84-613: Lough Foyle , sometimes Loch Foyle ( Irish : Loch Feabhail , meaning 'Feabhal's loch' or "loch of the lip"), is the estuary of the River Foyle , on the north coast of Ireland. It lies between County Londonderry in Northern Ireland and County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland . Sovereignty over the waters has been in dispute since the Partition of Ireland . A survey of Lough Foyle
168-462: A High King of Ireland ), whose name was also used for Tyrone (Irish: Tír Eoghain ). Inis Eoghain is also the ancient homeland of the Meic Lochlainn (descended from the tribe of Eoghan), a clan that grew so formidable that they eventually came under siege by a Limerick King, who came north to Aileach, and ordered the destruction of Aileach fort, and that each soldier was to carry away a stone from
252-713: A navigation , with goods being brought from the Londonderry Port , and shellfish and kelp from the sandbanks along the shore. In the summertime, a ferry service operates between Greencastle and Magilligan across Lough Foyle. NI Railways runs from Derry~Londonderry railway station along the scenic shore of Lough Foyle – with views of Inishowen in County Donegal as well as the Atlantic Ocean – via Coleraine to Belfast Lanyon Place and Belfast Grand Central . The strategically important Belfast–Derry railway line
336-540: 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
420-697: 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
504-560: 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
588-472: 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,
672-541: 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
756-460: 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
840-531: A marked contrast to the more mountainous area surrounding it. Ptolemy 's Geography (2nd century) described a point called Ουεννικνιον ( Wenniknion , perhaps from * wen - "friends") which probably referred to Inishowen. Predating the formation of County Donegal by centuries, the area was named Inis Eoghain (the Island of Eoghan) after Eógan mac Néill , son of Niall of the Nine Hostages ( Niall Naoigeallach ,
924-568: A national level, Inishowen forms part of the Donegal constituency , which elects five TDs to Dáil Éireann , the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament ). At the county level, Inishowen is an electoral area, a Municipal District , electing nine councillors to Donegal County Council . Currently there are three members of Fianna Fáil , two each of Sinn Féin and Fine Gael , one from
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#17328510033651008-574: A paper suggested that within a generation, non-Gaeltacht habitual users of Irish might typically be members of an urban, middle class, and highly educated minority. Parliamentary legislation is supposed to be available in both Irish and English but is frequently only available in English. This is notwithstanding that Article 25.4 of the Constitution of Ireland requires that an "official translation" of any law in one official language be provided immediately in
1092-554: 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
1176-545: A regular basis by any of them. Local clubs include Beart CLG (in Burt ), Buncrana GAA club, Carndonagh GAA club, Malin GAA club, Moville GAA club, Naomh Pádraig GAA club ( Muff ), and Urris GAA club. The Inishowen Football League (IOFL) is an amateur league for football (soccer) clubs in the Inishowen peninsula. Inishowen Rugby Club is based at Carndonagh. Other sports in
1260-611: 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
1344-538: A result of linguistic imperialism . Today, Irish is still commonly spoken as a first language in Ireland's Gaeltacht regions, in which 2% of Ireland's population lived in 2022. The total number of people (aged 3 and over) in Ireland who declared they could speak Irish in April 2022 was 1,873,997, representing 40% of respondents, but of these, 472,887 said they never spoke it and a further 551,993 said they only spoke it within
1428-537: 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
1512-693: Is Slieve Snaght , which is 619 metres (2,030 feet) above sea level. Other major hills are located in the Malin Head peninsula, as well as the Urris Hills in west Inishowen. Due to its geography, Inishowen usually has relatively more moderate weather conditions, with temperatures slightly lower than in other parts of Ireland in summer and slightly warmer in winter, especially during extended cold weather periods. Inishowen has several harbours, some of which are used for commercial fishing purposes, including Greencastle, Bunagee and Leenan. A seasonal ferry service crosses
1596-584: 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
1680-456: Is a peninsula in the north of County Donegal in Ireland. Inishowen is the largest peninsula on the island of Ireland . The Inishowen peninsula includes Ireland's most northerly point, Malin Head . The Grianan of Aileach , a ringfort that served as the royal seat of the over-kingdom of Ailech , stands at the entrance to the peninsula. The main towns and villages of Inishowen are: Inishowen
