114-682: The Constitution of the Irish Free State ( Irish : Bunreacht Shaorstát Éireann ) was adopted by Act of Dáil Éireann sitting as a constituent assembly on 25 October 1922. In accordance with Article 83 of the Constitution, the Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922 of the British Parliament, which came into effect upon receiving the royal assent on 5 December 1922, provided that the Constitution would come into effect upon
228-503: A change of government in 1932 and the adoption of the Statute of Westminster a series of amendments progressively removed many of the provisions that had been required by the Treaty. The Constitution established a parliamentary system of government under a form of constitutional monarchy , and contained guarantees of certain fundamental rights . It was intended that the constitution would be
342-540: 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
456-697: 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
570-560: 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
684-509: A constituent assembly for the settlement of the Constitution of the Irish Free State, had passed the measure set forth in the schedule to the act, (namely the constitution adopted by Dáil Éireann), which it then referred to as "the Constituent Act". It then provided that the Constituent Act should be the Constitution of the Irish Free State and should come into operation on the same being proclaimed by His Majesty in accordance with Article 83 of
798-423: A constituent assembly passed on the 25th October, 1922". As enacted, the Constitution proper consisted of 83 separate articles, totalling around 7,600 words. The Constitution of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann) Act 1922 consisted of only a short preamble and three short sections, but was a far longer document because, as noted above, it included as schedules the full text of both the constitution proper and
912-472: 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,
1026-541: 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
1140-460: 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
1254-655: A new constitution was needed. The Anglo-Irish Treaty made a number of requirements of the new constitution. Among these were that: On 31 March 1922, an act of the United Kingdom Parliament called the Irish Free State (Agreement) Act 1922 was passed. It gave the force of law to the Anglo-Irish Treaty . It also provided by for the election of a body to be called the "House of the Parliament", sometimes called
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#17328528012001368-519: 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
1482-554: 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
1596-579: A practical matter, the process of drafting the constitution began with the establishment by Michael Collins of the committee to draft a new constitution. This started shortly after the Provisional Government was established in January 1922. In subsequent months members of the Provisional Government negotiated the draft constitution with the British authorities. After that process was completed, a bill entitled
1710-504: A pre-existing right to elementary education (Article 10) and the other providing for the possibility of state ownership of national resources (Article 11). The constitution provided for a parliamentary system of government. The legislature was called the Oireachtas , consisting of the monarch and two houses: the Chamber of Deputies, to be known generally as Dáil Éireann , was established as
1824-611: 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
1938-469: A rigid document that, after an initial period, could be amended only by referendum . However, amendments were made to the Constitution's amendment procedure, so that all amendments could be and were in fact made by a simple Act of the Oireachtas (parliament). Whether or not the Irish Free State would have a written constitution was the subject of some debate when the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann) Bill
2052-468: A tacit amendment of the constitution anyway, owing to the doctrine of implied repeal . This meant that, in addition to formal amendments, almost any act of the Oireachtas could be considered an amendment of the constitution. The long process of ad hoc amendment that occurred until 1937 meant that, by the time it was replaced that, according to President (of the Executive Council) Éamon de Valera ,
2166-537: 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
2280-448: 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
2394-511: 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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#17328528012002508-567: 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
2622-412: 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
2736-709: 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
2850-585: The Constitution of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann) Act 1922 held the force of law because of the enactment of the United Kingdom's Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922 . However, under Irish law the constitution "derived its authority not from the Act of the imperial parliament passed on the 5th December, 1922, or from the proclamation made on the 6th December, 1922, but from the Act of Dáil Éireann sitting as
