Irish Gaelic Language Services

Irish (Standard Irish: Gaeilge), also known as 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. Irish is still spoken as a first language in a small number of areas of certain counties such as Cork, Donegal, Galway, and Kerry, as well as smaller areas of counties Mayo, Meath, and Waterford. 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.

Irish has constitutional status as the national and first official language of 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 the standard modern written form is guided by a parliamentary service and new vocabulary by a voluntary committee with university input. The modern-day areas of Ireland where Irish is still spoken daily as a first language are collectively known as the Gaeltacht.

In An Caighdeán Oifigiúil (“The Official Standard”) 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 [ˈɡeːʝəlˠɡ] in Classical Gaelic and Goídelc [ˈɡoiðelˠɡ] in Old Irish. Goidelic, used to refer to 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, and Gaelainn/Gaoluinn [ˈɡeːl̪ˠən̠ʲ] in Munster, as well as Gaedhealaing in Waterford to reflect local realisation of word final /n̠ʲ/ as [ɲ].

Gaeilge also has 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.