90-632: Blessington , historically known as Ballycomeen ( Irish : Baile Coimín , meaning 'town of Comyn', from the Irish surname Ó Coimín ), is a town on the River Liffey in County Wicklow , Ireland , near the border with County Kildare . It is around 25 km south-west of Dublin , and is situated on the N81 road , which connects Dublin to Tullow . The town is in a townland and civil parish of
180-432: A Roman Catholic national school , which comprises St Mary's Junior National School (infants to 2nd class) and St Mary's Senior National School (3rd to 6th class). As of 2019, the combined coeducational school(s) had over 600 pupils enrolled. The local Church of Ireland national school is known as Blessington Number 1 National School, and had approximately 200 pupils enrolled in 2018. Gaelscoil na Lochanna (School of
270-547: A unique dialect of Irish developed before falling out of use in the early 20th century. With a writing system , Ogham , dating back to at least the 4th century AD, which was gradually replaced by Latin script since the 5th century AD, Irish has one of the oldest vernacular literatures in Western Europe . On the island, the language has three major dialects: Connacht , Munster and Ulster Irish . All three have distinctions in their speech and orthography . There
360-645: A Music Room complete a symmetrical arrangement. The ceilings of several rooms and the main stairhall feature elaborate stucco work attributed to the Swiss-Italian stuccodores, Paolo and Filippo Lafrancini. Russborough has housed two fine art collections, begun with the Milltown estate, whose collection was donated to the National Gallery of Ireland by the widow of the sixth earl, Lady Geraldine Milltown in 1902. Sir Alfred and Clementine, Lady Beit,
450-717: A bargaining chip during government formation in Northern Ireland, prompting protests from organisations and groups such as An Dream Dearg . Irish became an official language of the EU on 1 January 2007, meaning that MEPs with Irish fluency can now speak the language in the European Parliament and at committees, although in the case of the latter they have to give prior notice to a simultaneous interpreter in order to ensure that what they say can be interpreted into other languages. While an official language of
540-523: A better future for Ireland and all her citizens." The Strategy was produced on 21 December 2010 and will stay in action until 2030; it aims to target language vitality and revitalization of the Irish language. The 30-page document published by the Government of Ireland details the objectives it plans to work towards in an attempt to preserve and promote both the Irish language and the Gaeltacht. It
630-606: A cousin of the Mitford sisters , bought the house in 1952 where he housed his own family's collection, started by his uncle, Alfred Beit , comprising works by many great artists, including Goya , Vermeer , Peter Paul Rubens and Thomas Gainsborough . Sir Alfred and Lady Beit established the Alfred Beit Foundation as a registered charity in 1976 to safeguard the house and collections for future generations. In 1987, they donated seventeen of their finest paintings to
720-478: A cultural and social force. Irish speakers often insisted on using the language in law courts (even when they knew English), and Irish was also common in commercial transactions. The language was heavily implicated in the "devotional revolution" which marked the standardisation of Catholic religious practice and was also widely used in a political context. Down to the time of the Great Famine and even afterwards,
810-553: A degree course in the NUI federal system to pass the subject of Irish in the Leaving Certificate or GCE / GCSE examinations. Exemptions are made from this requirement for students who were born or completed primary education outside of Ireland, and students diagnosed with dyslexia . NUI Galway is required to appoint people who are competent in the Irish language, as long as they are also competent in all other aspects of
900-460: A fully recognised EU language for the first time in the state's history. Before Irish became an official language it was afforded the status of treaty language and only the highest-level documents of the EU were made available in Irish. The Irish language was carried abroad in the modern period by a vast diaspora , chiefly to Great Britain and North America, but also to Australia , New Zealand and Argentina . The first large movements began in
990-618: A number of pubs, namely Hennessy's, Miley's, Murphy's, the West Wicklow House and the Rambler's Rest. St Mary's Church is situated in Market Square, in the middle of the town. It was built around 1683, having been financed by Archbishop Boyle . While most of the church was rebuilt in the 19th century, the tower of this old church remains at the west end. The church is well known in the bell-ringing community for housing
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#17327877666761080-585: A paper suggested that within a generation, non-Gaeltacht habitual users of Irish might typically be members of an urban, middle class, and highly educated minority. Parliamentary legislation is supposed to be available in both Irish and English but is frequently only available in English. This is notwithstanding that Article 25.4 of the Constitution of Ireland requires that an "official translation" of any law in one official language be provided immediately in
