105-585: The Oireachtas of the Irish Free State ( Irish : Oireachtas Shaorstát Éireann ) was the legislature of the Irish Free State from 1922 until 1937. It was established by the 1922 Constitution of Ireland which was based from the Anglo-Irish Treaty . It was the first independent Irish Parliament officially recognised outside Ireland since the historic Parliament of Ireland which was abolished with
210-540: 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
315-697: 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
420-560: 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
525-506: A binding referendum on any bill. This was to allow the Seanad to appeal to voters directly if there was a disagreement between the two houses and if the Dáil attempted to override the Seanad. However, this power was taken from the Seanad in 1928 before it had been put into use. It was in compensation for this loss that the Seanad's powers of delay were increased in the same year. Before it was removed,
630-644: A constituent assembly to approve the Constitution of the Irish Free State and pave the way for the creation of the new state. Once the Constitution of the Irish Free State was in effect the Third Dáil served as the lower house of the Oireachtas. Under the terms of the constitution, however, the Third Dáil merely carried out the functions of the Dáil during this period until a new chamber could be elected. The first Dáil of
735-472: 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,
840-541: 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
945-460: 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
1050-531: A majority it was able to govern due to the absence of Republicans (Anti-Treaty Sinn Féin ) who refused to attend. The 4th Dáil was dissolved by Governor-General Tim Healy on 23 May 1927, at the request of the President of the Executive Council W. T. Cosgrave . The 4th Dáil lasted 1,343 days. Cumann na nGaedheal , denoted with bullet ( ● ), formed the 2nd executive council of the Irish Free State . This
1155-653: A maximum of five seats, during the Irish Free State there were several six-, seven- and eight-seat constituencies. During the Irish Free State Galway was a single nine-seat constituency. As well as geographical constituencies, there were two university constituencies : Dublin University and the National University . The franchise for the university constituencies was open to all those who had been awarded degrees from either institution. However anyone voting in
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#17328440590741260-553: A number of constitutional amendments were subsequently made to change the manner of its election and it powers. It was abolished in 1936 when it attempted to obstruct constitutional reforms favoured by the government. It sat in Leinster House . The Seanad was subordinate to Dáil and could delay but not veto decisions of that house. Nonetheless, the Seanad had more power than its successor, the modern Seanad , which can only delay normal legislation for three months. As originally adopted
1365-519: 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
1470-554: 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
1575-588: A referendum. During the Free State it was also the Oireachtas as a whole, rather than the Dáil, that had authority to commit the state to war, although this distinction was not significant in practice. The earliest parliament in Ireland was the Parliament of Ireland , which was founded in the thirteenth century as the supreme legislative body of the lordship of Ireland and was in existence until 1801. This parliament governed
1680-611: 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
1785-488: 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
1890-413: A university constituency was excluded from voting in their geographical district. The constitution required that each return three TDs , regardless of population. Because these constituencies had much lower populations that the ordinary geographical constituencies this resulted in malapportionment . The university constituencies were abolished in 1936 under the Constitution (Amendment No. 23) Act 1936 and
1995-500: A whole had to resign en bloc if it lost the confidence of the lower house. In practice these provision meant that the President was chosen by the Dáil, which could bring down his cabinet by a vote of no confidence , or failure to approve a vote of confidence. A constitutional amendment passed in 1936 removed the role of the King entirely and provided that, in the final months of the Free State,
2100-537: 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
2205-584: 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
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#17328440590742310-401: Is a graphical comparison of party strengths in the 4th Dáil from September 1923. This was not the official seating plan. The Republican members did not take their seats. [REDACTED] On 19 September 1923, Michael Hayes (CnaG), the outgoing Ceann Comhairle , was proposed by W. T. Cosgrave and seconded by Thomas Johnson for the position, and was approved without a vote. The list of
2415-448: 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
2520-511: 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
2625-567: 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
2730-412: 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
2835-659: 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
