Data on the Irish language

Alternative names: Irish Gaelic

Geographical area: Irish is spoken in Ireland, Northern Ireland, and also in North America, Canada, Australia, etc. by the descendants of Irish migrants. The Republic of Ireland is home to areas known as Gaeltachtaí (Gaelic-speaking regions) where Irish is granted a special status: it is the one and only official language. These areas are located in western Ireland: Donegal, Connemara, County Mayo, County Cork.

Main dialects: The main dialects are still in use in the provinces of Ulster (north), Connaught (west) and Munster (south).

Classification: Indo-European language family, Celtic subgroup, Goidelic (or Gaelic) branch.

Number of speakers: The latest census accounts for over 1,5 million speakers of Irish, although estimates account for a maximum of 70,000 people with the actual ability to use it. Those who use it on a daily basis may not exceed 10,000.

Language status: First official language of the Republic of Ireland. Special status in Northern Ireland.

Vitality & Transmission: There is an upturn in the development of bilingual schools in Ireland, but the home-transmission rate remains very low. Transmission is essentially carried out in school.

Media & Literature: Several radios air in Irish (including Rádio na Gaeltachta, available online), adding to a television channel (TG4), newspapers, and even an online daily news review (Nuacht24) and magazines. Irish literature has been abundant for centuries.

Education: Irish is compulsory in the entire education system.

Sociolinguistic observations

Irish is written with the Latin alphabet nowadays, although up to the 1950s it was written in the Irish alphabet, stemming from that of the Irish monks during the Middle Age. A common standard form was also developed and taught in school at the time.

Linguistic observations

Note the existence of a dialect continuum from the south of Ireland to the north of Scotland. Thus are the Ulster dialects very close to Scottish Gaelic.

Links

Rádio na Gaeltachta

TG4 television channel

Online daily news review Nuacht24