in Donegal (88-89%).

Gaeltacht summer schools are attended by tens of thousands of Irish teenagers annually. Students live with Gaeltacht families, attend classes, participate in sports, go to céilithe and are obliged to speak Irish.

Dialects

There are a number of distinct dialects of Irish. Roughly speaking, the three major dialect areas coincide with the provinces of Munster ([Cúige Mumhan] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)), Connacht ([Cúige Chonnacht] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) and Ulster ([Cúige Uladh] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)).

Munster dialects

Main article: Munster Irish

Munster Irish is mainly spoken in the Gaeltachtaí of Kerry ([Contae Chiarraí] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)), Ring ([An Rinn] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) near Dungarvan ([Dún Garbháin] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) in County Waterford ([Contae Phort Láirge] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) and Muskerry ([Múscraí] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) and Cape Clear ([Oileán Chléire] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) in the western part of County Cork ([Contae Chorcaí] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)). The most important subdivision in Munster is that between Decies Irish (spoken in Waterford) and the rest of Munster Irish.

Some typical features of Munster Irish are:

1. The use of personal endings instead of pronouns with verbs, thus "I must" is in Munster [caithfead] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), while other dialects prefer [caithfidh mé] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ([mé] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) means "I"). "I was and you were" is [Bhíos agus bhís] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) in Munster but [Bhí mé agus bhí tú] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) in other dialects.
2. In front of nasals and "ll" some short vowels are lengthened while other are diphthongised.
3. A copular construction involving [is ea] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) is frequently used.
4. Stress is often on the second syllable of a word, e.g. "bio-RÁN" ("pin"), as opposed to "BIO-rán" in Connacht and Ulster.

Connacht dialects

Main article: Connacht Irish

The strongest dialect of Connacht Irish is to be found in Connemara and the Aran Islands. In some regards this dialect is quite different from general Connacht Irish but since most Connacht dialects have died out during the last century Connemara Irish is sometimes seen as Connacht Irish. Much closer to the larger Connacht Gaeltacht is the dialect spoken in the smaller region on the border between Galway ([Gaillimh] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) and Mayo ([Maigh Eo] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)). The Irish of Tourmakeady ([Tuar Mhic Éadaigh] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) in southern Mayo ([Maigh Eo Theas] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) and Joyce Country ([Dúiche Sheoigheach] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) are considered the living Irish dialects closest to Middle Irish. The northern Mayo dialect of Erris ([Iorras] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) and Achill ([Acaill] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) is in grammar and morphology essentially a Connacht dialect; but shows an affinity in vocabulary with Ulster Irish, due to large-scale immigration of dispossessed people following the Plantation of Ulster.

Connemara Irish is very popular with learners, in part thanks to Mícheál Ó Siadhail's self-teaching textbook Learning Irish but also thanks to the large number of Irish Summer Camps there in comparison to all other counties.

There are features in Connemara Irish outside the official standard—notably the preference for verbal nouns ending in [-achan] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), e.g. [lagachan] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) instead of [lagú] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), "weakening". The non-standard pronunciation with lengthened vowels and heavily reduced endings give Connemara Irish its distinct sound. Distinguishing features of this dialect include the prounouncing of broad bh as [w], rather than as [vˠ] in Munster. For example [mo bhád] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("my boat") is pronounced [mˠə wɑːd̪ˠ] in Connacht and Ulster as opposed to [mˠə vˠɑːd̪ˠ] in the south. In addition Connacht and Ulster speakers tend to include the "we" pronoun rather than use the standard compound form used in Munster e.g. [bhí muid] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) is used for "we were" instead of [bhíomar] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) elsewhere.

Ulster dialects

Main article: Ulster Irish

Linguistically the most important of the Ulster dialects today is that of the Rosses ([na Rosa] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)), which has been used extensively in literature by such authors as the brothers Séamus Ó Grianna and Seosamh Mac Grianna, locally known as Jimí Fheilimí and Joe Fheilimí. This dialect is essentially the same as that in Gweedore ([Gaoth Dobhair] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) = Inlet of Streaming Water), and used by native singers Enya ([Eithne] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) and Moya Brennan and their siblings in Clannad ([Clann as Dobhar] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) = Family .from the Water) Na Casaidigh, and Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh from another local band Altan.

Ulster Irish sounds very different and shares several unusual features with Scottish Gaelic, as well as having lots of characteristic words and shades of meanings. However, since the demise of those Irish dialects spoken natively in what is today Northern Ireland, it is probably an exaggeration to see Ulster Irish as an intermediary form between Scottish Gaelic and the southern and western dialects of Irish. Indeed, Scottish Gaelic does have lots of non-Ulster features in common with Munster Irish also.

