• In the language itself: Gaeilge
• ISO 639-3 standard: gle

The Charter does not cover official state languages

• Sociolinguistic bibliography at Glottolog: Iris1253
• OLAC record at Olac Record

Mercator Regional Dossier: Irish in Ireland

Irish, or Gaeilge, is an autochthonous language spoken in the Republic of Irleand and Northern Irlend.

Irish, or Gaeilge, is an autochthonous language spoken in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (which is part of the United Kingdom with a devolved assembly). It is a Celtic language that is closely related to Scottish Gaelic and Manx and more distantly related to Welsh, Breton and Cornish. It is an official language in the Republic of Ireland (ROI) and in the European Union (EU). With regard to political and social history, the cumulative effect of colonisation, plantation and suppression, particularly from the 16th century onwards, led to the elimination of the Irish-speaking aristocracy and their institutions. Additionally, catastrophic famine, emigration and epidemics decimated the Irish-speaking rural indigenous population during the 19th century, all factors which led to a language shift to English. Language restoration efforts by voluntary organisations began in the early 20th century. These efforts developed into an official policy by the native government after political settlements. Nevertheless, Irish is still a lesser used language in a dominantly English bilingual context.

The majority of primary Irish speakers using the language on a daily basis are located in the regions known as Gaeltacht areas (to which the language receded during the languages shift that occcurred). The 2011 Census provides an comprehensive overview of the language: across the State overall, some 1,774,437 persons, 41.4% of the total population, define themselves as Irish speakers. This figure includes 66,238 Gaeltacht residents representing 69.6% of the total Gaeltacht population of 96,628 persons.

All-Island Research Observatory http://airo.maynoothuniversity.ie/

Department of Education and Skills http://www.education.ie/en/

Since pre-primary provision is largely privately funded, the introduction of Irish depends entirely on the provider, whether pre-school, Montessori or other. No stipulation on Irish is attached to the recently introduced Department of Children and Youth Affairs free pre-school year. However, some English-medium preschool services will introduce incidental use of Irish, particularly in playschool contexts for children from age 3. Irish is listed on the curriculum of Montessori provision. The Irish medium and Gaeltacht sectors of Naíonraí (Irish-medium playgroups, usually age 3+) or any other provision for younger children provided by these sectors will generally be conducted through Irish as medium.

• Unordered List ItemThe National Council for Curriculum and Assessment developed AISTEAR (Journey) in 2009, the Early Childhood Curriculum Framework, for children from birth to six years of age. It is based on four themes and is directed at practitioners and parents. http://www.ncca.ie/en/Curriculum_and_Assessment/Early_Childhood_and_Primary_Education/Early_Childhood_Education/

• Comhar na Naíonraí Gaeltachta (Partnership of Gaeltacht Naíonraí) in collaboration with the Dublin Institute of Technology, has developed a specific curriculum for language enrichment and development with Gaeltacht children, entitled Loinnir (Radiance/Brightness), and has published a number of books and CDs featuring rhymes and songs from local traditions.

Irish Early Childhood Education, CNNG: http://www.comharnaionrai.ie/english.php

Article 42.4 states that ‘The State shall provide for free primary education and shall endeavour to supplement and give reasonable aid to private and corporate educational initiative, and, when the public good requires it, provide other educational facilities or institutions’. The responsibility of the State is to ‘provide for’ not ‘to provide’ primary education. Article 8 proclaims Irish the first national language by virtue of being the national language. In a judgment delivered in the High Court on 16th April 1999, Ms Justice Laffoy interpreted this to mean that “an obligation to provide for the education of the children of the State at their first stage of formal teaching and instruction must involve an obligation to provide for education in the constitutionally recognised first official language of the State. It follows that the requirement of the rules that teachers teaching in recognised primary schools should have proficiency in Irish is a valid provision under the constitution… also a valid requirement under European Community law…it is neither disproportionate nor discriminatory.” Matters of school location, entry policy and curriculum are subject to ministerial regulation.

All recognised (funded) schools follow the national curriculum, including Irish, unless individual exemption is granted on specific grounds. In IM schools, Irish is the medium of instruction.Overall, within the primary system, the IM immersion sector is very successful on a continuing upward growth pattern with good results in language and mathematics according to independent research (see Section 8). Use of Irish in Gaeltacht education varies in response to the linguistic profile of the students and the local context. Research by An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta is Gaelscolaíochta (statutory support body for Irish-medium education)published in 2011 showed that just 1,000 (10.5%) of 9,500 primary pupils were native speakers.

