page_title: Irish language outside Ireland
section_title: Australia
hierarchical_section_title: Irish language outside Ireland / Australia
caption_attribution_description: The dome of the Dining building in Newman College, University of Melbourne, as seen from the courtyard.
context_page_description: The Irish language originated in Ireland and has historically been the dominant language of the Irish people. They took it with them to a number of other countries, and in Scotland and the Isle of Man it gave rise to Scottish Gaelic and Manx.
  In the late 19th century English became widespread in Ireland, but Irish speakers had already shown their ability to deal with modern political and social changes through their own language at a time when emigration was strongest. Irish was the language that a large number of emigrants took with them from the 17th century to the 19th century, when emigration reached new levels.
  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.
context_section_description: The Irish language reached Australia in 1788, along with English. Irish, when used by convicts in the early colonial period, was seen as a language of covert opposition, and was therefore viewed with suspicion by colonial authorities.
  The Irish constituted a larger 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. The historian Patrick O'Farrell argued that the language was soon discarded; other historians, including Dymphna Lonergan and Val Noone, have argued 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). It has been argued that at least half the approximately 150,000 Irish emigrants to Victoria in the 19th century spoke Irish, helping to make Irish the most widely used European language in Australia after English.
  English was essential to the Irish for their integration into public life. Irish, however, retained some cultural and symbolic importance, and the Gaelic revival was reflected in Australia in the work of local students and scholars. The language was taught in several Catholic schools in Melbourne in the 1920s, and a bilingual magazine called An Gael was published. In the following years a small group of enthusiasts in the major cities continued to cultivate the language.
  In the 1970s there was a more general renewal of interest, supported by both local and immigrant activists. The Irish National Association, with support from the Sydney branch of the Gaelic League (Conradh na Gaeilge), ran free classes in Sydney from the 1960s through to 2007, when the language group became independent. In 1993 Máirtín Ó Dubhlaigh, a Sydney-based Irish speaker, founded the first Irish language summer school, Scoil Samhraidh na hAstráile. This brought together for the first time Irish speakers and teachers from all over the country. The language also attracted some wider public attention.
  There is presently a network of Irish learners and users spread out across the country. The primary organised groups are the Irish Language Association of Australia (Cumann Gaeilge na hAstráile), Sydney Irish School and the Canberra Irish Language Association (Cumann Gaeilge Canberra). Multiple day 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).
  The 2011 census indicated that 1,895 people used Irish as a household language in Australia. This marks an increase from the 2001 census, which gave a figure of 828. The census does not count those who use Irish or other languages outside the household context.
  The Department of Celtic Studies at the University of Sydney offers courses in Modern Irish linguistics, Old Irish and Modern Irish language. The University of Melbourne houses a valuable collection of nineteenth and early twentieth century books and manuscripts in Irish, frequently used by specialists in the field.
  Australians contribute fiction and journalism to Irish-language magazines, both in print and on-line. There is also a widely distributed electronic newsletter in Irish called An Lúibín.
caption: Newman College, University of Melbourne: holder of the O'Donnell Collection, an important collection of Irish-language material.
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