Irish language outside Ireland
Encyclopedia
The Irish language
originated in Ireland, and has spread to other countries at different periods.
Irish was historically the dominant language of the Irish people and they brought their Gaelic speech with them to numerous other countries. An early example was the widespread use of Irish in Wales, Cornwall and other parts of western Britain
in the period of Roman decline and the sub-Roman era. In Scotland
and the Isle of Man
it gave rise to Scottish Gaelic and Manx
. It was similarly exported to many other lands, although usually only being spoken by minorities within those countries. English became the dominant vernacular of the majority of Ireland during the 19th century, and Irish has since been spoken only by a minority of the Irish population. Until that time, and to some extent afterwards, Irish remained the vehicle of a separate cultural, literary and historical experience. This was emphasised by purely linguistic differences, Irish (like other Celtic languages) being highly distinctive in structure and vocabulary. Irish was the language that a large number of emigrants took with them from the 17th century (when emigration, forced or otherwise, became noticeable) to the 19th century.
The Irish diaspora mainly settled in English-speaking countries, chiefly Britain and North America. In some instances the Irish language was retained for several generations. Argentina was the only non-English-speaking country to which the Irish went in large numbers, and those emigrants came in the 19th century from areas where Irish was already in retreat.
An interest in the language has persisted among a minority in the diaspora countries, and even in countries where there was never a significant Irish presence. This has been shown in the founding of language classes (including some at tertiary level), in the use of the Internet, and in contributions to journalism or literature.
1881 saw the founding of “An Gaodhal”, the first newspaper anywhere which was largely in Irish. It continued to be published into the 20th century, and now has an on-line successor in the An Gael.
Irish has retained some cultural importance in the northeast United States. According to the 2000 Census, 25,661 people in the U.S. speak Irish at home. The equivalent 2005 Census reports 18,815.
The Irish language came to Newfoundland in the late 17th century and was commonly spoken among the Newfoundland Irish
until the middle of the 20th century. It remains the only place outside of Europe that can claim a unique Irish name (Talamh an Éisc, meaning Land of the Fish).
In 2007 a number of Canadian speakers founded the first officially designated "Gaeltacht" outside of Ireland in an area near Kingston, Ontario
(see main article Permanent North American Gaeltacht
). Despite being called a Gaeltacht, the area has no permanent inhabitants. The site (named Gaeltacht Bhaile na hÉireann) is located in Tamworth, Ontario
, and is to be a retreat centre for Irish-speaking Canadians and Americans.
O’Farrell argued that the language was soon discarded; Lonergan and other researchers have found that its use was widespread among the first generation, with some transmission to the second and occasional evidence of literacy. Most Irish immigrants came from counties in the west and south-west where Irish was strong (e.g. County Clare and County Galway) and it is likely that in the 19th century Irish was the most widely used European language in Australia after English.
English was the language of social advancement, especially as the Irish and their descendants integrated into Australian life. The 2001 census indicated that there were 828 households in the country which used Irish. Individual users are not counted but their number is likely to be increasing.
The Department of Celtic Studies at the University of Sydney
offers courses in both Modern Irish linguistics, Old Irish and Modern Irish language. The University of Melbourne houses a valuable collection of late 19th and early 20th century books and manuscripts in Irish, increasingly used by specialists in the field.
The language has been increasingly cultivated since the 1970s and has attracted some public attention. The Irish National Association with support from the Sydney branch of Conradh na Gaeilge, ran free classes in Sydney from the 1960s through to 2007, when the language group became independent . In 1993, the first ever Gaelic Language Summer School, Scoil Samhraidh na hAstráile, was established by Máirtín Ó Dubhlaigh, a Sydney-based Irish speaker, which brought together for the first time Irish speakers and teachers from all over the country and established a language network which continues to this day.
