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Ireland Languages

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Description

In the Republic of Ireland, under the Constitution of Ireland, both English and Irish or Gaelic have official status, with Irish being the national and first official language.

In Northern Ireland, English is the primary language for 95% of the population, and de facto official language, while Irish or Gaelic is recognized as an official language under the Identity and Language Act of 2022 and Ulster Scots is recognized as a minority language. [1]

Most records used in Irish research were begun in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth centuries and were written in English. The other language you may have to deal with is Latin. Government records were written in Latin until 1733, some Catholic Church records used Latin until the mid-nineteenth century, and older records written in English often latinized names and relationships. Some knowledge of Latin will help you read these records.

More Detailed Information

Word List(s)

Helpful Genealogical Word List:

Irish or Gaelic

Ulster Scots or Scots

Alphabet and Pronunciation

Irish or Gaelic

Ulster Scots or Scots

Language Aids and Dictionaries

Irish or Gaelic

Ulster Scots or Scots

Additional Resources

  • Ireland (Britannica)
  • Ireland (Wikitravel)
  • Oxford English Dictionary Online. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2002. Available at: WorldCat.
  • The Irish genealogist. London: Irish Genealogical Research Society, 1937. Available at: WorldCat.
  • McLaughlin, Eve. Simple Latin for family historians. Aylesbury, Bucks: Varneys Press, 1999. Available at: WorldCat.
  • Martin, Charles Trice. The record interpreter. London: Stevens and Sons, 1910. Available at: WorldCat.

Language Information:

Irish language
Irish (Gaeilge, formerly written as Gaedhilge) is a member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages. It is closely related to Manx and Scottish Gaelic, and more distantly to Welsh, Cornish and Breton.

  • Irish was spoken natively in Northern Ireland into the twentieth century, in areas such as Rathlin Island, and the Sperrin Mountains. The 1901 & 1911 Censuses reveal that it was spoken by both the Roman Catholic and the Protestant communities.
  • In the Republic of Ireland, formerly the Irish Freestate, Irish has been an official language since independence in the 1920s. One can see both Irish and English used on official documents from the ROI. The republic has also set up Gaeltachts, which are areas in which Irish is supposedly used by much of the community (the definition and the reality are often at odds) - these are generally scattered along the west coast.
  • Irish gives rise to many Irish surnames, including any beginning with:
    • Mac, Mc, M' or Mag- e.g. Maguire, McDonnell, MacGuinness. "Mac" means "son of".
    • O' e.g. O' Dwyer, O' Higgins. "O" means "grandson of".
  • It was quite common for many families to drop the Mac or O' from their surnames, so some of the surnames above might also reappear as Dwyer, Higgins, Guinness etc, in the same family. In certain names, "Mac" also became "Fitz" e.g. Fitzgerald.
  • Many other Irish names also derive from Irish Gaelic, e.g. Branagh (Breathnach)
  • The old Gaelic naming system is extremely complex, and exists mainly in oral tradition.
  • Many personal names such as Shaun (John), Kevin, Conor, Neil, Maeve and Kathleen all ultimately derive from the language too. There are other, traditional, Gaelic names which have no direct equivalents in English: Domhnall, which is normally rendered as the unrelated Daniel or Donald; Grainne, for which there is nothing similar in English, and it is rendered as 'Grace'; Cathal, which is "matched" with Charles.
  • In the last hundred years, many people have given their children Irish names in the original spelling, e.g. the actors Saoirse Ronan and Ciarán Hinds. This is more common in the Republic, and when it occurs in Northern Ireland is usually connected with people who come from a Roman Catholic or Nationalist/Republican background.

Ulster Scots

  • Ulster Scots (also known as Ullans or Ulster-Scotch), is a vernacular used by a few people in County Donegal in the Republic and parts of Northern Ireland, especially County Antrim. *Although commonly portrayed as a "Protestant" language, it is in fact used by members of both the Roman Catholic and the Protestant communities.
  • It has very limited official recognition.
  • Genealogists may encounter an occasional word of Ulster Scots when looking at old documents, but the language is not distinct enough to cause major problems.

Latin

  • Latin was used for written records in Ireland over a thousand years ago, prior to the Anglo-Norman, and even the Norse invasions.
  • It continued to be used long after the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland.

Shelta
This is the traditional language of Irish travellers. One is unlikely to ever come across this in records, much less so than Irish.

Spelling may make some records difficult to read. Prior to 1900, spelling was often phonetic. Family and place-names were often spelled as they sounded to the writer. And given names were often abbreviated.
Handwriting may also make records difficult to read. Writing styles have changed over time. With practice you should be able to decipher most of the difficult words and letters you will encounter in Irish records.

References

  1. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Languages of Ireland," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Ireland, accessed 24 May 2023.
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