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The Decline and Attempted Preservation of the Irish Language

February 7, 2021

By Jenny Snook

While the Anglo-Normans invaded Ireland in the 12th century, their descendants adopted the Gaelic way of life and language. Intermarriage was common and they became known as: More Irish than the Irish themselves. Although they were a French speaking nation, by the 1500s the vast majority of people living in the country spoke Irish.

Today, the UNESCO Atlas of the Worst Languages in Danger, has described Irish as ‘definitely in danger’.[1]

Changes began in the 16th century with the Tudor Conquest of Ireland, planned by the crown to give them full control over Gaelic Ireland. Known as the Plantations, English and Scottish settlers arrived in Ireland, taking control over vast areas of land. From this time onwards, the percentage of Irish speakers in the country continued to drop.

This article will look at why the Irish language has continued to decline, what is being done to protect the language and the changing views of the Irish people over its preservation. Two major events in Irish history that led to decline were The Flight of the Earls and The Great Famine.

 The Flight of the Earls (1607)

By the late 16th century, Ulster was the only region of Ireland that remained unoccupied by the English. To try and prevent the whole country from coming under their control, the leaders of two of the most powerful clans in Ulster joined forces.

The Nine-Years War was led by Hugh O’Neill’, Earl of Tyrone and ‘Hugh Roe O’Donnell’, Earl of Tyrconnell (replaced by his brother Rory in 1602). After the victory of the crown, these two men fled the country. Planning to travel to Spain, their ship was diverted, and they ended up in Italy. This event, known as the ‘Flight of the Earls’, marks the total collapse of Gaelic order in Ireland.

The government in London recognised the need to suppress the Gaelic lords still living in Ulster. During the Plantation of Ulster, an extensive amount of land was confiscated and taken over by British settlers. In 1612, Tudor writer Sir John Davies stated:

We many conceive and hope that the next generation will in tongue, and in heart, and in every way else, become English; so that there shall be no different or distinction, but the Irish sea betwixt us.[2]

After the ‘Flight of the Earls’, Irish was no longer the language of the Gaelic aristocracy. It became known as a ‘poor man’s language’ that people were no longer proud to speak. Now associated with primitive farming communities living in the west of Ireland, it represented a backwards, old-fashioned way of life.

Although the percentage of people using Irish as their first language began to fall, the population of Ireland continued to grow and the overall number of people speaking Irish increased over time. This rise in population was abruptly stopped in the 1840s.

The Great Famine (1845-1850)

Stone wall of a famine graveyard in northwest Ireland

Lasting from 1845 to 1850, the main reason that the Great Famine had such a catastrophic effect on Irish communities, was the fact that almost half the population depended on potatoes as their primary food source. Crop failure meant that many of these people starved to death. It was especially severe in western farming communities, where a higher percentage of people spoke Irish as their first language.

Between 1844 and 1851, the population of Ireland fell from almost 8.4 million to 6.6 million. While about one million people died from starvation, and diseases caused by poor food quality, approximately one million people emigrated. After the famine, emigration continued and by 1921, the population of Ireland was barely half of what was recorded in the 1840s.[3]

It is often claimed that it is likely that one in every four people died during the Famine, that another person emigrated and that the spirit of the two left behind was broken.[4]

To most of the Irish population, moving to the US or London represented higher wages and a better way of life. It is easy to understand why many parents thought it more productive for their children to learn English.

Irish Education System

Before the famine started and mass immigration occurred, Irish children were already being told that speaking their own language in school was an offence, that would result in punishment.

When the Act of Union was passed in 1801, creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, children were given a poem to learn in school, which went something like this:

I sang of goodness and grace on my birth. I smiled and made me on Christian Days a happy English child.[5]

The national primary system was established in 1831, lasting until the end of the 1870s. This system banned national schools from using Irish in the classroom. The English continued to make Irish look like the language of a poor, illiterate, backwards culture while English represented success and sophistication.

An item known as a ‘tally stick’ was even introduced into schools, described by Padraig Pearse as ‘The Murder Machine’. This was a wooden stick which school children had to tie around their necks. Every time they were caught speaking Irish, a notch was etched into the stick and by the end of the day, they were physically punished, based on the number of notches.