2964-709: The Constitution of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann) Bill was introduced into Dáil Éireann (the Third Dáil ) in September 1922, the Dáil sitting as a "constituent assembly". It was enacted by the Third Dáil on 25 October 1922. Article 83 of the constitution provided that "The passing and adoption of this Constitution by the Constituent Assembly and the British Parliament shall be announced as soon as may be, and not later than
3078-701: 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 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
3192-647: The President of the Executive Council . In practice, however, the President was nominated by the Dáil and formally appointed by the Governor-General. The President then nominated the remaining members of the Executive Council. The Dáil was empowered to dismiss it by a vote of no confidence . With few exceptions, the Governor-General was required to act on the Executive Council's advice. The constitution provided that
3306-619: 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 ")
3420-610: The Statute Law Revision Act 2007 . When the new constitution was drafted lessons had been learned from the Free State constitution. It too granted the Oireachtas a temporary power to make constitutional amendments by ordinary law, but, unlike the Free State constitution, it expressly forbade the legislature from using this power to extend the transitional period. Article 46 of the new constitution required that constitutional amendments be approved by referendum while Article 51 of
3534-691: The War of Independence believed themselves to be fighting on behalf of a newly formed state called the Irish Republic . The Irish Republic had its own president, an elected assembly called Dáil Éireann , and a judicial system in the form of the Dáil Courts . This republic was recognised by the revolutionary government in Russia. In the negotiations leading to the Anglo-Irish Treaty the British government insisted that
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3648-567: The judiciary would consist of the Supreme Court , the High Court, and any lower courts established by law. As originally adopted the constitution contained (in Articles 47, 48 and 50) innovative provisions for direct democracy but, owing to constitutional amendments, these provisions were never permitted to come into effect. The provisions stated that the referendum and initiative would operate on
3762-563: The lower house , and the Senate, to be known generally as Seanad Éireann , as the upper house . The Seanad had only limited powers of delay so the Dáil was the dominant house. Executive authority was vested in the King and exercised by the Governor-General of the Irish Free State , who would appoint an Executive Council to "aid and advise" him. The Executive Council was headed by a prime minister,
3876-588: The "Provisional Parliament", to which the Provisional Government established under that act would be responsible. The act gave no power to the Provisional Parliament to enact a constitution for the Irish Free State. In due course, "the House of the Parliament," provided for by that act, was elected and met on 9 September 1922, and calling itself Dáil Éireann, proceeded to sit as a constituent assembly for
3990-611: 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
4104-603: The 1960s. During the entire period of the Free State, only two pieces of legislation were declared by the courts to be unconstitutional. The Free State had significant problems with public order in early years. It was founded during the Irish Civil War which did not come to an end until May 1923, and thereafter there were continuing problems of public disorder and subversive activities by the Irish Republican Army (IRA). This situation led to an erosion of civil rights in
4218-662: 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
4332-400: 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
4446-403: 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
4560-568: The Act (under Section 1(5) of the Act) was stated explicitly not to be the Act of Parliament for the ratification of the Anglo-Irish Treaty . That function was to fall to the Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922 . Instead, the Act was primarily intended to provide interim provisional arrangements necessary before the establishment of the Irish Free State , which under the Treaty had to be established on or before 6 December 1922. By Order in Council under
4674-517: 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
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4788-648: The Act, the British Government formally transferred powers to the existing Provisional Government on 1 April 1922. That government had constituted itself on 14 January 1922 and had since chosen Michael Collins as its chairman. Their ministerial appointments now became official and were announced in Iris Oifigiúil No.19 of 4 April 1922. The Irish Free State (Agreement) Act 1922 and the Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922 were repealed by