1170-575: A pass in Leaving Certificate Irish or English, and receive lessons in Irish during their two years of training. Official documents of the Irish government must be published in both Irish and English or Irish alone (in accordance with the Official Languages Act 2003, enforced by An Coimisinéir Teanga , the Irish language ombudsman). The National University of Ireland requires all students wishing to embark on
1260-625: A religious context. An Irish translation of the Old Testament by Leinsterman Muircheartach Ó Cíonga , commissioned by Bishop Bedell , was published after 1685 along with a translation of the New Testament. Otherwise, Anglicisation was seen as synonymous with 'civilising' the native Irish. Currently, modern day Irish speakers in the church are pushing for language revival. It has been estimated that there were around 800,000 monoglot Irish speakers in 1800, which dropped to 320,000 by
1350-458: A train station in the town, this service continues to operate as the main public transport connection between Blessington and Dublin city. Blessington is on the N81 national secondary road , and is connected via the R410 regional road with Naas . The latter starts in the south end of the town heading west and proceeds through a natural gap in the hills of Glending Forest and Eadestown . The route
1440-597: A truly lavish interior. It remained in the possession of the Earls of Milltown until the sixth earl. On the death of his widow in 1914 it passed to a nephew, Edmund Turton , who rarely stayed there. On Turton's death in 1929, his widow sold the house to Captain Denis Bowes Daly in 1931. Between 1937 and 1940, the Liffey valley in front of the house was flooded in order to create Poulaphouca Reservoir , also known as
1530-545: A wider meaning, including the Gaelic of Scotland and the Isle of Man , as well as of Ireland. When required by the context, these are distinguished as Gaeilge na hAlban , Gaeilge Mhanann and Gaeilge na hÉireann respectively. In English (including Hiberno-English ), the language is usually referred to as Irish , as well as Gaelic and Irish Gaelic . The term Irish Gaelic may be seen when English speakers discuss
1620-405: Is a 2 km maze, craft courtyard of artisan studios and The National Bird of Prey Centre. On 7 February 2010, a fire severely damaged the west wing and caused part of the roof to collapse. No art was damaged, having been removed along with furniture to allow for restorations to the west wing. Initial examinations of the damage suggested an electrical fault from wiring in the roof may have sparked
1710-521: Is a classical Palladian villa made up of a central block containing the principal rooms and two wings housing the servants and stable blocks to the east and west. Castle enhanced his core design with a wealth of features. The Greek orders are observed in the Doric columns of the colonnades and the Corinthian columns that flank the main entrance, supporting a fused portico enriched with swags of flowers. At
1800-491: Is a stately house near the Blessington Lakes in County Wicklow , Republic of Ireland . Located between the towns of Blessington and Ballymore Eustace , it is an outstanding example of Palladian architecture , designed by Richard Cassels (also commonly known as Richard Castle) for Joseph Leeson, 1st Earl of Milltown and built between 1741 and 1755. With a frontage measuring 210 m (690 ft), it may be
1890-452: Is also An Caighdeán Oifigiúil , a standardised written form devised by a parliamentary commission in the 1950s. The traditional Irish alphabet , a variant of the Latin alphabet with 18 letters , has been succeeded by the standard Latin alphabet (albeit with 7–8 letters used primarily in loanwords ). Irish has constitutional status as the national and first official language of
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#17327877666761980-511: Is divided into four separate phases with the intention of improving 9 main areas of action including: The general goal for this strategy was to increase the number of daily speakers from 83,000 to 250,000 by the end of its run. By 2022, the number of such speakers had fallen to 71,968. Before the partition of Ireland in 1921, Irish was recognised as a school subject and as "Celtic" in some third level institutions. Between 1921 and 1972, Northern Ireland had devolved government. During those years
2070-574: Is on the Naas Road and had an enrolment (in 2022) of 584. Former or current residents of the town have included: Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish : Gaeilge ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( / ˈ ɡ eɪ l ɪ k / GAY -lik ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family . It is a member of the Goidelic language group of