One noticeable trait of Ulster Irish is the use of the negative participle [cha(n)] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) in place of the Munster and Connacht version [ní] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help). Even in Ulster, [cha(n)] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)- most typical of Scottish Gaelic- has ousted the more common [ní] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) in easternmost dialects. The practice seems to be that [cha(n)] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) is most usually used when answering to a statement, either confirming a negative statement ([Níl aon mhaith ann - Chan fhuil, leoga] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) = "It is no good" - "Indeed it isn't, alas") or contesting an affirmative one ([Tá sé go maith - Chan fhuil!] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) = "It is good" - "No, it isn't!") while [ní] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) is preferred in answering a question ([An bhfuil aon mhaith ann? - Níl] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) = "Is it any good?" - "No").

An Caighdeán

An Caighdeán is the standard language, and was brought in in the 1950s/1960s in an attempt to make Irish more user friendly, as it was composed using elements of the Munster, Ulster and Connacht dialects. This is the 'dialect' that is taught in most schools in Ireland.

The dialects of Irish native to Leinster, the fourth province of Ireland, became extinct during the 20th century, but records of some of these were made by the Irish Folklore Commission among other bodies prior to this.

The present-day Irish of Meath (in Leinster) is a special case. It belongs mainly to the Connemara dialect. The Irish-speaking community in Meath is mostly a group of Connemara speakers who moved there in the 1930s after a land reform campaign spearheaded by Máirtín Ó Cadhain (who subsequently became one of the greatest modernist writers in the language).

What has been called "Dublin Irish" and "Gaelscoil Irish" is also spoken in the capital and amongst the students of Irish-speaking schools throughout the country.

Comparisons

The differences between dialects are considerable, and have led to recurrent difficulties in defining standard Irish. Even everyday phrases can show startling dialectal variation.

The standard example is "How are you?":

• Ulster: [Cad é mar atá tú?] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("what is it as you are?" Note: [caidé] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) or [goidé] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) and sometimes [dé] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) are alternative renderings of [cad é] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• Connacht: [Cén chaoi a bhfuil tú?] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("what way [is it] that you are?")
• Munster: [Conas taoi?] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) or [Conas tánn tú?] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("how are you?")
• "standard Irish": [Conas atá tú?] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("how are you?")

In recent decades contacts between speakers of different dialects have become frequent and mixed dialects have originated.

With the growth in the Irish language media -and in particular TG4- it has become much easier for speakers of different dialects to understand one another, although this is mostly seen in the younger generations.

Linguistic structure

The features most unfamiliar to English speakers of the language are the orthography, the initial consonant mutations, the Verb Subject Object word order and the use of two different forms for "to be". However, initial mutations are found in other Celtic languages as well as in some Italian and Sardinian dialects, as an independent development. They are also found in some West African languages.

Syntax

Main article: Irish syntax

Word order in Irish is of the form VSO (Verb-Subject-Object) so that , for example, "He hit me" is [Bhuail] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [hit-past tense] [sé] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [he] [mé] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [me].

One aspect of Irish syntax that is unfamiliar to speakers of other languages is the use of the copula (known in Irish as [an chopail] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)). The copula is used to describe what or who someone is, as opposed to how and where. It is used to say that a noun is another noun, rather than an adjective. This has been likened to the difference between the verbs [ser] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) and [estar] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) in Spanish, Catalan and Portuguese (see Romance copula), although this is only a rough approximation.

Morphology

Main articles: Irish morphology, Irish nominals, and Irish verbs

Another feature of Irish grammar that is shared with other Celtic languages is the use of prepositional pronouns ([forainmneacha réamhfhoclacha] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)), which are essentially conjugated prepositions. For example, the word for "at" is [ag] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), which in the first person singular becomes [agam] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) "at me". When used with the verb [bí] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("to be") [ag] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) indicates possession; this is the equivalent of the English verb "to have".

[Tá leabhar agam.] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)	"I have a book."	(Literally, "is a book at me")
[Tá deoch agat.] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)	"You have a drink."
[Tá ríomhaire aige.] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)	"He has a computer."
[Tá páiste aici.] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)	"She has a child."
[Tá carr againn.] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)	"We have a car."
[Tá teach agaibh.] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)	"You (plural) have a house."
[Tá airgead acu.] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)	"They have money."

Orthography and pronunciation

"Gaelach" in the Gaelic script.

Main articles: Irish orthography and Irish phonology

The written language looks rather daunting to those unfamiliar with it. Once understood, the orthography is relatively straightforward. The acute accent, or [síneadh fada] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (´), serves to lengthen the sound of the vowels and in some cases also changes their quality. For example, in Munster Irish (Kerry), a is /a/ or /ɑ/ and á is /ɑː/ in "law" but in Ulster Irish (Donegal), á tends to be /æː/.

