132-396: County Fermanagh ( / f ər ˈ m æ n ə / fər- MAN -ə ; from Irish Fir Manach / Fear Manach , meaning 'men of Manach') is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland , one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of six counties of Northern Ireland . The county covers an area of 1,691 km (653 sq mi) and had a population of 63,585 as of 2021. Enniskillen
264-540: A 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 one of the oldest vernacular literatures in Western Europe . On the island, the language has three major dialects: Connacht , Munster and Ulster Irish . All three have distinctions in their speech and orthography . There
396-572: A Senior Provincial or an All-Ireland title in any Gaelic games, it is only one of two counties to win neither title. There are 22 GAA clubs in the county, this is the second least of all 32 counties (Longford now has the least, with 21 GAA clubs). Only Ballinamallard United F.C. take part in the Northern Ireland football league system . All other Fermanagh clubs play in the Fermanagh & Western FA league systems. Fermanagh Mallards F.C. played in
528-697: A bargaining chip during government formation in Northern Ireland, prompting protests from organisations and groups such as An Dream Dearg . 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 language of
660-560: A better future for Ireland and all her citizens." 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. 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
792-472: 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,
924-634: A defeat on a Scottish Covenanter army at Benburb in County Tyrone, but the native Irish forces failed to follow up their victory and the war lapsed into stalemate. The war in Ulster ended with the defeat of the native army at the Battle of Scarrifholis , near Newmills on the western outskirts of Letterkenny , County Donegal , in 1650, as part of the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland conducted by Oliver Cromwell and
1056-541: A degree course in the NUI federal system to pass the subject of Irish in the Leaving Certificate or GCE / GCSE examinations. 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
1188-460: A fully recognised EU language for the first time in the state's history. 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. 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
1320-767: A new form, towards the end of the 18th century. In the 1790s many Roman Catholics and Presbyterians , in opposition to Anglican domination and inspired by the American and French revolutions joined in the United Irishmen movement. This group (founded in Belfast) dedicated itself to founding a non- sectarian and independent Irish republic. The United Irishmen had particular strength in Belfast , Antrim and Down . Paradoxically however, this period also saw much sectarian violence between Roman Catholics and Protestants, principally members of
1452-574: 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. 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
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#17330857460951584-554: A pass in 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 An Coimisinéir Teanga , the Irish language ombudsman). The National University of Ireland requires all students wishing to embark on
1716-611: A religious context. An Irish translation of the Old Testament by Leinsterman Muircheartach Ó Cíonga , commissioned by 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. It has been estimated that there were around 800,000 monoglot Irish speakers in 1800, which dropped to 320,000 by
1848-538: A result of linguistic imperialism . 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. 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
1980-472: A war before it will be capable of good government; and when it is fully subdued and conquered, if it be not well planted and governed after the conquest, it will eftsoons return to the former barbarism. The Plantation of Ulster continued well into the 18th century, interrupted only by the Irish Rebellion of 1641 . This Rebellion was initially led by Sir Phelim O'Neill ( Irish : Sir Féilim Ó Néill ), and
2112-537: A wider meaning, including the Gaelic of Scotland and the Isle of Man , as well as of Ireland. When required by the context, these are distinguished as Gaeilge na hAlban , Gaeilge Mhanann and Gaeilge na hÉireann respectively. In English (including Hiberno-English ), the language is usually referred to as Irish , as well as Gaelic and Irish Gaelic . The term Irish Gaelic may be seen when English speakers discuss
2244-548: Is Enniskillen ( Inis Ceithleann , 'Ceithleann's island'). The island town hosts a range of attractions including the Castle Coole Estate and Enniskillen Castle , which is home to the museum of The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards . Fermanagh is also home to The Boatyard Distillery, a distillery producing gin . Attractions outside Enniskillen include: The classification of settlements by NISRA defines six categories following
2376-584: Is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family . It is a member of the Goidelic language group of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous to the island of Ireland . It was the majority of the population's first language until the 19th century, when English gradually became dominant, particularly in the last decades of the century, in what is sometimes characterised as
2508-837: Is a noted scenic route. Belfast is also connected with Carrickfergus and Larne Harbour , Portadown , Newry and onwards, via the Enterprise service jointly operated by NIR and Iarnród Éireann , to Dublin Connolly . The main railway lines linking to and from Belfast Grand Central and Belfast Lanyon Place are: Only five Irish counties, all in Southern and Western Ulster, currently have no mainline railway. The historic Great Northern Railway of Ireland connected them. They are Cavan, Monaghan, Fermanagh, Tyrone and Donegal. A plan to re-link Sligo and Derry through Donegal has been postponed until at least 2030. Most people in Ulster speak English. English
