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98-598: Mountjoy Square ( Irish : Cearnóg Mhuinseo ) is a garden square in Dublin , Ireland, on the Northside of the city just under a kilometre from the River Liffey . One of five Georgian squares in Dublin, it was planned and developed in the late 18th century by Luke Gardiner, 1st Viscount Mountjoy . It is surrounded on all sides by terraced, red-brick Georgian houses. Construction of

196-540: 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

294-697: 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

392-560: 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

490-510: A cast iron gas lamp holder atop the railings at the bottom of the granite steps. As of 2020 few of these remain intact around the city with notable examples at nearby North Great Georges' Street and Great Denmark Street. In the late 18th century, mud streets were not uncommon and horses were also common on the streets. To avoid this muck being tramped into the houses, boot scrapers were commonly placed outside their front doors. Many of these were highly elaborate and many remain to this day. Some of

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,

686-541: 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

784-852: A famous example being the Chapel Royal in Dublin Castle . Two of his grandchildren married members of the Conlan brewing family of Dublin. Stapleton's name has become synonymous with the elegant ornamental plasterwork of the late 18th-century townhouse. His collection of decorative designs was presented to the National Library of Ireland in 1940 by the Friends of the National Collections of Ireland, which enabled previously unknown works by him to be identified. In connection with prominent Dublin buildings he

882-460: 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

980-654: A green park area. It's also a short walk to the Blessington Street Basin in Broadstone . In 2010 as part of the preparation by Dublin City Council of their City Development Plan, they received a number of representations calling for Mountjoy Square to be designated as an Architectural Conservation Area (ACA). On 14 May 2012, a meeting of Dublin City Council formally established Mountjoy Square as an Architectural Conservation Area. ACA designation gives protection to

1078-574: A paper suggested that within a generation, non-Gaeltacht habitual users of Irish might typically be members of an urban, middle class, and highly educated minority. Parliamentary legislation is supposed to be available in both Irish and English but is frequently only available in English. This is notwithstanding that Article 25.4 of the Constitution of Ireland requires that an "official translation" of any law in one official language be provided immediately in

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1176-554: 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

1274-611: 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

1372-444: A terrace of brick residential houses behind the cladding. A less ambitious compromise of red-brick façades, consistent with other nearby streets, eventually prevailed. The square was laid out and construction began first on the south side, about 1790, continuing until 1818. The stuccatore Michael Stapleton was one of the first to acquire leases (dated October 1789), corresponding to Nos. 43, 44 and 45 Mountjoy Square (all demolished in

1470-537: 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

1568-448: 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

1666-511: 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

1764-454: Is its Neoclassical plasterwork, which is finer even than that found in the contemporary terraces on the south side of Merrion Square . Mountjoy Square has had many famous inhabitants throughout its history. The earliest was Arthur Guinness , who died there in January 1803. Subsequently, his descendant Desmond Guinness and first wife Mariga, attempted to save and restore the gracious character of

1862-444: Is not far from Rutland Square ... The air in this neighbourhood is considered extremely pure, being at the extremity of Dublin, and on the most elevated ground. In 1802, Parliament passed legislation to govern the election of commissioners for Mountjoy Square on a yearly basis. Commissioner were drawn from residents of the square, and included Joseph Napier , Jacob Owen , James Whiteside , and William Trench, 3rd Earl of Clancarty In

1960-567: 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

2058-470: Is raided by the Auxiliaries during the play. This room is thought to have been based on O'Casey's former tenement home. Although the original house was demolished in the 1960s, it was later replaced by a building with a Georgian façade that now stands on the site. O'Casey subsequently lived in another Georgian house very close to Mountjoy Square at 422 North Circular Road; in that house which still stands today,

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2156-458: Is recorded as residing in number 19 in the 1835 Almanac Registry Directory. Sculptor Thomas Farrell (1827–1900) lived in number 30, which is sited along the east side of the square. Two of Farrell's sculptures can be seen on the central median of nearby O'Connell Street at the junction with Abbey Street , with a statue on either side of the Luas tracks. Padraig O'Faolain, an Irish painter, lived next to

