The Irish Language in Globalization

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of the sociolinguistic situation of the Irish language on the island of Ireland. Irish is a minority language spoken in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, yet the position of the language within these two political entities is vastly different. As a result of the 1920 Government of Ireland Act and the subsequent ratification of the Anglo Irish Treaty the ‘Irish Free State’ (Republic of Ireland) came in to being, leaving the six counties of Northern Ireland (Armagh, Antrim, Down, Fermanagh, Derry and Tyrone) within the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom. From this point on, the revival of the language became the remit of the newly formed government within the 26-county Republic and was absent from the Unionist agenda in Northern Ireland. For these reasons, the chapter will provide an historical account of the Irish language up until 1920, when official partition took place, and will discuss the language situation from that point to the present day within the context of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland individually. In so doing, the chapter offers an in-depth account of the present situation of the Irish language.