Irish Gaelic

Irish (Gaeilge nah Eireann) is a Celtic language spoken mainly in Ireland. There are also Irish speakers in the United Kingdom, U.S., Canada, and Australia. The language is sometimes referred to as Gaelic, Irish Gaelic, or Erse, but in Ireland it is simply called Irish. It is estimated that it is spoken by some 260,000 people (Ethnologue).

Ireland was wholly Gaelic-speaking until the 17th century, but the dominance of the English and the effects of 19th-century potato famines and emigration led to a steep decline in the population. However, when the Republic of Ireland came into existence in 1922, Irish was adopted as an official language, along with English. It received official recognition in Northern Ireland for the first time in 1998 under the Good Friday Agreement. There is a cross-border body that promotes the language in both Northern Ireland and the Republic.

The main concentrations of native Irish speakers are scattered along the west coast of Ireland with a total population of about 83,000. These are the only areas of the country where Irish is still spoken as a native language. An Irish-speaking area is called Gaeltacht.

Irish is a compulsory subject in government funded schools in the Republic of Ireland and has been so since the early days of the state. A relatively recent development is the spread of gaelscoileanna, schools in which Irish is the medium of instruction.

Irish is also used in radio broadcasting (Raidió na Gaeltachta), television (Teilifis na Gaeilge, or TG4), in newspapers, magazines, literature, theatre, and the arts.

In spite of all the efforts made since Ireland achieved independence, the Irish language is in decline in the Republic of Ireland. According to a 2002 survey, only one quarter of households in Gaeltacht areas are fluent in Gaelic. There is a real danger that Irish as a native language might become extinct by the end of the 21st century. It will, no doubt, continue to exist as a secondary language of English speakers in Ireland.

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