2160-587: Is only in Gaeltacht areas that Irish continues to be spoken as a community vernacular to some extent. According to data compiled by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht , Sport and Media , only 1/4 of households in Gaeltacht areas are fluent in Irish. The author of a detailed analysis of the survey, Donncha Ó hÉallaithe of the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology , described
2250-545: Is proposed to expand the trail to include a 33 km loop surrounding the lake, taking in the villages of Lacken , Valleymount and Ballyknockan . In 1888, the Dublin and Blessington Steam Tramway service commenced from Terenure to Blessington via Tallaght , linking with the horse trams from the city. This service ended at the end of December 1932 and was replaced with a conventional bus service, Dublin Bus route 65. Lacking
2340-469: Is still reflected in the remnants of the extensive lawn and terraces with a shaped pond in the middle to the north of the house. Meanwhile, to the south there is a more naturalistic prospect with rolling fields, serpentine lakes and mature woodland. It remains an almost intact example of an Irish demesne from this period, with features such as the Walled Garden, the ice-house and the lime kiln. There
2430-412: Is still spoken daily to some extent as a first language . These regions are known individually and collectively as the Gaeltacht (plural Gaeltachtaí ). While the fluent Irish speakers of these areas, whose numbers have been estimated at 20–30,000, are a minority of the total number of fluent Irish speakers, they represent a higher concentration of Irish speakers than other parts of the country and it
2520-493: Is the site of a ruined tower house and church. A granite high cross named St. Mark's Cross was erected there in the 12th century beside a holy well. The cross was moved from Burgage More to Burgage Cemetery in the 20th century due to the construction of the Poulaphouca Reservoir and rising water levels. In 1667, Michael Boyle , Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin and Lord Chancellor of Ireland , bought
2610-924: Is treacherous during heavy winter snowfalls, and is sometimes closed in severe conditions. Since August 2021, Blessington has been served by route 884, a Mon-Fri public bus service operated by TFI Local Link Kildare South Dublin, which connects the town with Naas and Sallins railway station . The arrivals at the railway station are scheduled to link in with departures to, and arrivals from, Heuston railway station in Dublin. Dublin Bus route 65, starting at Poolbeg Street in Dublin City Centre , takes approximately 1 hour 15 minutes and passes through Rathmines , Terenure , Templeogue , Tallaght , and Brittas on its way to Blessington. A limited number of daily services on route 65 are also extended to Ballyknockan and Ballymore Eustace . The Ballymore service routes via
2700-721: The Fíor-Ghaeltacht (true Gaeltacht ), a term originally officially applied to areas where over 50% of the population spoke Irish. There are Gaeltacht regions in the following counties: Gweedore ( Gaoth Dobhair ), County Donegal, is the largest Gaeltacht parish in Ireland. Irish language summer colleges in the Gaeltacht are attended by tens of thousands of teenagers annually. Students live with Gaeltacht families, attend classes, participate in sports, go to céilithe and are obliged to speak Irish. All aspects of Irish culture and tradition are encouraged. The Act
2790-712: The Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous to the island of Ireland . It was the majority of the population's first language until the 19th century, when English gradually became dominant, particularly in the last decades of the century, in what is sometimes characterised as a result of linguistic imperialism . Today, Irish is still commonly spoken as a first language in Ireland's Gaeltacht regions, in which 2% of Ireland's population lived in 2022. The total number of people (aged 3 and over) in Ireland who declared they could speak Irish in April 2022
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2880-631: The Republic of Ireland , and is also an official language of Northern Ireland and among the official languages of the European Union . The public body Foras na Gaeilge is responsible for the promotion of the language throughout the island. Irish has no regulatory body but An Caighdeán Oifigiúil , the standard written form, is guided by a parliamentary service and new vocabulary by a voluntary committee with university input. In An Caighdeán Oifigiúil ("The Official [Written] Standard ")
2970-419: The 1750s and had remained in the house for most of the last 260 years. In addition it exhibits one of the finest private collections of 18th-century silver and porcelain in Ireland, including significant pieces by Meissen and Sèvres . The Russborough demesne extends to 200 acres, with a number of walks, gardens and original 18th century features. From the start, the estate was laid out to a formal design. This
3060-634: The 17th century, largely as a result of the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland , which saw many Irish sent to the West Indies . Irish emigration to the United States was well established by the 18th century, and was reinforced in the 1840s by thousands fleeing from the Famine . This flight also affected Britain. Up until that time most emigrants spoke Irish as their first language, though English
