Origins: Irish is a Celtic language and has been spoken in Ireland for around 2,500 years. The Celtic family of languages derives from Indo-European, the root language of most languags spoken in Europe today. No record of this root language exists, but by comparing related languages we can see that it was probably spoken in Eastern Europe and Western Asia before diverging into various dialects soon after the end of the Stone Age.

Common Celtic evolved as a western dialect of Indo-European and was spoken in wide regions of Central Europe some 1,000 years later. During this time the Celtic civilisation became culturally distinct and spread through migration.

The Celtic language split into two distinctive dialects, Continental Celtic (which died out before the 5th century) and Insular Celtic which divided into two branches. 1) British, comprising modern Welsh, Breton and Cornish (which died out in the 18th century); and 2) Irish, comprising Irish, Scots Gaelic and Manx (which died out in the middle of the 20th century).

Irish has four distinctive linguistic periods: Old Irish, c.600-900 AD; Middle Irish, c.900-1200 AD; Classical Irish, c.1200-1600; and Modern Irish, c.1600 to the present day.

The written history of Irish begins in the 5th century with the arrival of Celtic missionaries from Britain who took over many of the religious functions of the native Druids. The early monks used Latin when they wrote but gradually began to write in Irish from the end of the 6th century onwards.

The linguistic, cultural and political stability of the Old Irish period was disrupted by the Viking invasions towards the end of the 8th century which completey disrupted the monastic system. These invasions caused a period of great linguistic change. The term middle-Irish is used to describe the unsettled form of the written form of this period.

By the 11th century all of Ireland and much of Scotland was culturally and politically Gaelic. Further cultural and political upheaval took place in the 12th century with the reform of the Irish church and the Anglo-Norman invasion of 1169. The Normans were originally French-speaking, but this gave way to English. Linguistically, the Normans influenced the Irish language in the area of administrative, legal and military terms.

During the period 1200-1600 Irish was the dominant language in the country, though some educated and aristocratic classes were bilingual.

The first attempts at stemming the growth of Irish happened with the Statutes of Kilkenny in 1366. The Normans had become entirely culturally assimilated and efforts were made by the authorities to prevent further spread of the Irish language and customs.

The 17th century saw the ownership of land and power change from native to foreign hands through military campaigns and plantations. The final major battle of this campaign, The Battle of the Boyne (1690) established English rule and so began the dominance of the English language over Irish.

The 18th century saw English as the sole language of the upper classes, of government and of public administration.

Almost all education was conducted in English in the 19th century. Irish was not even taught as a subject in schools until 1878, and then not during official school hours until 1900.

The 19th century is not all bleak. Many cultural societies and institutions such as the Royal Irish Academy (1785) and the Gaelic Society of Dublin (1806) were founded in order to further the study of Irish literature and tradition. Conradh na Gaeilge (The Gaelic League) was founded in 1893 and sought to rid Ireland of provincialism through the creation of an independent, self-confident and self-reliant nation in the Gaelic tradition through all aspects of Irish life.

The Irish Language in the Modern State

The constitution of the Irish Free State declared Irish to be the national language and the new administration sought to promote the language in various aspects of life in the country. Many schemes were initiated in the 1920s, especially in the public sector, the armed forces and the civil service. By the early 1940s, 55 per cent of primary school children were receiving some or all of their eductation through Irish. Also, it was possible to study through Irish at University.

The mainstay of the Irish language has always been the Gaeltacht areas, though they began to decline after the foundation of the State. However, much has been done in recent years to encourage migration to these areas.

On a national level, Bord na Gaeilge, the state Irish language board, was established in 1978 to ensure the survival of Irish as a spoken language throughout the country. The Board acts as an advisor on language matters to the state and also seeks to create language awareness through community projects. Ireland also saw the launch of an Irish language television station, TnaG and a local Dublin radio station, Radio na Life.

The Irish language is seeing a huge revival which is evident in all aspects of everyday life in Ireland.