View source for Irish language

{{Short description|Celtic language native to Ireland}}
{{other uses}}
{{redirect|Gaoidhealg|the shared literary form that was in use from the 13th to the 16th–18th century|Classical Gaelic}}
{{for|the Niger–Congo language called "Ga"|Ga language}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Irish
| altname          = {{hlist|Irish Gaelic|Gaelic}}
| nativename       = [[Standard Irish]]: {{lang|ga|Gaeilge}}
| pronunciation    = Connacht Irish: {{IPA|ga|ˈɡeːlʲɟə|}}<br />Munster Irish: {{IPA|ga|ˈɡeːl̪ˠən̠ʲ|}}<br />Ulster Irish: {{IPA|ga|ˈɡeːlʲəc|}}
| states           = 
| region           = [[Ireland]]
| ethnicity        = [[Irish people]]
| speakers         = [[First language|L1]]: unknown
| date             = 
| ref              = 
| speakers2        = People aged 3+ stating they could speak Irish "very well":<br />(ROI, 2022) 195,029<br />Daily users outside education system:<br />(ROI, 2022) 71,968<br />(NI, 2021) 43,557<br />[[Second language|L2]]: unknown<br />People aged 3+ stating they could speak Irish:<br />(ROI, 2022) 1,873,997<br />(NI, 2021) 228,600
| familycolor      = Indo-European
| fam2             = [[Celtic languages|Celtic]]
| fam3             = [[Insular Celtic languages|Insular Celtic]]
| fam4             = [[Goidelic languages|Goidelic]]
| ancestor         = [[Primitive Irish]]
| ancestor2        = [[Old Irish]]
| ancestor3        = [[Middle Irish]]
| ancestor4        = [[Early Modern Irish]]
| dia1             = [[Connacht Irish]]
| dia2             = Leinster Irish {{Extinct}}
| dia3             = [[Munster Irish]]
| dia4             = [[Irish language in Newfoundland|Newfoundland]] {{Extinct}}
| dia5             = [[Ulster Irish]]
| standards        = {{lang|ga|[[An Caighdeán Oifigiúil]]|italic=no}} (written only)
| script           = [[Latin script|Latin]] ([[Irish alphabet]])<br />[[Ogham]] (historically)<br />[[Irish Braille]]
| nation           = [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]]{{efn|Irish was the first official language of the Irish state.<ref name="constitution"/> Irish is not widely used as an [[second language|L2]] in most of [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], but its use is encouraged by the government.}}<br>[[Northern Ireland]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ainsworth |first=Paul |date=6 December 2022 |title='Historic milestone' passed as Irish language legislation becomes law |url=https://www.irishnews.com/news/2022/12/06/news/_historic_milestone_passed_as_irish_language_legislation_becomes_law-2932333/ |access-date=7 December 2022 |website=The Irish News |language=en}}</ref><br>[[European Union]]
| minority         = 
| iso1             = ga
| iso2             = gle
| iso3             = gle
| linglist         = gle
| lingua           = 50-AAA
| map              = Irish speakers in 2011.png
| mapcaption       = Proportion of respondents who said they could speak Irish in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland censuses of 2011
| notice           = IPA
| glotto           = iris1253
| glottorefname    = Irish
| map2             = 
| mapcaption2      = 
}}
{{listen |filename=MSF_chapter_1.ogg  |title=Spoken Irish |description=The first chapter of Mo Sgéal Féin, read by native Irish speaker Mairéad Uí Lionáird in the Muskerry Gaeltacht}}

'''Irish''' ([[Standard Irish]]: {{lang|ga|Gaeilge}}), also known as '''Irish Gaelic''' or simply '''Gaelic''' ({{IPAc-en|'|g|ei|l|I|k}} {{respell|GAY|lik}}),<ref name="FnG_212">{{cite web |title=Our Role Supporting You |url=https://www.forasnagaeilge.ie/about/supporting-you/?lang=en |access-date=8 January 2021 |website=Foras na Gaeilge |quote=...&nbsp; between Foras na Gaeilge and Bòrd na Gàidhlig, promoting the use of Irish Gaelic and Scottish Gaelic in Ireland and Scotland&nbsp;...'}}</ref><ref name="OG_18772">{{cite book |last=O'Gallagher |first=J. |title=Sermons in Irish-Gaelic |date=1877 |publisher=Gill}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Ó Flannghaile |first=Tomás |title=For the Tongue of the Gael: a Selection of Essays and Philological on Irish-Gaelic Subjects |date=1896 |publisher=Gill}}</ref><ref name="auto1"/><ref name="Cambridge University Press">{{cite web |title=Gaelic |url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/gaelic?q=Gaelic |website=Cambridge English Dictionary |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |access-date=22 December 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Irish language |website=Britannica  |year=2021 |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Irish-language}}</ref> is a [[Goidelic languages|Goidelic language]] of the [[Insular Celtic]] branch of the [[Celtic language family|Celtic language group]], which is a part of the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European language family]].<ref name="Cambridge University Press"/><ref name="OG_18772" /><ref name="FnG_21">{{cite web |url=https://www.forasnagaeilge.ie/about/supporting-you/?lang=en |title=Our Role Supporting You |website=Foras na Gaeilge |access-date=8 January 2021 | quote=...&nbsp; between Foras na Gaeilge and Bòrd na Gàidhlig, promoting the use of Irish Gaelic and Scottish Gaelic in Ireland and Scotland&nbsp;...'}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref name="auto1">{{Cite web |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/gaelic |title=Gaelic definition and meaning |website=Collins English Dictionary }}</ref> Irish is [[indigenous language|indigenous]] to the island of [[Ireland]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1085869.pdf |title="Reawakening the Irish Language through the Irish Education System: Challenges and Priorities" |publisher=International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education}}</ref> and was the population's [[first language]] until the 19th century, when [[English (language)|English]] gradually became [[Linguistic imperialism|dominant]], particularly in the last decades of the century.
Today, Irish is still commonly spoken as a first language in Ireland's [[Gaeltacht]] regions, in which 2% of Ireland's population lived in 2022.<ref name="ROI census 2023">{{Cite web |date=2023-12-19 |title=Irish Language and the Gaeltacht – CSO – Central Statistics Office |url=https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-cpp8/census2022profile8-theirishlanguageandeducation/irishlanguageandthegaeltacht/ |access-date=2024-02-17 |website=www.cso.ie}}</ref> 

The total number of people (aged 3 and over) in Ireland who declared they could speak Irish in April 2022 was 1,873,997, representing 40% of respondents, but of these, 472,887 said they never spoke it and a further 551,993 said they only spoke it within the education system.<ref name="ROI census 2023"/> Linguistic analyses of Irish speakers are therefore based primarily on the number of daily users in [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]] outside the education system, which in 2022 was 20,261 in the [[Gaeltacht]] and 51,707 outside it, totalling 71,968.<ref name="ROI census 2023"/> In response to the 2021 census of [[Northern Ireland]], 43,557 individuals stated they spoke Irish on a daily basis, 26,286 spoke it on a weekly basis, 47,153 spoke it less often than weekly, and 9,758 said they could speak Irish, but never spoke it.<ref>{{Cite web |date=21 March 2023 |title=Frequency of Speaking Irish |url=https://www.nisra.gov.uk/system/files/statistics/census-2021-ms-b07.xlsx |website=nisra.gov.uk}}</ref> From 2006 to 2008, over 22,000 [[Irish Americans]] reported speaking Irish as their first language at home, with several times that number claiming "some knowledge" of the language.<ref name="USA">{{Citation |type=table |contribution=1. Detailed Languages Spoken at Home and Ability to Speak English for the Population 5 Years and Over for the United States: 2006–2008 |year=2010 |title=Language |contribution-url=https://www.census.gov/hhes/socdemo/language/ |publisher=Census}}</ref>

For most of recorded [[History of Ireland|Irish history]], Irish was the dominant language of the [[Irish people]], who [[Irish diaspora|took it with them to other regions]], such as [[Scotland]] and the [[Isle of Man]], where [[Middle Irish]] gave rise to [[Scottish Gaelic]] and [[Manx language|Manx]]. It was also, for a period, spoken widely across [[Canada]], with an estimated 200,000–250,000 daily Canadian speakers of Irish in 1890.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Míle Míle i gCéin: The Irish Language in Canada |author-last1=Doyle |author-first1=Danny |year=2015 |location=Ottawa |publisher=Borealis Press |isbn=978-0-88887-631-7 |page=196}}</ref> On the island of [[Newfoundland and Labrador|Newfoundland]], a [[Newfoundland Irish|unique dialect]] of Irish developed before falling out of use in the early 20th century.

With a [[writing system]], [[Ogham]], dating back to at least the 4th century AD, which was gradually replaced by [[Latin script]] since the 5th century AD, Irish has [[early Irish literature|one of the oldest vernacular literatures]] in [[Western Europe]]. On the island, the language has three major dialects: [[Connacht Irish|Connacht]], [[Munster Irish|Munster]] and [[Ulster Irish]]. All three have distinctions in their [[speech]] and [[orthography]]. There is also {{lang|ga|[[An Caighdeán Oifigiúil]]}}, a [[standard language|standardised]] written form devised by a parliamentary commission in the 1950s. The traditional [[Irish alphabet]], a variant of the [[Latin alphabet]] with 18 [[Letter (alphabet)|letters]], has been succeeded by the [[ISO basic Latin alphabet|standard Latin alphabet]] (albeit with 7–8 letters used primarily in [[loanwords]]).

Irish has [[constitution of Ireland|constitutional]] status as the [[languages of Ireland|national and first official language]] of the [[Republic of Ireland]], and is also an official language of [[Languages of Northern Ireland|Northern Ireland]] and among the official [[languages of the European Union]]. The public body [[Foras na Gaeilge]] is responsible for the promotion of the language throughout the island. Irish has no regulatory body but {{lang|ga|An Caighdeán Oifigiúil}}, the standard written form, is guided by a parliamentary service and new vocabulary by a voluntary committee with university input.

== Names ==
=== In Irish ===
In {{lang|ga|[[An Caighdeán Oifigiúil]]}} ("The Official [Written] [[Standard language|Standard]]") the name of the language is '''{{lang|ga|Gaeilge}}''', from the South [[Connacht]] form, spelled {{lang|ga|Gaedhilge}} prior the spelling reform of 1948, which was originally the [[Genitive case|genitive]] of {{lang|ga|Gaedhealg}}, the form used in [[Classical Gaelic]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dinneen |first=Patrick S. |author-link=Patrick S. Dinneen |title=Foclóir Gaedhilge agus Béarla |trans-title=Irish and English dictionary |language=Irish |edition=2d |year=1927 |location=Dublin |publisher=Irish Texts Society |pages=507 s.v. ''Gaedhealg'' |isbn=1-870166-00-0}}</ref> The modern spelling results from the deletion of the silent {{vr|dh}} in {{lang|ga|Gaedhilge}}. Older spellings include {{lang|mga|Gaoidhealg}} {{IPA|mga|ˈɡeːʝəlˠəɡ|}} in Classical Gaelic and {{lang|sga|Goídelc}} {{IPA|sga|ˈɡoiðʲelɡ|}} in [[Old Irish]]. [[Goidelic]], used to refer to the language family, is derived from the Old Irish term.

[[Endonym and exonym|Endonyms]] of the language in the various modern Irish dialects include: '''{{lang|ga|Gaeilge}}''' {{IPA|ga|ˈɡeːlʲɟə|}} in Galway, '''{{lang|ga|Gaeilg}}'''/'''{{lang|ga|Gaeilic}}'''/'''{{lang|ga|Gaeilig}}''' {{IPA|ga|ˈɡeːlʲəc|}} in Mayo and [[Ulster Irish|Ulster]], '''{{lang|ga|Gaelainn}}'''/'''{{lang|ga|Gaoluinn}}''' {{IPA|ga|ˈɡeːl̪ˠən̠ʲ|}} in West/Cork, Kerry [[Munster Irish|Munster]], as well as '''{{lang|ga|Gaedhealaing}}''' in mid and East Kerry/Cork and Waterford [[Munster Irish|Munster]] to reflect local pronunciation.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Doyle |first1=Aidan |title=An Ghaeilge, Podręcznik Języka Irlandzkiego |last2=Gussmann |first2=Edmund |author-link2=Edmund Gussmann |year=2005 |isbn=83-7363-275-1 |pages=423k|publisher=Redakcja Wydawnictw Katolickiego Uniwersytetu Lubelskiego }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Dillon |first1=Myles |url=https://archive.org/details/TeachYourselfIrish |title=Teach Yourself Irish |last2=Ó Cróinín |first2=Donncha |date=1961 |publisher=[[English Universities Press]] |location=London |page=227 |author-link1=Myles Dillon |author-link2=Donncha Ó Cróinín}}</ref>

{{lang|ga|Gaeilge}} also has a wider meaning, including the [[Scottish Gaelic|Gaelic of Scotland]] and the [[Manx language|Isle of Man]], as well as of Ireland. When required by the context, these are distinguished as {{lang|gd|Gaeilge na hAlban}}, {{lang|gv|Gaeilge Mhanann}} and {{lang|ga|Gaeilge na hÉireann}} respectively.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla |editor-last1=Ó Dónaill |editor-first1=Niall |year=1977 |page=600 s.v. ''Gaeilge''}}</ref>

=== In English ===
In English (including [[Hiberno-English]]), the language is usually referred to as ''Irish'', as well as ''Gaelic'' and ''Irish Gaelic''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/28/world/europe/28iht-irish.html|title=Ireland speaks up loudly for Gaelic|work=The New York Times|date=29 March 2005|access-date=19 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108141042/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/28/world/europe/28iht-irish.html|archive-date=8 January 2014|url-status=live}} An example of the use of the word "Gaelic" to describe the language, seen throughout the text of the article.</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Irish: Ethnologue |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/gle |website=Ethnologue |access-date=22 December 2018 |quote=Alternate names: Erse, Gaelic Irish, Irish Gaelic}}</ref> The term ''Irish Gaelic'' may be seen when English speakers discuss the relationship between the three Goidelic languages (Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dalton |first=Martha |date=July 2019 |title=Nuclear Accents in Four Irish (Gaelic) Dialects |journal=International Conference of Phonetic Science |volume=XVI |citeseerx=10.1.1.486.4615}}</ref> ''Gaelic'' is a collective term for the Goidelic languages,<ref name="auto1" /><ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=http://publications.europa.eu/code/en/en-370204.htm |title=Interinstitutional Style Guide: Section 7.2.4. Rules governing the languages of the institutions |publisher=[[European Union]] |date=27 April 2016}}</ref><ref name="Cambridge University Press" /><ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=Gaelic: Definition of Gaelic by Merriam-Webster |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Gaelic |website=Merriam-Webster.com |publisher=Merriam-Webster, Incorporated}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Gaelic |title=Gaelic |website=The Free Dictionary}}</ref> and when the context is clear it may be used without qualification to refer to each language individually. When the context is specific but unclear, the term may be qualified, as Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic or Manx Gaelic. Historically the name "Erse" ({{IPAc-en|3:r|s}} {{Respell|URS}}) was also sometimes used in Scots and then in English to refer to Irish;<ref name="Erse_cite">{{cite journal |date=1 August 1922 |title=House of Commons, 1 August 1922: Ireland: Erse language (18) |journal=Hansard |location=London, UK |publisher=[[Houses of Parliament]] |volume=157 |at=1240–1242 |quote=Sir CHARLES OMAN asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he has protested against the recent attempt of the Provisional Government in Ireland to force compulsory Erse into all official correspondence, in spite of the agreement that Erse and English should be equally permissible .. MR CHURCHILL .. I do not anticipate that Irish Ministers will willingly incur the very great confusion which would inevitably result from the use of Irish for the material parts of their correspondence.}}</ref> as well as Scottish Gaelic.