1764-459: Is a disputed territory between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom ; after the Partition of Ireland in the early 1920s, each side claimed that it was in their own territory. Although this dispute is still ongoing, there are currently no negotiations as to its ownership. The UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) underlined its view on 2 June 2009 that all of Lough Foyle is in
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#17328510033651848-548: Is a lay-by with a large map and information boards. The first leg of the coastal route is along the coast of Lough Swilly . It passes Inch Island , Fahan (a blue flag beach), Fahan 18-hole Golf Course, Buncrana Town, Tullyarvan Mill (An interpretive centre tracing over 250 years of textile production in the Buncrana area.). It continues along the western coast on Lough Swilly . The route passes Dunree beach, Dunree Fort (military museum) and then turns inland for Mamore Gap (between
1932-611: Is a peninsula of 884.33 square kilometres (218,523 acres), situated in the northernmost part of the island of Ireland . It is bordered to the north by the Atlantic Ocean , to the east by Lough Foyle , and to the west by Lough Swilly . It is joined at the south to the rest of the island and is mostly in County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland . The south-eastern part of the peninsula lies in County Londonderry , Northern Ireland , having been transferred from County Donegal at
2016-448: 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
2100-511: 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
2184-496: Is housed in an extension built to the museum. There is a memorial to those lost at sea from the Inishowen Peninsula in front of the museum. Inishowen has a number of Gaelic football clubs which represent the various parishes on the peninsula. Each club has different football teams for both sexes and a variety of age groups. While hurling is played at underage level by all the clubs there is, of yet, no adult team fielded on
2268-604: Is located at the site of the former coastal defence and fortification at Fort Dunree . During the Napoleonic Wars , the fort was built to defend Lough Swilly . The museum includes restored guns, a military camp and underground bunkers. The Inishowen Maritime Museum & Planetarium was founded in 1994 by maritime history enthusiasts who raised funds to buy the Old Coast Guard Station on Greencastle Harbor. The museum includes photographs and artefacts. A planetarium
2352-415: Is much shallower than Lough Swilly, and requires the use of a guide boat to guide ships to and from Londonderry Port . A large area of land, most of which now forms part of Grianán Farm , one of the largest farms in Ireland, was reclaimed from a shallow area of Lough Swilly, stretching from the village of Burnfoot to Bridgend and Burt. The outline of this land is plainly visible due to its flatness, showing
2436-567: 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
2520-412: 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
2604-563: Is technically no longer an island, as it has a causeway connecting it to the mainland at Tooban , south of Fahan. Lough Swilly is a fjord -like lough, and was of strategic importance for many years to the British Empire as a deep-water harbour. It is also famous as the departure point of the Flight of the Earls . Lough Foyle is important as the entrance to the river Foyle, and the city of Derry, but
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2688-559: Is the Derry Journal , published in nearby Derry city, since 1772. It still serves the peninsula as a paper of record . Inishowen is at the starting (or ending) point of the Wild Atlantic Way . The Inishowen 100 tourist route is an approximately 100-mile signposted scenic drive around the peninsula. It takes in or passes nearby many of the tourist sights and places of interest on the peninsula. It starts at Bridgend where there
2772-458: Is to be upgraded to facilitate more frequent trains and improvements to the permanent way, such as track and signalling to enable faster services. From Londonderry railway station the next stop is Bellarena followed by Castlerock then Coleraine en route to Belfast . Walkers alighting from trains arriving at Castlerock can walk to Mussenden Temple owned by the National Trust and can see
2856-659: 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
2940-691: The Labour Party and one independent. In addition to the radio stations and newspapers available elsewhere in Donegal, there are several media outlets that are based solely on the peninsula, including two newspapers (the Inish Times and the Inishowen Independent , both of which are published in Buncrana) and one online daily local news service ( InishowenNews.com ). The traditional news source for Inishowen