2940-604: The Acts of Union 1800 . The Parliament was bicameral , consisting of Dáil Éireann (the lower house, also known as the Dáil) with 153 seats and Seanad Éireann (the upper house; also known as the Seanad) with 60 seats). The Seanad was abolished on 29 May 1936, and from then until its abolition the Oireachtas was unicameral . The King , who was officially represented by the Governor-General ,
3045-467: The Gaelic League and Douglas Hyde . After the amendment of the constitution in 1928, future members of the Seanad were to be elected from a single constituency consisting of the combined membership of the outgoing Seanad and the Dáil, and the system was changed so that a third rather than a quarter of the Seanad would be replaced at each election. The elections were still held by secret ballot and under
3150-784: The King of England , a House of the Lords and a House of Commons . Under the Act of Union 1800 the separate Kingdoms of Ireland and Great Britain were merged on 1 January 1801, to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Parliament of the United Kingdom . Throughout the 19th century Irish opposition to the Union was strong, occasionally erupting in violent insurrection. The next legislature to exist in Ireland only came into being in 1919. This
3255-458: The Protestant minority in the state, most of whom were former Southern Unionists , to promote inclusiveness in the new Free State. As a result, of the sixty members of the first Seanad, as well as 36 Catholics , there were 20 Protestants , 3 Quakers and 1 Jew . It contained 7 peers , a dowager countess, 5 baronets and several knights . The New York Times remarked that the first Seanad
Oireachtas (Irish Free State) - Misplaced Pages Continue
3360-619: 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 ")
3465-466: The single transferable vote . The franchise was restricted to those over twenty-one. As adopted, the constitution required that term of a Dáil would last for four years, unless the law specified a shorter period or the house was dissolved early. However, after changes to the constitution and the law in 1927, the constitutional maximum became six years, and the legal maximum five. While every Irish Government since 1937 has restricted Dáil constituencies to
3570-542: The " Oath of Allegiance " before taking their seats. The King was the third component and constitute part of the Oireachtas in the same manner as in the Parliament of the United Kingdom The King was represented in the Irish Free State by the Governor-General of the Irish Free State ( Irish : Seanascal ) who was the viceregal representative of the Monarch and carried out the duties and roles officially assigned to
3675-611: 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
3780-712: 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
3885-403: 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
3990-563: 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
4095-577: The British Government to solve the issue of rising Irish nationalism and the issue of partitionism , whilst retaining Ireland as part of the United Kingdom . It was made up of the King, the House of Commons of Southern Ireland and the Senate of Southern Ireland. The Parliament of Southern Ireland was formally abolished in 1922 by the Irish Free State (Agreement) Act 1922 , as per the Anglo-Irish Treaty which
4200-415: The Dáil so requested. There would then be a further period of ninety days within which either 5% of all registered voters or 60% of the Seanad could demand a referendum on the bill. The referendum would be decided by a majority of votes cast and if rejected the bill would not become law. Article 47 did not apply to money bills or bills declared by both houses to be "necessary for the immediate preservation of
4305-592: The Electoral (University Constituencies) Act. However, in 1937 university constituencies would be revived for the newly created Seanad . The following general elections took place to the Free State Dáil during its existence: The Constitution of the Irish Free State provided that the President of the Executive Council would be appointed by the King "on the nomination of" the Dáil and that the Executive Council as
Oireachtas (Irish Free State) - Misplaced Pages Continue
4410-525: The English-dominated part of Ireland, which at first was limited to Dublin and surrounding cities, but later grew to include the entire island. But the Parliament of Ireland was, from the passage of Poynings' Law (1494) until its repeal in 1782, subordinate to the Parliament of England , and later Parliament of Great Britain . This Parliament consisted of the King of Ireland , who was the same person as
4515-463: 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
4620-402: The Executive Council . Under the terms of the 1937 Constitution of Ireland , the Dáil of the Irish Free State became the modern Dáil Éireann . Under the Constitution of the Irish Free State membership of the Dáil was open to all citizens who had reached the age of twenty-one. However those who were legally disqualified or who were members of the Seanad were excluded. For most of the period of
4725-615: The First Seanad. Half the initial membership of the Seanad was elected by the Dáil under the single transferable vote . The remaining half was appointed by the President of the Executive Council (prime minister), W. T. Cosgrave . Those elected by the Dáil were divided into two equal groups by lot, one assigned terms of three years and the other terms of nine years. Those appointed by the president were similarly divided and assigned terms of 6 years and 12 years. The President agreed to use his appointments in 1922 to grant extra representation to