==History==
{{Main|History of the Irish language}}

Written Irish is first attested in {{lang|ga|[[Ogham]]}} inscriptions from the 4th century AD,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Irving |first=Jenni |title=Ogham |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Ogham/ |access-date=2024-03-27 |website=World History Encyclopedia |language=en}}</ref> a stage of the language known as [[Primitive Irish]]. These writings have been found throughout Ireland and the west coast of Great Britain. Primitive Irish underwent a change into [[Old Irish]] through the 5th century. Old Irish, dating from the 6th century, used the [[Latin alphabet]] and is attested primarily in [[marginalia]] to Latin manuscripts. During this time, the Irish language absorbed some [[Latin]] words, some via [[Old Welsh]], including [[Ecclesiastical|ecclesiastical terms]]: examples are {{lang|ga|easpag}} (bishop) from {{lang|la|episcopus}}, and {{lang|ga|Domhnach}} (Sunday, from {{lang|la|dominica}}).

By the 10th century, Old Irish had evolved into [[Middle Irish]], which was spoken throughout Ireland, [[Isle of Man]] and parts of [[Scotland]]. It is the language of a large corpus of literature, including the [[Ulster Cycle]]. From the 12th century, Middle Irish began to evolve into modern Irish in Ireland, into [[Scottish Gaelic]] in Scotland, and into the [[Manx language]] in the [[Isle of Man]].

[[Early Modern Irish]], dating from the 13th century, was the basis of the literary language of both Ireland and Gaelic-speaking Scotland. Modern Irish, as attested in the work of such writers as [[Geoffrey Keating]], may be said to date from the 17th century, and was the medium of popular literature from that time on.

From the 18th century on, the language lost ground in the east of the country. The reasons behind this [[language shift|shift]] were complex but came down to a number of factors:
* Discouragement of its use by the Anglo-Irish administration.
* The [[Catholic Church]]'s support of English over Irish.
* The spread of bilingualism from the 1750s onwards.<ref>{{cite book |last=De Fréine |first=Seán |title=The Great Silence: The Study of a Relationship Between Language and Nationality |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w2NiAAAAMAAJ |year=1978 |publisher=Irish Books & Media |isbn=978-0-85342-516-8 }}</ref>
[[File:Irishin1871.jpg|thumb|The distribution of the Irish language in 1871]]
The change was characterised by [[diglossia]] (two languages being used by the same community in different social and economic situations) and [[transitional bilingualism]] (monoglot Irish-speaking grandparents with bilingual children and monoglot English-speaking grandchildren). By the mid-18th century, English was becoming a language of the Catholic middle class, the Catholic Church and public intellectuals, especially in the east of the country. Increasingly, as the value of English became apparent, parents sanctioned the prohibition of Irish in schools.<ref name="Ó Gráda">Ó Gráda 2013.</ref> Increasing interest in emigrating to the [[United States]] and [[Canada]] was also a driver, as fluency in English allowed the new immigrants to get jobs in areas other than farming. An estimated one quarter to one third of US immigrants during the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Great Famine]] were Irish speakers.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://blog.nyhistory.org/the-unadulterated-irish-language-irish-speakers-in-nineteenth-century-new-york/ |title="The unadulterated Irish language": Irish Speakers in Nineteenth Century New York |last=O'Reilly |first=Edward |date=17 March 2015 |work=[[New-York Historical Society]] |access-date=29 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729225257/http://blog.nyhistory.org/the-unadulterated-irish-language-irish-speakers-in-nineteenth-century-new-york/ |archive-date=29 July 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Irish was not marginal to Ireland's modernisation in the 19th century, as is often assumed. In the first half of the century there were still around three million people for whom Irish was the primary language, and their numbers alone made them a cultural and social force. Irish speakers often insisted on using the language in law courts (even when they knew English), and Irish was also common in commercial transactions. The language was heavily implicated in the "devotional revolution" which marked the standardisation of Catholic religious practice and was also widely used in a political context. Down to the time of the Great Famine and even afterwards, the language was in use by all classes, Irish being an urban as well as a rural language.<ref>See the discussion in {{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l37VBQAAQBAJ |title=An Irish-Speaking Island: State, Religion, Community, and the Linguistic Landscape in Ireland, 1770–1870 |last=Wolf |first=Nicholas M. |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-299-30274-0 }}</ref>

This linguistic dynamism was reflected in the efforts of certain public intellectuals to counter the decline of the language. At the end of the 19th century, they launched the [[Gaelic revival]] in an attempt to encourage the learning and use of Irish, although few adult learners mastered the language.<ref>McMahon 2008, pp. 130–131.</ref> The vehicle of the revival was the Gaelic League ({{lang|ga|[[Conradh na Gaeilge]]}}), and particular emphasis was placed on the folk tradition, which in Irish is particularly rich. Efforts were also made to develop journalism and a modern literature.

Although it has been noted that the Catholic Church played a role in the decline of the Irish language before the Gaelic Revival, the Protestant [[Church of Ireland]] also made only minor efforts to encourage use of Irish in a religious context. An Irish translation of the Old Testament by Leinsterman {{lang|ga|[[Muircheartach Óg Ó Cíonga|Muircheartach Ó Cíonga]]|italic=no}}, commissioned by [[William Bedell|Bishop Bedell]], was published after 1685 along with a translation of the New Testament. Otherwise, Anglicisation was seen as synonymous with 'civilising' the native Irish. Currently, modern day Irish speakers in the church are pushing for language revival.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ireland.anglican.org/our-faith/apck/the-irish-language-and-the-church-of-ireland |title=The Irish language and the Church of Ireland |work=[[Church of Ireland]] |access-date=29 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710061104/https://www.ireland.anglican.org/our-faith/apck/the-irish-language-and-the-church-of-ireland |archive-date=10 July 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

It has been estimated that there were around 800,000 [[monoglot]] Irish speakers in 1800, which dropped to 320,000 by the end of the famine, and under 17,000 by 1911.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Watson |first1=Iarfhlaith |last2=Nic Ghiolla Phádraig |first2=Máire |date=September 2009 |title=Is there an educational advantage to speaking Irish? An investigation of the relationship between education and ability to speak Irish |url=https://researchrepository.ucd.ie/handle/10197/5649 |journal=[[International Journal of the Sociology of Language]] |language=en |issue=199 |pages=143–156 |doi=10.1515/IJSL.2009.039 |hdl=10197/5649 |s2cid=144222872 |hdl-access=free}}</ref>

== Status and policy ==
{{Main|Status of the Irish language}}

=== Ireland ===
Irish is recognised by the [[Constitution of Ireland]] as the national and first official language of [[Republic of Ireland]] (English being the other official language). Despite this, almost all government business and legislative debate is conducted in English.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/28/world/europe/28iht-irish.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |title=Ireland speaks up loudly for Gaelic |date=29 March 2005 |access-date=19 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108141042/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/28/world/europe/28iht-irish.html |archive-date=8 January 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1938, the founder of {{lang|ga|[[Conradh na Gaeilge]]|italic=no}} (Gaelic League), [[Douglas Hyde]], was inaugurated as the first [[President of Ireland]]. The record of his delivering his inaugural ''Declaration of Office'' in [[County Roscommon|Roscommon]] Irish is one of only a few recordings of that dialect.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.rte.ie/eile/brainstorm/2018/0621/972102-douglas-hydes-inauguration-new-ireland/ |title=Douglas Hyde's inauguration – a signal of a new Ireland |last=Murphy |first=Brian |date=25 January 2018 |website=[[RTÉ]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180907032427/https://www.rte.ie/eile/brainstorm/2018/0621/972102-douglas-hydes-inauguration-new-ireland/ |archive-date=7 September 2018 |url-status=live |access-date=6 September 2018}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{cite news |url=http://www.rte.ie/archives/exhibitions/681-history-of-rte/682-rte-1920s/289997-first-radio-broadcast-from-2rn-1-january-1926/ |work=[[RTÉ News]] |title=Douglas Hyde Opens 2RN 1 January 1926 |date=15 February 2012 |access-date=8 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130106173216/http://www.rte.ie/archives/exhibitions/681-history-of-rte/682-rte-1920s/289997-first-radio-broadcast-from-2rn-1-january-1926/ |archive-date=6 January 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k129076t.r= |title=Allocution en irlandais, par M. Douglas Hyde |date=28 January 1922 |website=[[Bibliothèque nationale de France]] |access-date=6 September 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://doegen.ie/taxonomy/term/21756 |title=The Doegen Records Web Project |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180907032255/https://doegen.ie/taxonomy/term/21756 |archive-date=7 September 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Bilingual sign Grafton Street Dublin Ireland.jpg|thumb|Bilingual sign in [[Grafton Street]], [[Dublin]]]]

In the 2016 census, 10.5% of respondents stated that they spoke Irish, either daily or weekly, while over 70,000 people (4.2%) speak it as a habitual daily means of communication.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-cp10esil/p10esil/ |title=Census of Population 2016 – Profile 10 Education, Skills and the Irish Language – CSO – Central Statistics Office |date=23 November 2017 |language=en |access-date=11 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180212083359/http://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-cp10esil/p10esil/ |archive-date=12 February 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>

From the foundation of the [[Irish Free State]] in 1922 (see [[History of the Republic of Ireland]]), new appointees to the [[Civil Service of the Republic of Ireland]], including [[postal worker]]s, [[tax collector]]s, agricultural inspectors, [[Garda Síochána]] (police), etc., were required to have some proficiency in Irish. By law, a Garda who was addressed in Irish had to respond in Irish as well.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ó Murchú |first=Máirtín |chapter=Aspects of the societal status of Modern Irish |pages=471–90 |editor1-first=Martin J. |editor1-last=Ball |editor2-first=James |editor2-last=Fife |title=The Celtic Languages |location=London |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-415-01035-7 |year=1993}}</ref>

In 1974, in part through the actions of protest organisations like the [[Language Freedom Movement]], the requirement for entrance to the public service was changed to proficiency in just one official language.

Nevertheless, Irish remains a required subject of study in all schools in the Republic of Ireland that receive public money (see [[Education in the Republic of Ireland]]). Teachers in primary schools must also pass a compulsory examination called {{lang|ga|Scrúdú Cáilíochta sa Ghaeilge}}. As of 2005, Garda Síochána recruits need a pass in [[Leaving Certificate (Ireland)|Leaving Certificate]] Irish or English, and receive lessons in Irish during their two years of training. Official documents of the Irish government must be published in both Irish and English or Irish alone (in accordance with the Official Languages Act 2003, enforced by {{lang|ga|An Coimisinéir Teanga}}, the Irish language ombudsman).

The [[National University of Ireland]] requires all students wishing to embark on a degree course in the NUI federal system to pass the subject of Irish in the Leaving Certificate or [[General Certificate of Education|GCE]]/[[GCSE]] examinations.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nui.ie/college/entry-requirements.asp |title=NUI Entry Requirements – Ollscoil na hÉireann – National University of Ireland |publisher=Nui.ie |access-date=7 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120705142738/http://www.nui.ie/college/entry-requirements.asp |archive-date=5 July 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> Exemptions are made from this requirement for students who were born or completed primary education outside of Ireland, and students diagnosed with [[dyslexia]].

[[NUI Galway]] is required to appoint people who are competent in the Irish language, as long as they are also competent in all other aspects of the vacancy to which they are appointed. This requirement is laid down by the University College Galway Act, 1929 (Section 3).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/ZZA35Y1929S3.html |title=Obligation to appoint Irish speakers |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051130121122/http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/ZZA35Y1929S3.html |archive-date=30 November 2005}}</ref> In 2016, the university faced controversy when it announced the planned appointment of a president who did not speak Irish.{{lang|ga|[[Misneach]]}}{{explain|date=February 2024}} staged protests against this decision. The following year the university announced that [[Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh]], a fluent Irish speaker, would be its 13th president.  He assumed office in January 2018; in June 2024, he announced he would be stepping down as president at the beginning of the following academic year.<ref>{{cite news|last=Wilson|first=Jade|title=University of Galway president Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh to step down from his role|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/education/2024/06/26/university-of-galway-president-ciaran-o-hogartaigh-to-step-down-from-his-role/|website=The Irish Times|date=26 June 2024|accessdate=2 August 2024}}</ref>

[[File:IMG Creggs2764.jpg|thumb|Bilingual road signs in [[Creggs]], [[County Galway]]]]

For a number of years there has been vigorous debate in political, academic and other circles about the failure of most students in English-medium schools to achieve competence in Irish, even after fourteen years of teaching as one of the three main subjects.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.independent.ie/national-news/academic-claims-the-forced-learning-of-irish-has-failed-118356.html |title=Academic claims the forced learning of Irish 'has failed' |date=19 January 2006 |work=Independent.ie}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/education/end-compulsory-irish-says-fg-as-14000-drop-subject-118897.html |title=End compulsory Irish, says FG, as 14,000 drop subject |last=Regan |first=Mary |date=4 May 2010 |work=Irish Examiner}}</ref><ref>Donncha Ó hÉallaithe: "Litir oscailte chuig Enda Kenny": [http://www.beo.ie/alt-litir-oscailte-chuig-enda-kenny-td.aspx BEO.ie] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110120013022/http://www.beo.ie/alt-litir-oscailte-chuig-enda-kenny-td.aspx |date=20 January 2011 }}</ref> The concomitant decline in the number of traditional native speakers has also been a cause of great concern.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/study-sees-decline-of-irish-in-gaeltacht-1.949907 |title=Study sees decline of Irish in Gaeltacht |last=Siggins |first=Lorna |date=16 July 2007 |newspaper=The Irish Times}}</ref><ref>Nollaig Ó Gadhra, 'The Gaeltacht and the Future of Irish, ''Studies'', Volume 90, Number 360</ref><ref>Welsh Robert and Stewart, Bruce (1996). 'Gaeltacht,' ''The Oxford Companion to Irish Literature''. Oxford University Press.</ref><ref>Hindley, Reg (1991). ''The Death of the Irish Language: A Qualified Obituary''. Taylor & Francis.</ref>

