Different types of Irish

There are many different types of Irish, coming from all different provinces of Ireland. For example, Donegal Irish is far different to Irish in Dublin. This is mainly due to pronunciation and the accent. The Donegal accent would be similar to a Scottish accent as many Scots came over to Donegal during the Plantation period.

Irish and why it is not the 1st language in Ireland

Today in Ireland, Irish is a (dead language) which basically is a language that is not spoken any more, for example, Latin. However this is not true. Many of the things we do everyday are through Irish. It is compulsory to learn Irish in schools, however many of the students think that Irish is a (waste of time). But there are many people from other countries such as America and Canada who have large amounts of people who's families originated from Ireland. Many of these people will find that their families emigrated from Ireland at the time of the Great Famine. The Great Famine occurred in the 19th century and occurred due to an over reliance on the potato. Many Irish people learnt English as they were leaving Ireland in search of a better life.
These Irish people mainly emigrated to America, England and Canada. 

Irish Today

Ireland, has a population of 4,713,993 people. Only 40,000 to 80,000 people speak Irish fluently. This figure is quite upsetting to me. I have gone to an Irish College twice before and I have grown to love the language. I speak it at home to my brother, sister and my mum. However, 1 in 3 people understand Irish to some extent. This image on the right shows the areas most Irish is spoken. It is mainly along the west coast most Irish is spoken. However, the numbers of people speaking Irish are growing. It is compulsory in school for everyone to learn Irish, with the exception of those with dyslexia.

In Ireland, we have Irish all around us, on signs on the road, on television channels, radio stations and Irish schools that do everything in Irish. All exams are done through Irish, and students are expected to speak Irish to one another during school hours.
There are 158 primary school Gaeliscoils (Irish schools) in Ireland today.

Geography of the Irish Language

Introduction
Hello, my name is Mark, I am a student in Wesley College, Dublin, Ireland. My blog is about the Irish Language. I will be speaking about the history of the language, for example, where it originated from, how it is spoken today, where it is spoken etc.


History
The Irish language first came from the Celts, who arrived in Ireland around the 3rd or 4th century. The Celts brought, with them, the first form of Irish, Archaic Irish, which is found in Ogham writing. However, after Christianity spread to Ireland in the 5th century, it saw a new version of the Irish language, Old Irish. Old Irish was first seen in the margins of classic Latin manuscripts.




Where Irish is spoken
Irish is spoken in mainly *Gaelteacht regions which are mainly found along the west coast of Ireland. some areas of Ireland speak Irish as their first language ahead of English. Areas include Connemara in county Galway.




Examples of Irish
Dia duit, conas atá tú? Tá mé go hiontach.
Hello, how are you? I am great.
Cén fath níl tú i do leaba?
Why are you not in your bed?


How old is Irish?
Irish is one of the worlds oldest languages. Older than many of main worldwide languages today. Irish was spoken before Italian, English, French, and even Latin.