Around the time of World War II, Séamas Daltún, in charge of [Rannóg an Aistriúcháin] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (the official translations department of the Irish government), issued his own guidelines about how to standardise Irish spelling and grammar. This de facto standard was subsequently approved of by the State and called the Official Standard or [Caighdeán Oifigiúil] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help).

It simplified and standardised the orthography. Many words had silent letters removed and vowel combination brought closer to the spoken language. Where multiple versions existed in different dialects for the same word, one or more were selected.

Examples:

• [Gaedhealg / Gaedhilg(e) / Gaedhealaing / Gaeilic / Gaelainn / Gaoidhealg / Gaolainn] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) → [Gaeilge] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), "Irish language" ([Gaoluinn] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) or [Gaolainn] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) is still used in books written in dialect by Munster authors, or as a facetious name for the Munster dialect)
• [Lughbhaidh] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) → [Lú] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), "Louth"
• [biadh] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) → [bia] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), "food" (The spelling [biadh] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) is still used by the speakers of those dialects that show a meaningful and audible difference between [biadh] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (nominative case) and [bídh] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (genitive case) "of food, food's". For example, in Munster Irish the latter ends in an audible -g sound, because final -idh, -igh regularly delenites to -ig in Munster pronunciation.)

Modern Irish has only one diacritic sign, the acute (á é í ó ú), known in Irish as the [síneadh fada] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) "long mark", plural [sínte fada] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help). In English, this is frequently referred to as simply the [fada] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), where the adjective is used as a noun. The dot-above diacritic, called a [ponc séimhithe] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) or [sí buailte] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (often shortened to [buailte] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)), derives from the punctum delens, which was used in medieval manuscripts to indicate deletion, similar to crossing out unwanted words in handwriting today. From this usage it was used to indicate the lenition of s (from /s/ to /h/) and f (from /f/ to zero) in Old Irish texts.

Lenition of c, p, and t was indicated by placing the letter h after the affected consonant; lenition of other sounds was left unmarked. Later both methods were extended to be indicators of lenition of any sound except l and n, and two competing systems were used: lenition could be marked by a [buailte] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) or by a postposed h. Eventually, use of the [buailte] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) predominated when texts were writing using Gaelic letters, while the h predominated when writing using Roman letters.

Today the Gaelic script and the [buailte] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) are rarely used except where a "traditional" style is required, e.g. the motto on the University College Dublin coat of arms or the symbol of the Irish Defence Forces, The Irish Defence Forces cap badge [(Óglaiġ na h-Éireann)] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help). Letters with the [buailte] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) are available in Unicode and Latin-8 character sets (see Latin Extended Additional chart (see PDF).

Mutations

Main article: Irish initial mutations

In Irish, there are two classes of initial mutations:

• Lenition (in Irish, [séimhiú] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) "softening") describes the change of stops into fricatives. Indicated in old orthography by a dot (called a sí buailte) written above the changed consonant, this is now shown by adding an extra -h-:
  • [caith!] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) "throw!" - [chaith mé] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) "I threw" (this is an example of the lenition as a past-tense marker, which is caused by the use of [do] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), although this is now usually omitted)
  • [margadh] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) "market", "market-place", "bargain" - [Tadhg an mhargaidh] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) "the man of the street" (word for word "Timothy of the market-place" (here we see the lenition marking the genitive case of a masculine noun)
  • [Seán] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) "Seán, John" - [a Sheáin!] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) "O John!" (here we see lenition as part of what is called the vocative case - in fact, the vocative lenition is triggered by the [a] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) or vocative marker before [Sheáin] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))

• Nasalisation (in Irish, [urú] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) "eclipsis") covers the voicing of voiceless stops, as well as the true nasalisation of voiced stops.
  • [athair] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) "father" - [ár nAthair] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) "our Father"
  • [tús] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) "start", [ar dtús] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) "at the start"
  • [Gaillimh] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) "Galway" - [i nGaillimh] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) "in Galway"

History and politics

Stages of the Irish language

The date of introduction of Celtic languages to Ireland is an open question, debated by linguists and archaeologists. The earliest form of the language, Primitive Irish, is found in ogham inscriptions up to about the 4th century AD. After the conversion to Christianity, Old Irish begins to appear as glosses in the margins of Latin manuscripts, beginning in the 6th century, until it gives way in the 10th century to Middle Irish which was more Norse influenced. Modern Irish dates from about the 16th century. The irish language is the predecessor to many other languages including the much more basic welsh language.

Irish language movement

The distribution of the Irish language in 1871.

Queen Elizabeth I encouraged the use of Irish even in the Pale with a view to promoting the reformed religion. She was a proficient linguist and is reported to have expressed a desire to understand Irish, so a primer was prepared on her behalf by Sir Christopher Nugent, ninth baron of Delvin.