2254-412: 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

2352-415: Is where he wrote the trilogy, before later moving to London during the nineteen twenties. The stuccatore Michael Stapleton , who built three houses there, was resident in the square from 1793 to 1795. Stapleton subsequently moved into a house at 1 Mountjoy Place, just off the south east corner of the square. Charles Thorp, another stuccadore also developed three houses on the east side, numbers 19 to 21, and

2450-709: 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

2548-701: 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

2646-726: The Privy Council of Ireland lived at No. 17 Mountjoy Square South (now no. 52). Richard Dowse (1824–1890) lived at no. 38 Mountjoy Square. Born in Dungannon, during his career he was MP for Londonderry (1868–1872), Attorney General, Solicitor General and a Baron of the Court of the Exchequer . Sir Robert Anderson (1841–1918) was born at Number 1 Mountjoy Square West (now 53). An infamous brothel, known as The Kasbah Health Studio, frequented by numerous senior Irish businessmen, politicians and churchmen

2744-619: 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 ")

2842-508: The Western Way , Constitution Hill , Parnell Street , O'Connell Street and the River Liffey . As owner of this land, Gardiner led the development of the Northside of the city east along the river, developing what is now O'Connell Street (then Sackville Street), Dorset Street , Parnell Street and Square (then Rutland Street & Square). After his death, his son and heir Charles continued

2940-611: 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

3038-521: The 1980s, despite the presence of Stapleton's decoration). His houses were complete by 1793. Luke Gardiner II was killed at the Battle of New Ross during the Rebellion of 1798 with the third side still under construction. After completion, contemporaries Warburton, Whitelaw and Walsh said of it: This square, which is now completely finished, is neat, simple and elegant, its situation elevated and healthy …

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3136-769: 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

3234-400: 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

3332-403: 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

3430-563: 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

3528-596: The East. Gardiner Street passes through the West side of the square, while Belvidere Place and Gardiner Lane run off the North- and South-East corners. Although some of the original buildings fell to ruin over the 20th century and were eventually demolished, the new infill buildings were fronted with reproduction façades, so each side of the square maintains its appearance as a consistent Georgian terrace. The first Luke Gardiner (died 1755)

3626-463: 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

3724-682: The Gallagher Group, who wanted to demolish the houses to build offices. Without security or maintenance the houses fell into a state of decay and for safety reasons Dublin Corporation had to demolish them. He spent the last years of his life in a house he had built at No. 1 Mountjoy Place. This house was illegally demolished by the Jesuit owners of Belvedere College , although it was under a preservation order, on 26 April 1968. The carved ceilings and other works of Stapleton were destroyed. After protests by

3822-513: The IGI for £68,000. Despite the formation of Mountjoy Square Estates in an attempt to take up Gallagher's offer, permission was granted for the office scheme again in July 1969. This stipulated that all of the house facades be reinstated, which called into question the financial viability of the project. This led to Mountjoy Square Estates purchasing the plots in December 1969 for £68,000 with the condition that all

3920-536: 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

4018-589: The Kasbah on Mountjoy Square West in the 1980s. Irish radio presenter, journalist, former Trinity College SU president and student activist Joe Duffy was born on Mountjoy Square in 1956. Much of John Carney 's 2007 feature film Once which won the Academy Award that year for best original song was filmed in an apartment on Mountjoy Square East, where the female lead character, played by Marketa Irglova , lives with her family. Several scenes from Georgie's Story ,

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4116-585: The Oscar-winning film Once was made in the square. Historic meetings have taken place there, including planning for the Easter Rising and some of the earliest Dáil meetings. Prominent Irish Unionists and Republicans have shared the square. Mountjoy can boast of being Dublin's only true Georgian square, each of its sides being exactly 140 metres in length. While the North, East and West sides each have 18 houses,

4214-597: 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 ,

4312-496: The South has 19, reflecting some variation in plot sizes. Though each side was originally numbered individually, the houses are now numbered continuously clockwise from no. 1 in the north-west corner. While its North and South sides are continuous from corner to corner, the East and West sides are in three terraces, interrupted by two side streets, Grenville Street and Gardiner Place to the West and Fitzgibbon and North Great Charles Street to