4830-401: The Irish Free State the constitution also contained a controversial requirement that all members of the Oireachtas swear an oath of fidelity to the King, as well as an Oath of Allegiance to the constitution of the Free State. The oath was, however, abolished by a constitutional amendment in 1936. The Dáil was elected on the basis of universal adult suffrage by "proportional representation" and
4935-630: The Irish Free State was therefore officially the Fourth Dáil , which was elected in 1923. In 1920, in parallel to the extra-legal Dáil, the British Government created the Parliament of Southern Ireland , a Home Rule legislature during the Irish War of Independence under the Fourth Home Rule Bill . It was designed to legislate for Southern Ireland , a political entity which was created by
5040-536: 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
5145-452: The Monarchy in the Irish Free State. It was written by the Executive Council and outlined the bills it intended to introduce. Technically the address was only to the Dáil, not to a joint session of both Houses of the Oireachtas. However, members of Seanad Éireann were invited into the Dáil chamber to attend the address, and subsequently discussed it after returning to their own chamber. Only
5250-412: The Oireachtas of the Irish Free State , and from 1936 to 1937 the sole chamber . The Constitution of the Irish Free State described the role of the house as one of a " Chamber of Deputies ". It sat in Leinster House . Like the modern Dáil, the Dáil was the dominant component of the legislature; and effectively had authority to enact almost any law it chose, and to appoint and dismiss the President of
5355-418: The Oireachtas, had the effective authority to amend the constitution in any way it chose. Today this is a level of authority that no Dáil has had since 1941. Seanad Éireann ("Senate of Ireland") was the upper house of the Oireachtas of the Irish Free State from 1922 until 1936. It is sometimes referred to as the 'First Seanad'. The Seanad was established under the 1922 Constitution of the Irish Free State but
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#17328440590745460-542: The President would be elected by the Dáil directly, rather than merely being 'nominated' by the lower house. Technically a bill had to be approved by both Houses of the Oireachtas and to receive the Royal Assent to become law. However, in practice it was the Dáil that decided what laws would be enacted and repealed. Before its complete abolition the Free State Seanad merely had power to delay legislation. While during
5565-597: 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 ,
5670-446: The Seanad (by the single transferable vote from a list of 29); the Dáil nominated 38 candidates (from a list of 57, again by the single transferable vote). The 76 candidates were then put to the public electorate on 17 September 1925, but without partisan campaigning, turnout was less than a quarter of the 1,345,000 potential voters. The count took two weeks. Only 8 of the former senators were re-elected, with particularly poor results for
5775-478: The Seanad's right to demand a referendum was contained in Article 47, which provided for voters to veto legislation directly in certain circumstances. The article provided that once a bill had been approved by both houses of the Oireachtas (or just by the Dáil, if it had over-ridden the Seanad), its enactment into law could be suspended if, within seven days, either a majority of the Seanad or three-fifths of all members of
5880-420: The agreement of one-third of the Dáil) can request that the President of Ireland refer a bill to the people. The President can thus refuse to sign it until it has been approved either in an ordinary referendum or by the Dáil after it has reassembled after a general election. This power has never been used because the modern Seanad is designed in such a way as to have a permanent government majority. The Seanad
5985-731: 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
6090-432: The constitution provided that the Seanad had power to delay a money bill for 21 days and delay any other bill for 270 days. The Constitution (Amendment No. 13) Act, passed on 23 July 1928 extended the Seanad's power of delay over (non-money) legislation from 9 months to 20 months. The 1922 version of the Constitution provided for a Seanad of 60 members directly elected. Members would serve 12-year terms, with one quarter of
6195-522: The early years of the Irish Free State there existed a theoretical possibility that the King, or the Governor-General acting on his behalf, might veto an act of the Oireachtas or dismiss the Executive Council against the wishes of the Dáil. With the passage of the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927 the British Government lost the right to formally advise the King in relation to the Irish Free State and so
6300-713: 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
6405-414: 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
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#17328440590746510-487: 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