There is presently a network of Irish learners and users dominated by the Irish Language Association of Australia (Cumann Gaeilge na hAstráile), through which Irish-language classes are run. Week-long courses are available twice a year in the states of Victoria and New South Wales. The Association has won several prestigious prizes (the last in 2009) in a global competition run by Glór na nGael and sponsored by the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs.
Australians contribute fiction and journalism to Irish-language magazines, both in print and on-line. There is also a widely distributed electronic newsletter for Australian Irish speakers (and some overseas readers) called An Lúibín.
The use of Irish was influenced by immigrants' local origins, the time of their arrival and the degree to which a sense of Irishness survived. In 1894 the New Zealand Tablet, a Catholic newspaper, published articles on the study of Irish. In 1895 it was resolved at a meeting in the city of Dunedin that an Irish-language society on the lines of the PhiloCeltic Society of New York should be established in New Zealand. Gaelic League branches were formed in two New Zealand localities (Milton and Balclutha) and items in Irish were published by the Southern Cross of Invercargill. In 1903 Fr William Ganly, a native speaker from the Aran Islands prominent in Gaelic Revival circles in Melbourne, visited Milton, where he met a large number of Irish speakers.
The dwindling of Irish immigration, the decay of the Gaeltacht
in Ireland and the passing of earlier generations were accompanied by a loss of the language. Interest is presently maintained among an activist minority. In recent years language classes have become available, and Irish is presently taught as an extension course under the auspices of the University of Auckland.
Many came from a quadrangle on the Longford/Westmeath border, its perimeter marked by Athlone, Edgeworthstown, Mullingar and Kilbeggan. It has been estimated that 43.35% emigrants were from Westmeath, 14.57% from Longford and 15.51% from Wexford. Such migrants tended to be younger sons and daughters of the larger tenant farmers and leaseholders, but labourers also came, their fares paid by sheep-farmers seeking skilled shepherds.
Irish census figures for the 19th century give an indication of the percentage of Irish speakers in the areas in question. Allowing for underestimation, it is clear that most immigrants would have been English speakers. Census figures for Westmeath, a major source of Argentinian immigrants, show the following percentages of Irish speakers: 17% in the period 1831-41, 12% in 1841-51, and 8% in 1851-61.
In the 1920s there came a new wave of immigrants from Ireland, most being educated urban professionals who included a high proportion of Protestants. It is unlikely that there were many Irish speakers among them.
The persistence of an interest in Irish is indicated by the fact that the Buenos Aires branch of the Gaelic League was founded as early as 1899. It continued to be active for several decades thereafter, but evidence is lacking for organised attempts at language maintenance into the present day, though the Fahy Club in Buenos Aires continues to host Irish classes.
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
originated in Ireland, and has spread to other countries at different periods.
Irish was historically the dominant language of the Irish people and they brought their Gaelic speech with them to numerous other countries. An early example was the widespread use of Irish in Wales, Cornwall and other parts of western Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
in the period of Roman decline and the sub-Roman era. In Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
it gave rise to Scottish Gaelic and Manx
Manx language
Manx , also known as Manx Gaelic, and as the Manks language, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, historically spoken by the Manx people. Only a small minority of the Island's population is fluent in the language, but a larger minority has some knowledge of it...
. It was similarly exported to many other lands, although usually only being spoken by minorities within those countries. English became the dominant vernacular of the majority of Ireland during the 19th century, and Irish has since been spoken only by a minority of the Irish population. Until that time, and to some extent afterwards, Irish remained the vehicle of a separate cultural, literary and historical experience. This was emphasised by purely linguistic differences, Irish (like other Celtic languages) being highly distinctive in structure and vocabulary. Irish was the language that a large number of emigrants took with them from the 17th century (when emigration, forced or otherwise, became noticeable) to the 19th century.
The Irish diaspora mainly settled in English-speaking countries, chiefly Britain and North America. In some instances the Irish language was retained for several generations. Argentina was the only non-English-speaking country to which the Irish went in large numbers, and those emigrants came in the 19th century from areas where Irish was already in retreat.