4410-409: The adjacent Great Charles Street in number 50. James Whiteside (1804–1876), writer, orator, politician and barrister lived at no. 2 Mountjoy Square North in the mid-19th century. The eminent family of architects which included Jacob Owen and James Higgins Owen lived at no. 2 Mountjoy Square West (now no. 54) from the 1830s to the 1860s. Joseph Napier , an Irish Conservative party MP and member of

4508-634: 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

4606-543: The birthplace of Edward Carson ). He was among the first leaseholders in Luke Gardiner 's development on Mountjoy Square . The houses he built and decorated to the highest standard corresponded to Nos. 43, 44 and 45 Mountjoy Square. These houses became part of the struggle in the 1970s between the Georgian Society, who wanted the houses restored, but had not the resources to do so, and developers led by Matt Gallagher, of

4704-597: The building trade. Stapleton associated with the master builder, Robert West, the progenitor of the Dublin School of Plasterwork of the 1760s. When West died Stapleton was his executor. He inherited his pattern books and both modelled himself on, and refined the style of, this central figure in the shaping of architecture and design in Dublin and in the country. He died in 1801 and is buried at Malahide Abbey, just outside Dublin City. After his death his son George continued his work,

4802-425: The canon of Stapleton's executed works. Examples of Stapleton's include: (All dates are approximate). And there are many others. Stapleton built a number of houses in Dublin. The only house to have survived the "vicissitudes of time and site redevelopment" (Lucey) is the present No. 9 Harcourt Street, built around 1785. He built two further houses on Harcourt Street, corresponding to Nos. 3 and 4 (the latter

4900-490: The development, finishing Rutland Square before his grandson, the second Luke Gardiner (later Lord and Viscount Mountjoy ) inherited the estate and accelerated the development further East. A powerful figure, Luke II was a member of the Wide Streets Commission and MP for County Dublin. Mountjoy Square was developed as part of this third development phase. An early plan and elevation, known then as Gardiner Square

4998-495: The elevation of the houses, the breadth of the streets, so harmonize together, as to give pleasure to the eye of the spectator, and to add to the neatness, simplicity, and regularity everywhere visible, entitling this square to rank high among the finest in Europe. In 1825, George Newenham Wright described the square: This small, regular and elegant square, which is named after the proprietor, Viscount Mountjoy (now Earl of Blessington)

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5096-468: The end of the famine, and under 17,000 by 1911. Irish is recognised by the Constitution of Ireland as the national and first official language of Republic of Ireland (English being the other official language). Despite this, almost all government business and legislative debate is conducted in English. In 1938, the founder of Conradh na Gaeilge (Gaelic League), Douglas Hyde , was inaugurated as

5194-541: The entire streetscape of the square. Works to any building in the area now require the permission of the Planning Authority, whether the building is a Protected Structure (Listed Building) or not. In 2018, the Dublin City Council proposed restoring Mountjoy Square to its 1837 design by re-creating the 4.4-acre park at its centre. These plans were withdrawn in 2019. Close to the centre of Dublin city and having

5292-545: The first President of Ireland . The record of his delivering his inaugural Declaration of Office in Roscommon Irish is one of only a few recordings of that dialect. In the 2016 census, 10.5% of respondents stated that they spoke Irish, either daily or weekly, while over 70,000 people (4.2%) speak it as a habitual daily means of communication. From the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922 (see History of

5390-558: The hop-on, hop-off city centre 75-cent fare. The 41 bus is almost certainly the cheapest transport link to Dublin Airport from the city at €2.70 (as of 2017) from the square. The main entrance to Dublin Bus ' Summerhill Depot is on Mountjoy Place, just off the southeast corner of the square. In 2009, the Dublin Bikes bicycle sharing system was launched and has one of its more northerly stations on

5488-506: The houses began piecemeal in 1792 and the final property was completed in 1818. Over the centuries, the square has been home to many of Dublin's most prominent people: lawyers, churchmen, politicians, writers and visual artists. The writer James Joyce lived around the square during some of his formative years, playwright Seán O'Casey wrote and set some of his most famous plays on the square while living there, W. B. Yeats stayed there with his friend John O'Leary , and more recently, much of

