Irish language

**Irish**, or **Irish Gaelic**, is a language spoken in the Republic of Ireland and, less commonly, in Northern Ireland.

## Classification

Irish is a Gaelic language and so is similar to Scottish Gaelic and Manx. It is less similar to Breton, Cornish and Welsh.

The Celtic languages are divided into two groups: P-Celtic languages and Q-Celtic languages. Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx are Q-Celtic languages, and Breton, Cornish and Welsh is a P-Celtic language. For that reason, many Irish-speakers can understand some Scots Gaelic but not Welsh.

Irish also has no words for  "yes" or "no".

### Before the United Kingdom

Queen Elizabeth I of England tried to learn Irish and asked her bishops to translate the Bible into Irish. That was an attempt to split the Catholic people from their clergy and make them Protestant, but it mostly failed.

### In the United Kingdom

Until the 19th century, most people in Ireland spoke Irish. However, that changed after Ireland joined Great Britain in 1801 to form the United Kingdom. Ireland’s state schools became part of the British system and so had to teach English. Sometimes, they were not allowed to teach Irish.

The Catholic Church also began to discourage Irish. The same is true for the Irish Nationalist leader Daniel O'Connell. He was an Irish-speaker himself but thought that people should speak English since most job opportunities were in the English-speaking British Empire and United States.

## Today

Today, Irish is the first official language of the Republic of Ireland and has around 2 million speakers.

In practice, the Irish government still uses English more than Irish. Also, most people in the country speak English in their day-to-day lives. However, many people speak Irish among friends or family. It is also taught in all Irish schools according to the law.

In parts of Ireland called the Gaeltacht (_Gaeltachtaí_ in Irish), people still speak Irish as their first language, and up to 70% of the people speak Irish. The newest Gaeltacht in the country is on Falls Road, in Belfast, where the whole community tries to use Irish as its first language. The area is called the Gaeltacht Quarter.

## Literature

There were great poets who wrote in Irish. Their poems became songs. Often, they told stories about the heroes of old times.

## Common words and phrase

- aon = one (ain)
- dó = two (doe)
- trí = three (tree)
- ceathair = four (ka-her)
- cúig = five (coo-igg)
- sé = six (shay)
- seacht = seven (shocked)
- ocht = eight (uckt)
- naoi = nine (knee)
- deich = ten (dje)
- céad = one hundred (kayd)
- dhá chéad = two hundred (gah kayd)
- Dia Dhuit = Hello (literal translation is "God be with you") (jia gwitch)
- Céad Mile Fáilte = One hundred thousand welcomes (kayd me-lah fall-tcha)
- Ceist ag éinne? = Anyone have a question? (kesht ag ayn-ye)
- Éire = Ireland
- go maith = good (go mah)
- Slán = goodbye (slahn)
- Leabhar = book (lao-er)
- Madra = dog (madjra)

## Related pages

- Gaelic languages
- Celtic languages
- History of Ireland

## Infobox (language)

- **name**: Irish
- **altname**: Irish Gaelic
Gaelic
- **nativename**: Standard Irish:
- **states**: Ireland
- **region**: Ireland, mainly Gaeltacht regions
- **speakers**: 73,804 in Ireland
- **date**: 2016
- **speakers2**: 4,166 in Northern Ireland
Second language, L2 speakers: 1,761,420 in the Ireland (2016), 104,943 in Northern Ireland (2011)
- **familycolor**: Indo-European
- **fam2**: Celtic
- **fam3**: Insular Celtic
- **fam4**: Gaelic
- **ancestor**: Primitive Irish
- **ancestor2**: Old Irish
- **ancestor3**: Middle Irish
- **ancestor4**: Early Modern Irish
- **standards**: An Caighdeán Oifigiúil
- **script**: Latin script, Latin (Irish orthography, Irish alphabet)
Irish Braille
- **nation**: <small>(Statutory language of national identity (1937, Constitution, Article 8(1)). Not widely used as an second language, L2 in all parts of the country. Encouraged by the government.)</small>

- **minority**: (Northern Ireland)
- **agency**: Foras na Gaeilge
- **iso1**: ga
- **iso2**: gle
- **iso3**: gle
- **lingua**: 50-AAA
- **image**: Gaelic-font-Gaelach.svg
- **imagecaption**: "Gaelach" in traditional Gaelic type
- **map**: Irish speakers in 2011.png
- **mapcaption**: Proportion of respondents who said they could speak Irish in the Ireland and Northern Ireland censuses of 2011.
- **notice**: IPA
- **glotto**: iris1253
- **glottorefname**: Irish
- **ethnicity**: Historically white people, white Irish people, Irish, now Irish people of all ethnicities