Gaeltacht are the districts of Ireland, individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home. The Gaeltacht districts were first officially recognised during the 1920s in the early years of the Irish Free State, following the Gaelic revival, as part of a government policy aimed at restoring the Irish language.
Although Irish has been used as a literary language for more than 1,500 years, and modern literature in Irish dates – as in most European languages – to the 16th century, modern Irish literature owes much of its popularity to the 19th century Gaelic Revival cultural movement. Writers in Irish have since produced some of the most interesting literature to come out of Ireland, supplemented by work produced in the language abroad.
Connemara is a region on the Atlantic coast of western County Galway, in the west of Ireland. The area has a strong association with traditional Irish culture and contains much of the Connacht Irish-speaking Gaeltacht, which is a key part of the identity of the region and is the largest Gaeltacht in the country. Historically, Connemara was part of the territory of Iar Connacht. Geographically, it has many mountains, peninsulas, coves, islands and small lakes. Connemara National Park is in the northwest. It is mostly rural and its largest settlement is Clifden.
Spiddal is a village on the shore of Galway Bay in County Galway, Ireland. It is 18 kilometres (11 mi) west of Galway city, on the R336 road. It is on the eastern side of the county's Gaeltacht and of the Connemara region. According to the 2016 census, 35.3% of the population speak Irish on a daily basis outside the education system. It is a centre for tourism with a beach, harbour, and shore fishing. The village is part of the civil parish of Moycullen.
Máirtín Ó Direáin was an Irish poet from the Aran Islands Gaeltacht. Along with Seán Ó Ríordáin and Máire Mhac an tSaoi, Ó Direáin was, in the words of Louis de Paor, "one of a trinity of poets who revolutionised Irish language poetry in the 1940s and 50s." According to a 1984 lecture by Desmond Egan, "Ó Direáin's genius stands revealed - to the extent that we must look abroad for poets with whom his achievement might best be compared; to Spain and Antonio Machado's sweet intensity; to Russia and Akhmatova; to Germany and the bittersweet music of Heinrich Heine."
Irish orthography is the set of conventions used to write Irish. A spelling reform in the mid-20th century led to An Caighdeán Oifigiúil, the modern standard written form used by the Government of Ireland, which regulates both spelling and grammar. The reform removed inter-dialectal silent letters, simplified some letter sequences, and modernised archaic spellings to reflect modern pronunciation, but it also removed letters pronounced in some dialects but not in others.
Máire Mhac an tSaoi was an Irish civil service diplomat, writer of Modernist poetry in the Corca Dhuibhne dialect of Munster Irish, a memoirist, and a highly important figure within Modern literature in Irish. Along with Seán Ó Ríordáin and Máirtín Ó Direáin, Máire Mhac an tSaoi was, in the words of Louis de Paor, "one of a trinity of poets who revolutionised Irish language poetry in the 1940s and 50s."
Comhar is a prominent literary journal in the Irish language, published by the company Comhar Teoranta. It was founded in 1942, and has published work by some of the most notable writers in Irish, including Máirtín Ó Cadhain, Seán Ó Ríordáin, Máirtín Ó Direáin, Máire Mhac an tSaoi and Brendan Behan. Comhar also publishes books in Irish.
An Cumann Gaelach is a type of student society found in many colleges and universities in Ireland. Several of these societies were founded in the early 1900s as part of a wider revival of the Irish-language, which saw the establishment of national groups such as Conradh na Gaeilge. Although the societies are not formally linked, they operate in a similar manner through the facilitating of Irish classes, céilís and trips to the Gaeltacht, while many hold events in March during Seachtain na Gaeilge. Some societies also take part in the annual Glór na nGael competition, which gives awards to third level groups for their work in the promotion of the Irish language. Coordinated by Foras na Gaeilge, the competition includes a specific category for colleges and universities. The University of Glasgow's Cumann Gaelach Ollscoil Ghlaschú was founded in 2016.
Oireachtas na Gaeilge is an annual arts festival of Irish culture, which has run since the 1890s. Inspired by the Welsh eisteddfodau, the festival has included different events connected with Irish language and culture over the years. Today the festival organisation runs events throughout the year, but the most prominent is Oireachtas na Samhna held on the last weekend of October or the first of November, when more than 100,000 people attend the seven-day event.
Raidió Rí-Rá, founded in 2008, is an Irish language chart music radio station broadcasting on the Internet, and, for approximately one month a year, on FM radio. The station has offices on Harcourt Street in Dublin.
Irish, or Gaelic, also sometimes known outside Ireland as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was the population's first language until the 19th century, when English gradually became dominant, particularly in the last decades of the century. Today, Irish is still commonly spoken as a first language in areas of Ireland collectively known as the Gaeltacht, in which only 2% of Ireland's population lived in 2016. It is also spoken by a larger group of habitual but non-traditional speakers, mostly in urban areas where the majority are second-language speakers. From 2006–08, over 22,000 Irish Americans reported speaking Irish as their first language at home, with several times that number claiming "some knowledge" of the language.
The Irish language originated in Ireland and has historically been the dominant language of the Irish people. They took it with them to a number of other countries, and in Scotland and the Isle of Man it gave rise to Scottish Gaelic and Manx, respectively.
Feasta is an Irish-language magazine that was established in 1948. Its purpose is the furtherance of the aims of Conradh na Gaeilge, an objective reflecting the cultural nationalism of the language movement, and the promotion of new writing. Feasta describes itself as a review of Irish thought, literature, politics, and science. It was formerly supported by Foras na Gaeilge, but this support was withdrawn because of a review of funding priorities. At present the magazine relies on its own resources.
An Caighdeán Oifigiúil, often shortened to An Caighdeán, is the variety of the Irish language that is used as the standard or state norm for the spelling and the grammar of the language and is used in official publications and taught in most schools in the Republic of Ireland. The standard is based on the three Gaeltacht dialects: Connacht Irish, Munster Irish and Ulster Irish. In Northern Ireland and County Donegal, the Ulster dialect is used extensively alongside the standard form as the spoken language in primary and secondary schools.
Alan TitleyMRIA is an Irish-language novelist, translator, playwright and professor. He also wrote columns under the name Crobhingne.
Coláiste Chineál Eoghain is a secondary school in Buncrana, County Donegal, Ireland, offering a curriculum taught through the Irish language. It is located at Tullyarvan Mill in Buncrana. It opened in 2007, under the patronage of the Donegal VEC. This was later replaced by the Donegal Education and Training Board.
Máirín Ní Mhuiríosa was an Irish scholar, poet and journalist.