The first book in Irish was printed in 1564 in Edinburgh, a translation of John Knox's 'Liturgy' by John Carswell, Bishop of the Hebridies. He used a slightly modified form of the language shared by Ireland and Scotland at the time and also used the Roman script. In 1568 the first book in Irish to be printed in Ireland was a Protestant 'catechism', containing a guide to spelling and sounds in Irish. It was written by John Kearney, treasurer of St. Patrick's Cathedral. The type used was adopted to what has become known as the 'gaelic' script. This was published in 1602-3 by the printer Francke. The reformed Church of Ireland undertook the first publication of Scripture in Irish. The first Irish translation of the New Testament was begun by Nicholas Walsh, Bishop of Ossory, who worked on it until his untimely death in 1585. The work was continued by John Kearny, his assistant, and Dr. Nehemiah Donellan, Archbishop of Tuam, and it was finally completed by William O'Domhnuill (William Daniell, Archbishop of Tuam in succession to Donellan). Their work was printed in 1602. The work of translating the Old Testament was undertaken by William Bedel (1571-1642), Bishop of Kilmore, who completed his translation within the reign of Charles the First, however it was not published until 1680, in a revised version by Narcissus Marsh (1638-1713), Archbishop of Dublin. William Bedell had undertaken a translation of the Book of Common Prayer in 1606. An Irish translation of the revised prayer book of 1662 was effected by John Richardson (1664 - 1747) and published in 1712.

The Irish language has been a minority language at least since the 19th century. Though its number of speakers has been in decline since the 19th century, it is an important part of Irish nationalist identity. A combination of the introduction of a primary education system (the 'National Schools'), in which Irish was prohibited until 1871 and only English taught by order of the British government, and the Great Famine ([An Gorta Mór] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) which hit a disportionately high number of Irish language speakers (who lived in the poorer areas heavily hit by famine deaths and emigration), hastened its rapid decline. Irish political leaders, such as Daniel O'Connell ([Dónall Ó Conaill] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)), too were critical of the language, seeing it as 'backward', with English the language of the future. The National Schools run by the Roman Catholic Church discouraged its use until about 1890. This was because most economic opportunity for most Irish people arose at that time within the United States of America and the British Empire, which both used English. Contemporary reports spoke of Irish-speaking parents actively discouraging their children from speaking the language, and encouraging the use of English instead. This practice continued long after independence, as the stigma of speaking Irish remained very strong. Despite the policy of successive Irish governments to promote the language the decline in the number of native speakers (language shift) within the Gaeltacht has accelerated although the number of those elsewhere in the country able to speak it (as a second language) has increased albeit not to the extent that many hoped. Many believe today that only the element of compulsion is objectionable.

Some, however, thought differently. The initial moves to save the language were championed by Irish Protestants, such as the linguist and clergyman William Neilson, in the end of the eighteenth century; the major push occurred with the foundation by Douglas Hyde, the son of a Church of Ireland rector, of the Gaelic League (known in Irish as [Conradh na Gaeilge] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) which started the Gaelic Revival. Leading supporters of Conradh included Pádraig Mac Piarais and Éamon de Valera. The revival of interest in the language coincided with other cultural revivals, such as the foundation of the Gaelic Athletic Association and the growth in the performance of plays about Ireland in English, by such luminaries as William Butler Yeats, J.M. Synge, Sean O'Casey and Lady Gregory, with their launch of the Abbey Theatre.

Even though the Abbey Theatre playwrights wrote in English (and indeed some disliked Irish) the Irish language affected them, as it did all Irish English speakers. The version of English spoken in Ireland, known as Hiberno-English bears striking similarities in some grammatical idioms with Irish. Some have speculated that even after the vast majority of Irish people stopped speaking Irish, they perhaps subsconsciously used its grammatical flair in the manner in which they spoke English. This fluency is reflected in the writings of Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde and more recently in the writings of Seamus Heaney, Paul Durcan, Dermot Bolger and many others. (It may also in part explain the appeal in Britain of Irish-born broadcasters like Terry Wogan, Eamonn Andrews, Graham Norton, Desmond Lynam, etc.)

This national cultural revival of the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century matched the growing Irish radicalism in Irish politics. Many of those, such as Pearse, de Valera, W.T. Cosgrave (Liam Mac Cosguir) and Ernest Blythe (Earnán de Blaghd), who fought to achieve Irish independence and came to govern the independent Irish Free State, first became politically aware through Conradh na Gaeilge. Hyde himself resigned from its presidency in 1915 in protest when the movement voted to affiliate with the Nationalist cause.

A Church of Ireland campaign to promote worship and religion in Irish was started in 1914 with the founding of [Cumann Gaelach na hEaglaise] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (the Irish Guild of the Church). The Roman Catholic Church also replaced its liturgies in Latin with Irish and English for their liturgies following the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. The hit song "Theme From Harry's Game" by County Donegal music group Clannad, became the first song to appear on Top Of The Pops with Irish lyrics in 1982.