2640-448: Is also An Caighdeán Oifigiúil , a standardised written form devised by a parliamentary commission in the 1950s. The traditional Irish alphabet , a variant of the Latin alphabet with 18 letters , has been succeeded by the standard Latin alphabet (albeit with 7–8 letters used primarily in loanwords ). Irish has constitutional status as the national and first official language of
2772-511: Is divided into four separate phases with the intention of improving 9 main areas of action including: 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. By 2022, the number of such speakers had fallen to 71,968. 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
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#17330857460952904-973: Is in County Donegal, as are the sixth-highest (601 metres (1,972 ft)) sea cliffs in Europe, at Slieve League , and the province's largest island, Arranmore . The most easterly point in Ireland is also in Ulster, in County Down , and the most westerly point in the UK is in County Fermanagh . The longest river in the British Isles, the Shannon , rises at the Shannon Pot in County Cavan with underground tributaries from County Fermanagh. Volcanic activity in eastern Ulster led to
3036-639: Is located at Aldergrove , 11.5 miles northwest of Belfast near Antrim . George Best Belfast City Airport (sometimes referred to as "the City Airport" or "the Harbour Airport") is another, smaller airport which is located at Sydenham in Belfast. The City of Derry Airport is located at Eglinton , 13 kilometres (8 mi) east of the city of Derry . There is also Donegal Airport ( Irish : Aerfort Dhún na nGall ), popularly known as Carrickfinn Airport, which
3168-479: Is located in The Rosses . Railway lines are run by NI Railways (NIR). Belfast to Bangor and Belfast to Lisburn are strategically the most important routes on the network with the greatest number of passengers and largest profit margins. The Belfast-Derry railway line connecting Derry~Londonderry railway station , via Coleraine , Ballymoney , Ballymena and Antrim , with Lanyon Place and Belfast Grand Central
3300-792: Is now demarcated by 11 districts. Counties shaded in grey are in the Republic of Ireland. Counties shaded in pink are in Northern Ireland. Settlements in Ulster with at least 14,000 inhabitants, listed in order of population: The GDP of the province of Ulster is around €50 billion. Salary levels are the lowest on the island of Ireland. The biggest lake in the British Isles , Lough Neagh , lies in eastern Ulster. The province's highest point, Slieve Donard (848 metres (2,782 ft)), stands in County Down. The most northerly point in Ireland, Malin Head ,
3432-567: 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 , 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
3564-412: Is still spoken daily to some extent as a first language . These regions are known individually and collectively as the Gaeltacht (plural Gaeltachtaí ). While the fluent Irish speakers of these areas, whose numbers have been estimated at 20–30,000, 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
3696-529: Is taught in all schools in the province; Irish ( Gaeilge ) is taught in all schools in the counties that are part of the Republic, and in schools in Northern Ireland, almost exclusively in the Roman Catholic and Irish-medium sectors. In responses to the 2001 census in Northern Ireland 10% of the population had "some knowledge of Irish" and 4.7% could "speak, read, write and understand" Irish. Large parts of County Donegal are Gaeltacht areas where Irish
3828-448: Is the county town and largest in both size and population. Fermanagh is one of four counties of Northern Ireland to have a majority of its population from a Catholic background, according to the 2011 census . Fermanagh spans an area of 1,851 km (715 sq; mi), accounting for 13.2% of the landmass of Northern Ireland. Nearly a third of the county is covered by lakes and waterways, including Upper and Lower Lough Erne and
3960-473: Is the first language and some people in west Belfast also speak Irish, especially in the "Gaeltacht Quarter". The dialect of Irish most commonly spoken in Ulster (especially throughout Northern Ireland and County Donegal) is Gaeilge Thír Chonaill or Donegal Irish, also known as Gaeilge Uladh or Ulster Irish . Donegal Irish has many similarities to Scottish Gaelic . Polish is the third most common language. Ulster Scots dialects , sometimes known by
4092-581: Is the largest settlement in Fermanagh, situated in the middle of the county. The county enjoys a temperate oceanic climate ( Cfb' ) with cool winters, mild humid summers, and a lack of temperature extremes, according to the Köppen climate classification . The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty manages three sites of historic and natural beauty in the county: Crom Estate , Florence Court , and Castle Coole . The oldest sediments in
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4224-757: The Táin Bó Cúailnge . According to historian Francis John Byrne the Ulaid 'possibly still ruled directly in Louth as far as the Boyne in the early seventh century' when Congal Cáech made a bid for the kingship of Tara . In 637, the Battle of Moira , known archaically as the Battle of Magh Rath, was fought by the Gaelic High King of Ireland Domhnall II against his foster son King Congal Cáech of Ulster, supported by his ally Domhnall
4356-559: The tír or 'land' (a word borrowed from Irish) of the Ulaidh ; this was then taken into English as Ullister or Ulvester , and later contracted to Ulster . Another, less probable explanation is that the suffix - ster represents the Old Norse element staðr ('place'), found in names like Lybster and Scrabster in Scotland. Ulster is still known as Cúige Uladh in Irish, meaning
4488-659: The 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: Gweedore ( 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 céilithe and are obliged to speak Irish. All aspects of Irish culture and tradition are encouraged. The Act