In 2007, filmmaker [[Manchán Magan]] found few Irish speakers in [[Dublin]], and faced incredulity when trying to get by speaking only Irish in Dublin. He was unable to accomplish some everyday tasks, as portrayed in his documentary ''[[No Béarla]]''.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2007/jan/05/ireland.features |location=London |work=[[The Guardian]] |first=Manchán |last=Magan |title=Cá Bhfuil Na Gaeilg eoirí? * |date=9 January 2007 |access-date=17 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170129063301/https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2007/jan/05/ireland.features |archive-date=29 January 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>

There is, however, a growing body of Irish speakers in urban areas, particularly in Dublin. Many have been educated in schools in which Irish is the language of instruction. Such schools are known as {{lang|ga|[[Gaelscoil]]eanna}} at primary level. These Irish-medium schools report some better outcomes for students than English-medium schools.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Why choose Irish-medium education? {{!}} Gaeloideachas |url=https://gaeloideachas.ie/why-choose-an-irish-medium-school/ |access-date=2023-12-15 |website=gaeloideachas.ie}}</ref> In 2009, a paper suggested that within a generation, non-Gaeltacht habitual users of Irish might typically be members of an urban, middle class, and highly educated minority.<ref>See the discussion and the conclusions reached in 'Language and Occupational Status: Linguistic Elitism in the Irish Labour Market,' The Economic and Social Review, Vol. 40, No. 4, Winter, 2009, pp. 435–460: [https://ideas.repec.org/a/eso/journl/v40y2009i4p435-460.html Ideas.repec.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150329152128/https://ideas.repec.org/a/eso/journl/v40y2009i4p435-460.html |date=29 March 2015 }}</ref>

Parliamentary legislation is supposed to be available in both Irish and English but is frequently only available in English. This is notwithstanding that Article 25.4 of the Constitution of Ireland requires that an "official translation" of any law in one official language be provided immediately in the other official language, if not already passed in both official languages.<ref name="constitution">{{cite web
|url=http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/attached_files/html%20files/Constitution%20of%20Ireland%20(Eng).htm |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090717092821/http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/attached_files/html%20files/Constitution%20of%20Ireland%20%28Eng%29.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 July 2009 |title=Constitution of Ireland |date=1 July 1937 |publisher=[[Government of Ireland]] |access-date=19 June 2007}}</ref>

In November 2016, [[RTÉ]] reported that over 2.3 million people worldwide were learning Irish through the [[Duolingo]] app.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rte.ie/lifestyle/living/2016/1125/834370-duolingo-language-learning-app-irish/ |title=Over 2.3m people using language app to learn Irish |date=25 November 2016 |website=[[RTE]] |access-date=23 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170904153245/https://www.rte.ie/lifestyle/living/2016/1125/834370-duolingo-language-learning-app-irish/ |archive-date=4 September 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> Irish president [[Michael D. Higgins|Michael Higgins]] officially honoured several volunteer translators for developing the Irish edition, and said the push for Irish language rights remains an "unfinished project".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/ar-fheabhas-president-praises-volunteer-duolingo-translators-1.2882374 |title=Ar fheabhas! President praises volunteer Duolingo translators |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |access-date=23 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011123725/http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/ar-fheabhas-president-praises-volunteer-duolingo-translators-1.2882374 |archive-date=11 October 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Gaeltacht ====
{{Main|Gaeltacht}}

[[File:Percentage stating they speak Irish daily outside the education system in the 2011 census.png|thumb|upright=1.13|The percentage of respondents who said they spoke Irish daily outside the education system in the 2011 census in the State.{{update inline|date=May 2024}}]]

There are rural areas of Ireland where Irish is still spoken daily to some extent as a [[first language]]. These regions are known individually and collectively as the ''Gaeltacht'' (plural {{lang|ga|Gaeltachtaí}}). While the fluent Irish speakers of these areas, whose numbers have been estimated at 20{{endash}}30,000,<ref name="Siggins 5">{{Cite news|title=Only 25% of Gaeltacht households fluent in Irish – survey |last=Siggins |first=Lorna |date=6 January 2003 |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |page=5}}</ref> are a minority of the total number of fluent Irish speakers, they represent a higher concentration of Irish speakers than other parts of the country and it is only in ''Gaeltacht'' areas that Irish continues to be spoken as a community vernacular to some extent.

According to data compiled by the [[Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media|Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, ''Gaeltacht'', Sport and Media]], only 1/4 of households in ''Gaeltacht'' areas are fluent in Irish. The author of a detailed analysis of the survey, Donncha Ó hÉallaithe of the [[Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology]], described the Irish language policy followed by Irish governments as a "complete and absolute disaster". ''[[The Irish Times]]'', referring to his analysis published in the Irish language newspaper {{lang|ga|[[Foinse]]}}, quoted him as follows: "It is an absolute indictment of successive Irish Governments that at the foundation of the Irish State there were 250,000 fluent Irish speakers living in Irish-speaking or semi Irish-speaking areas, but the number now is between 20,000 and 30,000."<ref name="Siggins 5"/>

In the 1920s, when the Irish Free State was founded, Irish was still a vernacular in some western coastal areas.<ref>Hindley 1991, Map 7: Irish speakers by towns and distinct electoral divisions, census 1926.</ref> In the 1930s, areas where more than 25% of the population spoke Irish were classified as ''Gaeltacht''. Today, the strongest ''Gaeltacht'' areas, numerically and socially, are those of South [[Connemara]], the west of the [[Dingle Peninsula]], and northwest Donegal, where many residents still use Irish as their primary language. These areas are often referred to as the {{lang|ga|Fíor-Ghaeltacht}} (true ''Gaeltacht''), a term originally officially applied to areas where over 50% of the population spoke Irish.

There are ''Gaeltacht'' regions in the following counties:<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Gaeltacht {{!}} Our Language & the Ghaeltacht |url=https://udaras.ie/en/our-language-the-gaeltacht/the-gaeltacht/ |access-date=2023-12-15 |website=Údarás na Gaeltachta |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-10-05 |title=Gaeltacht Affairs |url=https://www.gov.ie/en/policy-information/2061c-gaeltacht-affairs/ |access-date=2023-12-15 |website=www.gov.ie |language=en}}</ref>

* [[County Galway]] ({{lang|ga|Contae na Gaillimhe}})
** [[Connemara]] ({{lang|ga|Conamara}})
** [[Aran Islands]] ({{lang|ga|Oileáin Árann}})
** [[Carraroe]] ({{lang|ga|An Cheathrú Rua}})
** [[Spiddal]] ({{lang|ga|An Spidéal}})
* [[Gaeltacht#Mayo Gaeltacht|County Mayo]] ({{lang|ga|Contae Mhaigh Eo}})
* [[County Donegal]] ({{lang|ga|Contae Dhún na nGall}})
* [[County Kerry]] ({{lang|ga|Contae Chiarraí}})
** [[Dingle Peninsula]] ({{lang|ga|Corca Dhuibhne}}) 
** [[Iveragh Peninsula]] ({{lang|ga|Uibh Rathach}}) 
* [[Gaeltacht#Cork Gaeltacht|County Cork]] ({{lang|ga|Contae Chorcaí}})
* [[Gaeltacht#Waterford Gaeltacht|County Waterford]] ({{lang|ga|Contae Phort Láirge}})
* [[Gaeltacht#Meath Gaeltacht|County Meath]] ({{lang|ga|Contae na Mí}})

[[Gweedore]] ({{lang|ga|Gaoth Dobhair}}), County Donegal, is the largest ''Gaeltacht'' parish in Ireland. Irish language summer colleges in the ''Gaeltacht'' are attended by tens of thousands of teenagers annually. Students live with Gaeltacht families, attend classes, participate in sports, go to ''{{lang|ga|[[cèilidh|céilithe]]}}'' and are obliged to speak Irish. All aspects of Irish culture and tradition are encouraged.

===Policy===

==== Official Languages Act 2003 ====
{{main|Official Languages Act 2003}}

[[File:Dublin airport sign in both English and Irish Gaelic languages.jpg|thumb|Dublin airport sign in both English and Irish languages]]The Act was passed 14 July 2003 with the main purpose of improving the number and quality of public services delivered in Irish by the government and other public bodies.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web|last=Trinity College Dublin|date=5 November 2020|title=Official Languages Act 2003|url=https://www.tcd.ie/gaeloifig/en/acht-na-dteangacha-oifigiula/#:~:text=The%20aim%20of%20the%20Official,in%20public%20affairs%20in%20Ireland.}}</ref> Compliance with the Act is monitored by the ''[[An Coimisinéir Teanga]]'' (Irish Language Commissioner) which was established in 2004<ref>{{Cite web|title=Official Languages Act 2003|url=https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/6bdcf-official-languages-act-2003/|access-date=10 December 2020|website=www.gov.ie|date=22 July 2020 |language=en}}</ref> and any complaints or concerns pertaining to the Act are brought to them.<ref name=":12" /> There are 35 sections included in the Act all detailing different aspects of the use of Irish in official documentation and communication. Included in these sections are subjects such as Irish language use in official courts, official publications, and placenames.<ref>{{Cite book|last=An Coimisinéir Teanga |title=Official Languages Act 2003: Guidebook |url=https://www.tcd.ie/gaeloifig/assets/foilseachain/Guidebook%20-%20Official%20Languages%20Act%202003.pdf |pages=1–3}}</ref> The Act was recently amended in December 2019 in order to strengthen the already preexisting legislation.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Official Languages Act 2003 (and related legislation) |url=https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/4d92d-official-languages-act-2003-and-related-legislation/ |access-date=10 December 2020 |website=www.gov.ie |date=31 August 2020 |language=en}}</ref> All changes made took into account data collected from online surveys and written submissions.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Review of Official Language Act 2003 |url=https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/28c94-review-of-official-language-act-2003/ |access-date=10 December 2020 |website=www.gov.ie |date=3 July 2015 |language=en}}</ref>

==== Official Languages Scheme 2019–2022 ====
The Official Languages Scheme was enacted 1 July 2019 and is an 18-page document that adheres to the guidelines of the ''Official Languages Act 2003''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Irish Language Policy |url=https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/820415-irish-language-policy/ |access-date=10 December 2020 |website=www.gov.ie |date=July 2019 |language=en}}</ref> The purpose of the Scheme is to provide services through the mediums of Irish and/or English. According to the ''Department of the Taoiseach,'' it is meant to "develop a sustainable economy and a successful society, to pursue Ireland's interests abroad, to implement the Government's Programme and to build a better future for Ireland and all her citizens."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Roinn an Taoisigh |title=Official Languages Act 2003: Language Scheme 2019–2022 |year=2019 |url=https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/820415-irish-language-policy/ |pages=3}}</ref>

==== 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010–2030 ====
{{main|20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010–2030}}

The Strategy was produced on 21 December 2010 and will stay in action until 2030; it aims to target language vitality and revitalization of the Irish language.<ref>{{Cite web|title=20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language |url=https://www.gov.ie/en/policy-information/2ea63-20-year-strategy-for-the-irish-language/ |access-date=10 December 2020 |website=www.gov.ie |date=29 September 2020 |language=en}}</ref> The 30-page document published by the [[Government of Ireland]] details the objectives it plans to work towards in an attempt to preserve and promote both the Irish language and the Gaeltacht. It is divided into four separate phases with the intention of improving 9 main areas of action including:

* "Education"
* "The ''Gaeltacht''"
* "Family Transmission of the Language – Early Intervention"
* "Administration, Services and Community"
* "Media and Technology"
* "Dictionaries"
* "Legislation and Status"
* "Economic Life"
* "Cross-cutting Initiatives"<ref name=":02">{{Cite book|last=Government of Ireland |title=20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010–2030 |year=2010 |url=https://www.gov.ie/en/policy-information/2ea63-20-year-strategy-for-the-irish-language/ |pages=11}}</ref>

The general goal for this strategy was to increase the number of daily speakers from 83,000 to 250,000 by the end of its run.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Breadun |first=Deaglan De |title=Plan could treble number speaking Irish, says Cowen |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/plan-could-treble-number-speaking-irish-says-cowen-1.688731 |access-date=10 December 2020 |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |language=en}}</ref> By 2022, the number of such speakers had fallen to 71,968.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-12-19 |title=Irish Language and the Gaeltacht – CSO – Central Statistics Office |url=https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-cpp8/census2022profile8-theirishlanguageandeducation/irishlanguageandthegaeltacht/ |access-date=2024-02-19 |website=www.cso.ie |language=en}}</ref>

=== Northern Ireland ===
{{main|Irish language in Northern Ireland}}

[[File:Multilingual sign Department Culture Leisure Arts Northern Ireland.jpg|thumb|A sign for the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure in Northern Ireland, in English, Irish and [[Ulster Scots language|Ulster Scots]].]]

Before the partition of Ireland in 1921, Irish was recognised as a school subject and as "Celtic" in some third level institutions. Between 1921 and 1972, [[Northern Ireland]] had devolved government. During those years the political party holding power in the [[Parliament of Northern Ireland|Stormont Parliament]], the [[Ulster Unionist Party]] (UUP), was hostile to the language. The context of this hostility was the use of the language by nationalists.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/language/oreilly97.htm#national |title=CAIN: Issues: Language: O'Reilly, C. (1997) Nationalists and the Irish Language in Northern Ireland: Competing Perspectives |publisher=Cain.ulst.ac.uk |access-date=31 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151009134019/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/language/oreilly97.htm#national |archive-date=9 October 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> In broadcasting, there was an exclusion on the reporting of minority cultural issues, and Irish was excluded from radio and television for almost the first fifty years of the previous devolved government.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gppac.net/documents/pbp_f/part1/7_changi.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070513093201/http://www.gppac.net/documents/pbp_f/part1/7_changi.htm |url-status=dead |title=GPPAC.net |archive-date=13 May 2007}}</ref> After the 1998 [[Good Friday Agreement]], the language gradually received a degree of [[Irish language in Northern Ireland|formal recognition in Northern Ireland]] from the United Kingdom,<ref name="belfast">{{cite web |url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/peace/docs/agreement.htm#rights |title=Belfast Agreement – Full text – Section 6 (Equality) – "Economic, Social and Cultural issues" |publisher=Cain.ulst.ac.uk |access-date=7 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131122194559/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/peace/docs/agreement.htm#rights |archive-date=22 November 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> and then, in 2003, by the British government's ratification in respect of the language of the [[European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages]]. In the 2006 [[St Andrews Agreement]] the British government promised to enact legislation to promote the language<ref name=bbc13dec2006>{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/6177321.stm |title=Irish language future is raised |date=13 December 2006 |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=19 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070315193716/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/6177321.stm |archive-date=15 March 2007 |url-status=live }}</ref> and in 2022 it approved [[Irish Language Act|legislation to recognise Irish as an official language]] alongside English. The bill received [[royal assent]] on 6 December 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ainsworth |first=Paul |date=6 December 2022 |title='Historic milestone' passed as Irish language legislation becomes law |url=https://www.irishnews.com/news/2022/12/06/news/_historic_milestone_passed_as_irish_language_legislation_becomes_law-2932333/ |access-date=18 February 2023 |website=The Irish News |language=en}}</ref>

The Irish language has often been used as a bargaining chip during government formation in Northern Ireland, prompting protests from organisations and groups such as {{lang|ga|[[An Dream Dearg]]}}.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/thousands-call-for-irish-language-act-during-belfast-rally-1.3090740 |title=Thousands call for Irish Language Act during Belfast rally |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |access-date=15 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115205211/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/thousands-call-for-irish-language-act-during-belfast-rally-1.3090740 |archive-date=15 November 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== European Parliament ===
Irish became an official language of the EU on 1 January 2007, meaning that MEPs with Irish fluency can now speak the language in the [[European Parliament]] and at committees, although in the case of the latter they have to give prior notice to a simultaneous interpreter in order to ensure that what they say can be interpreted into other languages.