Luckily, changes occurred in 1878, when Irish was officially recognised by the education system, with the teaching of Irish being placed on primary and post-primary school programmes. From 1904, schools based in Irish-speaking areas were permitted to implement bilingual programmes into the classroom.

Although these strong rules were in place from the early 19th century, a percentage of the Irish people still tried to encourage and embrace their national language and culture.

The Gaelic Revival and Newfound Sense of Pride

From the early 19th century, the Gaelic Revival demonstrated a growing interest in Irish literature, history, folklore and language. Along with the spread of nationalism, it encouraged a new sense of pride in Irish history and culture.

Two organisations that were most influential in the revival of the Irish language were the Society for the Preservation of the Irish Language (1877) and The Gaelic League (1893).

Douglas Ross Hyde is seen by many as the heart of the Gaelic Revival. In 1877, he founded the Society for the Preservation of Gaelic along with George Noble Plunkett. In 1893, he became the first president of the Gaelic League; not just set up to preserve but to revive the Irish language.

Although Hyde saw the Gaelic League as a non-political organisation, Padraig Pearse flaunted the Irish language as a sign of separation from the UK. As the Gaelic League was infiltrated by the IRB, Pearse claimed that it had provided Ireland with:

Not peace, but a sword.

In 1915, the IRB drafted a modification of rule 2 of the leagues constitution that affirmed their commitment to political separation from Britain. As someone who was strongly opposed to any association with politics and the Easter Rising, Hyde chose to resign. The actions of the IRB encouraged the Irish people to celebrate their language as a sign of independence.

After gaining independence in 1922, Irish became the official language of the Irish Free State. It was made compulsory in schools. However, the majority of people still saw English as the most valuable language to learn in order to be successful.

The Government of Ireland stated:

“Since the foundation of the Irish Free State the education system was targeted as an agency and model for language planning, education and revitalisation and has been viewed as one of “the critical engines for generating linguistic ability in Irish.”[6]

Complaints were later made that although writing in Irish was encouraged in schools, speaking Irish was not. If they wanted to form an Irish speaking community changes needed to be made so, in 1960, an oral exam was made part of the leaving certificate in schools.

In the 1970s, parents began to emphasise the need for the Irish government to establish Irish-medium schools, outside Irish-speaking regions of the country. This change in attitude displays a newfound state of pride in their national language and an understanding in the need to preserve it.

Modern Day Determination

Modern day efforts are still being made to preserve and rejuvenate the Irish language. In 1996, Teilifís na Gaeilge (now known as TG4) was created. For the first time, the Irish people were provided with an Irish speaking television channel. This is something that groups focusing on the preservation of Irish had been demanding for years.

Deputy Chief Executive of TG4 Pádhraic Ó Ciardha states:

 It is the most attractive, accessible and entertaining portal into the language since the foundation of the State. The content seems to strike a chord and people feel an affinity towards the language. It reacquaints us with the richness of our culture.[7]

Another event was the establishment of Foras na Gaeilge in 1998, set up to encourage the speaking and writing of Irish in public and private life, in the Republic and Northern Ireland.

The 20-year Strategy for the Irish Language is in place today to try and improve the practice and knowledge of Irish as a community language between 2010 and 2030. Some quite optimistic goals have been set:

  • A rise in the number of people with knowledge in Irish from1.66 million in 2010 to 2 million by 2030.
  • A growth in the number of people speaking Irish daily from 83,000 in 2010 to 250,000 in 2030.

Hopefully, improvement will be seen over this 20-year period. However, Central Office Statistics from a 2016 census recorded that although 39.8% (1,761,420) of the population could speak Irish, only 4.3% (73,803) spoke it daily outside of the education system. This was a fall of 3,381 since 2011.

Conclusion

Although a sense of pride in the Irish language has re-emerged, could it be too little too late? The two historical events mentioned had such a severe effect on the reputation of the language and number of Irish speakers, it is hard to imagine how a better educational system and modern changes could prevent the extinction of the Irish language today.

Cuan Ó Seireadáin, communications officer at Conradh na Gaeilge, an organisation working to promote the legal and cultural status of the language at home and abroad, states:

There is no situation globally which is comparable to the cultural situation in Ireland. An Ireland with the Irish language wouldn’t be the same place. It wouldn’t really be Ireland, maybe, not in the sense that it has been. For the longest portion of its history, it had been a country dominated by the Irish language and Gaelic culture.[8]

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