5586-523: The houses still contain their original wrought iron balconettes while others have since been replaced with more modern replacements. 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

5684-467: The houses would be restored individually, and all adhere to the Georgian aesthetic. However, the group could not secure the funds or purchasers willing to restore the buildings, and then continued to decay. After brickwork began to fall into the street, Dublin Corporation demolished many of the houses to first-floor level for safety reasons. In June 1972, the plot was sold to Patrick McCrea. McCrea began work on

5782-473: The kerbs are generally still (probably Wicklow ) granite, most of the paving stones have been replaced with concrete. The exception to this is the southwest corner in front of 53–54 which still has full granite paving and a small section just off of Mountjoy Square in front of the Free Church . Many of the houses on the square still have their original coal holes and ornate cast iron covers. These small holes in

5880-498: 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

5978-410: 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

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6076-425: 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 ,

6174-413: The late 19th century and early 20th century. Yeats, as a friend of O'Leary, is known to have stayed at 53 Mountjoy Square and sent letters from there. Dáil Éireann , the parliament of Ireland, having been suppressed by the British authorities as a dangerous organisation in September 1919, met before the foundation of the Irish Free State at the home of the republican Walter L. Cole in Mountjoy Square. When

6272-436: The late nineteenth century the park that forms the beating heart of the square was closed to all but the square's residents. Calls from Sir Charles Cameron to throw open the park to the public were rebuffed by the commissioners who called Cameron's open letter an 'audacious proceeding.' The residents' resistance to the attempt to 'provide an additional lung for congested Dublin' were so fierce that The Lancet wrote that despite

6370-407: The major artery Gardiner Street as its West side, Mountjoy Square has considerable transport links in its immediate locality. The Dublin Bus termini for the 7, 7a, 7b, 7d and 46e are on the north side of the square and run toward the southeast of the city. Routes 33, 41, 41b and 41c stop on the west side of the square on their way to the northern suburbs. The square's bus stops are also covered by

6468-399: 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

6566-497: 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

6664-409: 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

6762-522: 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

6860-448: 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

6958-462: The outer sides, in front of the houses, are seemingly of the style called The Scotch Standard , dating from 1903 to 1920 when Dublin streets were being electrically lit as part of the Pigeon House scheme. On the inner (park) side of the street, a slightly more modest design is used, apparently consistent with a more recent 1940–50 design. These designs are all 9 metres tall. Prior to the installation of public lighting schemes, most houses would have had

7056-499: The park's small size it 'seems sufficient for an Irish battlefield in the holidays.' The park was subsequently opened to the public in the twentieth century. In 1939, a plebiscite of local ratepayers rejected a proposal to change the name of the square. Much of the square became tenements from the 1900s when the south side of the city became more fashionable. By the 1960s, large portions of the square were in such poor condition that many were condemned and demolished as dangerous. Half of

7154-539: 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

7252-487: 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 )

7350-432: 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

7448-683: 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

7546-548: The site redeveloping it with a Georgian facade, but he ran out of funds. Following his death, the site remained untouched until 1978 when it was purchased by Stephen Treacy, though he failed to progress the project and by 1981 parts of brick cladding from the 1970s construction fell into the street, crushing two cars. Eventually, the whole site was developed with a replica Georgian facade designed by Sean Clifford and Associates. More recently in 2005, architecture critic Christine Casey stated: The outstanding feature of Mountjoy Square

7644-598: The south side of the square was bought up by Leinster Estates, a company owned by the property developer Matt Gallagher , in the early 1970s. His plan was to build a large office block designed by Desmond FitzGerald . Despite high objections from the Irish Georgian Society (IGI), permission for the office block scheme was granted in October 1967. After a public inquiry, Gallagher offered to sell his land with 7 standing houses and 13 demolished or partly demolished houses to

7742-754: The square in 1966–75, buying No. 50 and several demolished lots with members of the Irish Georgian Society. Seán O'Casey , the Irish playwright and founder member of the Irish Citizen Army , lived in a tenement in no. 35 Mountjoy Square, during the Irish War of Independence. During his time there, it is said that the house was raided by the Black and Tans . John O'Leary , a leading Fenian , poet, editor of The Irish People , mentioned in W. B. Yeats' poem September 1913 , lived at no. 53 Mountjoy Square West in