Independent Ireland and the language

The independent Irish state was established in 1922 (The Irish Free State 1922-37; Ireland (Éire) from 1937, also known since 1949 as the Republic of Ireland). Although some Republican leaders had been committed language enthusiasts, the new state continued to use English as the language of administration, even in areas where over 80% of the population spoke Irish. The government refused to implement the 1926 recommendations of the Gaeltacht Commission, which included restoring Irish as the language of administration in such areas. As the role of the state grew, it therefore exerted tremendous pressure on Irish-speakers to speak English. This was only partly offset by measures which were supposed to support the Irish language. For instance, the state was by far the largest employer. A qualification in Irish was required to apply for state jobs. However, this did not require a high level of fluency, and few public employees were ever required to use Irish in the course of their work. On the other hand, state employees had to have perfect command of English and had to use it constantly. Because most public employees had a poor command of Irish, it was impossible to deal with them in Irish. If an Irish-speaker wanted to apply for a grant, obtain electricity, or complain about being over-taxed, they had to do it in English. As late as 1986 a Bord na Gaeilge report noted "...the administrative agencies of the state have been among the strongest forces for anglicisation in Gaeltacht areas".

The new state increased attempts to promote Irish through the school system. Some politicians claimed that the state would become predominantly Irish-speaking within a generation. However, it is generally agreed that this compulsory policy was clumsily implemented (and sometimes proved even to be counter productive). The principle ideologue was Professor Timothy Corcoran of University College Dublin, who "did not trouble to acquire the language himself" From the mid-1940s onward the policy of teaching English-speaking children through Irish was abandoned. In the following decades, support for the language was progressively reduced.

Whereas the first three Presidents of Ireland (Douglas Hyde, Sean T. O'Kelly and Eamon de Valera) and the fifth (Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh) were all so fluent in Irish that it became the working language in their official residence, later presidents struggled with any degree of fluency, its use declining to such an extent that it is only used now (if at all) in occasional speeches. Similarly, where earlier generations of Irish government leaders were highly fluent, recent Taoisigh (Prime Ministers) (Albert Reynolds, John Bruton, Bertie Ahern) have not been.

It is, though, disputed to what extent such professed language revivalists as de Valera genuinely tried to Gaelicise political life. Ernest Blythe did little during his time as Minister of Finance to assist Irish language projects beyond the vested interests of already established organisations. Even in the first Dáil Éireann, few speeches were delivered in Irish, with the exception of formal proceedings. None of the recent taoisigh have been fluent in Irish. The two most recent Presidents, Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese, have a fair command of the language, though both studied while in office to improve their fluency.. All Presidents to date have taken their inaugurational "Declaration of Office" in the language, but they have the option of taking the English declaration at the inauguration.

Even modern parliamentary legislation, though supposed to be issued in both Irish and English, is frequently only available in English. Much of publicly displayed Irish is ungrammatical, thus irritating both speakers and activists and contributing to the public image of the revival as phony and bogus. The fact that the Dáil uses Irish in less than 1% of its business has not helped.

Bilingual sign in English and Irish in Tesco store, Ballyfermot, Dublin.

Many public bodies have Irish language or bilingual names, but some have downgraded the language. An Post, the Republic's postal service, continues to have place names in the language on its postmarks, as well as recognising addresses (as does the Royal Mail in Northern Ireland). Traditionally, the private sector has been less supportive, although support for the language has come from some private companies. For example, Irish supermarket chain Superquinn introduced bilingual signs in its stores in the 1980s, a move which was followed more recently by the British chain Tesco for its stores in the Republic.

In an effort to address the half-committed attitude of Irish language use by the State, the Official Languages Act was passed in 2003. This act ensures that most publications made by a governmental body must be published in both official languages, Irish and English. In addition, the office of Language Commissioner has been set up to act as an ombudsman with regard to equal treatment for both languages.

Picture of a typical Irish road sign with placenames in English and Irish.

A major factor in the decline of spoken Irish has been the movement of English speakers into the Gaeltacht (predominantly Irish speaking areas) and the return of native Irish-speakers who have returned with English-speaking families. Some government grants have helped to limit the effect of this. "only about half Gaeltacht children learn Irish in the home... this is related to the high level of in-migration and return migration which has accompanied the economic restructuring of the Gaeltacht in recent decades". Many see this as a deliberate attempt by anti-nationalist politicians to wipe out the language. "That economic development of the kind undertaken was likely to have such consequences was readily predictable a decade ago". In a last-ditch effort to stop the demise of Irish-speaking in Connemara in Galway, planning controls have been introduced on the building of new homes in Irish speaking areas. These are supposed to ensure that the proportion of Irish speakers in the local population does not decrease.