3024-569: 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 ")
3108-736: The Urris Hills and Raghtin More mountain), Leenan Bay, Dunaff, Head, Tullagh Bay (a blue flag beach), through the villages of Clonmany and Ballyliffin. Ballyliffin has an 18-hole golf course. The route then passes the Isle of Doagh (where there is a famine museum and an interpretive centre). Next is Carndonagh - the second largest town in Inishowen, after which the route turns North again through Malin Town , past Five Fingers Strand and then up onto cliff top viewpoint at Knockamany Bens, then down again to sea level with
3192-611: 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
3276-769: 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
3360-403: 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
3444-563: 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
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3528-463: 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
3612-654: The Foyle, connecting Greencastle with Magilligan in County Londonderry, while another crosses the Swilly, connecting Buncrana with Rathmullan . The village of Fahan has a privately built marina . There are several small outlying islands off the Inishowen coast, most notably Inishtrahull and Glashedy islands, both uninhabited, although the former was inhabited until the early twentieth century. Inch , located in Lough Swilly ,
3696-536: 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
3780-457: The Lough Foyle side of the canal in the summer of 2006, but by 2010 the partial restoration was deemed unsatisfactory and the local council refused to continue to maintain the canal. The Broharris Canal was constructed in the 1820s when a cut – some two miles long on the south shore of Lough Foyle near Ballykelly – was made in the direction of Limavady . It served both as a drainage channel and
3864-580: The Protection of Birds has a reserve at the lough. In 1792 the four-mile Strabane Canal was constructed from the tidal waters of Lough Foyle at Leck , to Strabane . The canal fell into disuse in 1962. In June 2006 the Strabane Lifford Development Commission awarded a £1.3m cross-border waterways restoration contract. The project involves the restoration of one and a half miles of canal and two locks to working order. Work began on
3948-597: 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 ,
4032-515: The UK's Secretary of State for Northern Ireland , reiterated the UK's view that all of Lough Foyle is in the UK, whilst Charles Flanagan , TD , the Republic of Ireland's Minister for Foreign Affairs , stated that the Republic of Ireland did not recognise Britain's claim to the entirety of Lough Foyle. Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish : Gaeilge ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( / ˈ ɡ eɪ l ɪ k / GAY -lik ),
4116-617: The United Kingdom, a spokesperson stating: 'The UK position is that the whole of Lough Foyle is within the UK. We recognise that the Irish Government does not accept this position...There are no negotiations currently in progress on this issue. The regulation of activities in the Lough is now the responsibility of the Loughs Agency, a cross-border body established under the Good Friday Agreement .' In November 2016, James Brokenshire , MP ,
4200-731: 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
4284-509: The behest of the London companies as part of the Plantation of Ulster in the early 17th century. The peninsula is separated from the rest of Northern Ireland by the River Foyle . After the last ice age , the peninsula was an island. Most of Inishowen's population inhabits the peripheral coastal areas, while the interior consists of low mountains, mostly covered in bogland , the highest of which
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#17328510033654368-664: 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
4452-414: 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
4536-430: 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
4620-499: The fort in order to prevent its rebuilding. Later, after the decline of the Meic Lochlainn, the Norman Earldom of Ulster expanded into Inishowen, founding Greencastle in the process. After the Bruce invasion in the early 14th century, the Ó Dochartaigh clan (descended from the tribe of Conaill), gradually conquered it as they lost their own homeland in the Laggan, a district in the east of Tír Conaill. Inishowen has many historical monuments, dating back to early settlements, including
4704-498: 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
4788-410: 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
4872-425: 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 ,