While an official [[Languages of the European Union|language of the European Union]], only co-decision regulations were available until 2022, due to a five-year derogation, requested by the Irish Government when negotiating the language's new official status. The Irish government had committed itself to train the necessary number of translators and interpreters and to bear the related costs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/translation/spotlight/irish_en.htm |access-date=14 June 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080318191550/http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/translation/spotlight/irish_en.htm |archive-date=18 March 2008 |title=Is í an Ghaeilge an 21ú teanga oifigiúil den Aontas Eorpach |language=Irish |trans-title=Irish is the 21st official language of the European Union}}</ref> This derogation ultimately came to an end on 1 January 2022, making Irish a fully recognised EU language for the first time in the state's history.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Boland |first=Lauren |title=Irish to be fully recognised as an official EU language from New Year's Day |url=https://www.thejournal.ie/irish-gaeilge-eu-language-5643611-Dec2021/ |access-date=1 January 2022 |website=[[TheJournal.ie]] |date=31 December 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

Before Irish became an official language it was afforded the status of treaty language and only the highest-level documents of the EU were made available in Irish.

=== Outside Ireland ===
{{Main|Irish language outside Ireland|Irish language in Newfoundland}}

The Irish language was carried abroad in the modern period by a vast [[diaspora]], chiefly to [[Great Britain]] and North America, but also to [[Australia]], [[New Zealand]] and [[Argentina]].
The first large movements began in the 17th century, largely as a result of the [[Cromwellian conquest of Ireland]], which saw many Irish sent to the [[West Indies]]. Irish emigration to the United States was well established by the 18th century, and was reinforced in the 1840s by thousands fleeing from [[Great Famine (Ireland)|the Famine]]. This flight also affected Britain. Up until that time most emigrants spoke Irish as their first language, though English was establishing itself as the primary language. Irish speakers had first arrived in Australia in the late 18th century as convicts and soldiers, and many Irish-speaking settlers followed, particularly in the 1860s. New Zealand also received some of this influx. Argentina was the only non-English-speaking country to receive large numbers of Irish emigrants, and there were few Irish speakers among them.

Relatively few of the emigrants were literate in Irish, but manuscripts in the language were brought to both Australia and the United States, and it was in the United States that the first newspaper to make significant use of Irish was established: {{lang|ga|[[An Gael|An Gaodhal]]}}. In Australia, too, the language found its way into print. The [[Gaelic revival]], which started in Ireland in the 1890s, found a response abroad, with branches of {{lang|ga|[[Conradh na Gaeilge]]}} being established in all the countries to which Irish speakers had emigrated.

The decline of Irish in Ireland and a slowing of emigration helped to ensure a decline in the language abroad, along with natural attrition in the host countries. Despite this, small groups of enthusiasts continued to learn and cultivate Irish in diaspora countries and elsewhere, a trend which strengthened in the second half of the 20th century. Today the language is taught at tertiary level in North America, Australia and Europe, and Irish speakers outside Ireland contribute to journalism and literature in the language. There are significant Irish-speaking networks in the United States and Canada;<ref>{{cite web|last=O Broin |first=Brian |title=An Analysis of the Irish-Speaking Communities of North America: Who are they, what are their opinions, and what are their needs? |website=Academia |url=https://wpunj.academia.edu/Brian%C3%93Broin/Talks/61329/An_Analysis_of_the_Irish-Speaking_Communities_of_North_America_Who_are_they_what_are_their_opinions_and_what_are_their_needs |access-date=31 March 2012 |language=Irish |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510104027/http://wpunj.academia.edu/Brian%C3%93Broin/Talks/61329/An_Analysis_of_the_Irish-Speaking_Communities_of_North_America_Who_are_they_what_are_their_opinions_and_what_are_their_needs |archive-date=10 May 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> figures released for the period 2006–2008 show that 22,279 [[Irish Americans]] claimed to speak Irish at home.<ref name="USA"/>

The Irish language is also one of the languages of the [[Celtic League]], a non-governmental organisation that promotes [[self-determination]], Celtic identity and culture in [[Ireland]], [[Scotland]], [[Wales]], [[Brittany]], [[Cornwall]] and the [[Isle of Man]], known collectively as the [[Celtic nations]].

Irish was spoken as a community language until the early 20th century on the [[island of Newfoundland]], in a form known as [[Irish language in Newfoundland|Newfoundland Irish]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Mannion |first=John |date=February 2003 |title=The Irish in Newfoundland |url=https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/society/irish-newfoundland.php |website=Heritage: Newfoundland & Labrador}}</ref> Certain Irish vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation features are still used in modern [[Newfoundland English]].<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Clarke |first1=Sandra |last2=Paddock |first2=Harold |last3=MacKenzie |first3=Marguerite |date=1999 |title=Language |url=https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/society/language.php |website=Heritage: Newfoundland and Labrador}}</ref>

== Usage ==
The 2016 census data shows:<blockquote>The total number of people who answered 'yes' to being able to speak Irish in April 2016 was 1,761,420, a slight decrease (0.7 per cent) on the 2011 figure of 1,774,437. This represents 39.8 per cent of respondents compared with 41.4 in 2011... Of the 73,803 daily Irish speakers (outside the education system), 20,586 (27.9%) lived in Gaeltacht areas.<ref name="Cens_16_Irish">{{cite book |title=Report of the 2016 Census of Ireland |date=2017 |publisher=Central Statistics Office |location=Dublin, Ireland |pages=66, 69 |chapter=7. Irish |quote=Of the 1.76 million who said they could speak Irish, 73,803 said they speak it daily outside the education system, a fall of 3,382 on the 2011 figure. ... (421,274) said they never spoke Irish. ... Of the 73,803 daily Irish speakers (outside the education system), 20,586 (27.9%) lived in Gaeltacht areas. The total population of all Gaeltacht areas in April 2016 was 96,090}}</ref></blockquote>

=== Daily Irish speakers in Gaeltacht areas between 2011 and 2022 ===
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan=2|Gaeltacht Area
! rowspan=2|2011
! rowspan=2|2016
! rowspan=2|2022
! colspan=2|Change 2011–2022
|-
! No.
!%
|-
|align="center"|County Cork
|align="right"|982
|align="right"|872
|align="right"|847
|align="right"|{{decrease}} 135
|{{decrease}} 13.7%
|-
|align="center"|County Donegal
|align="right"|7,047
|align="right"|5,929
|align="right"|5,753
|align="right"|{{decrease}} 1,294
|{{decrease}} 18.3%
|-
|align="center"|Galway City
|align="right"|636
|align="right"|646
|align="right"|646
|align="right"|{{increase}} 10
|{{increase}} 1.5%
|-
|align="center"|County Galway
|align="right"|10,085
|align="right"|9,445
|align="right"|9,373
|align="right"|{{decrease}} 712
|{{decrease}} 7.0%
|-
|align="center"|County Kerry
|align="right"|2,501
|align="right"|2,049
|align="right"|2,131
|align="right"|{{decrease}} 370
|{{decrease}} 14.7%
|-
|align="center"|County Mayo
|align="right"|1,172
|align="right"|895
|align="right"|727
|align="right"|{{decrease}} 445
|{{decrease}} 37.9%
|-
|align="center"|County Meath
|align="right"|314
|align="right"|283
|align="right"|276
|align="right"|{{decrease}} 38
|{{decrease}} 12.1%
|-
|align="center"|County Waterford
|align="right"|438
|align="right"|467
|align="right"|508
|align="right"|{{increase}} 70
|{{increase}} 15.9%
|-style="background:#DDFFEE;"
|align="center"|'''All Gaeltacht Areas'''
|align="right"|'''23,175'''
|align="right"|'''20,586'''
|align="right"|'''20,261'''
|align="right"|{{decrease}} '''2,914'''
|{{decrease}} '''12.5%'''
|- class="sortbottom"
| colspan="10" |{{center|''Source:<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cso.ie/en/csolatestnews/presspages/2017/census2016summaryresults-part1/|title=Census 2016 Summary Results – Part 1 – CSO – Central Statistics Office|website=Cso.ie|language=en|access-date=29 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170730013846/http://www.cso.ie/en/csolatestnews/presspages/2017/census2016summaryresults-part1/|archive-date=30 July 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>'' <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-cpp8/censusofpopulation2022profile8-theirishlanguageandeducation/irishlanguageandthegaeltacht/|title=
Census of Population 2022 Profile 8 - The Irish Language and Education|website=Cso.ie|language=en|access-date=20 September 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240717101434/https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-cpp8/censusofpopulation2022profile8-theirishlanguageandeducation/irishlanguageandthegaeltacht/|archive-date=17 July 2024|url-status=live}}</ref>}}
|}
In 1996, the three electoral divisions in the State where Irish had the most daily speakers were An Turloch (91%+), Scainimh (89%+), Min an Chladaigh (88%+).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gov.ie/en/organisation/department-of-tourism-culture-arts-gaeltacht-sport-and-media/?referrer=http://www.chg.gov.ie/app/uploads/2018/07/report-of-coimisiun-na-gaeltachta.pdf|title=Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media|website=www.gov.ie}}</ref>

==Dialects==
Irish is represented by several traditional [[dialect]]s and by various varieties of "urban" Irish. The latter have acquired lives of their own and a growing number of native speakers. Differences between the dialects make themselves felt in stress, intonation, vocabulary and structural features.

Roughly speaking, the three major dialect areas which survive coincide roughly with the provinces of [[Connacht]] ({{lang|ga|Cúige Chonnacht}}), [[Munster]] ({{lang|ga|Cúige Mumhan}}) and [[Ulster]] ({{lang|ga|Cúige Uladh}}). Records of some dialects of [[Leinster]] ({{lang|ga|Cúige Laighean}}) were made by the [[Irish Folklore Commission]] and others.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Doegen Records Web Project |url=https://doegen.ie/taxonomy/term/21984 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180908015716/https://doegen.ie/taxonomy/term/21984 |archive-date=8 September 2018}}</ref> [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]], in eastern Canada, had a form of Irish derived from the Munster Irish of the later 18th century (see [[Newfoundland Irish]]).

=== Connacht ===
{{Main|Connacht Irish}}

Historically, Connacht Irish represents the westernmost remnant of a dialect area which once stretched from east to west across the centre of Ireland. The strongest dialect of Connacht Irish is to be found in [[Connemara]] and the [[Aran Islands]]. Much closer to the larger Connacht Gaeltacht is the dialect spoken in the smaller region on the border between Galway ({{lang|ga|Gaillimh}}) and Mayo ({{lang|ga|Maigh Eo}}). There are a number of differences between the popular South Connemara form of Irish, the Mid-Connacht/Joyce Country form (on the border between Mayo and Galway) and the Achill and Erris forms in the north of the province.

Features in Connacht Irish differing from the official standard include a preference for verbal nouns ending in {{lang|ga|-achan}}, e.g. {{lang|ga|lagachan}} instead of {{lang|ga|lagú}}, "weakening". The non-standard pronunciation of [[Cois Fharraige]] with lengthened vowels and heavily reduced endings gives it a distinct sound. Distinguishing features of Connacht and Ulster dialect include the pronunciation of word-final {{IPA|/w/}} as {{IPA|[w]}}, rather than as {{IPA|[vˠ]}} in Munster. For example, {{lang|ga|sliabh}} ("mountain") is {{IPA|[ʃlʲiəw]}} in Connacht and Ulster as opposed to {{IPA|[ʃlʲiəβ]}} in the south. In addition Connacht and Ulster speakers tend to include the "we" pronoun rather than use the standard compound form used in Munster, e.g. {{lang|ga|bhí muid}} is used for "we were" instead of {{lang|ga|bhíomar}}.

As in Munster Irish, some short vowels are lengthened and others diphthongised before {{vr|ll, m, nn, rr, rd}}, in monosyllabic words and in the stressed syllable of multisyllabic words where the syllable is followed by a consonant. This can be seen in {{lang|ga|ceann}} {{IPA|[cɑːn̪ˠ]}} "head", {{lang|ga|cam}} {{IPA|[kɑːmˠ]}} "crooked", {{lang|ga|gearr}} {{IPA|[ɟɑːɾˠ]}} "short", {{lang|ga|ord}} {{IPA|[ouɾˠd̪ˠ]}} "sledgehammer", {{lang|ga|gall}} {{IPA|[gɑːl̪ˠ]}} "foreigner, non-Gael", {{lang|ga|iontas}} {{IPA|[ˈiːn̪ˠt̪ˠəsˠ]}} "a wonder, a marvel", etc. The form {{vr|(a)ibh}}, when occurring at the end of words like {{lang|ga|agaibh}}, tends to be pronounced as {{IPA|[iː]}}.

In South Connemara, for example, there is a tendency to replace word-final {{IPA|/vʲ/}} with {{IPA|/bʲ/}}, in word such as {{lang|ga|sibh}}, {{lang|ga|libh}} and {{lang|ga|dóibh}} (pronounced respectively as "shiv," "liv" and "{{lang|ga|dófa}}" in the other areas). This placing of the B-sound is also present at the end of words ending in vowels, such as {{lang|ga|acu}} ({{IPA|[ˈakəbˠ]}}) and '{{lang|ga|leo}} ({{IPA|[lʲoːbˠ]}}). There is also a tendency to omit {{IPA|/g/}} in {{lang|ga|agam}}, {{lang|ga|agat}} and {{lang|ga|againn}}, a characteristic also of other Connacht dialects. All these pronunciations are distinctively regional.

