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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Dalta~enwiki (talk | contribs) at 23:03, 8 July 2006 (complete re-work of article. Needs improvement but better than what it was. Needs name change to 'Languages of Ireland'). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

There are a number of languages spoken in Ireland. Several have originated from within the island and others have been introduced through foreign settlement.

Pre-History

Many languages existed in Ireland before the Celts or Gaels first arrived, all of which are now unretrievable. Many of these languages were reffered to as 'Béarla', which in modern Irish refers to the English language. Some say that the natives of the island before the Celts couldn't properly get to grips with the Irish language and that's why Irish has such strange phonemes.

Irish

main article Irish (language)

Old Celtic was introduced by the Celts. This gradually evolved into Old Irish, a Q-Celtic language on Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man and Old Welsh, a P-Celtic language in Wales, Cornwall and later Brittany. Today, Irish is recognised as the first official language of the Republic of Ireland and is officially recognised in Northern Ireland. It is spoken in the Gaeltacht areas, mainly in secluded areas on Ireland's west coast. A government report found that 60,000 people speak Irish on a daily basis in the Gaeltacht. In the most recent census, 1.5 million people said they could speak Irish, with 350,000 saying they used it every day, 155,000 weekly, 585,000 less often, 460,000 never, and 30,000 didn't state how often. Since the independence of 26 counties, there have been efforts to revive Irish as the daily vernacular of most of the nation, so far these efforts have failed. In the media, there is an Irish language TV station, TG4, a radio station, Radió na Gaeltachta and two newspapers, Foinse, a monthly and Lá, a daily. There are also occasional columns written in Irish in English-language newspapers, including The Irish Times and The Irish News. Similarly, RTÉ run Nuacht, a news show, in Irish and Léargas, a documentary show, in Irish with English subtitles. They also have a bi-lingual show aimed at learners called 'Seachtain' and formerly had a programme to help people learn the language called 'Turas Teanga', hosted by Sharon Ní Bheoláin. TV3 have a one minute round-up of goings on in the arts around the island, called 'Noiméad Amháin' meaning 'One Minute'.

English

Main article: English (language)

English was first introduced by the settlers in the 12th century. It did not initially take hold as a widely-spoken language as the settlers assimilated into the Irish culture and became 'more Irish than the Irish themselves'. In later plantations, such as the Ulster Plantation of the 17th Century, settlers were forbidden to mingle with the natives. Through English rule, the language became that of power and that of the landed classes and since Irish speakers were generally poor and lived on the worst land, Irish was seen as a backward language, not fit for those who wanted to make something of themselves. Irish was not allowed to be taught in schools and often children would be humilated in front of the class if they spoke a word of Irish. Even agitators for self-rule in Ireland held disdain for the language, Daniel O'Connell and Charles Stewart Parnell didn't speak the language and looked down on it. Only Michael Davitt, of the Land League leaders, used and could speak Irish at rallies. Before and after independence, emigration was a big factor in life in Ireland. In order to ensure the best chance for their children to get a job abroad, parents often refused to speak Irish to their children, insisting they use only English. This was because the children were most likely to emigrate to Britain, the USA, Canada or Australia in order to find a job. This attitude often left parents unable to speak to their children. This attitude continued until the 1990s and Ireland's improved economy, however, parents in the Gaeltacht are often apathetic as to which language their children speak. English is seen as the cool language to speak and Irish is that of backward, old-fashioned people living in baron, remote areas.

Ulster Scots

Main article: Ulster Scots

Ulster Scots is offically recognised in Northern Ireland with English and Irish. It is a dialect of the Scots dialect of English. It is spoken by many people in Northern Ireland. It has been criticised as being a made-up language by the Unionists so that they could have an equivalent to Irish to defend. It takes influences from Scots, Irish Gaelic and English.

Hiberno-Norman French

This was a language spoken by Norman settlers in the 12th Century and was a mix of Irish Gaelic and Norman French. It was spoken mainly in counties Wexford and Waterford and has since long died out.

French

Main article: French (language)

French was spoken to a degree by settlers from Norman Britain but was quickly subsumed by Irish and English as the main languages of the island.

Eastern European, African languages and Arabic

Since the increase in immigrants into Ireland, there has been a substantial increase in the number of people speaking languages such as Polish, Romanian and Arabic. Some say this will damage the Irish language and Irish culture and there are some groups set up to encourage immigrants to learn Irish.

• Republic of Ireland
• Ireland
• Northern Ireland
• Irish Gaelic
• European languages