Attempts have been made to offer support for the language through the media, notably with the launch of Raidió na Gaeltachta (Gaeltacht radio) and Teilifís na Gaeilge (Irish language television, called initially 'TnaG', now renamed TG4). Both have been relatively successful. TG4 has offered Irish-speaking young people a forum for youth culture as Gaeilge (in Irish) through rock and pop shows, travel shows, dating games, and even a controversial award-winning soap opera in Irish called Ros na Rún. Most of TG4's viewership, however, tends to come from showing Gaelic football, hurling and rugby matches and also films in English, although some of its Irish language programmes attract large audiences.

In 1996, Nuacht TG4 (TG4 News) was getting only about 5,000 viewers daily. This figure has now risen to just under 50,000 (as of 2006). The channel's viewership has steadily risen since the foundation of the station it will become independent from the State in the distant future. Arguments about the level of funding it receives persist.

The Irish Language daily newspaper Lá publishes five days a week and has circulation of sereval thousand as well as an active website. There is also a weekly paper, Foinse. The Irish News has two pages in Irish every day. The Irish Times had up until recently one article in Irish every week. Now it has several articles with some articles appended with short lists giving the meaning of some of the words used in English. Another paper, Saol, and about 5 magazines are published in the language also. The immigrants magazine Metro Eireann also has articles in Irish every issue, as do many local papers throughout the country, including university publications such as the Trinity News, Trinity College, Dublin.

The Placenames Order (Gaeltacht Districts)/[An tOrdú Logainmneacha (Ceanntair Gaeltachta)] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (2004) requires the original Irish placenames to be used in the Gaeltacht on all official documents, maps and roadsigns. This has removed the legal status of those placenames in the Gaeltacht in English. Opposition to these measures comes from several quarters including some people within popular tourist destinations located within the Gaeltacht (namely in Dingle/An Daingean) who claim that tourists may not recognise the Irish forms of the placenames.

However following a campaign in the 1960's and early 1970's, most roadsigns in Gaeltacht regions have been in Irish only. Maps and government documents did not change, though. Previously Ordnance Survey (government) maps showed placenames bilingualy in the Gaeltacht (and generally in English only elsewhere). Unfortunately, most other map companies wrote only the English placenames, leading to significant confusion in the Gaeltacht. The act therefore updates government document and maps in line with what has been reality in the Gaeltacht for the past 30 years. Private map companies are expected to follow suit. Beyond the Gaeltacht only English placenames were officially recognised (pre 2004). However, further placenames orders have been passed to enable both the English and the Irish placenames to be used. The village of Straffan is still marked variously as [An Srafáin, An Cluainíní] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) and [Teach Strafáin] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), even though Irish has not been the spoken widely there for two centuries.

In 1938, the founder of the Conradh na Gaeilge, Douglas Hyde (an Anglican), was inaugurated as the first President of Ireland. The record of his delivering his auguration Declaration of Office in his native Roscommon Irish remains almost the only surviving remnant of anyone speaking in that dialect.

There is a concerted effort by some to promote the language among recent immigrants. From 1964 The Bible was translated at Maynooth for Catholics under the supervision of Professor Pádraig Ó Fiannachta and was finally published in 1981.

Northern Ireland

Main article: Irish language in Northern Ireland

Bilingual welcome sign in Newry

As in the Republic, the Irish language is a minority language in Northern Ireland, known in Irish as [Tuaisceart Éireann] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help).

Attitudes towards the language in Northern Ireland have traditionally reflected the political differences between its two divided communities. The language has been regarded with suspicion by unionists, who have associated it with the Roman Catholic-dominated Republic, and more recently, with the republican movement. Many republicans in Northern Ireland, including Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams, learnt Irish while in prison, a development known as the jailtacht . Although the language was taught in Catholic secondary schools (especially by the Christian Brothers), it was not taught at all in state (Protestant) schools and public signs in Irish were effectively banned under laws by the Parliament of Northern Ireland, which stated that only English could be used.

These laws were not repealed by the British government until the early 1990s. However, Irish-medium schools, known as gaelscoileanna, had already been founded in Belfast and Derry, and an Irish-language newspaper called Lá ("day") was established in Belfast. BBC Radio Ulster began broadcasting a nightly half-hour programme in Irish in the early 1980s called Blas ("taste, accent"), and BBC Northern Ireland also showed its first TV programme in the language in the early 1990s.

The Ultach Trust was also established, with a view to broadening the appeal of the language among Protestants, although hardline DUP politicians like Sammy Wilson ridiculed it as a "leprechaun language". Ulster Scots, promoted by many loyalists, was, in turn, ridiculed by nationalists (and even some Unionists) as "a DIY language for Orangemen" . According to recent statistics, there is no significant difference between the number of Catholic and Protestant speakers of Ulster Scots in Ulster (see Ulster Scots language), although those involved in promoting Ulster-Scots as a language are almost always unionist. Ulster-Scots is defined in legislation (The North/South Co-operation (Implementation Bodies) Northern Ireland Order 1999) as: the variety of the Scots language which has traditionally been used in parts of Northern Ireland and in Donegal in Ireland [4].