4620-446: The April 1981 Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election , shortly before his death. On Census Day 27 March 2011, the usually resident population of Fermanagh Local Government District , the borders of the district were very similar to those of the traditional County Fermanagh, was 61,805. Of these: On Census Day (2021), the usually resident population of Fermanagh Local Government District ,
4752-617: The Church of Ireland (Anglicans, who practised the British state religion and had rights denied to both Presbyterians and Roman Catholics), notably the " Battle of the Diamond " in 1795, a faction fight between the rival " Defenders " (Roman Catholic) and " Peep O'Day Boys " (Anglican), which led to over 100 deaths and to the founding of the Orange Order . This event, and many others like it, came about with
4884-614: The Earldom of Ulster . By the late fourteenth century the Earldom had collapsed and the O'Neill dynasty had come to dominate most of Ulster, claiming the title King of Ulster . Ulster became the most thoroughly Gaelic and independent of Ireland's provinces. Its rulers resisted English encroachment but were defeated in the Nine Years' War (1594–1603). King James I then colonised Ulster with English-speaking Protestant settlers from Great Britain, in
5016-510: The Home Rule Crisis . In the last all Ireland election ( 1918 Irish general election ) counties Donegal and Monaghan returned large Sinn Féin ( nationalist ) majorities. Sinn Féin candidates ran unopposed in Cavan. Fermanagh and Tyrone had Sinn Féin/Nationalist Party ( Irish Parliamentary Party ) majorities. The other four Counties of Ulster had Unionist Party majorities. The home rule crisis and
5148-667: The Killadeas – Seskinore Fault , the Tempo – Sixmilecross Fault , the Belcoo Fault and the Clogher Valley Fault which cross-cuts Lough Erne. The Menapii are the only known Celtic tribe specifically named on Ptolemy 's 150 AD map of Ireland , where they located their first colony—Menapia—on the Leinster coast c. 216 BC . They later settled around Lough Erne , becoming known as
5280-623: The New Model Army , the aim of which was to expel all native Irish to the province of Connaught . Forty years later, in 1688–1691, the Williamite War was fought, the belligerents of which were the Williamites and Jacobites . The war was partly due to a dispute over who was the rightful claimant to the British Throne , and thus the supreme monarch of the nascent British Empire . However,
5412-609: The Plantation of Ulster . This led to the founding of many of Ulster's towns. The inflow of Protestant settlers and migrants also led to bouts of sectarian violence with Catholics, notably during the 1641 rebellion and the Armagh disturbances . Along with the rest of Ireland, Ulster became part of the United Kingdom in 1801. In the early twentieth century, moves towards Irish self-rule were opposed by many Ulster Protestants , sparking
County Fermanagh - Misplaced Pages Continue
5544-619: The Republic of Ireland , and is also an official language of 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 An Caighdeán Oifigiúil , the standard written form, is guided by a parliamentary service and new vocabulary by a voluntary committee with university input. In An Caighdeán Oifigiúil ("The Official [Written] Standard ")
5676-568: The River Erne . Forests cover 14% of the landmass (42,000 hectares). It is the only county in Northern Ireland that does not border Lough Neagh . The county has three prominent upland areas: The county borders: Fermanagh is by far the least populous of Northern Ireland's six counties, with just over one-third the population of Tyrone , the next least populous county. It is approximately 120 km (75 mi) from Belfast and 160 km (99 mi) from Dublin . The county town, Enniskillen,
5808-684: The Shannon Cave , the Marble Arch Caves and the Caves of the Tullybrack and Belmore hills . The carboniferous shale exists in several counties of northwest Ireland, an area known colloquially as the Lough Allen basin. The basin is estimated to contain 9.4 trillion cubic metres of natural gas , equivalent to 1.5 billion barrels of oil . The county is situated over a sequence of prominent faults, primarily
5940-424: The Ulster Cycle . The archaeology of Ulster, formerly called Ulandia, gives examples of "ritual enclosures", such as the Giant's Ring near Belfast, which is an earth bank about 590 feet (180 m) in diameter and 15 feet (4.5 m) high, in the centre of which there is a dolmen . The Boyne and its tributary the Blackwater were the traditional southern boundary of the province of Ulster and appear as such in
6072-412: The United Irishmen and against Roman Catholic and Protestant republicans throughout the province. In 1798 the United Irishmen, led by Henry Joy McCracken , launched a rebellion in Ulster, mostly supported by Presbyterians. But the British authorities swiftly put down the rebellion and employed severe repression after the fighting had ended. In the wake of the failure of this rebellion , and following
6204-410: The United Kingdom ); the remaining three are in the Republic of Ireland . It is the second-largest (after Munster ) and second-most populous (after Leinster ) of Ireland's four traditional provinces, with Belfast being its biggest city. Unlike the other provinces, Ulster has a high percentage of Protestants , making up almost half of its population. English is the main language and Ulster English
6336-541: The Women's Premier League until 2013. Enniskillen RFC was founded in 1925 and is still going. There is also a rugby league team, the Fermanagh Redskins Famous football players from Fermanagh include – Famous people born, raised in or living in Fermanagh include: The most common surnames in County Fermanagh at the time of the United Kingdom Census of 1901 were: Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish : Gaeilge ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( / ˈ ɡ eɪ l ɪ k / GAY -lik ),
6468-399: The fifths ( Irish : cúige ) ruled by a rí ruirech , or 'king of over-kings'. It is named after the overkingdom of Ulaid , in the east of the province, which was in turn named after the Ulaid folk. The other overkingdoms in Ulster were Airgíalla and Ailech . After the Norman invasion of Ireland in the twelfth century, eastern Ulster was conquered by the Anglo-Normans and became