3150-789: The 1998 Good Friday Agreement , the language gradually received a degree of formal recognition in Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom, and then, in 2003, by the British government's ratification in respect of the language of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages . In the 2006 St Andrews Agreement the British government promised to enact legislation to promote the language and in 2022 it approved legislation to recognise Irish as an official language alongside English. The bill received royal assent on 6 December 2022. The Irish language has often been used as
3240-400: The 2021 census of Northern Ireland , 43,557 individuals stated they spoke Irish on a daily basis, 26,286 spoke it on a weekly basis, 47,153 spoke it less often than weekly, and 9,758 said they could speak Irish, but never spoke it. From 2006 to 2008, over 22,000 Irish Americans reported speaking Irish as their first language at home, with several times that number claiming "some knowledge" of
3330-403: The 6th century, used the Latin alphabet and is attested primarily in marginalia to Latin manuscripts. During this time, the Irish language absorbed some Latin words, some via Old Welsh , including ecclesiastical terms : examples are easpag (bishop) from episcopus , and Domhnach (Sunday, from dominica ). By the 10th century, Old Irish had evolved into Middle Irish , which
3420-571: The Act all detailing different aspects of the use of Irish in official documentation and communication. Included in these sections are subjects such as Irish language use in official courts, official publications, and placenames. The Act was recently amended in December 2019 in order to strengthen the already preexisting legislation. All changes made took into account data collected from online surveys and written submissions. The Official Languages Scheme
3510-578: The Blessington Estate. Lord Blessington's son, Charles, 2nd Viscount Blesington , died in June 1732 without an heir, and the estate was inherited by his sister Anne, then her son, The 1st Earl of Blessington and Baron Stewart . The earl died in August 1769 without an heir and the estate passed to Charles Dunbar, a great-grandson of The 1st Viscount Blessington, who also died heirless in 1778, when
3600-577: The Blessington Lakes. Sir Alfred Beit bought Russborough in 1952 from Captain Daly to house his art collection and in 1976 established the Alfred Beit Foundation, a registered charity, to manage the property. Described as Ireland's most beautiful Georgian house, the foundation opened the historic mansion and its collections to the Irish public in 1978. Beit died in 1994 and Lady Beit remained in residence until her own death in 2005. Russborough
3690-471: The European Union , only co-decision regulations were available until 2022, due to a five-year derogation, requested by the Irish Government when negotiating the language's new official status. The Irish government had committed itself to train the necessary number of translators and interpreters and to bear the related costs. This derogation ultimately came to an end on 1 January 2022, making Irish
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3780-551: The Irish Government. The Irish Times the day after reported that “During the funeral all shops in Blessington were closed and blinds drawn on windows.” A memorial stone was unveiled at the crash site on 18 April 1991. Since the turn of the 21st century, Blessington's population has increased substantially, more than doubling from 2,509 at the 2002 census, to 5,010 by the time of the 2011 census . Population reached 5,611 in 2022. The majority of housing estates were constructed on
3870-549: The Irish language policy followed by Irish governments as a "complete and absolute disaster". The Irish Times , referring to his analysis published in the Irish language newspaper Foinse , quoted him as follows: "It is an absolute indictment of successive Irish Governments that at the foundation of the Irish State there were 250,000 fluent Irish speakers living in Irish-speaking or semi Irish-speaking areas, but
3960-511: The Lakes) is a gaelscoil which was founded in 2006 to cater for those in the area who wished to educate their children primarily through the Irish language . As of 2022, it had 169 pupils enrolled. A nearby Educate Together national school was founded in 2006 on the site of a long-standing school and has a large sports field. The only secondary school in Blessington, Blessington Community College,
4050-520: The N81, as does the Ballyknockan service. Bus Éireann route 132 (Dublin- Bunclody ) routes via Tallaght Hospital , Blessington, Baltinglass and Rathvilly en route to Bunclody. One journey is extended weekly to Wexford and Rosslare Europort . The town and its hinterlands are served by several primary schools and one secondary school. The local primary schools include St Mary's National School,