An interest in the language has persisted among a minority in the diaspora countries, and even in countries where there was never a significant Irish presence. This has been shown in the founding of language classes (including some at tertiary level), in the use of the Internet, and in contributions to journalism or literature.
North America
Irish people brought the language with them to North America as early as the 17th century (when it is first mentioned), and in the 18th century it had many speakers in Pennsylvania. Immigration from Irish-speaking counties to America was strong throughout the 19th century, particularly after the Famine, and many manuscripts in Irish came with the immigrants.1881 saw the founding of “An Gaodhal”, the first newspaper anywhere which was largely in Irish. It continued to be published into the 20th century, and now has an on-line successor in the An Gael.
Irish has retained some cultural importance in the northeast United States. According to the 2000 Census, 25,661 people in the U.S. speak Irish at home. The equivalent 2005 Census reports 18,815.
The Irish language came to Newfoundland in the late 17th century and was commonly spoken among the Newfoundland Irish
Newfoundland Irish
Newfoundland Irish is an extinct dialect of the Irish language specific to the island of Newfoundland, Canada. It was very similar to Munster Irish, as spoken in the southeast of Ireland, due to mass immigration from the counties Waterford, Wexford, Kilkenny, Tipperary, and Cork.-Irish settlement...
until the middle of the 20th century. It remains the only place outside of Europe that can claim a unique Irish name (Talamh an Éisc, meaning Land of the Fish).
In 2007 a number of Canadian speakers founded the first officially designated "Gaeltacht" outside of Ireland in an area near Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
(see main article Permanent North American Gaeltacht
Permanent North American Gaeltacht
Gaeltacht Bhaile na hÉireann or the Permanent North American Gaeltacht is a designated Irish speaking area in the town of Tamworth, Ontario, along the Salmon River. The nearest main township is Erinsville, Ontario....
). Despite being called a Gaeltacht, the area has no permanent inhabitants. The site (named Gaeltacht Bhaile na hÉireann) is located in Tamworth, Ontario
Tamworth, Ontario
Tamworth is a small community in Lennox and Addington County, Ontario, Canada. Tamworth is located due North of Napanee, Ontario and Northeast of Belleville, Ontario, near Kingston, Ontario.-Sports:...
, and is to be a retreat centre for Irish-speaking Canadians and Americans.
Australia
The Irish language reached Australia in 1788 along with English. In the early colonial period Irish was seen as a language of covert opposition among convicts, and as such was viewed with disfavour by the colonial authorities. The Irish were a greater proportion of the European population than in any other British colony, and there has been debate about the extent to which Irish was used in Australia.O’Farrell argued that the language was soon discarded; Lonergan and other researchers have found that its use was widespread among the first generation, with some transmission to the second and occasional evidence of literacy. Most Irish immigrants came from counties in the west and south-west where Irish was strong (e.g. County Clare and County Galway) and it is likely that in the 19th century Irish was the most widely used European language in Australia after English.
English was the language of social advancement, especially as the Irish and their descendants integrated into Australian life. The 2001 census indicated that there were 828 households in the country which used Irish. Individual users are not counted but their number is likely to be increasing.
The Department of Celtic Studies at the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
offers courses in both Modern Irish linguistics, Old Irish and Modern Irish language. The University of Melbourne houses a valuable collection of late 19th and early 20th century books and manuscripts in Irish, increasingly used by specialists in the field.
The language has been increasingly cultivated since the 1970s and has attracted some public attention. The Irish National Association with support from the Sydney branch of Conradh na Gaeilge, ran free classes in Sydney from the 1960s through to 2007, when the language group became independent . In 1993, the first ever Gaelic Language Summer School, Scoil Samhraidh na hAstráile, was established by Máirtín Ó Dubhlaigh, a Sydney-based Irish speaker, which brought together for the first time Irish speakers and teachers from all over the country and established a language network which continues to this day.