The pronunciation prevalent in the [[Joyce Country]] (the area around [[Lough Corrib]] and [[Lough Mask]]) is quite similar to that of South Connemara, with a similar approach to the words {{lang|ga|agam}}, {{lang|ga|agat}} and {{lang|ga|againn}} and a similar approach to pronunciation of vowels and consonants but there are noticeable differences in vocabulary, with certain words such as {{lang|ga|doiligh}} (difficult) and {{lang|ga|foscailte}} being preferred to the more usual {{lang|ga|deacair}} and {{lang|ga|oscailte}}. Another interesting aspect of this sub-dialect is that almost all vowels at the end of words tend to be pronounced as {{IPA|[iː]}}: {{lang|ga|eile}} (other), {{lang|ga|cosa}} (feet) and {{lang|ga|déanta}} (done) tend to be pronounced as {{lang|ga|eilí}}, {{lang|ga|cosaí}} and {{lang|ga|déantaí}} respectively.

The northern Mayo dialect of [[Erris]] ({{lang|ga|Iorras}}) and [[Achill]] ({{lang|ga|Acaill}}) is in grammar and [[morphology (linguistics)|morphology]] essentially a Connacht dialect but shows some similarities to Ulster Irish due to large-scale immigration of dispossessed people following the [[Plantation of Ulster]]. For example, words ending -{{vr|bh, mh}} have a much softer sound, with a tendency to terminate words such as {{lang|ga|leo}} and {{lang|ga|dóibh}} with {{vr|f}}, giving {{lang|ga|leofa}} and {{lang|ga|dófa}} respectively. In addition to a vocabulary typical of other area of Connacht, one also finds Ulster words like {{lang|ga|amharc}} (meaning "to look"), {{lang|ga|nimhneach}} (painful or sore), {{lang|ga|druid}} (close), {{lang|ga|mothaigh}} (hear), {{lang|ga|doiligh}} (difficult), {{lang|ga|úr}} (new), and {{lang|ga|tig le}} (to be able to – i.e. a form similar to {{lang|ga|féidir}}).

Irish President [[Douglas Hyde]] was possibly one of the last speakers of the [[Roscommon]] dialect of Irish.<ref name="auto" />

=== Munster ===
{{Main|Munster Irish}}

Munster Irish is the dialect spoken in the Gaeltacht areas of the counties of [[County Cork|Cork]] ({{lang|ga|Contae Chorcaí}}), [[County Kerry|Kerry]] ({{lang|ga|Contae Chiarraí}}), and [[County Waterford|Waterford]] ({{lang|ga|Contae Phort Láirge}}). The Gaeltacht areas of Cork can be found in [[Cape Clear Island]] ({{lang|ga|Oileán Chléire}}) and [[Muskerry]] ({{lang|ga|Múscraí}}); those of Kerry lie in {{lang|ga|[[Corca Dhuibhne]]}} and [[Iveragh Peninsula]]; and those of Waterford in [[Ring, County Waterford|Ring]] ({{lang|ga|An Rinn}}) and [[Old Parish]] ({{lang|ga|An Sean Phobal}}), both of which together form [[Gaeltacht na nDéise]]. Of the three counties, the Irish spoken in Cork and Kerry is quite similar while that of Waterford is more distinct.

Some typical features of Munster Irish are:

# The use of [[Irish conjugation|synthetic]] verbs in parallel with a pronominal subject system, thus "I must" is {{lang|ga|caithfead}} in Munster, while other dialects prefer {{lang|ga|caithfidh mé}} ({{lang|ga|mé}} means "I"). "I was" and "you were" are {{lang|ga|bhíos}} and {{lang|ga|bhís}} in Munster but more commonly {{lang|ga|bhí mé}} and {{lang|ga|bhí tú}} in other dialects. These are strong tendencies, and the personal forms {{lang|ga|bhíos}} etc. are used in the West and North, particularly when the words are last in the clause.
# Use of [[Dependent and independent verb forms|independent/dependent forms of verbs]] that are not included in the Standard. For example, "I see" in Munster is {{lang|ga|chím}}, which is the independent form; Ulster Irish also uses a similar form, {{lang|ga|tchím}}, whereas "I do not see" is {{lang|ga|ní fheicim}}, {{lang|ga|feicim}} being the dependent form, which is used after particles such as {{lang|ga|ní}} ("not"). {{lang|ga|Chím}} is replaced by {{lang|ga|feicim}} in the Standard. Similarly, the traditional form preserved in Munster {{lang|ga|bheirim}} "I give"/{{lang|ga|ní thugaim}} is {{lang|ga|tugaim}}/{{lang|ga|ní thugaim}} in the Standard; {{lang|ga|gheibhim}} I get/{{lang|ga|ní bhfaighim}} is {{lang|ga|faighim}}/{{lang|ga|ní bhfaighim}}.
# When before {{vr|ll, m, nn, rr, rd}} and so on, in monosyllabic words and in the stressed syllable of multisyllabic words where the syllable is followed by a consonant, some short vowels are lengthened while others are [[diphthong]]ised, in {{lang|ga|ceann}} {{IPA|[cɑun̪ˠ]}} "head", {{lang|ga|cam}} {{IPA|[kɑumˠ]}} "crooked", {{lang|ga|gearr}} {{IPA|[ɟɑːɾˠ]}} "short", {{lang|ga|ord}} {{IPA|[oːɾˠd̪ˠ]}} "sledgehammer", {{lang|ga|gall}} {{IPA|[gɑul̪ˠ]}} "foreigner, non-Gael", {{lang|ga|iontas}} {{IPA|[uːn̪ˠt̪ˠəsˠ]}} "a wonder, a marvel", {{lang|ga|compánach}} {{IPA|[kəumˠˈpˠɑːnˠəx]}} "companion, mate", etc.
# A [[Copula (linguistics)|copular]] construction involving {{lang|ga|ea}} "it" is frequently used. Thus "I am an Irish person" can be said {{lang|ga|is Éireannach mé}} and {{lang|ga|Éireannach is ea mé}} in Munster; there is a subtle difference in meaning, however, the first choice being a simple statement of fact, while the second brings emphasis onto the word {{lang|ga|Éireannach}}. In effect the construction is a type of "[[Topicalization|fronting]]".
# Both masculine and feminine words are subject to lenition after {{lang|ga|insan}} ({{lang|ga|sa}}/{{lang|ga|san}}) "in the", {{lang|ga|den}} "of the", and {{lang|ga|don}} "to/for the": {{lang|ga|sa tsiopa}} "in the shop", compared to the Standard {{lang|ga|sa siopa}} (the Standard lenites only feminine nouns in the dative in these cases).
# Eclipsis of {{vr|f}} after {{lang|ga|sa}}: {{lang|ga|sa bhfeirm}}, "in the farm", instead of {{lang|ga|san fheirm}}.
# Eclipsis of {{vr|t}} and {{vr|d}} after preposition + singular article, with all prepositions except after {{lang|ga|insan}}, {{lang|ga|den}} and {{lang|ga|don}}: {{lang|ga|ar an dtigh}} "on the house", {{lang|ga|ag an ndoras}} "at the door".
# [[Stress (linguistics)|Stress]] is generally on the second syllable of a word when the first syllable contains a short vowel, and the second syllable contains a long vowel or diphthong, or is -{{vr|(e)ach}}, e.g. {{Lang|ga|Ciarán}} is {{IPA|ga|ciəˈɾˠaːn̪ˠ|pron}} opposed to {{IPA|[ˈciəɾˠaːn̪ˠ]}} in Connacht and Ulster.

=== Ulster ===
{{Main|Ulster Irish}}

Ulster Irish is the dialect spoken in the Gaeltacht regions of Donegal. These regions contain all of Ulster's communities where Irish has been spoken in an unbroken line back to when the language was the dominant language of Ireland. The Irish-speaking communities in other parts of Ulster are a result of language revival – English-speaking families deciding to learn Irish. Census data shows that 4,130 people speak it at home.

Linguistically, the most important of the [[Ulster]] dialects today is that which is spoken, with slight differences, in both [[Gweedore]] ({{lang|ga|Gaoth Dobhair}} = Inlet of Streaming Water) and [[The Rosses]] ({{lang|ga|na Rossa}}).

Ulster Irish sounds quite different from the other two main dialects. It shares several features with southern dialects of [[Scottish Gaelic]] and [[Manx language|Manx]], as well as having many characteristic words and shades of meanings. However, since the demise of those Irish dialects spoken natively in what is today Northern Ireland, it is probably an exaggeration to see present-day Ulster Irish as an intermediary form between Scottish Gaelic and the southern and western dialects of Irish. Northern Scottish Gaelic has many non-Ulster features in common with Munster Irish.

One noticeable trait of Ulster Irish, Scots Gaelic and Manx is the use of the negative particle {{lang|ga|cha(n)}} in place of the Munster and Connacht {{lang|ga|ní}}. Though southern Donegal Irish tends to use {{lang|ga|ní}} more than {{lang|ga|cha(n)}}, {{lang|ga|cha(n)}} has almost ousted {{lang|ga|ní}} in northernmost dialects (e.g. [[Rosguill]] and [[Tory Island]]), though even in these areas {{lang|ga|níl}} "is not" is more common than {{lang|ga|chan fhuil}} or {{lang|ga|cha bhfuil}}.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hamilton |first=John Noel |title=A Phonetic Study of the Irish of Tory Island, County Donegal |publisher=Institute of Irish Studies, The Queen's University of Belfast |year=1974}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Lucas |first=Leslie W. |title=Grammar of Ros Goill Irish, County Donegal |publisher=Institute of Irish Studies, The Queen's University of Belfast |year=1979}}</ref> Another noticeable trait is the pronunciation of the first person singular verb ending {{lang|ga|-(a)im}} as {{lang|ga|-(e)am}}, also common to the Isle of Man and Scotland (Munster/Connacht {{lang|ga|siúlaim}} "I walk", Ulster {{lang|ga|siúlam}}).

=== Leinster ===
Down to the early 19th century and even later, Irish was spoken in all twelve counties of Leinster. The evidence furnished by placenames, literary sources and recorded speech indicates that there was no Leinster dialect as such. Instead, the main dialect used in the province was represented by a broad central belt stretching from west Connacht eastwards to the [[River Liffey|Liffey estuary]] and southwards to [[Wexford]], though with many local variations. Two smaller dialects were represented by the Ulster speech of counties Meath and Louth, which extended as far south as the [[River Boyne|Boyne valley]], and a Munster dialect found in Kilkenny and south Laois.

The main dialect had characteristics which survive today only in the Irish of Connacht. It typically placed the stress on the first syllable of a word, and showed a preference (found in placenames) for the pronunciation {{vr|cr}} where the standard spelling is {{vr|cn}}. The word {{lang|ga|cnoc}} (hill) would therefore be pronounced {{lang|ga|croc}}. Examples are the placenames Crooksling ({{lang|ga|Cnoc Slinne}}) in County Dublin and Crukeen ({{lang|ga|Cnoicín}}) in Carlow. East Leinster showed the same diphthongisation or vowel lengthening as in Munster and Connacht Irish in words like {{lang|ga|poll}} (hole), {{lang|ga|cill}} (monastery), {{lang|ga|coill}} (wood), {{lang|ga|ceann}} (head), {{lang|ga|cam}} (crooked) and {{lang|ga|dream}} (crowd). A feature of the dialect was the pronunciation of {{vr|ao}}, which generally became {{IPA|[eː]}} in east Leinster (as in Munster), and {{IPA|[iː]}} in the west (as in Connacht).<ref>Williams 1994, pp. 467–478.</ref>

Early evidence regarding colloquial Irish in east Leinster is found in ''The Fyrst Boke of the Introduction of Knowledge'' (1547), by the English physician and traveller Andrew Borde.<ref>{{cite web |last=Borde |first=Andrew |date=1870 |editor-last=Furnivall |editor-first=F.J. |title=''The Fyrst Boke of the Introduction of Knowledge'' |url=https://archive.org/stream/fyrstbokeintrod01boorgoog#page/n140/mode/2up |publisher=N. Trubner & Co. |pages=131–135}}</ref> The illustrative phrases he uses include the following:

{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left: 1em;"
! rowspan="2" |English 
! colspan="2" |Leinster Irish
|-
!Anglicised spelling
!Irish spelling 
|-
| How are you? || ''Kanys stato?''|| [{{lang|ga|Canas 'tá tú?}}]
|-
| I am well, thank you || ''Tam a goomah gramahagood.''|| [{{lang|ga|Tá mé go maith, go raibh maith agat.}}]
|-
| Sir, can you speak Irish? || ''Sor, woll galow oket?''|| [{{lang|ga|Sir, 'bhfuil Gaeilig [Gaela'] agat?}}]
|-
| Wife, give me bread! || ''Benytee, toor haran!''|| [{{lang|ga|A bhean an tí, tabhair arán!}}]
|-
| How far is it to Waterford? || ''Gath haad o showh go part laarg?''. || [{{lang|ga|Gá fhad as [a] seo go Port Láirge?}}]
|-
| It is one a twenty mile. || ''Myle hewryht.'' || [{{lang|ga|Míle a haon ar fhichid.}}]
|-
| When shall I go to sleep, wife? || ''Gah hon rah moyd holow?'' || [{{lang|ga|Gathain a rachamaoid a chodladh?}}]
|}

==== The Pale ====
[[File:The Pale According to the Statute of 1488.jpg|thumb|upright=0.86|right|[[The Pale]] – According to Statute of 1488]]
[[The Pale]] ({{lang|ga|An Pháil}}) was an area around late medieval Dublin under the control of the English government. By the late 15th century it consisted of an area along the coast from [[Dalkey]], south of [[Dublin]], to the garrison town of [[Dundalk]], with an inland boundary encompassing [[Naas]] and [[Leixlip]] in the [[Earldom of Kildare]] and [[Trim, County Meath|Trim]] and [[Kells, County Meath|Kells]] in County Meath to the north. In this area of "Englyshe tunge" English had never actually been a dominant language – and was moreover a relatively late comer; the first colonisers were Normans who spoke Norman French, and before these Norse. The Irish language had always been the language of the bulk of the population. An English official remarked of the Pale in 1515 that "all the common people of the said half counties that obeyeth the King's laws, for the most part be of Irish birth, of Irish habit and of Irish language".<ref>"State of Ireland & Plan for its Reformation" in ''State Papers Ireland'', Henry VIII, ii, 8.</ref>

With the strengthening of English cultural and political control, language change began to occur but this did not become clearly evident until the 18th century. Even then, in the decennial period 1771–81, the percentage of Irish speakers in Meath was at least 41%. By 1851 this had fallen to less than 3%.<ref name="Fitzgerald">See Fitzgerald 1984.</ref>

==== General decline ====
English expanded strongly in Leinster in the 18th century but Irish speakers were still numerous. In the decennial period 1771–81 certain counties had estimated percentages of Irish speakers as follows (though the estimates are likely to be too low):<ref name="Fitzgerald" />

