Language Research

Ireland is a country with strong influence of religion, which played a central role in the development of Irish culture and society.

Growing Irish nationalism resulted in independence from the United Kingdom in 1921, with six largely Protestant northern counties remaining within the UK. After World War II bloody strife between Catholics and Protestants over the status of Northern Ireland cost thousands of lives. In 1998, the British and Irish governments and the Roman Catholics and Protestants of Northern Ireland agreed to substantial steps toward peace.

Independence: December 6, 1921 (from UK)

Updated (September 2002)

HISTORY OF THE IRISH LANGUAGE

Around the year 1800, less than a third of the population in Ireland (around one and a half million people] spoke English, some two million spoke Irish and half a million were bilingual.

In 1831, legislation brought into existence so-called national schools with the English language instructions. Irish could not be taught and children were even punished for speaking Irish among themselves. An array of tools was employed to achieve this - tally sticks, wooden gags, humiliation and mockery. This practice, in one form or another, continued until the early years of the 20th Century.

After the Potato Famine in 1845, people abandoned Irish as quickly as they could and collaborated with the schools in forcing their children to use only English. By 1890, Irish was known by less than 15 percent of the population, mainly older people inhabiting mostly remote areas in the west of the country.

There were a few voices, which advocated doing something to stem the total demise of Irish. In 1876, the Society for the Preservation of the Irish Language was established, followed by the breakaway Gaelic Union in 1880. However, it was only in 1893, with an organization called the Gaelic League (established in Dublin), when the progress started to become evident. The objective of the Gaelic League was to conserve Irish as a living vernacular. The Irish language and attendant culture was rich, beautiful and of great antiquity. Against all the odds the message of the Gaelic League was heard and accepted by more and more people throughout the country. Language classes were organized, traditional storytelling, singing, music and dancing were fostered and campaigns launched to advance Irish in everyday life.

In 1918, "Sinn Féin," the republican separatist party, won a majority of the Irish seats in the British general elections. Instead of taking their seats at Westminster they set up an independent parliament in Dublin and declared a Republic. Ministers were appointed and a government program was adopted with the revival of Irish as one of the main objectives. Not surprisingly, the British did not recognize a new state.

Article 8 of "Bunreacht na hÉireann" [Constitution of Ireland], enacted in 1937, states that:

1. The Irish language as the national language is the first official language.

2. The English language is recognized as the second official language.

3. Provision may, however, be made by law for the exclusive use of either of the said languages for any one or more official purposes, either throughout the state or in any part thereof.

Article 25/4 has an interesting provision, which states that:

In case of conflict between the texts of any copy of this Constitution enrolled under this section, the text in the national language shall prevail.

There is a certain irony in this as the Irish version of the Constitution is a translation of the English text...Most bills submitted to the houses of the Oireachtas [Dáil and Seanad] are prepared in English and are translated into Irish only after enactment, sometimes with a considerable delay.

Notwithstanding the high constitutional recognition accorded to Irish, English is by far the dominant language in almost all domains of national life. There is an enormous gap between the theoretical position of Irish and its real position. Irish speakers wishing to use Irish in their everyday lives can expect obstruction and delays, even when dealing with government.

Máirtín Ó Cadhain, author, polemicist, one-time revolutionary, described the situation: "in Ireland the government guarantees the right and provides the means for having the Irish language taught. However, outside of the schools, it makes the functioning of that language, in any practicable form, impossible."

Ireland is in an unusual position because, although officially bilingual, it has no legislation regulating the use of the two official languages. The Official Languages Bill was to be published before Christmas 2001 but it was delayed and now it is almost certainly not going to be enacted by the current government office. Its objectives are to specify the language rights of citizens consistent with constitutional status of both languages; to specify the obligations of Departments of State and of the public sector to provide services for citizens in the official languages; to place a statutory obligation on Departments of State and public organizations to make specific provision for delivery of an agreed quantum of state services through Irish; to assign general responsibility to the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht & the Islands in regard to the delivery of state services through Irish; and to provide for the overseeing, monitoring and enforcing of the Act by the establishment of the Office of the Official Languages Commissioner.

Source: World Congress on Language Policies, Barcelona, April 16-20, 2002, "Irish - Official yet lesser used," by Dónall Ó Riagáin, http://www.linguapax.org/congres/taller/taller3/article21_ang.html

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Updated (June 2003)

IRISH

Irish, or Gaeilge, is an autochthonous language spoken in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (which is a part of the United Kingdom with a devolved assembly). It is a Celtic language closely related to Scottish Gaelic and Manx and more distantly related to Welsh, Breton and Cornish.

According to the 1996 Census, 1.43 million persons aged three and over, returned themselves, or were returned, as Irish speakers in the Republic. This constitutes 43.5 percent of the total population.

Source: Mercator Education, Regional Dossiers, The Irish language in education in the Republic of Ireland, 2000, http://www1.fa.knaw.nl/mercator/regionale_dossiers/regional_dossier_irish_in_ireland.htm

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