Gaeltacht

This article is about the Irish Gaelic-speaking area. For the Scottish Gaelic-speaking area, see Gàidhealtachd.

Official Gaeltacht regions in Ireland

A Gaeltacht (/ˈɡeɪltəxt/ GAYL-təkht, Irish: [ˈɡeːl̪ˠt̪ˠəxt̪ˠ], pl. Gaeltachtaí) is a district of Ireland, either individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home.[1] The Gaeltacht districts were first officially recognised during the 1920s in the early years of the Irish Free State, following the Gaelic revival, as part of a government policy aimed at restoring the Irish language.[2]

The Gaeltacht is threatened by serious language decline.[3] Research published in 2015 showed that Irish is spoken on a daily basis by two-thirds or more of the population in only 21 of the 155 electoral divisions in the Gaeltacht. Daily language use by two-thirds or more of the population is regarded by some academics as a tipping point for language survival.[4][5]

  1. ^ Webster's Dictionary – definition of Gaeltacht
  2. ^ Maguire, Peter A. (Fall 2002). "Language and Landscape in the Connemara Gaeltacht". Journal of Modern Literature. 26 (1): 99–107. doi:10.2979/JML.2002.26.1.99. S2CID 161439552.
  3. ^ Mac Donnacha, Joe, 'The Death of a Language', Dublin Review of Books, Issue 58, 16 June 2014: http://www.drb.ie/essays/the-death-of-a-language
  4. ^ RTÉ News Report of Friday 29 May 2015
  5. ^ NUASHONRÚ AR AN STAIDÉAR CUIMSITHEACH TEANGEOLAÍOCH AR ÚSÁID NA GAEILGE SA GHAELTACHT: 2006–2011