Irish received official recognition in Northern Ireland for the first time in 1998 under the Good Friday Agreement. A cross-border body known as Foras na Gaeilge was established to promote the language in both Northern Ireland and the Republic, taking over the functions of the previous Republic-only [Bord na Gaeilge] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help).

The British government has ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in respect to Irish in Northern Ireland.

It has been claimed that Belfast now represents the fastest growing centre of Irish language usage on the island - and the Good Friday Agreement's provisions on 'parity of esteem' have been used to give the language an official status there. In March 2005, the Irish language TV service TG4 began broadcasting from the Divis transmitter near Belfast, as a result of agreement between the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Northern Ireland Office, although so far this is the only transmitter to carry it.

The Belfast city council has designated the Falls Road area (from Milltown Cemetry to Devis street) as The Gaeltacht Quarter of Belfast, one of the four cultural quarters of the city.

Under the St Andrews Agreement, the government has legislated to introduce an Irish Language Act, and a consultation period ending on the 2 March 2007 could see Irish becoming an official language, having equal validity with English, recognised as an indigenous language, or aspire to become an official language in the future.

Irish in North America

The Irish language emigrated to North America along with the Irish people. Although Irish is one of the smaller European languages spoken in North America, it has cultural importance in the northeast United States and in Newfoundland, and according to the 2000 U.S. census, an estimated 25,000 people in the U.S. speak Irish at home.

Irish in Australia

The Irish language reached Australia in 1788, along with English. In the early colonial period, Irish was seen as an opposition language used by convicts and repressed by the colonial authorities. [5] Although the Irish were a greater proportion of the European population than in any other British colony, the use of the language quickly declined and is now almost unknown. As legal barriers to the integration of the Irish and their descendants into Australian life were progressively removed, English became the language of social advancement.

Many Australian slang words are Irish-derived and there are arguments that Australian English is more influenced by Irish than other Englishes. There is a small movement to re-establish the language in contemporary Australia [6]. The Special Broadcasting Service transmits Irish language radio and television.

Irish language today

Official Gaeltachtaí

The number of native Irish-speakers in the Republic of Ireland today is a smaller fraction of what it was at independence. However, this number has risen significantly over the past two decades. The Official Languages Act of 2003 gave people the right to interact with state bodies in Irish. It is too early to assess how well this is working in practice. Other factors were outward migration of Irish speakers from the Gaeltacht and inward migration of English-speakers. The Planning and Development Act (2000) attempted to address the latter issue, but the response is almost certainly inadequate. Planning controls now require new housing in Gaeltacht areas to be allocated to English-speakers and Irish-speakers in the same ratio as the existing population of the area. This will not prevent houses allocated to Irish-speakers subsequently being sold on to English-speakers. Outward migration of Irish-speakers could be reduced if the state, which is the main employer in the Republic of Ireland, were to exercise its right to have certain jobs performed in Irish and relocated to the Gaeltacht. On 3rd December 2003 the Minister for Finance announced a new Decentralisation programme, moving over 10,000 civil and public service jobs to 53 locations in 25 other counties outside Dublin. The government explicitly said this was being done to boost the economy of outlying areas. None of these jobs were used to provide employment for native Irish-speakers in the Gaeltacht.

According to data compiled by the Irish Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, only one quarter of households in Gaeltacht areas possess a fluency in Irish. The author of a detailed analysis of the survey, Donncha Ó hÉallaithe, described the Irish language policy followed by Irish governments a 'complete and absolute disaster.' The Irish Times (January 6, 2002), referring to his analysis, which was initially published in the Irish language newspaper Foinse, quoted him as follows: 'It is an absolute indictment of successive Irish Governments that at the foundation of the Irish State there were 250,000 fluent Irish speakers living in Irish-speaking or semi Irish-speaking areas, but the number now is between 20,000 and 30,000.'

According to the language survey, levels of fluency among families is 'very low', from 1% in Galway suburbs to a maximum of 8% parts of west Donegal. With such sharp decline, particularly among the young, the real danger exists that Irish will largely become extinct within two generations, possibly even one. While the language will continue to exist among English speakers who have learned fluency and are bilingual (though mainly English-speaking in their everyday lives) Gaeltachtaí embody more than just a language, but the cultural context in which it is spoken, through song, stories, social traditions, folklore and dance. The death of the Gaeltachtaí would make a break forever between one of Ireland's cultural pasts and identities, and its future. All sides, irrespective of their view on the methodology used by independent Ireland in its efforts to preserve the language, agree that such a loss would be a cultural tragedy on a monumental scale.