4902-429: The Anglo-Irish Treaty. The articles of the Constitution proper were not grouped together under headings, save for the final ten articles (which came under the title of "Transitory Provisions"). However, divided by subject matter the articles of the Constitution broke down roughly as follows: The constitution itself had no preamble. However, the Constitution of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann) Act 1922 began with
5016-415: The British Parliament to do so, or to elect another constituent assembly. Chief Justice Kennedy was among those who took the view that the act could not be altered by the Oireachtas. Nonetheless, changes were eventually made to the act, when the Oireachtas passed the Constitution (Removal of Oath) Act 1933 , and it was superseded with the adoption of the 1937 constitution. The 1922 Act was formally repealed by
5130-533: The Constitution of Ireland, and the acts themselves were formally repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 2016 . Primary: Secondary: Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish : Gaeilge ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( / ˈ ɡ eɪ l ɪ k / GAY -lik ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family . It is a member of the Goidelic language group of
5244-421: The Constitution or other Free State law that was " repugnant " to it. Similarly, both Section 2 of the act and Article 50 of the constitution provided that no constitutional amendment would stand so far as it violated the terms of the treaty. The enactment by the British Parliament of the Statute of Westminster in 1931 changed the legal framework as understood by the British. The statute was designed to increase
5358-669: The Dáil in the event of that area opting out of the proposed free state. The Irish text was then drafted as a translation of the English text. The Irish language version was drafted by a committee which included the Minister for Education, Eoin MacNeill ; the Leas-Cheann Comhairle (deputy speaker), Pádraic Ó Máille ; the Clerk of the Dáil, Colm Ó Murchadha; Piaras Béaslaí ; Liam Ó Rinn and Professors Osborn Bergin and T. F. O'Rahilly . As
5472-463: 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
5586-405: The Free State constitution is that the modern constitution requires constitutional amendments to be expressly identified as such. Every amendment must have the long title "An Act to amend the Constitution". Some amendments made minor changes, such as removing the requirement that elections occur on a public holiday, but others were more radical. These included extending the term of the Dáil in 1927,
5700-536: 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
5814-492: The Oath of Allegiance, a requirement of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, the act also expressly repealed the provisions both of the constitution proper and of the Constitution of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann) Act 1922 that required compliance with the treaty. Subsequent legislation soon began to dismantle other constitutional provisions that had been required or limited by the treaty's terms. Under British constitutional legal theory,
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#17328528012005928-459: The Oath of Allegiance, and nominated the members of the Executive Council (the cabinet). The Constitution of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann) Act 1922 contained two schedules. One schedule contained the new constitution, and the other the text of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. As enacted in 1922, Section 2 of the act provided for the supremacy of the treaty's provisions, voiding any part of
6042-404: The Oireachtas adopted Amendment No. 17 of the constitution. This added a sweeping set of provisions called Article 2A to the constitution. Article 2A was very large, consisting of five parts and 34 sections. Among other provisions it granted powers of arrest, detention and trial of people before military tribunals not bound by normal rules of evidence, despite the fact that many crimes triable before
6156-597: 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 ,
6270-460: The Transitory Provisions suspended this requirement for an initial three years (beginning when the first president assumed office). However, Article 51 forbade the legislature from amending either itself or Article 46. In the event the Oireachtas used its transitional power only twice, when it adopted the First Amendment and the Second Amendment . The new constitution then settled down and was not amended again for thirty years. Another difference from
6384-402: The Treaty itself, and let the Constitution grow out from that and thereby flatter our neighbours by following their own practice, in allowing the Constitution to develop by custom and usage. Another reason put forward not to adopt a written constitution was that constitutional conventions between members of the British Commonwealth were evolving and there was likely to be an Imperial Conference on
6498-462: The United Kingdom. 11. Until the expiration of one month from the passing of the Act of Parliament for the ratification of this instrument, the powers of the Parliament and the Government of the Irish Free State shall not be exercisable as respects Northern Ireland, and the provisions of the Government of Ireland Act, 1920, shall, so far as they relate to Northern Ireland, remain of full force and effect, and no election shall be held for