6600-441: The neologism Ullans , are also spoken in Counties Down, Antrim, Londonderry and Donegal. Ulster is one of the four Irish provinces . Its name derives from the Irish language Cúige Uladh ( pronounced [ˌkuːɟə ˈʊlˠə] ), meaning 'fifth of the Ulaidh ', named for the ancient inhabitants of the region. The province's early story extends further back than written records and survives mainly in legends such as
6732-400: 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 the Famine . This flight also affected Britain. Up until that time most emigrants spoke Irish as their first language, though English
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#17330857460956864-444: The 18th century saw a calming of sectarian tensions in Ulster. The economy of the province improved, as small producers exported linen and other goods. Belfast developed from a village into a bustling provincial town. However, this did not stop many thousands of Ulster people from emigrating to British North America in this period, where they became known as " Scots Irish " or " Scotch-Irish ". Political tensions resurfaced, albeit in
6996-604: The 1998 Good Friday Agreement , the language gradually received a degree of formal recognition in Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom, 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 and in 2022 it approved legislation to recognise Irish as an official language alongside English. The bill received royal assent on 6 December 2022. The Irish language has often been used as
7128-407: The 19th century. Ulster Protestants usually opposed Home Rule — fearing for their religious rights calling it "Rome Rule" in an autonomous Roman Catholic-dominated Ireland and also not trusting politicians from the agrarian south and west to support the more industrial economy of Ulster. This lack of trust, however, was largely unfounded as during the 19th and early 20th century important industries in
7260-407: The 2001, 2011 and 2021 censuses, where noted with an "N/A". Baronies Parishes Townlands Newspapers There are 41 primary schools currently in operation in County Fermanagh, 10 secondary schools, one special school and one further education college. Primary Schools Secondary Schools Further Education College Special School Closed Schools Fermanagh GAA has never won
7392-413: The 2011 census (ignoring Belfast and Derry City which have their own separate categories), namely; Large towns, Medium towns, Small towns, Intermediate settlements, Villages and Small villages or hamlets. The majority of the settlements in County Fermanagh lie within the final category, five within the village category and one each in the intermediate settlements and medium towns categories. No settlements in
7524-403: 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 terms : examples are easpag (bishop) from episcopus , and Domhnach (Sunday, from dominica ). By the 10th century, Old Irish had evolved into Middle Irish , which
7656-466: 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. The Act was recently amended in December 2019 in order to strengthen the already preexisting legislation. All changes made took into account data collected from online surveys and written submissions. The Official Languages Scheme
7788-422: The American identity. In the United States Census, 2000 , 4.3 million Americans claimed Scots-Irish ancestry. The areas where the most Americans reported themselves in the 2000 Census only as "American" with no further qualification (e.g. Kentucky , north-central Texas , and many other areas in the Southern US ) are largely the areas where many Scots-Irish settled, and are in complementary distribution with
7920-439: The Earls ) to Roman Catholic Europe. This allowed the English Crown to plant Ulster with more loyal English and Scottish planters , a process which began in earnest in 1610. The Plantation of Ulster ( Irish : Plandáil Uladh ) was the organised colonisation (or plantation ) of Ulster by people from Great Britain (especially Presbyterians from Scotland ). Private plantation by wealthy landowners began in 1606, while
8052-404: 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. This derogation ultimately came to an end on 1 January 2022, making Irish
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#17330857460958184-435: The Fir Manach, and giving their name to Fermanagh and Monaghan . Mongán mac Fiachnai , a 7th-century King of Ulster , is the protagonist of several legends linking him with Manannán mac Lir . They spread across Ireland , evolving into historic Irish (also Scottish and Manx) clans. The Annals of Ulster which cover medieval Ireland between AD 431 to AD 1540 were written at Belle Isle on Lough Erne near Lisbellaw . In
8316-416: The Freckled ( Irish : Domhnall Brecc ) of Dalriada . The battle was fought near the Woods of Killultagh, just outside the village of Moira in what would become County Down. It was allegedly the largest battle ever fought on the island of Ireland, and resulted in the death of Congal and the retreat of Domhnall Brecc. In early medieval Ireland, a branch of the Northern Uí Néill , the Cenél nEógain of
8448-425: 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 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
8580-401: The North American colonies throughout the 18th century (160,000 settled in what would become the United States between 1717 and 1770 alone). Disdaining (or forced out of) the heavily English regions on the Atlantic coast, most groups of Ulster-Scots settlers crossed into the "western mountains", where their descendants populated the Appalachian regions and the Ohio Valley . Here they lived on
8712-401: The ROI 2011 Census for counties Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan, there is a Roman Catholic majority over Protestant of 50.8% to 42.7%. While the traditional counties continue to demarcate areas of local government in the Republic of Ireland , this is no longer the case in Northern Ireland. Since 1974, the traditional counties have a ceremonial role only. Local government in Northern Ireland