6615-451: The first Seanad greatly influenced the guiding principles and legislative foundations of the new state. The first Cathaoirleach was Lord Glenavy , formerly the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland in 1916–21. The 15 original 3-year seats came up for election in 1925, as did four other seats which had been filled temporarily by co-option. The 19 retiring members were automatically eligible for re-election; another 19 candidates were nominated by
6720-521: The first direct election, the constitution was amended by the Constitution (Amendment No. 6) Act, passed on 23 July 1928, so that the final three elections to the Seanad occurred by a method of indirect election. Therefore, in the 5 elections to the Seanad to occur before its abolition, 3 different systems were used. It was originally required that membership of the Seanad be limited to those who were over 35 who would serve 12-year terms. The Constitution (Amendment No. 8) Act, passed on 25 October 1928, reduced
6825-427: The first two sessions of the Free State Oireachtas, in 1922 and 1923, had such an address. The Governor-General was also the official who granted Royal Assent to Bills. A Bill, having duly passed or having been deemed to pass, in the Dáil and the Seanad, would be presented to the Governor-General by the President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State . Unlike in the United Kingdom, no parliamentary ceremony
6930-400: The house elected every three years. The members would be elected under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote in a single, nationwide, 15 seat constituency. However, to get the house started, the body's initial membership would be appointed by Dáil and the President of the Executive Council. To complicate matters even further, after the holding of
7035-498: 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
7140-410: 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
7245-425: 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 ,
7350-399: 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
7455-407: The minimum age of eligibility for Seanad members to 30 and the Constitution (Amendment No. 7) Act, passed on 30 October 1928, reduced the term of office of senators to 9 years. Today incarnations of the modern Seanad are given a new number after each Seanad election. Thus, the Seanad elected in 2020 is known as the 26th Seanad . This was not the custom during the Irish Free State because the Seanad
7560-523: The monarch. The Governor-General's Address or Governor-General's Speech was a formal address delivered by the Governor-General to Dáil Éireann , modelled on the speech from the throne given in other Dominions of the British Commonwealth . The address was a brief, businesslike event, lacking the pomp and ceremony of the State Opening of Parliament reflecting the general lack of enthusiasm for
7665-771: 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
7770-463: 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
7875-580: 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
7980-498: 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
8085-539: 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
8190-407: The position of King of the United Kingdom . Until 1927 he reigned in the Irish Free State as " King in Ireland ". However, from 1927 onwards he technically reigned in the Irish Free State on a separate throne as " King of Ireland ". The Oireachtas was dissolved by the King acting on the 'advice' of the Executive Council . Members of either house had to take an oath of fidelity to the King known as
8295-422: The possibility of the Governor-General taking any action without the approval of the other institutions of government was a remote possibility. Unlike its modern successor, the Dáil did not have authority to declare war, this power being reserved for the Oireachtas as a whole. However, in practice this distinction was not important. During the later days of the Irish Free State the Dáil, as the dominant component of
8400-406: The public peace, health or safety". The Constitution (Amendment No. 10) Act, passed on 12 July 1928, repealed Article 47 in its entirety, along with Article 48 which provided for an initiative process. A similar power given to the Free State Seanad by Article 47 is granted to the modern Seanad by the 1937 Constitution of Ireland . Under the current constitution, a simple majority of senators (with
8505-487: 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 )
8610-432: 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
8715-683: 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
8820-474: The role of signing bills into law was given to the President of Ireland . This in particular is one of the reasons why there is some confusion in who was the Irish head of state from 1922 to 1949 . On 29 December 1937 the Constitution of Ireland came into force and the Irish Free State was succeeded by a state known today as Ireland. The new constitution had been adopted by plebiscite on 1 July of that year, and on
8925-595: The same day the Ninth Dáil was elected. The Ninth Dáil was therefore elected as the lower house of the Free State Oireachtas but in December its role changed to that of lower house of a new legislature. 53°20′30″N 6°15′17″W / 53.34167°N 6.25472°W / 53.34167; -6.25472 Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish : Gaeilge ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( / ˈ ɡ eɪ l ɪ k / GAY -lik ),