6612-403: The abolition of the initiative and of direct elections to the Senate in 1928, extending the period during which the Oireachtas could amend the constitution in 1928, and the introduction of provisions for trial by military tribunals in 1931. From 1933 onwards a series of further amendments were made that gradually dismantled the Treaty settlement by, for example, abolishing the Oath of Allegiance and
6726-406: The act provided that: Every provision of this Act which is in contravention of any provision of the Constitution shall to the extent of such contravention operate and have effect as an amendment [...] of the Constitution. In the Attorney General v. McBride (1928) it was ruled that this kind of section was unnecessary because even if a law did not contain such a provision it could be interpreted as
6840-402: The anti-treaty faction a say in the final proposed constitution before its submission to the British Government. As such it was, according to Douglas, an attempt to ameliorate the pro- and anti-treaty split. Draft C was the most novel of the three. It was signed by Alfred O'Rahilly and James Murnaghan , and provided for the possibility of representation for the people of the northern counties in
6954-577: 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
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#17328528012007068-444: The constitution had become a "tattered and torn affair". While Article 50 provided for the amendment of the constitution proper, there was no explicit provision in any law for the amendment of the Constitution of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann) Act 1922 . Some jurists therefore maintained that the Oireachtas did not have power to amend the Act; rather, if it were possible to alter the law at all, it might be necessary to request
7182-428: The constitution was finalised) was its chairman. Darrell Figgis , the vice-chairman became acting Chair. The committee produced three draft texts, designated A, B and C. A was signed by Figgis, James McNeill and John O'Byrne . B was signed by James G. Douglas , C.J. France and Hugh Kennedy and it differed substantially from A only in proposals regarding the Executive. This difference was intended by Douglas to permit
7296-446: The constitution, save for the requirement that, once the eight-year transitional period had passed, it would be necessary to hold referendums on all constitutional amendments. Then in 1929 the Oireachtas extended this period to sixteen years. This meant that, by the time the constitution was replaced in 1937, the provisions for the constitutional referendum had still not come into force. The procedure for adopting constitutional amendments
7410-400: The constitution. The Royal Proclamation bringing the constitution into force was made on 6 December 1922. Referring to the constitution as a "Measure" whereby the constitution appearing as the First Schedule to the Constituent Act was declared to be the Constitution of the Irish Free State, the Royal Proclamation went on to "announce and proclaim that the Constitution of the Irish Free State as
7524-438: The constitution. Furthermore, as the state had only recently seceded from the UK, Irish judges were trained in British jurisprudence. To this tradition, founded on deference to the legislature and parliamentary sovereignty , constitutional review was an alien concept. This meant that despite the adoption of a new, more rigid constitution in 1937, constitutional review did not become a significant feature of Irish jurisprudence until
7638-400: The correct procedure, it was not open to the judges to strike it down. However Chief Justice Kennedy disagreed, arguing, in a dissenting opinion, that the Article 2A violated natural law . The drafting committee considered the inclusion of economic and social rights in the Irish constitution. C.J. France proposed provisions to ensure state control of natural resources. He further proposed that
7752-457: The courts, this even included the power to amend the article itself and extend this period. The Oireachtas did not adopt legislation providing for the initiative within the two years stipulated by the constitution and, eventually, a petition of 96,000 signatures was gathered by the opposition to trigger a referendum forcing the Oireachtas to introduce an initiative process. The Oireachtas responded by removing all provisions for direct democracy from
7866-414: 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
7980-430: 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
8094-435: The following words: Dáil Éireann sitting as a Constituent Assembly in this Provisional Parliament, acknowledging that all lawful authority comes from God to the people and in the confidence that the National life and unity of Ireland shall thus be restored, hereby proclaims the establishment of The Irish Free State (otherwise called Saorstát Éireann) and in the exercise of undoubted right, decrees and enacts as follows:— Unlike
8208-424: The issue of a Royal Proclamation , which was done on 6 December 1922. In 1937 the Constitution of the Irish Free State was replaced by the modern Constitution of Ireland following a referendum . As enacted, the Constitution of the Irish Free State was firmly shaped by the requirements of the Anglo-Irish Treaty that had been negotiated between the British government and Irish leaders in 1921. However, following