8844-424: The Republic of Ireland ), new appointees to the Civil Service of the Republic of Ireland , including postal workers , tax collectors , 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. In 1974, in part through the actions of protest organisations like the Language Freedom Movement ,
8976-419: The UK without a railway service. The county was administered by Fermanagh County Council from 1899 until the abolition of county councils in Northern Ireland in 1973. With the creation of Northern Ireland's district councils, Fermanagh District Council became the only one of the 26 that contained all of the county from which it derived its name. After the re-organisation of local government in 2015, Fermanagh
9108-508: The Ulster Plantation were considerably affected by the existence of British colonies in the Americas, which served as a more attractive destination for many potential emigrants. The official reason for the Plantation is said to have been to pay for the costly Nine Years' War , but this view was not shared by all in the English government of the time, most notably the English Crown -appointed Attorney-General for Ireland in 1609, Sir John Davies : A barbarous country must be first broken by
9240-490: The Ulsterman'. Northern Ireland is often referred to as Ulster , despite including only six of Ulster's nine counties. This usage is most common among people in Northern Ireland who are unionist , although it is also used by the media throughout the United Kingdom. Some Irish nationalists object to the use of Ulster in this context. Ulster has a population of just over two million people and an area of 22,067 square kilometres (8,520 sq mi). About 62% of
9372-430: The Union with Britain; mostly, but not exclusively, Protestant) and nationalist (advocates of repeal of the 1800 Act of Union, usually, though not exclusively, Roman Catholic). Northern Ireland's current politics originate from these late 19th century disputes over Home Rule that would have devolved some powers of government to Ireland. At least a dozen large scale sectarian disturbances/riots occurred in Belfast during
9504-399: The area of Ulster is in the UK while the remaining 38% is in the Republic of Ireland. Ulster's biggest city, Belfast , has an urban population of over half a million inhabitants, making it the second-largest city on the island of Ireland and the 10th largest urban area in the UK. Six of Ulster's nine counties , Antrim , Armagh , Down , Fermanagh , Londonderry and Tyrone , including
9636-510: The areas which most heavily report Scots-Irish ancestry. According to the Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups, 400,000 people in the US were of Irish birth or ancestry in 1790 when the first US Census counted 3,100,000 white Americans. According to the encyclopaedia, half of these Irish Americans were descended from Ulster, and half from the other three provinces of Ireland. Most of
9768-731: The beginning of the following academic year. 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. The concomitant decline in the number of traditional native speakers has also been a cause of great concern. 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
9900-512: The borders of the district were very similar to those of the traditional County Fermanagh, was 63,585. Of these: Agriculture and tourism are two of the most important industries in Fermanagh. The main types of farming in the area are beef, dairy, sheep, pigs and some poultry. Most of the agricultural land is used as grassland for grazing and silage or hay rather than for other crops. The waterways are extensively used by cabin cruisers, other small pleasure craft and anglers. The main town of Fermanagh
10032-478: The county are classified as Large towns or Small towns. (population of 18,000 or more and under 75,000 at 2011 Census) (population of 10,000 or more and under 18,000 at 2011 Census) (population of 5,000 or more and under 10,000 at 2011 Census) (population of 2,500 or more and under 4,500 at 2011 Census) (population of 1,000 or more and under 2,500 at 2011 Census) (population of less than 1,000 at 2011 Census) Population statistics were not made available from
10164-550: The county are found north of Lough Erne. These so-called red beds were formed approximately 550 million years ago. Extensive sandstone can be found in the eastern part of the county, laid down during the Devonian , 400 million years ago. Much of the rest of the county's sediments are shale and limestone dating from the Carboniferous , 354 to 298 million years ago. These softer sediments have produced extensive cave systems such as
10296-479: The early 9th century, the Erne was considered to be the boundary of Connacht and Ulster , specifically the over-kingdom of Airgíalla . The Fir Manach proper, Tirkennedy and Magherastephana , along with Clankelly were part of the western Airgíalla group-kingdom of Uí Creamthainn with its seat at Clogher , whereas Lurg was associated with the northern Airgíalla branch of Uí Fiachrach centred at Ardstraw . Fermanagh
10428-506: The early thirteenth-century through to the beginning of the seventeenth-century. The O'Donnells ruled over Tír Chonaill (most of modern County Donegal) in West Ulster. After the Norman invasion of Ireland in the twelfth century, the east of the province fell by conquest to Norman barons, first De Courcy (died 1219), then Hugh de Lacy (1176–1243), who founded the Earldom of Ulster based on
10560-635: The east of modern Ulster until the Norman invasion in the late 12th century. It would only once more become a province of Ireland in the mid-14th century after the collapse of the Norman Earldom of Ulster , when the O'Neills who had come to dominate the Northern Uí Néill stepped into the power vacuum and staked a claim for the first time the title of "king of Ulster" along with the Red Hand of Ulster symbol. It
