The Irish language belongs to the Celtic branch of the Indo-European family of languages which comprises Gaelic of Scotland Welsh, Cornish and Breton. Celtic speech was most likely first introduced to Ireland in the sixth century BC.
The earliest evidence for a specifically Irish variety of Celtic, Goidelic, is preserved in Ogham inscriptions dating from the fourth century BC.
Irish was once commonly spoken all over the island of Ireland but a combination of social, economic and political factors saw the status of the language undermined.
Change
Much has changed over the past years and Irish can now be found in more than 4,500 books, on television, on radio, in newspapers, magazines, and on the Internet. The image of the Irish language has also changed in recent years, which is evident by the number of people who speak and learn the language, not only in Ireland but around the world.
The Irish language is the language of the community in Gaeltacht regions but is also expanding in popularity in places outside the Gaeltacht. According to the Census of 2002, 1.57 million people in the Republic of Ireland can speak Irish and 10.4 per cent of the people in Northern Ireland claim to have some knowledge of Irish. A group of immigrants have recently formed an organisation called iMeasc to promote the Irish language amongst people coming to live in Ireland.
Oireachtas festival
The growth in popularity of the Oireachtas festival in the past ten years also shows that more and more people are taking an interest in Irish. There was a tendency until recent times to associate the Oireachtas with middle-aged and older speakers of Irish, but this has now changed. Large numbers of young people in their teens and in their twenties attend the festival these days and take part in its competitions, and this augurs well for the future.
Official Irish language services are now available throughout the island of Ireland.
The earliest evidence for a specifically Irish variety of Celtic, Goidelic, is preserved in Ogham inscriptions dating from the fourth century BC.
Irish was once commonly spoken all over the island of Ireland but a combination of social, economic and political factors saw the status of the language undermined.
Change
Much has changed over the past years and Irish can now be found in more than 4,500 books, on television, on radio, in newspapers, magazines, and on the Internet. The image of the Irish language has also changed in recent years, which is evident by the number of people who speak and learn the language, not only in Ireland but around the world.
The Irish language is the language of the community in Gaeltacht regions but is also expanding in popularity in places outside the Gaeltacht. According to the Census of 2002, 1.57 million people in the Republic of Ireland can speak Irish and 10.4 per cent of the people in Northern Ireland claim to have some knowledge of Irish. A group of immigrants have recently formed an organisation called iMeasc to promote the Irish language amongst people coming to live in Ireland.
Oireachtas festival
The growth in popularity of the Oireachtas festival in the past ten years also shows that more and more people are taking an interest in Irish. There was a tendency until recent times to associate the Oireachtas with middle-aged and older speakers of Irish, but this has now changed. Large numbers of young people in their teens and in their twenties attend the festival these days and take part in its competitions, and this augurs well for the future.
Official Irish language services are now available throughout the island of Ireland.