:Kilkenny 57%
:Louth 57%
:Longford 22%
:Westmeath 17%

The language saw its most rapid initial decline in counties Dublin, Kildare, Laois, Wexford, and Wicklow. In recent years, County Wicklow has been noted as having the lowest percentage of Irish speakers of any county in Ireland, with only 0.14% of its population claiming to have passable knowledge of the language.<ref>{{Cite web |date=27 June 2019 |title=The Irish Language in Co. Wicklow |url=https://heritage.wicklowheritage.org/places/county_wicklow_historical_societies/wicklow_historical_society/wicklow_historical_society-2/the_irish_language_in_co_wicklow}}</ref> The proportion of Irish-speaking children in Leinster went down as follows: 17% in the 1700s, 11% in the 1800s, 3% in the 1830s, and virtually none in the 1860s.<ref>Cited in Ó Gráda 2013.</ref> The Irish census of 1851 showed that there were still a number of older speakers in County Dublin.<ref name="Fitzgerald" /> Sound recordings were made between 1928 and 1931 of some of the last speakers in [[Omeath]], County Louth (now available in digital form).<ref>{{cite web |date=5 September 1928 |title=The Doegen Records Web Project &#124; DHO |url=http://www.doegen.ie/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160319210106/http://www.doegen.ie/ |archive-date=19 March 2016 |access-date=19 March 2016 |publisher=Dho.ie}}</ref> The last known traditional native speaker in Omeath, and in Leinster as a whole, was Annie O'Hanlon (née Dobbin), who died in 1960.<ref name="Ó Gráda" /> Her dialect was, in fact, a branch of the Irish of south-east Ulster.<ref>{{cite web |title=Cur síos ar an chainteoir ó dhúchas deireannach ón Ó Méith, Co Lú, Anna Uí AnnluainCur síos ar an chainteoir ó dhúchas deireannach ón Ó Méith, Co Lú, Anna Uí Annluain |url=https://www.rte.ie/archives/exhibitions/1981-proinsias-o-conluain/615547-gaeilgeoir-deireannacha-mith/ |access-date=22 October 2022 |publisher=RTÉ Archives}}</ref>

=== Urban use from the Middle Ages to the 19th century ===
Irish was spoken as a community language in Irish towns and cities down to the 19th century. In the 16th and 17th centuries it was widespread even in Dublin and the Pale. The English administrator [[William Gerard]] (1518–1581) commented as follows: "All English, and the most part with delight, even in Dublin, speak Irish,"<ref>See "Tony Crowley, "The Politics of Language in Ireland 1366–1922: A Sourcebook" and [[Joep Leerssen|Leerssen, Joep]], ''Mere Irish and Fior-Ghael: Studies in the Idea of Irish Nationality, Its Development and Literary Expression Prior to the Nineteenth Century'', University of Notre Dame Press 1997, p. 51. {{ISBN|978-0268014278}}</ref> while the [[Normans in Ireland|Old English]] historian [[Richard Stanihurst]] (1547–1618) lamented that "When their posterity became not altogether so wary in keeping, as their ancestors were valiant in conquering, the Irish language was free dennized in the English Pale: this canker took such deep root, as the body that before was whole and sound, was by little and little festered, and in manner wholly putrified".<ref>Ellis, Henry (ed.). [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a1999.03.0089 ''The Description of Ireland''], An Electronic Edition: Chapter 1 (The Names of Ireland, with the Compasse of the Same, also what Shires or Counties it Conteineth, the Diuision or Partition of the Land, and of the Language of the People)</ref>

The Irish of Dublin, situated as it was between the east Ulster dialect of Meath and Louth to the north and the Leinster-Connacht dialect further south, may have reflected the characteristics of both in phonology and grammar. In County Dublin itself the general rule was to place the stress on the initial vowel of words. With time it appears that the forms of the dative case took over the other case endings in the plural (a tendency found to a lesser extent in other dialects). In a letter written in Dublin in 1691 we find such examples as the following: {{lang|ga|gnóthuimh}} (accusative case, the standard form being {{lang|ga|gnóthaí}}), {{lang|ga|tíorthuibh}} (accusative case, the standard form being {{lang|ga|tíortha}}) and {{lang|ga|leithscéalaibh}} (genitive case, the standard form being {{lang|ga|leithscéalta}}).<ref>See Ó hÓgáin 2011.</ref>

English authorities of the Cromwellian period, aware that Irish was widely spoken in Dublin, arranged for its official use. In 1655 several local dignitaries were ordered to oversee a lecture in Irish to be given in Dublin. In March 1656 a converted Catholic priest, Séamas Corcy, was appointed to preach in Irish at Bride's parish every Sunday, and was also ordered to preach at [[Drogheda]] and [[Athy]].<ref>Berresford Ellis, Peter (1975). ''Hell or Connnaught! The Cromwellian Colonisation of Ireland 1652–1660'', p. 156. Hamish Hamilton. SBN 241-89071-3.</ref> In 1657 the English colonists in Dublin presented a petition to the Municipal Council complaining that in Dublin itself "there is Irish commonly and usually spoken".<ref>Berresford Ellis 1975, p. 193.</ref>

There is contemporary evidence of the use of Irish in other urban areas at the time. In 1657 it was found necessary to have an Oath of Abjuration (rejecting the authority of the Pope) read in Irish in [[Cork (city)|Cork]] so that people could understand it.<ref>Berresford Ellis 1975, p. 190.</ref>

Irish was sufficiently strong in early 18th century Dublin to be the language of a coterie of poets and scribes led by Seán and Tadhg Ó Neachtain, both poets of note.<ref>Williams & Uí Mhuiríosa 1979, pp. 279 and 284.</ref> Scribal activity in Irish persisted in Dublin right through the 18th century. An outstanding example was Muiris Ó Gormáin (Maurice Gorman), a prolific producer of manuscripts who advertised his services (in English) in ''Faulkner's Dublin Journal''.<ref>Ní Mhunghaile 2010, pp. 239–276.</ref> There were still an appreciable number of Irish speakers in [[County Dublin]] at the time of the 1851 census.<ref>See Fitzgerald, 1984.</ref>

In other urban centres the descendants of medieval Anglo-Norman settlers, the so-called [[Normans in Ireland|Old English]], were Irish-speaking or bilingual by the 16th century.<ref>McCabe, p.31</ref> The English administrator and traveller [[Fynes Moryson]], writing in the last years of the 16th century, said that "the English Irish and the very citizens (excepting those of Dublin where the lord deputy resides) though they could speak English as well as we, yet commonly speak Irish among themselves, and were hardly induced by our familiar conversation to speak English with us".<ref>Quoted in Graham Kew (ed.), ''The Irish Sections of Fynes Moryson's unpublished itinerary'' (IMC, Dublin, 1998), p. 50.</ref> In Galway, a city dominated by Old English merchants and loyal to the Crown up to the [[Irish Confederate Wars]] (1641–1653), the use of the Irish language had already provoked the passing of an Act of [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] (1536), ordaining as follows:

::''Item, that every inhabitant within oure said towne [Galway] endeavour themselfes to speake English, and to use themselfes after the English facon; and, speciallye, that you, and every one of you, doe put your children to scole, to lerne to speke English...''<ref>Quoted in [[James Hardiman|Hardiman, James]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=Lv8HAAAAQAAJ ''The History of the Town and Country of the County of Galway'']. Dublin 1820: p. 80.</ref>

The demise of native cultural institutions in the seventeenth century saw the social prestige of Irish diminish, and the gradual Anglicisation of the middle classes followed.<ref>Ó Laoire 2007, p. 164.</ref> The census of 1851 showed, however, that the towns and cities of Munster still had significant Irish-speaking populations. Much earlier, in 1819, James McQuige, a veteran [[Methodism|Methodist]] lay preacher in Irish, wrote: "In some of the largest southern towns, Cork, [[Kinsale]] and even the Protestant town of [[Bandon, County Cork|Bandon]], provisions are sold in the markets, and cried in the streets, in Irish".<ref>Quoted in de Brún 2009, pp. 11–12.</ref> Irish speakers constituted over 40% of the population of Cork even in 1851.<ref>Fitzgerald, Garrett, 'Estimates for baronies of minimal level of Irish-speaking amongst successive decennial cohorts, 117-1781 to 1861–1871,' Volume 84, ''Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy'' 1984</ref>

=== Modern urban usage ===
The late 18th and 19th centuries saw a reduction in the number of Dublin's Irish speakers, in keeping with the trend elsewhere. This continued until the end of the 19th century, when the [[Gaelic revival]] saw the creation of a strong Irish–speaking network, typically united by various branches of the {{lang|ga|[[Conradh na Gaeilge]]}}, and accompanied by renewed literary activity.<ref>Ó Conluain & Ó Céileachair 1976, pp. 148–153, 163–169, 210–215.</ref> By the 1930s Dublin had a lively literary life in Irish.<ref>Máirín Ní Mhuiríosa, "Cumann na Scríbhneoirí: Memoir" in ''Scríobh 5'', pp. 168–181, Seán Ó Mórdha (ed.), An Clóchomhar Tta 1981.</ref>

Urban Irish has been the beneficiary, from the last decades of the 20th century, of a rapidly expanding system of {{lang|ga|[[Gaelscoil]]eanna}}, teaching entirely through Irish. As of 2019 there are 37 such primary schools in Dublin alone.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dublin : Gaelscoileanna – Irish Medium Education |url=http://www.gaelscoileanna.ie/en/category/schools/primary/dublin-bunscoil/ |access-date=8 April 2020}}</ref>

It has been suggested that Ireland's towns and cities are acquiring a critical mass of Irish speakers, reflected in the expansion of Irish language media.<ref name="schism">{{cite news |last=Ó Broin |first=Brian |date=16 January 2010 |title=Schism fears for Gaeilgeoirí |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/schism-fears-for-gaeilgeoir%C3%AD-1.1269494 |url-status=live |access-date=16 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216211616/https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/schism-fears-for-gaeilgeoir%C3%AD-1.1269494 |archive-date=16 February 2018}}</ref> Many are younger speakers who, after encountering Irish at school, made an effort to acquire fluency, while others have been educated through Irish and some have been raised with Irish. Those from an English-speaking background are now often described as {{lang|ga|nuachainteoirí}} ("new speakers") and use whatever opportunities are available (festivals, "pop-up" events) to practise or improve their Irish.<ref>{{cite report |first1=John |last1=Walsh |first2=Bernadette |last2=OʼRourke |first3=Hugh |last3=Rowland |title=Research Report on New Speakers of Irish |url=https://www.forasnagaeilge.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/New-speakers-of-Irish-report.pdf |publisher=Foras na Gaeilge |date=October 2015 |access-date=8 June 2023}}</ref>

It has been suggested that the comparative standard is still the Irish of the Gaeltacht,<ref name="Seoighe">{{cite news |last=Seoighe |first=Stiofán |date=22 July 2019 |title=Gá le doirse a oscailt do nuachainteoirí na Gaeilge: Cén chaoi gur féidir cainteoirí gníomhacha, féinmhuiníneacha a dhéanamh astu seo a fhoghlaimíonn an Ghaeilge ar scoil? |language=Irish |trans-title=Need to open doors for new speakers of Irish: How can active, self-confident speakers be made from those who learn Irish at school? |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tuarasc%C3%A1il/g%C3%A1-le-doirse-a-oscailt-do-nuachainteoir%C3%AD-na-gaeilge-1.3945939 |access-date=19 August 2019}}</ref> but other evidence suggests that young urban speakers take pride in having their own distinctive variety of the language.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nic Fhlannchadha |first1=S. |last2=Hickey |first2=T.M. |date=12 January 2016 |title=Minority Language Ownership and Authority: Perspectives of Native Speakers and New Speakers |journal=International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=38–53 |doi=10.1080/13670050.2015.1127888 |hdl=10197/7394 |s2cid=67833553|hdl-access=free }}</ref> A comparison of traditional Irish and urban Irish shows that the distinction between broad and slender consonants, which is fundamental to Irish phonology and grammar, is not fully or consistently observed in urban Irish. This and other changes make it possible that urban Irish will become a new dialect or even, over a long period, develop into a creole (i.e. a new language) distinct from Gaeltacht Irish.<ref name="schism" /> It has also been argued that there is a certain elitism among Irish speakers, with most respect being given to the Irish of native Gaeltacht speakers and with "Dublin" (i.e. urban) Irish being under-represented in the media.<ref name="Nic Mhuiris">{{cite news |last=Ní Thuathaláin |first=Méabh |date=23 July 2019 |title='I'm gonna speak Irish the way that's natural for me' – craoltóir buartha faoi éilíteachas shaol na Gaeilge |work=Tuairisc.ie |url=https://www.tuairisc.ie/ |url-status=bot: unknown |access-date=19 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904185629/https://tuairisc.ie/ |archive-date=4 September 2019}}</ref> This, however, is paralleled by a failure among some urban Irish speakers to acknowledge grammatical and phonological features essential to the structure of the language.<ref name="schism" />

=== Standardisation ===
{{Main|An Caighdeán Oifigiúil}}

There is no single official standard for pronouncing the Irish language. Certain dictionaries, such as {{lang|ga|Foclóir Póca}}, provide a single pronunciation. Online dictionaries such as ''Foclóir Béarla-Gaeilge''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Leabharlann Teanga agus Foclóireachta |url=https://www.teanglann.ie/ga/ |access-date=8 April 2020 |website=www.teanglann.ie}}</ref> provide audio files in the three major dialects. The differences between dialects are considerable, and have led to recurrent difficulties in conceptualising a "standard Irish." In recent decades contacts between speakers of different dialects have become more frequent and the differences between the dialects are less noticeable.<ref>{{cite web |title=Irish Dialects copy of Irishlanguage.net |url=http://www.irishlanguage.net:80/irish/dialects.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701154842/http://www.irishlanguage.net/irish/dialects.asp |archive-date=1 July 2016 |access-date=31 October 2015}}</ref>

{{lang|ga|An Caighdeán Oifigiúil}} ("The Official Standard"), often shortened to {{lang|ga|An Caighdeán}}, is a standard for the spelling and grammar of written Irish, developed and used by the Irish government. Its rules are followed by most schools in Ireland, though schools in and near Irish-speaking regions also use the local dialect. It was published by the translation department of {{lang|ga|[[Dáil Éireann]]}} in 1953<ref name="blas">{{cite web |date=June 2005 |title=Beginners' Blas |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/irish/blas/education/beginnersblas/dictionaries.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090303083711/http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/irish/blas/education/beginnersblas/dictionaries.shtml |archive-date=3 March 2009 |access-date=18 March 2011 |publisher=[[BBC]] }}</ref> and updated in 2012<ref>{{cite web |date=January 2012 |title=An Caighdeán Oifigiúil |trans-title=The Official Standard |url=http://www.oireachtas.ie/parliament/media/translators/An-Caighde%C3%A1n-Oifigi%C3%BAil-2017.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180425182331/http://www.oireachtas.ie/parliament/media/translators/An-Caighde%C3%A1n-Oifigi%C3%BAil-2017.pdf |archive-date=25 April 2018 |access-date=26 February 2018 |language=Irish}}</ref> and 2017.