7840-447: The street outside each house lead to a coal house underneath the street. These elegantly solved the problem of how to quickly and cleanly deliver coal to the house, allowing the coal men to simply pull the hole open and empty their sacks of coal down through it. The basement of the house then had a doorway into the coal house under the street, many of which remain intact. The street lamps on the square are of two different designs. Those on

7938-530: The third episode of Mark O'Halloran's award-winning television mini-series Prosperity , screened on RTÉ in 2007, were filmed in and around Mountjoy Square park. The rock/pop band U2 used to rehearse in a squat on Mountjoy Square in the late 1970s and were photographed by Patrick Brocklebank, published in "The Dublin Music Scene and U2, 1978–81". The square's own park has both playing areas for football, basketball and table tennis, playgrounds for children and

8036-655: 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

8134-603: The volunteers met on Easter Monday 1916, the 1st battalion met at Blackhall Street in the liberties with the intention of taking over the Four Courts . The exception was the twelve men of D company under the command of Captain Seán Heuston who met at Mountjoy Square with the mission of taking the Mendicity Institution across the river from the four courts. Tim Healy resided at 1 Mountjoy Square, having lived previously on

8232-415: The west side of Mountjoy Square, providing easy access for commuters, locals, and tourists. In 2013 a similar pay-as-you-go car hire scheme stationed a car on the square. The "Go-Car" is parked on Mountjoy Square West. Over the centuries, new features have been added to the street furniture while for various reasons others have been removed. The footpath was originally paved with granite. By now, although

8330-594: 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

8428-460: 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

8526-478: Was a highly successful banker, developer and Member of Parliament for Dublin in the early 18th century. During his career, he acquired a wide variety of properties throughout the city. The major continuous part, much of which he purchased from the Moore family in 1714, was a large piece of land to the East of the then-established city. This estate corresponds to the modern area bounded by The Royal Canal , Dorset Street ,

8624-523: 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

8722-599: Was born in Dublin, the son of George Stapleton, who may have been a plasterer by trade. He married Frances Todderick, the daughter of a Dublin timber merchant, in 1774. They lived for a few years in No. 59 Camden Street, until about 1781. Being a Catholic, he was not allowed to become a member of a Guild (this law was relaxed in 1793). In 1777 he was working on the Examination Hall at Dublin University (Trinity College). In 1784 he

8820-504: Was drawn up in 1787 by Thomas Sherrard, surveyor to the Wide Streets Commissioners . Gardiner and Sherrard had an ambitious vision for the square. It was on high ground, so all streets off it led downhill. It overlooked The Custom House and was connected to it by Gardiner Street. The plan included a rebuilt St. George's Church in the centre of the park. The original West side plans show a palatial stone-clad street frontage with

8918-643: 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

9016-496: 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. Michael Stapleton Stapleton

9114-673: Was located in the basement of number 60 Mountjoy Square West from the late 1970s until its closure in the early 1990s. Seán O'Casey set all three of his "Dublin Trilogy" ( The Shadow of a Gunman , Juno and the Paycock and The Plough and the Stars ) in tenement houses in Georgian Dublin. In particular, The Shadow of a Gunman opens in A return-room in a tenement house in Hilljoy Square which

9212-465: 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

9310-551: Was recorded by the Georgian Society Records (Dublin 1909–1913), and was credited with "much of the fine work in Dublin at this period". Sacheverell Sitwell commented that: "...the Dublin artisans (of the period) were second to none in Europe, and the reader need only glance through the volumes of the Georgian Society to feel certain of this." The first studies specifically devoted to Stapleton were published in articles by C. P. Curran in 1939–40, who added significantly to

9408-678: 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

9506-442: 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,

9604-490: Was working in Trinity College where some of the exceptional contributions he has made to stucco work are to be seen. The Stapletons had four children: Robert who died young; George took over the family business when his father died; Margaret married a stone-cutter called John Taylor; and Mary married into a family of paper-stainers and house painters. The family moved to Mecklenburg Street, then associated with those in

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