4140-694: The National Gallery of Ireland. Russborough opened to the public as a museum and visitor attraction in 1978. Among the Collection's treasures still in Russborough are an outstanding array of eighteenth-century French and English furniture, many important paintings from the 17th to 20th centuries, including paintings by Jean-Baptiste Oudry , Adriaen van Ostade and Claude-Joseph Vernet . Four Vernet paintings entitled 'Morning', 'Midday', 'Sunset', and 'Night' were actually painted for Russborough in
4230-651: The Parish schoolhouse ( c. 1830 ). Russborough House , situated 5 km south of Blessington, was built by the Leeson family, Earls of Milltown , and became the home of philanthropist Sir Alfred Beit (1903–1994), before becoming a museum. During the Irish Civil War , Blessington became a place of strategic importance for the Anti-Treaty forces who regrouped in the town after defeat in Dublin. It
4320-620: The Republic of Ireland ), new appointees to the Civil Service of the Republic of Ireland , including postal workers , tax collectors , agricultural inspectors, Garda Síochána (police), etc., were required to have some proficiency in Irish. By law, a Garda who was addressed in Irish had to respond in Irish as well. In 1974, in part through the actions of protest organisations like the Language Freedom Movement ,
4410-489: The area. The lake is also extensively used by boatmen and fishermen, and is a training location for the Irish Air Corps HQ divisions from Baldonnel , 15 km north of Blessington, and also Local Civil Defence Water rescue teams. The Blessington Greenway is a 6.5 km walking trail that links Blessington with Russborough House. The trail starts in Blessington and leads south to The Avon activity centre at
4500-641: The beginning of the following academic year. For a number of years there has been vigorous debate in political, academic and other circles about the failure of most students in English-medium schools to achieve competence in Irish, even after fourteen years of teaching as one of the three main subjects. The concomitant decline in the number of traditional native speakers has also been a cause of great concern. In 2007, filmmaker Manchán Magan found few Irish speakers in Dublin , and faced incredulity when trying to get by speaking only Irish in Dublin. He
4590-654: The bells (the 3, 4, and 5 of the 6 bell-peal) date to 1453, and were cast in York. Also known locally as the Blessington Lakes , the reservoir was created when the waterfall at Poulaphouca on the River Liffey (which flows from the Wicklow Mountains to Dublin ) was dammed by the ESB for a hydroelectric plant which is still in use today. The valley was flooded and the resulting lakes extend over approximately 5,000 acres (2,023 ha). A small village called Ballinahown
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#17327877666764680-537: The bottom of the flight of granite steps the visitor is greeted by a pair of heraldic lions, bearers of the Leeson arms. Russborough's central block contains seven principal rooms on the ground floor with the largest, the Entrance Hall at centre of the south front, and the main reception room, the Saloon placed directly to its north. The other five rooms, originally comprising two Drawing Rooms, two Dining Rooms, and
4770-474: The end of the famine, and under 17,000 by 1911. Irish is recognised by the Constitution of Ireland as the national and first official language of Republic of Ireland (English being the other official language). Despite this, almost all government business and legislative debate is conducted in English. In 1938, the founder of Conradh na Gaeilge (Gaelic League), Douglas Hyde , was inaugurated as
4860-462: The estate passed to The 1st Earl of Hillsborough , whose seat was Hillsborough Castle in Hillsborough , County Down , a great-great-grandson of Archbishop Boyle. Lord Hillsborough was created as the 1st Marquess of Downshire in August 1789. The Hills held the estate until 1908. The main road of the town is an example of a planned improvement of towns and villages associated with estates in
4950-518: The fire. Portions of the Russborough collection have been stolen four times . These include thefts in: 1974 by an IRA gang including British heiress Rose Dugdale ; in 1986 by Martin Cahill (nicknamed "The General"); in 2001, and in 2002 by Martin Cahill's associate Martin Foley. Two paintings, Gainsborough's Madame Bacelli and Vermeer's Lady writing a Letter with her Maid , the latter probably
5040-560: The first President of Ireland . The record of his delivering his inaugural Declaration of Office in Roscommon Irish is one of only a few recordings of that dialect. In the 2016 census, 10.5% of respondents stated that they spoke Irish, either daily or weekly, while over 70,000 people (4.2%) speak it as a habitual daily means of communication. From the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922 (see History of
5130-498: The language family, is derived from the Old Irish term. Endonyms of the language in the various modern Irish dialects include: Gaeilge [ˈɡeːlʲɟə] in Galway, Gaeilg / Gaeilic / Gaeilig [ˈɡeːlʲəc] in Mayo and Ulster , Gaelainn / Gaoluinn [ˈɡeːl̪ˠən̠ʲ] in West/Cork, Kerry Munster , as well as Gaedhealaing in mid and East Kerry/Cork and Waterford Munster to reflect local pronunciation. Gaeilge also has
