Irish Gaelic
Description
Irish or Gaeilge is one of two official languages in the Republic of Ireland, English being the second. The number of native speakers, however, is relatively small -- approximately 1% of the population or 30,000 people. Traditionally the Irish language has been most widely spoken in separate communities along the west coast, clustered around small towns and villages such as Gaoth Dobhair (Co. Donegal), An Spidéal and Rosmuc (Co. Galway), and Dún Chaoin (Co. Kerry). Other centers of Irish speaking are An Rinn (Co. Waterford) and Ráth Cairn which is a "transplanted Gaeltacht" in Co. Meath, near Dublin, where Irish had died out several centuries ago. "Gaeltacht" means an Irish-speaking community and in the 1930's, a government initiative encouraged native speakers from the west coast to move east, in hopes that the Irish language would spread outward from its new homeland. The various Gaeltacht regions together are known as Gaeltachtaí (plural) or, as one collective entity, An Ghaeltacht.
For the last 20 years, however, there has been a growth in Irish speaking even in the non-Gaeltacht areas, especially in Dublin. Starting at the pre-school level, children may attend "naíonraí " or nursery schools, followed by "Gaelscoileanna" or Irish-medium schools. Sometimes the parents take special classes in Irish so they can work along with their children. Although most adults in Ireland will have had compulsory Irish in the school system for twelve years, many feel ill-equipped to use the language in their daily life.
And the movement is spreading. There are many community-based classes in the United States, but very, very few of them offer college credit. And around the world, from Canada to Japan, people are learning Irish in order to enjoy and understand Ireland's music, literature, history and culture. English majors intending to study Ireland's famous authors such as James Joyce, William Butler Yeats, John Millington Synge, and Sean O'Casey, will find study of the Irish language very helpful as all of these writers used Gaelic words and names and sometimes even Irish sentence structure and idiom, literally translated into English. And more recently, some Irish authors are writing exclusively in Irish and getting international acclaim, most notably Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill and Cathal Ó Searcaigh.
Irish is one of six modern Celtic languages, the others being Scottish Gaelic, Manx Gaelic, Welsh, Breton, and Cornish. Scottish Gaelic and Manx Gaelic are closely related to Irish and almost mutually understandable, at least orally. Welsh, Breton, and Cornish belong to a separate branch of the Celtic group and while the three are similar to each other, they are not at all mutually understandable with any of the Gaelic languages. The last native speaker of Manx Gaelic died in 1974, but the language is being actively revived right now. The last native speaker of Cornish died in the late 18th century, but again, there is an active revival movement. The other four Celtic languages all have a considerable number of native speakers but, even within their own regions, the Celtic languages are very much threatened by English or French intrusion. Old Irish literature dates back to the seventh century and Welsh is comparable; all the Celtic languages are related to Gaulish, the language spoken by Caesar's opponents.
Many Americans use Irish words without being aware of it. Most of this vocabulary came over with the 19th-century Irish immigrants and some of it spread into mainstream language use. Examples include "shenanigans," a "slew" of people, and "kybosh." Most modern Irish fiction will toss in at least a few Irish words, perhaps a "colleen" (girl) or a "houseen" (the English word 'house' with an Irish diminutive ending, '-ín).
Instructor
Dr. Roslyn Blyn-LaDrew
Email
rblyn@sas.upenn.edu