There is presently a network of Irish learners and users dominated by the Irish Language Association of Australia (Cumann Gaeilge na hAstráile), through which Irish-language classes are run. Week-long courses are available twice a year in the states of Victoria and New South Wales. The Association has won several prestigious prizes (the last in 2009) in a global competition run by Glór na nGael and sponsored by the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs.
Australians contribute fiction and journalism to Irish-language magazines, both in print and on-line. There is also a widely distributed electronic newsletter for Australian Irish speakers (and some overseas readers) called An Lúibín.
New Zealand
Irish migration to New Zealand was strongest in the 1840s, the 1860s (at the time of the gold rush) and the 1870s. These immigrants arrived at a time when the language was still widely spoken in Ireland, particularly in the south-west and west. In the 1840s the New Zealand Irish included many discharged soldiers: over half those released in Auckland (the capital) in the period 1845-1846 were Irish, as were 56.8% of those released in the 1860s. There was, however, a fall in Irish immigration from the 1880s. At first the Irish clustered in certain occupations, with single women in domestic service and men working as navvies or miners. By the 1930s Irish Catholics were to be found in government service, in transport and in the liquor industry, and assimilation was well advanced.The use of Irish was influenced by immigrants' local origins, the time of their arrival and the degree to which a sense of Irishness survived. In 1894 the New Zealand Tablet, a Catholic newspaper, published articles on the study of Irish. In 1895 it was resolved at a meeting in the city of Dunedin that an Irish-language society on the lines of the PhiloCeltic Society of New York should be established in New Zealand. Gaelic League branches were formed in two New Zealand localities (Milton and Balclutha) and items in Irish were published by the Southern Cross of Invercargill. In 1903 Fr William Ganly, a native speaker from the Aran Islands prominent in Gaelic Revival circles in Melbourne, visited Milton, where he met a large number of Irish speakers.
The dwindling of Irish immigration, the decay of the Gaeltacht
Gaeltacht
is the Irish language word meaning an Irish-speaking region. In Ireland, the Gaeltacht, or an Ghaeltacht, refers individually to any, or collectively to all, of the districts where the government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant language, that is, the vernacular spoken at home...
in Ireland and the passing of earlier generations were accompanied by a loss of the language. Interest is presently maintained among an activist minority. In recent years language classes have become available, and Irish is presently taught as an extension course under the auspices of the University of Auckland.
Argentina
Between 40,000 and 45,000 Irish emigrants went to Argentina in the 19th century. Of these, only about 20,000 settled in the country, the remainder returning to Ireland or re-emigrating to North America, Australia and other destinations. Of the 20,000 that remained, between 10,000 and 15,000 left no descendants or lost any link they had to the local Irish community. The nucleus of the Irish-Argentine community therefore consisted of only four to five thousand settlers.Many came from a quadrangle on the Longford/Westmeath border, its perimeter marked by Athlone, Edgeworthstown, Mullingar and Kilbeggan. It has been estimated that 43.35% emigrants were from Westmeath, 14.57% from Longford and 15.51% from Wexford. Such migrants tended to be younger sons and daughters of the larger tenant farmers and leaseholders, but labourers also came, their fares paid by sheep-farmers seeking skilled shepherds.
Irish census figures for the 19th century give an indication of the percentage of Irish speakers in the areas in question. Allowing for underestimation, it is clear that most immigrants would have been English speakers. Census figures for Westmeath, a major source of Argentinian immigrants, show the following percentages of Irish speakers: 17% in the period 1831-41, 12% in 1841-51, and 8% in 1851-61.
In the 1920s there came a new wave of immigrants from Ireland, most being educated urban professionals who included a high proportion of Protestants. It is unlikely that there were many Irish speakers among them.
The persistence of an interest in Irish is indicated by the fact that the Buenos Aires branch of the Gaelic League was founded as early as 1899. It continued to be active for several decades thereafter, but evidence is lacking for organised attempts at language maintenance into the present day, though the Fahy Club in Buenos Aires continues to host Irish classes.