5220-410: The language was in use by all classes, Irish being an urban as well as a rural language. This linguistic dynamism was reflected in the efforts of certain public intellectuals to counter the decline of the language. At the end of the 19th century, they launched the Gaelic revival in an attempt to encourage the learning and use of Irish, although few adult learners mastered the language. The vehicle of
5310-425: The language. For most of recorded Irish history , Irish was the dominant language of the Irish people , who took it with them to other regions , such as Scotland and the Isle of Man , where Middle Irish gave rise to Scottish Gaelic and Manx . It was also, for a period, spoken widely across Canada , with an estimated 200,000–250,000 daily Canadian speakers of Irish in 1890. On the island of Newfoundland ,
5400-412: The late 1700s and early 1800s. Arthur Hill , the 3rd Marquess of Downshire commissioned a house to be built for his agent c. 1820 . The building later operated as the Downshire Hotel, until its closure in 2005. The Marquess was also responsible for the construction of several prominent buildings in the town such as the Market House ( c. 1820 ), Downshire Lodge ( c. 1830 ), and
5490-417: The longest house in Ireland. The interior contains fine ornate plasterwork on the ceilings by the Lafranchini brothers , who also collaborated with Castle on Carton House . Russborough contains an important private collection of European fine and decorative arts, including furniture, silver, porcelain and paintings. Russborough is open to visitors and is located on a 200-acre (81 ha) estate, with many of
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#17327877666765580-421: The lordship, previously the property of the Cheevers, for £1,000. Archbishop Boyle received a royal charter to establish the town of Blessington, in the townland of Munfine, as a borough . Construction of Blessington House was begun in 1673 and afterwards St Mary's Church on Main Street, which was completed in 1683. On Archbishop Boyle's death in December 1702, his son, The 1st Viscount Blesington , inherited
5670-399: The mid-18th century, English was becoming a language of the Catholic middle class, the Catholic Church and public intellectuals, especially in the east of the country. Increasingly, as the value of English became apparent, parents sanctioned the prohibition of Irish in schools. Increasing interest in emigrating to the United States and Canada was also a driver, as fluency in English allowed
5760-434: The most valuable painting of the collection, were stolen twice across the thefts, although each was subsequently recovered (the latter in 1993, the same year as the recovery of Goya's Portrait of Dona Antonia Zarate ). Russborough House was used as a setting in 2011 film Haywire , and the 2016 film Love & Friendship . The house was featured in Travel Channel's Mysteries at the Castle . The external view of
5850-497: The name of the language is Gaeilge , from the South Connacht form, spelled Gaedhilge prior the spelling reform of 1948, which was originally the genitive of Gaedhealg , the form used in Classical Gaelic . The modern spelling results from the deletion of the silent ⟨dh⟩ in Gaedhilge . Older spellings include Gaoidhealg [ˈɡeːʝəlˠəɡ] in Classical Gaelic and Goídelc [ˈɡoiðʲelɡ] in Old Irish . Goidelic , used to refer to
5940-409: The new immigrants to get jobs in areas other than farming. An estimated one quarter to one third of US immigrants during the Great Famine were Irish speakers. Irish was not marginal to Ireland's modernisation in the 19th century, as is often assumed. In the first half of the century there were still around three million people for whom Irish was the primary language, and their numbers alone made them
6030-522: The number now is between 20,000 and 30,000." In the 1920s, when the Irish Free State was founded, Irish was still a vernacular in some western coastal areas. In the 1930s, areas where more than 25% of the population spoke Irish were classified as Gaeltacht . Today, the strongest Gaeltacht areas, numerically and socially, are those of South Connemara , the west of the Dingle Peninsula , and northwest Donegal, where many residents still use Irish as their primary language. These areas are often referred to as
6120-515: The oldest complete set of bells in Ireland. The six bells date to 1682 and were cast by James Bartlet, who was the master founder of Whitechapel at that time. The money for these was also given by Archbishop Boyle. They are still rung twice a week, for Sunday morning service and on Saturday nights, for ringing practice. While it holds the oldest peal of change-ringing bells in Ireland, the oldest bells hung for change-ringing in Ireland are found in St Audoen's Church in Dublin city centre. Three of
6210-437: The original 18th-century features still in place including the Walled Garden, the ice-house, the lime kiln and the serpentine lakes. There is a restaurant, shop and 2 km (1.2 mi) maze. The Leeson family originated in Northamptonshire and had moved to Ireland in the second half of the 17th century. A sizeable fortune made in brewing and property development in Dublin passed down to Joseph Leeson , who bought land at what