4956-460: The lough on 1 July 1918 to operate seaplanes during the First World War . The base closed shortly after the First Armistice at Compiègne . At the end of the Second World War , after the Allied victory, the remainder of the German Atlantic fleet of U-boats used to attack supply lines from North America to Britain during the Battle of the Atlantic were assembled in Lough Foyle and scuttled – as part of Operation Deadlight . Lough Foyle
5040-432: The main castle ruins of Inishowen are Carrickabraghey on the Isle of Doagh , the Norman Castle at Greencastle, Inch Castle, Buncrana Castle and Elagh Castle. In 1196, John de Courcy , an Anglo-Norman knight who had invaded Ulster in 1177, defeated the King of the Cenél Conaill and most of County Donegal was at his mercy. Two years later he returned to devastate Inishowen. However, in subsequent campaigns de Courcy
5124-399: 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
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#17328510033655208-408: The mouth of Lough Foyle and Greencastle some distance away in County Donegal . The main character of Alfred Bester 's famous science-fiction novel, The Stars My Destination , is named Gulliver Foyle. Bester took the names of his characters from various locations in Ireland and Great Britain . The United States Navy established the Naval Air Station Lough Foyle on the Inishowen side of
5292-497: 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
5376-409: 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
5460-522: 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
5544-448: 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
5628-415: 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
5712-436: 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 )
5796-432: 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
5880-452: 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
5964-409: The road heads South along Lough Foyle, it passes through Moville town, Quigley's Point and the village of Muff . The famine village on the Isle of Doagh in Lagacurry takes visitors on a tour from the famine days of the 1840s to the present. It includes thatched cottages, a large walk-through museum, and guided tours of life in an isolated place living on the edge. Fort Dunree Military Museum
6048-597: The route looking out into the Atlantic, before heading to Ireland's most northerly point Malin Head . On the North Eastern coast, the route passes through Culdaff village and Culdaff Bay (another Blue Flag beach), Tramone Bay, and Kinnagoe Bay . Further East, it reaches Lough Foyle and then Greencastle (a port used by fishing boats and a landing point for the car ferry from Magilligan in Northern Ireland). Then, as
6132-566: The ruins of several castles, and the fort at Grianán Aileach. The ancient Grianán Ailigh fort at Burt was the one-time seat of the High Kings of Ireland, including both High Kings of the Meic Lochlainn, who held power in Inis Eoghain for many centuries. It was restored in the nineteenth century, although some damage in recent years has resulted in the partial collapse of the south side wall. Among
6216-705: 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
6300-594: 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
6384-523: 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
6468-513: Was defeated by Clan O'Neill and their Chief Áed Méith and found himself unable to conquer the western part of Ulster. In 1608 Sir Cahir O'Doherty , the Chief of the Name of Clan O'Doherty and Lord of Inishowen, launched O'Doherty's Rebellion by burning Derry . After the defeat of the uprising, most of Clan O'Doherty's territory was awarded to Arthur Chichester . In 1990, an O'Doherty clan ceremony
6552-643: 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
6636-546: 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. Inishowen Inishowen ( Irish : Inis Eoghain , meaning 'island of Eoghan')
6720-525: Was held in Derry , during which Ramon Salvador O'Dogherty of Spain was installed as ceremonial "Lord of Inishowen" and received a traditional white wand of office. Ireland's deadliest road accident happened at Inishowen in July 2010. At the last Census of Ireland in 2016 , Inishowen counted a population of 40,544 Buncrana is the largest town in Inishowen, with a 2016 population of 6,785 in its urban area. On
6804-506: Was made between March 1937 and June 1939 by Helen Blackler . In this, a map shows the distribution of certain species of algae in the lough and a full annotated list of the algae recorded along with photographs of the different sites. The list included: Cyanophyceae , Chlorophyceae , Phaeophyceae , Rhodophyceae , lichens and two species of Zostera . The marine algae of Lough Foyle are also included in Morton (2003). The Royal Society for
6888-465: 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
6972-678: 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
7056-442: 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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