10692-452: The east, is the largest lake in the British Isles , while Lough Erne in the west is one of its largest lake networks. The main mountain ranges are the Mournes , Sperrins , Croaghgorms and Derryveagh Mountains . Historically, Ulster lay at the heart of the Gaelic world made up of Gaelic Ireland , Scotland and the Isle of Man . According to tradition, in ancient Ireland it was one of
10824-713: The education system. Linguistic analyses of Irish speakers are therefore based primarily on the number of daily users in Ireland outside the education system, which in 2022 was 20,261 in the Gaeltacht and 51,707 outside it, totalling 71,968. 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. 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
10956-468: The end of the famine, and under 17,000 by 1911. 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. In 1938, the founder of Conradh na Gaeilge (Gaelic League), Douglas Hyde , was inaugurated as
11088-546: The exception of the Williamite strongholds at Derry and at Enniskillen in Ulster. The Jacobites besieged Derry from December 1688 to July 1689, ending when a Williamite army from Britain relieved the city. The Williamites based in Enniskillen defeated another Jacobite army at the battle of Newtownbutler on 28 July 1689. Thereafter, Ulster remained firmly under Williamite control and William's forces completed their conquest of
11220-545: The first President of Ireland . The record of his delivering his inaugural Declaration of Office in Roscommon Irish is one of only a few recordings of that dialect. 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. From the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922 (see History of
11352-562: The formation of the Antrim Plateau and the Giant's Causeway , one of Ireland's three UNESCO World Heritage Sites . Ulster also has a significant drumlin belt. The geographical centre of Ulster lies between the villages of Pomeroy and Carrickmore in County Tyrone. In terms of area, County Donegal is the largest county in all of Ulster. The province's main airport is Belfast International Airport (popularly called Aldergrove Airport), which
11484-495: The former parliamentary boroughs of Belfast and Londonderry , form Northern Ireland which remained part of the United Kingdom after the partition of Ireland in 1921. Three Ulster counties – Cavan , Donegal and Monaghan – form part of the Republic of Ireland . About half of Ulster's population lives in counties Antrim and Down. Across the nine counties, according to the aggregate UK 2011 Census for Northern Ireland, and
11616-539: The frontiers of America, carving their own world out of the wilderness. The Scots-Irish soon became the dominant culture of the Appalachians from Pennsylvania to Georgia . Author (and US Senator) Jim Webb puts forth a thesis in his book Born Fighting to suggest that the character traits he ascribes to the Scots-Irish such as loyalty to kin, mistrust of governmental authority, and a propensity to bear arms, helped shape
11748-494: The gradual abolition of official religious discrimination after the Act of Union in 1800, Presbyterians came to identify more with the State and with their Anglican neighbours, due to their civil rights now being respected by both the state and their Anglican neighbours. The 1859 Ulster Revival was a major Christian revival that spread throughout Ulster. In the 19th century, Ulster had
11880-513: The indigenous Irish) and Presbyterians (mainly descended from Scottish colonists) both suffered discrimination under the Penal Laws , which gave full political rights only to Anglican Protestants (mostly descended from English settlers). In the 1690s, Scottish Presbyterians became a majority in Ulster, due to a large influx of them into the Province. Considerable numbers of Ulster-Scots emigrated to
12012-698: The language family, is derived from the Old Irish term. Endonyms of the language in the various modern Irish dialects include: Gaeilge [ˈɡeːlʲɟə] in Galway, Gaeilg / Gaeilic / Gaeilig [ˈɡeːlʲəc] in Mayo and Ulster , Gaelainn / Gaoluinn [ˈɡeːl̪ˠən̠ʲ] in West/Cork, Kerry Munster , as well as Gaedhealaing in mid and East Kerry/Cork and Waterford Munster to reflect local pronunciation. Gaeilge also has
12144-410: The language was in use by all classes, Irish being an urban as well as a rural language. 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. The vehicle of
12276-472: The language. For most of recorded Irish history , Irish was the dominant language of the Irish people , who 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 . It was also, for a period, spoken widely across Canada , with an estimated 200,000–250,000 daily Canadian speakers of Irish in 1890. On the island of Newfoundland ,
12408-519: The linen trade. Estimates suggest that up to 7000 Roman Catholics suffered expulsion from Ulster during this violence. Many of them settled in northern Connacht . These refugees' linguistic influence still survives in the dialects of Irish spoken in County Mayo , which have many similarities to Ulster Irish not found elsewhere in Connacht. Loyalist militias, primarily Anglicans , also used violence against
12540-625: The main dialect. A minority also speak Irish, and there are Gaeltachtaí (Irish-speaking regions) in County Donegal which is home to a quarter of the total Gaeltacht population of the Republic of Ireland. There are also large Irish-speaking networks in southern County Londonderry and in the Gaeltacht Quarter, Belfast . Ulster-Scots is also spoken extensively in Counties Antrim, Down, Londonderry, Tyrone and Donegal. Lough Neagh , in
12672-563: 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. Increasing interest in emigrating to the United States and Canada was also a driver, as fluency in English allowed
12804-591: The modern counties of Antrim and Down. In the 1600s Ulster was the last redoubt of the traditional Gaelic way of life, and following the defeat of the Irish forces in the Nine Years War (1594–1603) at the battle of Kinsale (1601), Elizabeth I 's English forces succeeded in subjugating Ulster and all of Ireland. The Gaelic leaders of Ulster, the O'Neills and O'Donnells , finding their power under English suzerainty limited, decamped en masse in 1607 (the Flight of
