The Irish Language

[Dept of PMM Artists & things]

Long ago, it was spoken all across Ireland, and was

tongue because they saw speaking English as the only
even used as a literary language in parts of Scotland.
way to a better life. Also, the Irish Potato Famine hit
Today, the language has diminished. It is commonly
the poorer, Irish-speaking areas of the country the
used in daily life in only a small portion of Ireland itself, a
hardest, killing many native Irish speakers or driving
collection of counties known as the Gaeltachtaí.
them to emigrate from Ireland to other countries.
What happened, and is there any hope that it can
The Gaelic League
experience a revival on par with that of the Welsh
The Irish language began to experience a revival in the
Language?
late 19th century, when the Gaelic League, or Conradh
The Origins of the Language
na Gaeilge, was formed to promote it.
Irish was brought to Ireland by the Celtic people, who
This coincided with a revival of Irish Nationalist
arrived sometime between 3000 and 1200 BC-no one
sentiment and traditional Irish Culture. During this time
is quite sure.
period William Butler Yeats and others wrote poems
The first remnants of the written language are mostly
and plays in English about traditional Irish heroes and
memorials inscribed on stones in Ogham script, which
myths.
date from 5-6 AD. After Christianity took hold, Old Irish
After the Irish republic gained independence in 1922,
inscriptions and footnotes appear in Bibles and
Irish was declared the first official language of the
illuminated manuscripts copied by monks.
Republic. However, the new government still continued
Starting in the 8th century AD, the Norse Vikings
to use English as its primary language and the
began pillaging England and Ireland, and Irish
percentage of native speakers continued to fall.
monasteries proved to be an almost irresistible
For example, since Ireland gained independence the
temptation to the gold-hungry Norsemen. After all,
number of fluent Irish speakers has fallen from 250,000
monasteries contained great stores of gold and other
to 20-30,000. The government of the Republic of
shiny treasures, guarded by men who devoutly
Ireland has made many attempts to preserve the
believed in the principle of 'Thou Shalt Not Kill.' The
language, including requiring it as a school subject.
Vikings found Ireland so congenial that they even
Some people feel that the way Irish is taught in
founded the city of Dublin in Ireland.
schools has actually hastened the decline of the
Middle Irish
language, as students see it as a difficult, boring
The result of all of this pillaging was that by the 10th
subject to master instead of an exciting part of their
century AD, Old Irish had evolved into Middle Irish,
cultural heritage.
which showed some Norse influence.
Irish in the 21st Century
Some words that Middle Irish borrowed from Old
However, many Irish citizens at least have a passing
Norse include: bord, for table; scuird, which meant 'skirt,
acquaintance with Irish due to these lessons, and there
tunic or cloak' and comes from the Norse word skyrta,
have been some encouraging developments in recent
brog, for shoe; and mardagh for market. Middle Irish is
years. For example, in 2005 Irish was made an official
the language that a lot of traditional Irish literature was
language of the European Union, meaning that all
written in. For example, the Ulster Cycle, Irish
legislation now has to be translated into Irish.
mythology's answer to the Iliad, was written in Middle
In 2006, the Irish government released a plan to
Irish.
encourage the use of Irish so that "in public discourse
The Decline of the Language
and in public services the use of Irish or English will be,
Early Modern Irish, also called classical Gaelic, was the
as far as practical, a choice for the citizen to make
standard written form of Irish from the 13th to 17th
and that over time more and more people throughout
centuries, and was used in Scotland as well as in
the State will choose to do their business in Irish."
Ireland.
In everyday life, many computer programs, such as
During the 17th century, poets began writing poems in
Mozilla Firefox and Windows, have an Irish-language
their own dialects instead of using classical Gaelic.
option. There is also an Irish-language radio station
After the 17th century, Early Modern Irish was no
available in The Republic of Ireland, as well as an
longer used. Poems and stories were written in
Irish-language TV station called TG4 that broadcasts in
regional dialects, and writing in Irish became a lot less
both the Republic of Ireland and Belfast in Northern
common during this period of time.
Ireland.
The single most important factor in the decline of the
Additonally, there is an increasing number of schools
Irish language was the influence of the English
called gaelscoileanna that teach students in Irish, even
government. Ireland and England had an uneasy,
outside of the Irish-speaking regions of the country.
conflict-driven relationship starting in 1171 when King
Irish words also survive in a surprising place: the basis
Henry II of England invaded Ireland.
for many American slang words.
Over time, the English government began to rule
For example, author Daniel Cassidy compiled a list of
Ireland with a stronger hand, and also set up policies
American slang words that have Irish origins: "scram"
that favored English Protestants over Catholics. These
comes from scaraim, which means "I get away;" "dig"
policies favored the use of English, the language of the
comes from "tuig," which means "I understand" and
ruling class, over Irish, leading to a long, slow decline in
"dude" comes from "dúid," which means a fool
the use of Irish.
or a dolt. So remember, next time you call somebody
In 1831, England set up a National School system in
"dude," you are actually insulting them. Also, the
Ireland. These schools provided education in English
expression "Say Uncle" becomes a lot less puzzling
only, and students discovered speaking Irish were
when you realize that "anacal" means "mercy" in Irish.
harshly punished. Many Irish parents encouraged their
Hopefully, Irish will continue to slowly creep back into
children to learn English and abandon their native
use in Ireland itself