9030-410: The single transferable vote for this purpose. The right of outgoing senators to nominate themselves was removed. The constitution originally provided that premature vacancies would be filled by a vote of the Seanad. However, a candidate elected in this way would serve only until the next senatorial election, when the seat would come up for election along with the others scheduled to be filled. The system
9135-400: The single transferable vote. Elections took place under the new system in 1928, 1931, and 1934 before the Seanad was abolished in 1936. The system for nominating candidates was also changed. After 1928, it was provided that the number of nominees would be equal to twice the number of seats to be filled and that half would be elected by the Dáil and the other half by the Seanad. Both houses used
9240-705: 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
9345-594: 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
9450-508: Was "representative of all classes", though it has also been described as, "the most curious political grouping in the history of the Irish state". Members included William Butler Yeats , Oliver St. John Gogarty and General Sir Bryan Mahon . The opponents of the Anglo-Irish Treaty also opposed the new Seanad, and 37 of the senators' homes were burnt to the ground. Others were intimidated, kidnapped or almost assassinated. Nevertheless,
9555-429: Was abolished entirely in 1936 after it delayed some Government proposals for constitutional changes by the Constitution (Amendment No. 24) Act which was passed on 29 May 1936. Éamon de Valera had seen its delay of his proposals as illegitimate; the continuing opposition majority had stemmed from a combination of his earlier boycott of the Free State Oireachtas and the provision for the Seanad's self-election. The abolition
9660-402: Was also a constituent part of the Oireachtas. The Oireachtas of the Irish Free State was disbanded by the 1937 Constitution of Ireland which created the modern Oireachtas . Like the modern Oireachtas, the Free State legislature was dominated by the directly elected Dáil. Unlike the modern body, the Free State Oireachtas had authority to amend the constitution as it saw fit, without recourse to
9765-523: 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
9870-465: Was an extra-legal, unicameral parliament established by Irish republicans , known simply as Dáil Éireann and thus existed outside of British law . The Dáil was notionally a legislature for the whole island of Ireland. The First Dáil and the Second Dáil did not therefore have any recognised legal authority outside Ireland . The Third Dáil was elected under the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty as
9975-415: Was changed by the Constitution (Amendment No. 11) Act, passed on 17 December 1929, so that vacancies were filled by members of both houses voting together. As adopted the Constitution of the Irish Free State contained a number of provisions for direct democracy , which included a special role for the Seanad. Most importantly it was provided that the Seanad could, if three-fifths of its members agreed, demand
10080-515: Was elected at the 1923 general election on 27 August 1923 and met on 19 September 1923. The members of Dáil Éireann , the house of representatives of the Oireachtas (legislature) of the Irish Free State , are known as TDs . It was one of two houses of the Oireachtas, sitting with the First Seanad constituted as the 1922 Seanad and the 1925 Seanad . Although Cumann na nGaedheal did not have
10185-468: Was elected in stages and therefore considered to be in permanent session. However, as a gesture of continuity with its predecessor, the first Seanad elected after 1937 is numbered as the Second Seanad. The Seanad, despite the occurrence of three senatorial elections before its abolition, is considered to have been a single Seanad for the duration of its existence and is thus referred for that whole period as
10290-643: 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
10395-499: 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. Fourth D%C3%A1il The 4th Dáil
10500-405: Was highly controversial at the time and the last chairman Thomas Westropp Bennett played a key role. It opposed its own abolition, but this decision was over-ridden by the Dáil. In the 1937 Constitution of Ireland de Valera created a new modern Seanad, Seanad Éireann . This new Seanad was considered to be the direct successor of the Free State Seanad. The King was the same individual who held
10605-604: Was invoked to confirm that the Royal Assent had been given. Its details would instead be published in Iris Oifigiúil . The process of Royal Assent was abolished by the Constitution (Amendment No. 27) Act 1936 . The Act was the last to receive Royal Assent. The new Act instead required that the Ceann Comhairle sign bills into law. Under the new 1937 Constitution of Ireland , which came into force almost exactly one year later,
10710-465: 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
10815-678: 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
10920-481: Was the basis of the Constitution of the Irish Free State which established the Oireachtas. Under the constitution the Oireachtas had exclusive authority to: There were however also a number of limitations to the Oireachtas power: A series of constitutional amendments in 1936 substantially altered the functioning of the Oireachtas: Dáil Éireann from 1922 to 1936 served as the directly elected lower house of
11025-442: 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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