12936-771: The name of the language is Gaeilge , from the South Connacht form, spelled Gaedhilge prior the spelling reform of 1948, which was originally the genitive of Gaedhealg , the form used in Classical Gaelic . The modern spelling results from the deletion of the silent ⟨dh⟩ in Gaedhilge . Older spellings include Gaoidhealg [ˈɡeːʝəlˠəɡ] in Classical Gaelic and Goídelc [ˈɡoiðʲelɡ] in Old Irish . Goidelic , used to refer to
13068-463: 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 were Irish speakers. 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
13200-472: The new settlement were the families of Cole, Blennerhasset, Butler, Hume, and Dunbar. Fermanagh was made into a county by a statute of Elizabeth I, but it was not until the time of the Plantation of Ulster that it was finally brought under civil government. The closure of all the lines of Great Northern Railway (Ireland) within County Fermanagh in 1957 left the county as the first non-island county in
13332-639: The number now is between 20,000 and 30,000." In the 1920s, when the Irish Free State was founded, Irish was still a vernacular in some western coastal areas. 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
13464-415: The official Colony. However, most of the counties, including the most heavily colonised Counties Antrim and Down , were privately colonised. These counties, though not officially designated as subject to Plantation , had suffered violent depopulation during the previous wars and proved attractive to Private Colonialists from nearby Britain. The efforts to attract colonists from England and Scotland to
13596-488: The official plantation controlled by King James I of England (who was also King James VI of Scots) began in 1609. All land owned by Irish chieftains, the Ó Neills and Ó Donnells (along with those of their supporters), who fought against the English Crown in the Nine Years War , were confiscated and used to settle the colonists. The Counties Tyrconnell , Tyrone , Fermanagh , Cavan , Coleraine and Armagh comprised
13728-496: The only large-scale industrialisation and became the most prosperous province on the island. In the latter part of the century, Belfast briefly overtook Dublin as the island's largest city. Belfast became famous in this period for its huge dockyards and shipbuilding – and notably for the construction of the RMS Titanic . Sectarian divisions in Ulster became hardened into the political categories of unionist (supporters of
13860-498: The other official language, if not already passed in both official languages. In November 2016, RTÉ reported that over 2.3 million people worldwide were learning Irish through the Duolingo app. Irish president Michael D. Higgins officially honoured several volunteer translators for developing the Irish edition, and said the push for Irish language rights remains an "unfinished project". There are rural areas of Ireland where Irish
13992-539: The political party holding power in the 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. 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. After
14124-426: The preliminary results of 2022 census of Ireland for Ulster (part of; 314,076). Ulster ( / ˈ ʌ l s t ər / ; Irish : Ulaidh [ˈʊlˠiː, ˈʊlˠə] or Cúige Uladh [ˌkuːɟə ˈʊlˠə, - ˈʊlˠuː] ; Ulster Scots : Ulstèr or Ulster ) is one of the four traditional or historic Irish provinces . It is made up of nine counties : six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of
14256-427: The province (literally 'fifth') of the Ulaidh . Ulaidh has historically been anglicised as Ulagh or Ullagh and Latinised as Ulidia or Ultonia . The latter two have yielded the terms Ulidian and Ultonian . The Irish word for someone or something from Ulster is Ultach , and this can be found in the surnames MacNulty, MacAnulty, and Nulty, which all derive from Mac an Ultaigh , meaning 'son of
14388-588: The province of Ailech , gradually eroded the territory of the province of Ulaidh until it lay east of the River Bann . The Cenél nEógain would make Tír Eóghain (most of which forms modern County Tyrone ) their base. Among the High Kings of Ireland were Áed Findliath (died 879), Niall Glúndub (died 919), and Domnall ua Néill (died 980), all of the Cenél nEógain. The province of Ulaidh would survive restricted to
14520-464: The purposes of ISO 3166-2:IE , Ulster is used to refer to the three counties of Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan only, which are given country sub-division code "IE-U". The name is also used by various organisations such as cultural and sporting bodies. Ulster's name ultimately derives from the Ulaidh , a group of tribes that once dwelt in this part of Ireland. The Norsemen knew the province as Ulaztir ,
14652-487: The relationship between the three Goidelic languages (Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx). Gaelic is a collective term for the Goidelic languages, 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" ( / ɜːr s / URS )
14784-399: The relaxation of the Penal Laws and Roman Catholics began to be allowed to purchase land and involve themselves in the linen trade (activities which previously had involved many onerous restrictions). Protestants, including some Presbyterians, who in some parts of the province had come to identify with the Roman Catholic community, used violence to intimidate Roman Catholics who tried to enter
14916-432: 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 Scrúdú Cáilíochta sa Ghaeilge . As of 2005, Garda Síochána recruits need
15048-574: The rest of Ireland in the next two years. The war provided Protestant loyalists with the iconic victories of the Siege of Derry , the Battle of the Boyne (1 July 1690) and the Battle of Aughrim (12 July 1691), all of which the Orange Order commemorate each year. The Williamites' victory in this war ensured British rule in Ireland for over 200 years. The Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland excluded most of Ulster's population from having any Civil power on religious grounds. Roman Catholics (descended from
15180-625: The revival was the Gaelic League ( 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