== Phonology ==
{{Main|Irish phonology}}

In pronunciation, Irish most closely resembles its nearest relatives, [[Scottish Gaelic]] and [[Manx language|Manx]]. One notable feature is that consonants (except {{IPA|/h/}}) come in pairs, one "broad" ([[velarization|velarised]], pronounced with the back of the tongue pulled back towards the soft palate) and one "slender" ([[Palatalization (phonetics)|palatalised]], pronounced with the middle of the tongue pushed up towards the hard palate). While broad–slender pairs are not unique to Irish (being found, for example, in [[Russian language|Russian]]), in Irish they have a grammatical function.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
|+Consonant phonemes
!rowspan="2" colspan="2"| 
!colspan="2" | [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
!colspan="2" | [[Coronal consonant|Coronal]]
!colspan="2" | [[Dorsal consonant|Dorsal]]
!rowspan="2" | [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|- class=small
! [[velarization|broad]]
! [[Palatalization (phonetics)|slender]]
! [[velarization|broad]]
! [[Palatalization (phonetics)|slender]]
! [[velarization|broad]]
! [[Palatalization (phonetics)|slender]]
|-
!rowspan="2" | [[Stop consonant|Stop]]
!<small>[[Voice (phonetics)|voiceless]]</small>
| {{IPA link|pˠ}} || {{IPA link|pʲ}}
| {{IPA link|t̪ˠ}} || {{IPA link|tʲ}}
| {{IPA link|k}} || {{IPA link|c}}
| 
|-
!<small>[[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]</small>
| {{IPA link|bˠ}} || {{IPA link|bʲ}}
| {{IPA link|d̪ˠ}} || {{IPA link|dʲ}}
| {{IPA link|ɡ}} || {{IPA link|ɟ}}
|
|-
!rowspan="2"|[[Continuant consonant|Continuant]] 
!<small>[[Voice (phonetics)|voiceless]]</small>
| {{IPA link|fˠ}} || {{IPA link|fʲ}}
| {{IPA link|sˠ}} || {{IPA link|ʃ}}
| {{IPA link|x}} || {{IPA link|ç}}
| {{IPA link|h}}
|-
!<small>[[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]</small>
| {{IPA link|w}} || {{IPA link|vʲ}}
| {{IPA link|l̪ˠ}}||{{IPA link|lʲ}}
| {{IPA link|ɣ}} || {{IPA link|j}}
|
|-
!colspan="2"| [[Nasal stop|Nasal]]
| {{IPA link|mˠ}} || {{IPA link|mʲ}}
| {{IPA link|n̪ˠ}} || {{IPA link|nʲ}}
| {{IPA link|ŋ}} || {{IPA link|ɲ}}
|
|-
!colspan=2| [[Flap consonant|Tap]]
| || 
| {{IPA link|ɾˠ}} || {{IPA link|ɾʲ}}
| ||
|
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+Vowel phonemes
|-
! rowspan="2" |
! colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| [[Front vowel|Front]]
! style="text-align:center;"| [[Central vowel|Central]]
! colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| [[Vowel length|<small>short</small>]]
! style="text-align:center;"| [[Vowel length|<small>long</small>]]
! style="text-align:center;"| [[Vowel length|<small>short</small>]]
! style="text-align:center;"| [[Vowel length|<small>short</small>]]
! style="text-align:center;"| [[Vowel length|<small>long</small>]]
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| [[Close vowel|Close]]
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPA link|ɪ}} || style="text-align:center;"| {{IPA link|iː}} || || style="text-align:center;"| {{IPA link|ʊ}}|| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPA link|uː}}
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| [[Mid vowel|Mid]]
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPA link|ɛ}} || style="text-align:center;"| {{IPA link|eː}} || style="text-align:center;"| {{IPA link|ə}}|| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPA link|ɔ}}|| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPA link|oː}}
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| [[Open vowel|Open]]
| ||| || style="text-align:center;"| {{IPA link|a}}|| || style="text-align:center;"| {{IPA link|ɑː}}
|}
The [[diphthongs]] of Irish are {{IPA|/iə, uə, əi, əu/}}.

==Syntax and morphology==
{{Main|Irish grammar|Irish declension|Irish conjugation|Irish syntax}}

Irish is a [[fusional language|fusional]], [[verb-subject-object|VSO]], [[nominative-accusative language]]. It is neither [[verb framing|verb]] nor [[verb framing|satellite framed]], and makes liberal use of [[deixis|deictic]] verbs.

Nouns [[declension|decline]] for 3 [[grammatical number|numbers]]: [[Grammatical number#Singular versus plural|singular]], [[dual (grammatical number)|dual]] (only in conjunction with the number {{lang|ga|dhá}} "two"), [[plural]]; 2 [[Grammatical gender|genders]]: masculine, feminine; and 4 [[grammatical case|cases]]: [[nominative|nomino]]-[[accusative]] ({{Lang|ga|ainmneach}}), [[vocative]] ({{Lang|ga|gairmeach}}), [[genitive]] ({{Lang|ga|ginideach}}), and [[prepositional case|prepositional]]-[[locative case|locative]] ({{Lang|ga|tabharthach}}), with fossilised traces of the older [[accusative case|accusative]] ({{Lang|ga|cuspóireach}}). [[Adjective]]s [[agreement (linguistics)|agree]] with nouns in [[grammatical number|number]], [[grammatical gender|gender]], and [[grammatical case|case]]. Adjectives generally follow nouns, though some precede or [[prefix]] nouns. [[Demonstrative]] [[adjective]]s have [[Demonstrative#Distal and proximal demonstratives|proximal]], [[Demonstrative#Distal and proximal demonstratives|medial]], and [[Demonstrative#Distal and proximal demonstratives|distal]] forms. The [[prepositional]]-[[locative]] case is called the [[dative]] by convention, though it originates in the Proto-Celtic ablative.

Verbs [[Grammatical conjugation|conjugate]] for 3 [[grammatical tense|tenses]]: [[past tense|past]], [[present tense|present]], [[future tense|future]]; 2 [[grammatical aspect|aspects]]: [[Uses of English verb forms#perfective|perfective]], [[imperfective]]; 2 numbers: [[Grammatical number#Singular versus plural|singular]], [[plural]]; 4 [[grammatical mood|moods]]: [[indicative mood|indicative]], [[subjunctive mood|subjunctive]], [[conditional mood|conditional]], [[imperative mood|imperative]]; 2 relative forms, the present and future relative; and in some verbs, [[Dependent and independent verb forms|independent]] and [[Dependent and independent verb forms|dependent]] forms. Verbs [[Grammatical conjugation|conjugate]] for 3 [[grammatical person|persons]] and an impersonal form which is [[agent (grammar)|actor]]-free; the 3rd person singular acts as a person-free personal form that can be followed or otherwise refer to any person or number.

There are two verbs for "to be", one for [[essence|inherent qualities]] with only two forms, {{lang|ga|is}} "present" and {{lang|ga|ba}} "past" and "conditional", and one for [[Substance theory#Aristotle|transient qualities]], with a full complement of forms except for the verbal adjective. The two verbs share the one verbal noun.

Irish verb formation employs a mixed system during conjugation, with both [[analytic language|analytic]] and [[synthetic language|synthetic]] methods employed depending on tense, number, mood and person. For example, in the official standard, present tense verbs have conjugated forms only in the 1st person and autonomous forms (i.e. {{lang|ga|molaim}} 'I praise', {{lang|ga|molaimid}} 'we praise', {{lang|ga|moltar}} 'is praised, one praises' ), whereas all other persons are conveyed analytically (i.e. {{lang|ga|molann sé}} 'he praises', {{lang|ga|molann sibh}} 'you {{small|pl.}} praise'). The ratio of analytic to synthetic forms in a given verb paradigm varies between the various tenses and moods. The conditional, imperative and past habitual forms prefer synthetic forms in most persons and numbers, whereas the subjunctive, past, future and present forms prefer mostly analytical forms.

The meaning of the [[passive voice]] is largely conveyed through the autonomous verb form, however there also exist other structures analogous to the [[English passive voice|passival]] and [[resultative]] constructions. There are also a number of preverbal [[grammatical particle|particles]] marking the [[affirmative and negative|negative]], [[interrogative]], [[subjunctive mood|subjunctive]], [[relative clause]]s, etc. There is a [[verbal noun]] and [[verbal adjective]]. Verb forms are highly [[Inflection#Regular and irregular inflection|regular]], many grammars recognise only [[Irish conjugation#Irregular verbs|11 irregular verbs]].

[[preposition and postposition|Prepositions]] [[inflection|inflect]] for [[grammatical person|person]] and [[grammatical number|number]]. Different prepositions [[government (linguistics)|govern]] different [[grammatical case|cases]]. In Old and Middle Irish,
prepositions [[government (linguistics)|govern]]ed different cases depending on intended [[semantics]]; this has disappeared in Modern Irish except in fossilised form.

Irish has no verb to express having; instead, the word {{lang|ga|ag}} ("at", etc.) is used in conjunction with the transient "be" verb {{lang|ga|bheith}}:

*{{lang|ga|''Tá leabhar'' agam.|italic=unset}} "I have a book." (Literally, "there is a book at me", cf. Russian У меня есть книга, Finnish ''minulla on kirja'', French ''le livre est à moi'')
*{{lang|ga|''Tá leabhar'' agat.|italic=unset}} "You (singular) have a book."
*{{lang|ga|''Tá leabhar'' aige.|italic=unset}} "He has a book."
*{{lang|ga|''Tá leabhar'' aici.|italic=unset}} "She has a book."
*{{lang|ga|''Tá leabhar'' againn.|italic=unset}} "We have a book."
*{{lang|ga|''Tá leabhar'' agaibh.|italic=unset}} "You (plural) have a book."
*{{lang|ga|''Tá leabhar'' acu.|italic=unset}} "They have a book."

[[numerals (linguistics)|Numerals]] have three forms: abstract, general and ordinal. The numbers from 2 to 10 (and these in combination with higher numbers) are rarely used for people, numeral nominals being used instead:

*{{lang|ga|a dó}} "Two."
*{{lang|ga|dhá leabhar}} "Two books."
*{{lang|ga|beirt}} "Two people, a couple", {{lang|ga|beirt fhear}} "Two men", {{lang|ga|beirt bhan}} "Two women".
*{{lang|ga|dara}}, {{lang|ga|tarna}} (free variation) "Second."

Irish has both decimal and vigesimal systems:

10: {{lang|ga|a deich}}

20: {{lang|ga|fiche}}

30: vigesimal – {{lang|ga|a deich is fiche}}; decimal – {{lang|ga|tríocha}}

40: v. {{lang|ga|daichead, dá fhichead}}; d. {{lang|ga|ceathracha}}

50: v. {{lang|ga|a deich is daichead}}; d. {{lang|ga|caoga}} (also: {{lang|ga|leathchéad}} "half-hundred")

60: v. {{lang|ga|trí fichid}}; d. {{lang|ga|seasca}}

70: v. {{lang|ga|a deich is trí fichid}}; d. {{lang|ga|seachtó}}

80: v. {{lang|ga|cheithre fichid}}; d. {{lang|ga|ochtó}}

90: v. {{lang|ga|a deich is cheithre fichid}}; d. {{lang|ga|nócha}}

100: v. {{lang|ga|cúig fichid}}; d. {{lang|ga|céad}}

A number such as 35 has various forms:

{{lang|ga|a cúigdéag is fichid}} "15 and 20"

{{lang|ga|a cúig is tríocha}} "5 and 30"

{{lang|ga|a cúigdéag ar fhichid}} "15 on 20"

{{lang|ga|a cúig ar thríochaid}} "5 on 30"

{{lang|ga|a cúigdéag fichead}} "15 of 20 (genitive)"

{{lang|ga|a cúig tríochad}} "5 of 30 (genitive)"

{{lang|ga|fiche 's a cúigdéag}} "20 and 15"

{{lang|ga|tríocha 's a cúig}} "30 and 5"

The latter is most commonly used in mathematics.

===Initial mutations===
{{Main|Irish initial mutations}}
In Irish, there are two classes of initial [[consonant mutation]]s, which express grammatical relationship and meaning in verbs, nouns and adjectives:

* [[Lenition]] ({{lang|ga|séimhiú}}) describes the change of [[Plosive|stops]] into [[fricative]]s.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://www.degruyter.com/view/book/9783110226607/10.1515/9783110226607.235.xml|date=11 April 2014|publisher=De Gruyter Mouton|isbn=978-3-11-022660-7|language=en|doi=10.1515/9783110226607.235|title=The Sound Structure of Modern Irish|pages=235–316 |chapter=III the morphonology of Irish }}</ref> Indicated in [[Gaelic type]] by an [[Dot (diacritic)#Overdot|overdot]] ({{lang|ga|ponc séimhithe}}), it is shown in [[Roman type]] by adding an {{vr|h}}.
** {{lang|ga|caith!}} "throw!" – {{lang|ga|chaith mé}} "I threw" (lenition as a past-tense marker, caused by the particle {{lang|ga|do}}, now generally omitted)
** {{lang|ga|gá}} "requirement" – {{lang|ga|easpa an ghá}} "lack of the requirement" (lenition marking the genitive case of a masculine noun)
** {{lang|ga|Seán}} "John" – {{lang|ga|a Sheáin!}} "John!" (lenition as part of the vocative case, the vocative lenition being triggered by {{lang|ga|a}}, the vocative marker before {{lang|ga|Sheáin}})
* [[Irish initial mutations#Eclipsis|Eclipsis]] ({{lang|ga|urú}}) covers the voicing of voiceless stops, and [[nasalisation]] of voiced stops.
** {{lang|ga|Athair}} "Father" – {{lang|ga|ár nAthair}} "our Father"
** {{lang|ga|tús}} "start", {{lang|ga|ar dtús}} "at the start"
** {{lang|ga|Gaillimh}} "Galway" – {{lang|ga|i nGaillimh}} "in Galway"

Mutations are often the only way to distinguish grammatical forms. For example, the only non-contextual way to distinguish [[pronoun#Possessive|possessive pronouns]] "her", "his" and "their", is through initial mutations since all meanings are represented by the same word {{lang|ga|a}}.

* his shoe – {{lang|ga|a bhróg}} (lenition)
* their shoe – {{lang|ga|a mbróg}} (eclipsis)
* her shoe – {{lang|ga|a bróg}} (unchanged)

Due to [[irish initial mutations|initial mutation]], [[prefix]]es, [[clitic]]s, [[suffix]]es, [[root (linguistics)|root]] [[inflection]], ending [[morphology (linguistics)|morphology]], [[elision]], [[sandhi]], [[epenthesis]], and [[assimilation (phonology)|assimilation]]; the beginning, core, and end of words can each change radically and even simultaneously depending on context.

