Irish language in Northern Ireland

Attitudes among the Anglican and Presbyterian middle class, however, changed in the second half of the 19th century as the Gaelic Revival began being associated with support for Home Rule or Irish Republicanism.

The English-born MP for South Londonderry, Thomas Lea proposed an amendment to the draft of the second Home Rule Bill that would have prevented the passing of laws which would increase Irish language use in state schools, legal courts and other public spheres.

[6] A branch of the Gaelic League was founded in Belfast in 1895 with a non-sectarian and widely based membership, but the decline in Irish as a first language continued.

The Roman Catholic Church had, at that time, desired to "stamp out any lingering, semi-pagan remnants", which included the Irish language.

A letter from Dennis Heraghty of Letterkenny in 1886 to the Society for the Preservation of the Irish Language complained that the parents in his area all wanted their children to learn English.

Bishop MacCormac of Achonry, also in 1886, suggested that "People are apathetic about the preservation of our ancient language" and, "They see that Shakespeare's tongue is the one in use in America and the Colonies.

"[8] Although there had been attempts and societies formed to reverse the declining trend for the language, it was not until the rise of the Gaelic League, founded in 1893, that any measure of success was achieved.

[citation needed] Douglas Hyde, in New York in 1905, said, "The Irish language, thank God, is neither Protestant nor Catholic, it is neither a Unionist nor a Separatist.

At the same time, however, the Catholic Church in Ireland also began to believe in the worth of the language and had begun to take steps to ensure its survival.

[citation needed] Protestants and Unionists alike began to back away from the Gaelic revival as, besides the dominant role of the Roman Catholic Church by then, Irish people were starting to be described as a "race".

[8] James Alexander Rentoul, MP for Down East, stated at Westminster in July 1900 that the Irish language had no value and should not receive any support by the public education system.

The British civil service officials of the Intermediate Board, the organisation through which public education policy was implemented, attempted to frustrate the improvement of Irish-medium education provision so severely that the sitting Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, John Hamilton-Gordon, had to write to the Board on 25 July 1906 to demand that the provision be implemented.

Many republicans in Northern Ireland, including former Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams, learned Irish while in prison.

[21] To lend support for this effort during the early 1980s, Dublin-based Connaught Irish Modernist poet Máirtín Ó Direáin chose to risk both crossing what was still a "hard border" and the danger of falling victim to the ongoing paramilitary violence by Ulster Loyalists during The Troubles.

Ó Direáin travelled to Northern Ireland and gave a poetry reading at the Cumann Chluain Ard, an urban language revival club in the Gaeltacht Quarter of West Belfast.

[23][24][25] Simultaneously, Linda Ervine and the Turas organisation based in East Belfast continues to seek, with considerable success, to promote the Irish language revival among Ulster Protestants.

Irish (in respect only of Northern Ireland) was specified under Part III of the Charter, thus giving it a degree of protection and status comparable to the Scottish Gaelic in Scotland.

This included a range of specific undertakings in relation to education, translation of statutes, interaction with public authorities, the use of placenames, media access, support for cultural activities and other matters (a lower level of recognition was accorded to the Ulster variety of Scots, under Part II of the Charter).

Founded by the parents of children that wanted Irish education but couldn't find a space in 'BPF', one of the parents, named Sue Pentel, played a major role in the making of the school and about two years after the opening of Gaelscoil na bhFál, a daycare service, Ionad Uíbh Eachach, was opened and founded and managed by Sue Pentel.

In the academic year 2018/19, over 6,000 children are enrolled in Irish-medium education: The British Council administers a scheme to recruit Irish language assistants for English-medium schools in Northern Ireland.

In March 2005, TG4 began broadcasting from the Divis transmitter near Belfast, as a result of agreement between the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Northern Ireland Office.

It broadcasts a selection of programmes; music, chat, news, current affairs, sports, arts, literature, environmental and community issues.

[39] The favouring of the Irish language by "physical force republicans" has therefore led to it receiving mixed responses from unionist communities and politicians.

In November 2014, in response to a question about minority language policy the DUP's Gregory Campbell said "Curry my yoghurt can coca coalyer" in what was meant to sound like "Thank you, speaker" in Irish which he later claimed was in an attempt to make a point about the continued political use of the language by some Sinn Féin MLAs in post 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

[50] The 2024 biopic film Kneecap, in which the actual band members play themselves alongside more experienced actors including Michael Fassbender, Josie Walker, and Simone Kirby, is set in the Gaeltacht Quarter in 2019.