15312-712: The southernmost region of Cork included brewing, distilling, wool and like Belfast, shipbuilding. Thousands of unionists, led by the Dublin-born barrister Sir Edward Carson and James Craig , signed the " Ulster Covenant " of 1912 pledging to resist Home Rule. This movement also set up the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). In April 1914, the UVF assisted with the landing of 30,000 German rifles with 3,000,000 rounds at Larne by blockading authorities. (See Larne gunrunning ). The Curragh Incident showed it would be difficult to use
15444-410: The subsequent Irish War of Independence led to the partition of Ireland under the Government of Ireland Act 1920 . Six Ulster counties became Northern Ireland, a self-governing territory within the United Kingdom, while the rest of Ireland became the Irish Free State , now the Republic of Ireland. The term Ulster has no official function for local government purposes in either state. However, for
15576-705: The vacancy to which they are appointed. This requirement is laid down by the University College Galway Act, 1929 (Section 3). In 2016, the university faced controversy when it announced the planned appointment of a president who did not speak Irish. Misneach 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
15708-686: The war was also a part of the greater War of the Grand Alliance , fought between King Louis XIV of France and his allies, and a European-wide coalition, the Grand Alliance , led by Prince William of Orange and Emperor Leopold I of the Holy Roman Empire , supported by the Vatican and many other states. The Grand Alliance was a cross-denominational alliance designed to stop French eastward colonialist expansion under Louis XIV, with whom King James II
15840-594: The work of such writers as Geoffrey Keating , is 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 shift were complex but came down to a number of factors: 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
15972-702: Was a stronghold of the Maguire clan and Donn Carrach Maguire (died 1302) was the first of the chiefs of the Maguire dynasty. However, on the confiscation of lands relating to Hugh Maguire , Fermanagh was divided in a similar manner to the other five escheated counties among Scottish and English undertakers and native Irish. The baronies of Knockninny and Magheraboy were allotted to Scottish undertakers, those of Clankelly , Magherastephana and Lurg to English undertakers and those of Clanawley , Coole , and Tyrkennedy , to servitors and natives. The chief families to benefit under
16104-558: Was allied. The majority of Irish people were "Jacobites" and supported James II due to his 1687 Declaration of Indulgence or, as it is also known, The Declaration for the Liberty of Conscience, that granted religious freedom to all denominations in England and Scotland and also due to James II's promise to the Irish Parliament of an eventual right to self-determination . However, James II
16236-523: Was also sometimes used in Scots and then in English to refer to Irish; as well as Scottish Gaelic. Written Irish is first attested in Ogham inscriptions from the 4th century AD, 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
16368-555: Was deposed in the Glorious Revolution , and the majority of Ulster Colonialists ( Williamites ) backed William of Orange . Both the Williamite and Jacobite armies were religiously mixed; William of Orange's own elite forces, the Dutch Blue Guards had a papal banner with them during the invasion, many of them being Dutch Roman Catholics. At the start of the war, Irish Jacobites controlled most of Ireland for James II, with
16500-643: Was enacted 1 July 2019 and is an 18-page document that adheres to the guidelines of the Official Languages Act 2003 . 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
16632-593: 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. Ulster a. ^ The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency census of 2021 results (1,903,100) combined with
16764-516: Was intended to overthrow British rule rapidly, but quickly degenerated into attacks on colonists, in which dispossessed Irish slaughtered thousands of the colonists. In the ensuing wars (1641–1653, fought against the background of civil war in England, Scotland and Ireland), Ulster became a battleground between the Colonialists and the native Irish. In 1646, an Irish army under command by Owen Roe O'Neill ( Irish : Eoghan Ruadh Ó Néill ) inflicted
16896-511: 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. Compliance with the Act is monitored by the An Coimisinéir Teanga (Irish Language Commissioner) which was established in 2004 and any complaints or concerns pertaining to the Act are brought to them. There are 35 sections included in
17028-627: 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, sometimes called Late Modern Irish, as attested in
17160-472: Was still the only county wholly within one council area, namely Fermanagh and Omagh District Council , albeit that it constituted only a part of that entity. For the purposes of elections to the UK Parliament, the territory of Fermanagh is part of the Fermanagh and South Tyrone Parliamentary Constituency . This constituency elected Provisional IRA hunger-striker Bobby Sands as a member of parliament in
17292-513: Was then that the provinces of Ailech, Airgialla, and Ulaidh would all merge largely into what would become the modern province of Ulster. Domnall Ua Lochlainn (died 1121) and Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn (died 1166) were of this dynasty. The Meic Lochlainn were in 1241 overthrown by their kin, the clan Ó Néill (see O'Neill dynasty ). The Ó Néill's were from then on established as Ulster's most powerful Gaelic family. The Ó Domhnaill ( O'Donnell ) dynasty were Ulster's second most powerful clan from
17424-442: Was unable to accomplish some everyday tasks, as portrayed in his documentary No Béarla . 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 Gaelscoileanna at primary level. These Irish-medium schools report some better outcomes for students than English-medium schools. In 2009,
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