==Orthography==
{{Main|Irish orthography}}
[[File:Badge of the Irish Defence Forces.svg|thumb|The official symbol of the Irish Defence Forces, showing a Gaelic typeface with dot diacritics]]

A native [[writing system]], [[Ogham]], was used to write Primitive Irish and Old Irish until [[Latin script]] was introduced in the 5th century [[Common Era|CE]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Celtic-languages/Irish|title=Celtic languages – Irish &#124; Britannica|website=www.britannica.com}}</ref> Since the introduction of Latin script, the main [[typeface]] used to write Irish was [[Gaelic type]] until it was replaced by [[Roman type]] during the mid-20th century.

The traditional Irish [[alphabet]] ({{Lang|ga|áibítir}}) consists of 18 [[letter (alphabet)|letter]]s: {{vr|{{wrap|a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, t, u}}}}; it does not contain {{vr|j, k, q, v, w, x, y, z}}.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/46449130 |title=Graiméar Gaeilge na mBráithre Críostai. |date=1999 |publisher=An Gúm |others=L. A. Ó hAnluain, Christian Brothers |isbn=1-85791-327-2 |edition=Eagrán nua |location=Baile Átha Cliath |oclc=46449130}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Irish Orthography |url=http://www.nualeargais.ie/gnag/ortho.htm |access-date=23 October 2022 |website=www.nualeargais.ie |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326031917/http://www.nualeargais.ie/gnag/ortho.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, contemporary Irish uses the full Latin alphabet, with the previously unused letter used in modern [[loanword]]s; {{vr|v}} occurs in a small number of (mainly [[Onomatopoeia|onomatopoeic]]) native words and [[colloquialism]]s.

Vowels may be [[Diacritic|accented]] with an [[acute accent]] ({{vr|á, é, í, ó, ú}}; Irish and [[Hiberno-English]]: {{Lang|ga|(síneadh) fada}} "long (sign)"), but it is ignored for purposes of alphabetisation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Irish 'fada' to get legal protection – and must appear in all State IT systems and computer keyboards |url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/irish-fadato-get-legal-protection-and-must-appear-in-all-state-it-systems-and-computer-keyboards-40631034.html |access-date=31 December 2022 |website=independent |date=8 July 2021 |language=en}}</ref> It is used, among other conventions, to mark [[Vowel length|long vowel]]s, e.g. {{vr|e}} is {{IPA|/ɛ/}} and {{vr|é}} is {{IPA|/eː/}}.

The [[Dot (diacritic)#Overdot|overdot]] ({{Lang|ga|ponc séimhithe}} "dot of lenition") was used in traditional [[orthography]] to indicate [[lenition]]; An Caighdeán uses a following {{vr|h}} for this purpose, i.e. the dotted letters ({{lang|ga|litreacha buailte}} "struck letters") {{vr|{{wrap|ḃ, ċ, ḋ, ḟ, ġ, ṁ, ṗ, ṡ, ṫ}}}} are equivalent to {{vr|{{wrap|bh, ch, dh, fh, gh, mh, ph, sh, th}}}}.

The use of Gaelic type and the overdot today is restricted to when a traditional style is consciously being used, e.g. {{lang|ga|Óglaiġ na h-Éireann}} on the [[Irish Defence Forces cap badge]] (see [[#Orthography|above]]). Extending the use of the overdot to Roman type would theoretically have the advantage of making Irish texts significantly shorter, e.g. {{lang|ga|gheobhaidh sibh}} "you (pl.) will get" would become {{lang|ga|ġeoḃaiḋ siḃ}}.

=== Spelling reform ===
Around the time of the [[Second World War]], Séamas Daltún, in charge of {{ill|Rannóg an Aistriúcháin|ga}} (The Translation Department of the [[Irish government]]), issued his own guidelines about how to [[Standard language|standardise]] Irish [[spelling]] and [[grammar]]. This [[de facto]] standard was subsequently approved by the State and developed into {{lang|ga|[[an Caighdeán Oifigiúil]]}}, which simplified and standardised the orthography and grammar by removing inter-dialectal [[silent letter]]s and simplifying vowel combinations. Where multiple versions existed in different dialects for the same word, one was selected, for example:
* {{lang|ga|beirbhiughadh}} → {{lang|ga|beiriú}} "cook"
* {{lang|ga|biadh}} → {{lang|ga|bia}} "food"
* {{lang|ga|Gaedhealg}} / {{lang|ga|Gaedhilg}} / {{lang|ga|Gaedhealaing}} / {{lang|ga|Gaeilic}} / {{lang|ga|Gaelainn}} / {{lang|ga|Gaoidhealg}} / {{lang|ga|Gaolainn}} → {{lang|ga|Gaeilge}} "Irish language"

{{lang|ga|An Caighdeán}} does not reflect all dialects to the same degree, e.g. {{lang|ga|cruaidh}} {{IPA|/kɾˠuəj/}} "hard", {{lang|ga|leabaidh}} {{IPA|/ˈl̠ʲabˠəj/}} "bed", and {{lang|fa|tráigh}} {{IPA|/t̪ˠɾˠaːj/}} "beach" were standardised as {{lang|ga|crua}}, {{lang|ga|leaba}}, and {{lang|ga|trá}} despite the reformed spellings only reflecting South Connacht realisations {{IPA|[kɾˠuə], [ˈl̠ʲabˠə], and [t̪ˠɾˠaː]}}, failing to represent the other dialectal realisations {{IPA|[kɾˠui], [ˈl̠ʲabˠi], and [t̪ˠɾˠaːi]|}} (in Mayo and Ulster) or {{IPA|[kɾˠuəɟ], [ˈl̠ʲabˠəɟ], and [t̪ˠɾˠaːɟ]|}} (in Munster), which were previously represented by the pre-reformed spellings.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Doyle |first1=Aidan |title=An Ghaeilge, Podręcznik Języka Irlandzkiego |last2=Gussmann |first2=Edmund |author-link2=Edmund Gussmann |year=2005 |isbn=83-7363-275-1 |page=417|publisher=Redakcja Wydawnictw Katolickiego Uniwersytetu Lubelskiego }}</ref> For this reason, the pre-reform spellings are used by some speakers to reflect the dialectal pronunciations.

Other examples include the genitive of {{lang|ga|bia}} "food" ({{IPA|/bʲiə/}}; pre-reform {{lang|ga|biadh}}) and {{lang|ga|saol}} "life, world" ({{IPA|/sˠeːlˠ/}}; pre-reform {{lang|ga|saoghal}}), realised {{IPA|[bʲiːɟ]}} and {{IPA|[sˠeːlʲ]}} in Munster, reflecting the pre-Caighdeán spellings {{lang|ga|bídh}} and {{lang|ga|saoghail}}, which were standardised as {{lang|ga|bia}} and {{lang|ga|saoil}} despite not representing the Munster pronunciations.<ref>{{Cite book|title=An Ghaeilge, Podręcznik Języka Irlandzkiego |first1=Aidan |last1=Doyle |first2=Edmund |last2=Gussmann |author-link2=Edmund Gussmann |year=2005 |isbn=83-7363-275-1 |page=412|publisher=Redakcja Wydawnictw Katolickiego Uniwersytetu Lubelskiego }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Doyle |first1=Aidan |title=An Ghaeilge, Podręcznik Języka Irlandzkiego |last2=Gussmann |first2=Edmund |author-link2=Edmund Gussmann |year=2005 |isbn=83-7363-275-1 |page=432|publisher=Redakcja Wydawnictw Katolickiego Uniwersytetu Lubelskiego }}</ref>

== Sample text ==

'''Article 1 of the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]]'''
{|
|- 
|| '''Irish''': <br>{{lang|ga|Saolaítear gach duine den chine daonna saor agus comhionann i ndínit agus i gcearta. Tá bua an réasúin agus an choinsiasa acu agus ba cheart dóibh gníomhú i dtreo a chéile i spiorad an bhráithreachais.}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Universal Declaration of Human Rights |publisher=[[Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights]] |url=https://www.ohchr.org/EN/UDHR/Pages/Language.aspx?LangID=gli1 }}</ref>
|style="padding-left: 1em"| '''English''': <br> All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights |title=Universal Declaration of Human Rights |publisher=[[United Nations]] }}</ref>
|}

== See also ==
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* {{lang|ga|[[Béarlachas]]}}, Anglicisms in Irish
* {{lang|ga|[[Buntús Cainte]]}}, a course in basic spoken Irish 
* [[Comparison of Scottish Gaelic and Irish]]
* {{lang|ga|[[Cumann Gaelach]]}}, Irish language Society
* [[Dictionary of the Irish Language]]
* [[Fáinne]], a lapel pin for Irish speakers
* [[Goidelic substrate hypothesis]]
* [[Hiberno-Latin]], a variety of [[Medieval Latin]] used in Irish monasteries. It included Greek, Hebrew and Celtic neologisms.
* [[Irish language outside Ireland]]
* [[Irish name]] and [[Place names in Ireland]]
* [[Irish words used in the English language]]
* [[Irish (Junior Cert)|Irish]], a subject of the Junior Cycle examination in Secondary schools in Ireland
* [[List of artists who have released Irish-language songs]]
* [[List of English words of Irish origin]]
* [[List of Ireland-related topics]]
* [[List of Irish-language given names]]
* [[List of Irish-language media]]
* [[Modern literature in Irish]]
* [[Status of the Irish language]], a detailed account of the current state of the language.
* {{lang|ga|[[Teastas Eorpach na Gaeilge]]}}
{{div col end}}

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==

=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* McCabe, Richard A.. ''Spenser's Monstrous Regiment: Elizabethan Ireland and the Poetics of Difference''. [[Oxford University Press]] 2002. {{ISBN|0-19-818734-3}}.
* [[Raymond Hickey|Hickey, Raymond]]. ''The Dialects of Irish: Study of a Changing Landscape''. [[Walter de Gruyter]], 2011. {{ISBN|3110238306}}.
* [[Raymond Hickey|Hickey, Raymond]]. ''The Sound Structure of Modern Irish''. [[De Gruyter Mouton]] 2014. {{ISBN|978-3-11-022659-1}}.
* De Brún, Pádraig. ''Scriptural Instruction in the Vernacular: The Irish Society and its Teachers 1818–1827''. [[Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies]] 2009. {{ISBN|978-1-85500-212-8}}
* [[Aidan Doyle|Doyle, Aidan]], ''A History of the Irish Language: From the Norman Invasion to Independence'', Oxford, 2015. 
* Fitzgerald, Garrett, 'Estimates for baronies of minimal level of Irish-speaking amongst successive decennial cohorts, 117–1781 to 1861–1871,' Volume 84, ''[[Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy]]'' 1984.
* Garvin, Tom, ''Preventing the Future: Why was Ireland so poor for so long?'', [[Gill and MacMillan]], 2005. 
* Hindley, Reg (1991, new ed.). ''The Death of the Irish Language: A Qualified Obituary''. [[Routledge]]. {{ISBN|978-0-4150-6481-1}}
* McMahon, Timothy G.. ''Grand Opportunity: The Gaelic Revival and Irish Society, 1893–1910''. [[Syracuse University Press]] 2008. {{ISBN|978-0-8156-3158-3}}
* Ó Gráda, Cormac. '{{lang|ga|Cé Fada le Fán}}' in ''Dublin Review of Books'', Issue 34, 6 May 2013: {{cite web|url=http://www.drb.ie/essays/c%C3%A9-fada-le-f%C3%A1n |title=CÉ FADA LE FÁN |website=Drb.ie |access-date=23 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011123934/http://www.drb.ie/essays/c%C3%A9-fada-le-f%C3%A1n |archive-date=11 October 2017 |url-status=live}}
* Kelly, James & Mac Murchaidh, Ciarán (eds.). ''Irish and English: Essays on the Linguistic and Cultural Frontier 1600–1900''. [[Four Courts Press]] 2012. {{ISBN|978-1846823404}}
* Ní Mhunghaile, Lesa. 'An Eighteenth Century Irish scribe's private library: Muiris Ó Gormáin's books' in ''[[Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy]]'', Volume 110C, 2010, pp.&nbsp;239–276.
* Ní Mhuiríosa, Máirín. '{{lang|ga|Cumann na Scríbhneoirí: Memoir}}' in ''{{lang|ga|Scríobh 5}}'', ed. Seán Ó Mórdha. {{lang|ga|Baile Átha Cliath: An Clóchomhar Tta}} 1981.
* Ó hÓgáin, Dáithí. ''Labhrann Laighnigh: Téacsanna agus Cainteanna ó Shean-Chúige Laighean''. Coiscéim 2011.
* Ó Laoire, Muiris. ''Language Use and Language Attitudes in Ireland'' in ''Multilingualism in European Bilingual Contexts : Language Use and Attitudes'', ed. David Lasagabaster and Ángel Huguet. Multilingual Matters Ltd. 2007. {{ISBN|1-85359-929-8}}
* Shibakov, Alexey. ''Irish Word Forms / Irische Wortformen''. epubli 2017. {{ISBN|9783745066500}}
* Williams, J. E. Caerwyn & Ní Mhuiríosa, Máirín (ed.). ''{{lang|ga|Traidisiún Liteartha na nGael}}''. An Clóchomhar Tta 1979.
* Williams, Nicholas. 'Na Canúintí a Theacht chun Solais' in ''{{lang|ga|Stair na Gaeilge}}'', ed. Kim McCone and others. Maigh Nuad 1994. {{ISBN|0-901519-90-1}}
{{refend|2}}

== External links ==
{{Sister project links|auto=1|the Irish language|wikt=Category:Irish language|iw=ga}}
{{Wikisourcelang|oldwikisource|Main Page/Gaeilge}}
* [http://www.uni-due.de/DI/ Discover Irish]
* "[https://www.bbc.co.uk/irish/features/8/english/ Learning Irish?]," ''[[BBC]]''
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100628023038/http://www.digitalaudioproductions.com/radio-shows/ {{lang|ga|Giotaí and Top 40 Offigiúla na hÉireann}} programmes]
* [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Irish_Swadesh_list Irish Swadesh list of basic vocabulary words] (from Wiktionary's [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Swadesh_lists Swadesh-list appendix])

=== Grammar and pronunciation ===
* [http://learn101.org/irish.php Learn Irish] Grammar with audio and pronunciation
* [http://www.angaelmagazine.com/pronunciation/introduction.htm {{lang|ga|An Gael}} Magazine]&nbsp;– Irish Gaelic Arts, Culture, And History Alive Worldwide Today
* [http://www.abair.tcd.ie/?page=synthesis&lang=eng Trinity College Dublin The Irish Language Synthesiser]

=== Dictionaries ===
* [http://teanglann.ie/ {{lang|ga|Teanglann.ie}} – Dictionaries and terminology resource]
* [http://www.ceantar.org/Dicts/search.html General Gaelic Dictionaries]

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