An interest in the Irish language is maintained throughout the English speaking world among the Irish diaspora and there are active Irish language groups in North American, British, and Australian cities. In Australia, a network of people have established special Irish schools around the country teaching the language and music. In recent years the expansion of the Irish language in Australia been so overwhelming there is too much demand for the supply of teachers.

Several computer software products have the option of an Irish-language interface. Prominent examples include Mozilla Firefox[7], Mozilla Thunderbird[8], OpenOffice.org[9], Microsoft Windows XP[10] and Microsoft Office 2003.

Many English-speaking Irish people use small and simple phrases (known as the cúpla focal, "pair of words") in their everyday speech, e.g. [Slán] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("goodbye"), [Slán abhaile] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("get home safely"), [Sláinte] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("good health"; used when drinking like "bottoms up" or "cheers"), [Go raibh maith agat] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) - ("thank you"), [Céad míle fáilte] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("a hundred thousand welcomes", a tourist board saying), [Conas atá tú?] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("How are you?"). There are many more small sayings that have crept into Hiberno-English. The term craic has been popularised outside Ireland in its Gaelic spelling: "How's the craic?" or "What's the 'craic'?"("how's the fun?"/"how is it going?").

Education

The Irish language is a compulsory subject in government funded schools in the Republic of Ireland and has been so since the early days of the state. While many students learn Irish well through the Irish school system, and develop a healthy respect for it, many other students find it difficult or are taught it poorly by unmotivated teachers; these students' attitudes toward Irish tend to range from apathy to hostility.

All things being equal, for English-speakers, Irish is more difficult than, for example, Spanish or German. Irish syntax, morphology, and vocabulary are a good deal more different from English than many other European languages are; this makes learning it challenging for many. The Irish Government has endeavoured to address the situation by revamping the curriculum at primary school level to focus on spoken Irish. However, at secondary school level, it can easily be argued that Irish is still taught "academically". Students must analyse literature and poetry, and write lengthy essays, debates and stories in Irish for the Leaving Certificate examination.

Recently the abolition of compulsory Irish has been discussed and while some Irish people favour such a move, many do not. In 2005 Enda Kenny, leader of Ireland's main opposition party, Fine Gael, called for the language to be made an optional subject in the last two years of secondary school. This call drew widespread criticism from many quarters although some have supported his call. Mr Kenny, despite being a fluent speaker himself, stated that he believed that compulsory Irish has done the language more harm than good.

A relatively recent development is the proliferation of gaelscoileanna, i.e. schools in which Irish is the medium of education. By September 2005 there were 158 gaelscoileanna at primary level and 36 at secondary level in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland together (excluding the Gaeltacht, whose schools are not considered gaelscoileanna), which amounted to approximately 31,000 students. This has grown from a total of less than 20 in the early 1970's and there are 15 more being planned at present. With the opening of Gaelscoil Liatroma in County Leitrim in 2005 there is now at least one gaelscoil in each of the 32 counties of Ireland.

Sources

• Brian O Cuiv in 'A New History of Ireland 1534-1691, Oxford 1978 ISDN 0 19 821739 0
• R.V. Comerford, cited below, chapter 4.
• A. Kelly, Compulsory Irish; Language and Education in Ireland (Dublin 2002).

See also

• Differences between Scottish Gaelic and Irish
• Irish initial mutations
• Irish name
• Irish morphology
• Irish orthography
• Irish phonology
• Irish syntax
• Irish words used in the English language
• Modern literature in Irish
• Common phrases in different languages
• List of Ireland-related topics
• Newfoundland Irish
• Language Freedom Movement
• Gaelic script
• Old Irish
• Hiberno-Latin, a variety of Medieval Latin used in Irish monasteries. It included Greek, Hebrew and Celtic neologisms.
• Dictionary of the Irish language

External links

• Foras na Gaeilge - Official promotional body for the Irish language throughout the island of Ireland
• Irish Translators and Interpreters Association
• EU Interinstitutional Style Guide
• Irish main page at Wikisource
• Irish Lessons - 128 lessons, at Irish Northern Aid site. Free registration required
• Template:De icon Die araner mundart (a phonological description of the dialect of the Aran Islands, from 1899)
• Gaeilge ar an ghréasán Irish online recources
• A Plan to save the Irish Language - includes background info from authoritative sources
• Focal.ie, a large terminology database developed by FIONTAR, DCU
• Foinse - weekly newspaper
• Ethnologue: Languages of the World (unknown ed.). SIL International.
• Gaelic Dictionaries
• Online English-Irish dictionary
• Braesicke's Gramadach na Gaeilge (Engl. translation)
• Gaelscoileanna
• Online Irish Language Art Resource
• Beginner's Guide to Irish Gaelic Pronunciation
• Lá
• BBC Northern Ireland Irish language
• Irish language non-commercial webcast