Irish language

[Snowball9825]

Does anyone in Ireland actually speak native Irish? I was on a flight today to Dublin and Irish was spoken by the flight attendants but it seemed a bit redundant in that no one really took notice. The pilot spoke English and the plane went quiet to hear about flight times etc but it seemed no one understood when the native language was spoken. Happy to be corrected if I’m wrong?

Yes, there are several areas where Ireland is the first language.

Irish you mean? Where are they? Genuinely curious.

Irish language is compulsory in primary & secondary school. Some schools teach everything through the Irish language. So everyone has some degree of knowledge of the language and certainly in Gaeltacht areas Irish is the primary language used. im not particularly interested in being fluent but I can certainly understand the announcements made on an Aer Lingus flight.

Thank you, I wasn’t aware it was compulsory. Is this throughout Ireland or just more rural counties? It doesn’t seem an easy language to learn!!

We do the same in Wales - use it or you lose it. Plus our big neighbour went out of their way to bury it. So we use it at all opportunities and it is entrenched in law that certain organisations must give out all public announcements bilingually. No different in Ireland.

I don't get what easiness has to do with heritage? And the language that existed there before English ever did.

I wasn’t being dismissive, I was using it in comparison to French, Spanish etc in terms of learning.

I didn't say you were. But I am also not sure why you are comparing Romantic languages to Celtic ones. That said, Welsh and French share the same Bretonic roots.

Irish language is compulsory in all schools in Ireland and is a state exam subject at the equivalent of GCSE & A level. The Gaeltacht areas are predominantly in more rural areas, but there are some small pockets in the cities especially among traditional musician groups.

Yes because they learn it in school. All my Irish friends speak Irish. I always heard it spoken on the place over to Galway last year.

Yes they may do but their languages are so much more readily available for others to learn. I used the examples of French and Spanish which would ordinarily be taught in schools. Irish not so much hence my original post asking was it actually used.

Unfortunately Irish is not widely spoken but as pp says it is compulsory in primary and secondary with exemptions for some SEN, or kids that come to Ireland after primary school and it is widely spoken in the Gaeltacht.
It is beautiful language but unfortunately due to the history of British colonialism (I think) the language is not widely spoken compared to say Portuguese but it is definitely experiencing a resurgence 🤞
You are not wrong, English is the official and most spoken language here, but Irish is also the official language.
Cead mile failte, hope you have a wonderful time 😊 (excuse the lack of fadas)

Irish is taught in many Irish schools, Welsh is taught in many Welsh schools - in fact both countries have schools through which ALL subjects are taught through the medium of the native language. How is that not readily available?

"Ordinarily be taught in schools" - which schools are these? English ones by any chance?! You are looking at this through the prism of going through the English system of education I am guessing? Very rare for Gaeilge or Cymraeg to be taught in England.. probably because England tried to oppress both languages for hundreds of years and the national curriculum has yet to catch up!

There’s quite a lot of Irish speaking in Connemara - I’ve lived here 26 years though and rarely hear people speaking in Irish - sometimes in the radio or tv etc. I’m surprised at the speaking Irish on the plane - was it only in Irish or they repeated it in English too?
i love the Irish language but cannot speak a word of it 🤣

I am not from England lol I flew into Dublin as my post said. I’m genuinely curious as I haven’t ever encountered Irish language being spoken to me. We had a class or two in school but I recall nothing of it.

It was as a PP guessed, an Aer Lingus flight. I have no issues, I just wondered how many actually understood the language, and yes it was repeated in English.

You haven't encountered the language being spoken to you, but you had classes... during which you would have had the language spoken to you?

When I was about 8 years old?!

I don’t recall enough of it to understand it. What they were saying today meant nothing to me and I was just asking if anyone genuinely would understand it and it seems a few do but not so many to be fair. Just an observation on my part.

Irish was a banned language under UK rule and the British policy was to remove the language and linking culture so British schools would not have been encouraged to teach the language in any classroom

I was making the point that both things couldn't be true - you were contradictory. So you actually did some classes, heard some Irish, spoke some Irish, but don't understand why a bilingual announcement might be made on a national carrier?

As I say, native languages in Ireland and Wales are now entrenched in law because people were literally forbidden from speaking them in the past.

It's 40 years since I did Irish in school and I don't know if the teaching has improved in that time but my recollection is that the teaching methods were terrible.

Huge concentration on getting the spelling, the tense and the semantics perfect and zero concentration on getting the kids to actually have a go at speaking the language.

I would have been terrified to try and say a few sentences in Gaelic for fear of being criticised
Maybe it's improved but I have my doubts.

Of course there's a few small pockets where Gaelic is widely spoken and TnaG, the Irish language TV station has come along but I don't get the impression when I visit that it's on the cusp of any great revival.

Sorry, yes! Google Gealtacht and you’ll find the Irish speaking areas. Elsewhere there are Irish medium schools where everything is taught through Irish. My cousins went off to Gaelscoil every summer.

If my instagram is anything to go by, Irish is having a bit of a resurgence and lots of people seem to be picking it up again as adults.

it seems a few do but not so many to be fair

I just checked and it’s apparently circa 40%. So, quite a few.

There’s Irish being used right here on MN :)
www.mumsnet.com/talk/craicnet/5468346-athbhliain-faoi-mhaise-daoibh