Teaching material: http://www.gaeilge.ie/about-foras-na-gaeilge/an-gum/feach-thart-rang-5/?lang=en

The 1988 Education Act is of general application with regard to Irish in education and education in the Gaeltacht as detailed above. Matters of school admission, curriculum and examinations are introduced by ministerial regulation. The 2013 Education and Training Boards Act has administrative effect on schools in the vocational sector.

While Irish is one of the core subjects in the majority of schools and must be included among the subjects chosen for the Leaving Certificate, two problems remain. One is the variable quality of teaching as DES surveys show. The second is the increasing trend towards seeking exemptions from Irish. This sometimes begins in primary school so that the exemption will remain for second level if it is granted. Exemption is granted on specific grounds: education for a certain period outside Ireland for Irish nationals or for foreign incomers, or for students with attested learning difficulties (M10/94 post-primary; M12/96 primary). Examination results in Irish continue to show success for many. For students, the crux often is the lack of opportunity to use the language in contexts other than school, although many teachers show great initiative in creating such social contexts.

• Coláiste na bhFiann (http://www.colaistenabhfiann.ie/?lang=en) is a youth organisation which runs summer courses but also organises clubs around the country during the year.

• Gael Linn operates Coláistí Samhraidh (summer colleges) in addition to school-based initiatives and inter-school debates. These summer colleges are organised by many groups during the summer months in all the Gaeltacht areas, usually for three weeks and with students staying with local Irish-speaking families. For most, it is their first encounter with social inter-personal use of Irish.

With regard to courses that are taught through the medium of Irish, many of the extracurricular courses (offered by Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge National University of Ireland, Galway in particular) can be defined as adult education. Additionally, people attending the Back to Education Initiative or Community Education courses may request Irish language courses towards State examinations certification. Other providers of Irish language courses are self-funded evening adult programmes in second-level schools, Education Training Board centres, Irish medium institutions and other locations which offer Irish classes for adults. Some are general, others are for specific purposes, for parents or for club leaders or for those interested in aspects of Irish culture, e.g. literature, folklore and music. The best-known residential Irish summer courses for adults are operated by Oideas Gael.

Some higher education institutes have established an internal support body called Bord na Gaeilge (Board for Irish), which conducts courses and events that are open to all staff and students. At National University of Ireland, Cork, Ionad na Gaeilge Labhartha (Centre for Spoken Irish) runs a suite of flexible courses and successful results in one specific course counts for the first year of the university’s degree course in Irish. Many higher education institutes conduct flexible diploma courses in Irish language skills.

The Language Centre at National University of Ireland, Maynooth has developed a Teastas Eorpach na Gaeilge (European Certificate in Irish), a progressive structured graded course that is specifically designed for adults and based on the Common European Framework for Languages: Learning, Teaching and Assessment (Council of Europe, 2001). Examinations are offered regularly and recognised by the Association of Language Testers in Europe. Courses are conducted for tutors as well.

In the Gaeltacht, the group Breacadh (Dawn), in collaboration with the ETBs, continues (since 2000) to provide services through Irish to adults in literacy in Irish, communication skills, computer skills, family learning. They also produce appropriate resources for the literacy classes in the three main dialects, commission research, and publish vocabulary lists in areas of work integral to Gaeltacht life. They have endowed a doctoral fellowship at Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge on literacy levels among native Irish speakers.

For pre-school teachers, the two IM pre-school providers have ensured the provision of the appropriate training and qualification through Irish, for Level 5 and 6 Certificates in Childcare.

Aspiring Irish language teachers at the primary level, can follow an undergraduate concurrent or a postgraduate consecutive program; the former leading to a BEd degree, the latter to a Professional Master of Education (PME).

At post-primary level, the Initial Teacher Education (ITE) situation tends to change as higher education institutes offer courses to meet professional need. In the concurrent model of teacher training no course exists through the medium of Irish but Irish is offered as subject in conjunction with other disciplines, e.g. home economics, physical education, religious studies and business studies.

The consecutive model of ITE at post-primary level now requires the qualification PME following the possession of a recognised degree.The TC has also issued specific degree criteria for registration of subject teachers at post-primary level including for Irish as curricular subject. Verifiable residential experience in a Gaeltacht area is required in addition to evidence of competence in the language. A programme of appropriate post-primary ITE must also have been completed.

St. Patrick’s College, Thurles, in affiliation with the University of Limerick, offers Irish and education in combination with either religious or business studies.