8322-698: 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
8436-410: 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
8550-472: 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 ,
8664-415: The legislative autonomy of all the dominions. In contrast with certain of the other dominions, the statute did not specifically place any reservation on this power as exercisable by the Free State, and thus granted it the power to alter Irish law in any way it chose. The new government under Éamon de Valera soon used this new freedom to enact the Constitution (Removal of Oath) Act 1933 . Besides abolishing
8778-426: The matter before long. The Labour leader also objected to the manner in which the Provisional Parliament was being described as a "constituent assembly" when in fact it was not acting of its "free volition" and thereby at liberty to adopt a constitution. He compared it to re-establishing Poynings' Law . Nonetheless, there were counter arguments in favour of adopting a written constitution. Irish nationalists who fought
8892-563: 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
9006-771: 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
9120-580: The new Irish state must remain within the Commonwealth and not be a republic. Furthermore, while the Irish Republic had a constitution, of sorts, in the form of the Dáil Constitution , this was a very brief document and had been intended to be only provisional. It was therefore the prevalent view that when, in 1921, the British government agreed to the creation of a largely independent Irish state, that
9234-463: 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
9348-481: The new state. During the Civil War a law provided the death penalty for the crime of unlawful possession of a firearm , and more than seventy people were executed for the offence. Strong security measures continued to be used after the war's conclusion; these included internment of former rebels and the punishment of flogging for arson and armed robbery , introduced in 1924. In 1931, acting in response to IRA violence,
9462-580: 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
9576-422: The numbering of constitutional amendments coincides with the order in which they were introduced as bills , so that the sequence does not follow in strict order. There were no Amendments numbered 18, 19 or 25. In addition, "ordinary" Acts of the Oireachtas could modify the constitution. The amendments effected by these acts all lapsed in 1937 with the repeal of the Constitution of the Irish Free State and adoption of
9690-403: The office of Governor General. Because a majority of its members disagreed with this process, the Senate was abolished in 1936. In each case but one, the acts amending the Constitution were titled in the form Constitution (Amendment No. 1) Act 1925 . The exception is Constitution (Removal of Oath) Act 1933 , which does not have a number. The acts are listed below in order of their enactment, but
9804-498: 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
9918-539: 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
10032-505: The powers of the Parliament and Government of the Irish Free State shall no longer extend to Northern Ireland, and the provisions of the Government of Ireland Act, 1920 (including those relating to the Council of Ireland ), shall so far as they relate to Northern Ireland, continue to be of full force and effect, and this instrument shall have effect subject to the necessary modifications. Notably,
10146-487: 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 )
10260-432: 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
10374-447: The return of members to serve in the Parliament of the Irish Free State for constituencies in Northern Ireland, unless a resolution is passed by both Houses of the Parliament of Northern Ireland in favour of the holding of such elections before the end of the said month. 12. If before the expiration of the said month, an address is presented to His Majesty by both Houses of the Parliament of Northern Ireland to that effect,
10488-625: 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
10602-449: The same franchise as the Dáil; this was universal suffrage beginning at the age of 21. The constitution provided for three forms of direct democracy: The Achilles' heel of the direct democracy provisions was contained in Article 50 which provided that, for eight years after the constitution came into force, the Oireachtas could amend the constitution without a referendum. As interpreted by
10716-406: The same was passed and adopted by the said Constituent Assembly has been passed and adopted by Parliament". The 6 December 1922 was the latest possible date allowed for by the Anglo-Irish Treaty for the continued authority of the Provisional Government set up by the treaty pending "the constitution of a Parliament and Government of the Irish Free State". On this date also the members of the Dáil took
10830-459: The settlement of what became the Constitution of the Irish Free State. Shortly after the British evacuated their troops from Dublin Castle in January 1922, Michael Collins set about establishing a committee to draft a new constitution for the nascent Irish Free State which would come into being in December 1922. Mr Collins chaired the first meeting of that committee and at that point (he died before
10944-425: The sixth day of December, Nineteen hundred and twenty-two, by Proclamation of His Majesty, and this Constitution shall come into operation on the issue of such Proclamation." The British Parliament then passed the Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922 , which came into force on 5 December 1922. This act recited that the House of Parliament constituted pursuant to the Irish Free State (Agreement) Act, 1922, sitting as
11058-455: The social provisions’ economic viability as well as their political viability given their potential to alienate conservative, land-owning supporters of the Treaty. British law officers further objected to the "Soviet character" of the constitution’s declaration of "economic sovereignty". The Provisional Government dropped the offending provisions. Ultimately, the 1922 Constitution was limited to two "programmatic declarations" only, one specifying
11172-486: The state would capture the "unearned increment" arising from land value increases, thereby checking speculation in land and promoting investment in industrial development. During the parliamentary debates on the constitution, Labour TDs such as Tom Johnson and T.J. O’Connell proposed the inclusion of modest welfare measures as well as provisions to protect children’s rights. These proposals met with opposition. The economist, George O’Brien, and Archbishop Harty both questioned
11286-406: The then constitutions of Australia and Canada, the constitution included a bill of rights , in Articles 6–10. Rights were also protected by a number of provisions contained in other articles. The constitution empowered the courts to strike down laws they found to be unconstitutional. However judicial review of legislation was made largely meaningless by the ease with which the Oireachtas could alter
11400-523: The tribunals carried a mandatory death sentence. To protect itself from being undermined by the courts, Article 2A was drafted to state that it took precedence over all other provisions of the constitution (save Article 1). The provisions for military tribunals were challenged in 1935 in the case of The State (Ryan) v. Lennon. In this case the majority of the Supreme Court reluctantly held that, because Amendment No. 17 had been duly adopted in accordance with
11514-655: 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
11628-594: 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
11742-460: 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 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
11856-523: 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
11970-460: Was amended only 16 times. In addition to the adoption of constitutional amendments, the courts ruled that the Oireachtas could also implicitly amend the constitution. When the Oireachtas adopted the Public Safety Act 1927, which affected civil rights, it included a section requiring that should the act be found to be unconstitutional it would be treated as a constitutional amendment. Section 3 of
12084-518: Was an Act of the British Parliament passed on 31 March 1922. It gave the force of law to the Anglo-Irish Treaty , which was scheduled to the Act. Section 1(1) of the Act provides that: Section 1(2) provided that for the purposes of giving effect to Article 17 of the Treaty: Sections 11 and 12 provided for the right of Northern Ireland to opt out of the new dominion and remain within
12198-590: 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
12312-579: 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. Irish Free State (Agreement) Act 1922 The Irish Free State (Agreement) Act 1922 ( 12 & 13 Geo. 5 . c. 4)
12426-586: Was introduced to the Provisional Parliament by President Cosgrave. The Labour leader, Thomas Johnson, remarked: [T]here is no compulsion—so far as I can read in the Treaty—for a Constitution —a written Constitution—to be established at all.... It would be wiser, I suggest, to leave the enactment of a Constitution until there is something like quietude in the country.... I submit that it would be enough, in so far as any obligations that have been entered into, to re-enact, re-affirm, or ratify – whichever phrase you like –
12540-442: Was laid out in Article 50. This foresaw that amendments would first be approved by both houses of the Oireachtas, then submitted to a referendum, and finally receive the royal assent from the Governor-General. However, as already noted, the requirement for a referendum was postponed by the Oireachtas so that during the entire period of the Irish Free State the Constitution could be amended by means of an ordinary law. As noted above it
12654-419: Was originally provided that any amendments that violated the Anglo-Irish Treaty would be inadmissible, but this sole restriction was removed in 1933. The Oireachtas readily used its powers of amendment so that, during the 15 years of the Constitution's operation, 25 formal constitutional amendments were made. This can be contrasted with the fact that, during its first 60 years, the current Constitution of Ireland
12768-465: 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
12882-678: 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
12996-491: 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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