6300-448: The other official language, if not already passed in both official languages. In November 2016, RTÉ reported that over 2.3 million people worldwide were learning Irish through the Duolingo app. Irish president Michael D. Higgins officially honoured several volunteer translators for developing the Irish edition, and said the push for Irish language rights remains an "unfinished project". There are rural areas of Ireland where Irish
6390-415: The political party holding power in the Stormont Parliament , the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), was hostile to the language. The context of this hostility was the use of the language by nationalists. In broadcasting, there was an exclusion on the reporting of minority cultural issues, and Irish was excluded from radio and television for almost the first fifty years of the previous devolved government. After
6480-492: The relationship between the three Goidelic languages (Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx). Gaelic is a collective term for the Goidelic languages, and when the context is clear it may be used without qualification to refer to each language individually. When the context is specific but unclear, the term may be qualified, as Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic or Manx Gaelic. Historically the name "Erse" ( / ɜːr s / URS )
6570-432: The requirement for entrance to the public service was changed to proficiency in just one official language. Nevertheless, Irish remains a required subject of study in all schools in the Republic of Ireland that receive public money (see Education in the Republic of Ireland ). Teachers in primary schools must also pass a compulsory examination called Scrúdú Cáilíochta sa Ghaeilge . As of 2005, Garda Síochána recruits need
6660-712: The revival was the Gaelic League ( Conradh na Gaeilge ), and particular emphasis was placed on the folk tradition, which in Irish is particularly rich. Efforts were also made to develop journalism and a modern literature. Although it has been noted that the Catholic Church played a role in the decline of the Irish language before the Gaelic Revival, the Protestant Church of Ireland also made only minor efforts to encourage use of Irish in
6750-524: The same name. The current name 'Blessington' was first recorded in 1667. It may be based on a false etymology that confused the surname Coimín with the Irish word comaoin , which means blessing. Evidence of Bronze Age activity in the area is demonstrated by the spectacular Blessington gold lunula , now in the British Museum . The nearby Rath Turtle Moat was occupied from the 12th century onward by Norse Gaels and Normans . Blessington
6840-501: The southern edge of the town where it then follows along the lake shore, crossing a medieval ringfort, and uses the footpath along part of the N81 road before turning back into the forest at Burgage Moyle lane. It then crosses the Valleymount Road ( R758 ) and makes its way to Russellstown Bay adjacent to Russborough House. A second phase for the greenway, laid out in a planning submission by Wicklow County Council in early 2022,
6930-675: The vacancy to which they are appointed. This requirement is laid down by the University College Galway Act, 1929 (Section 3). In 2016, the university faced controversy when it announced the planned appointment of a president who did not speak Irish. Misneach staged protests against this decision. The following year the university announced that Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh , a fluent Irish speaker, would be its 13th president. He assumed office in January 2018; in June 2024, he announced he would be stepping down as president at
7020-556: The western side of the town, off the R410, which is the road to Naas . A new inner bypass has also been opened that alleviates traffic on Main Street to some degree. Infrastructure improvements since 2005 include a playground, fire station, a central retail development, including a Dunnes Stores outlet and a public library (opened in 2006) above it, expansion of a SuperValu supermarket, and addition of an ALDI supermarket. The town has
7110-594: The work of such writers as Geoffrey Keating , is said to date from the 17th century, and was the medium of popular literature from that time on. From the 18th century on, the language lost ground in the east of the country. The reasons behind this shift were complex but came down to a number of factors: The change was characterised by diglossia (two languages being used by the same community in different social and economic situations) and transitional bilingualism (monoglot Irish-speaking grandparents with bilingual children and monoglot English-speaking grandchildren). By
7200-465: Was 1,873,997, representing 40% of respondents, but of these, 472,887 said they never spoke it and a further 551,993 said they only spoke it within the education system. Linguistic analyses of Irish speakers are therefore based primarily on the number of daily users in Ireland outside the education system, which in 2022 was 20,261 in the Gaeltacht and 51,707 outside it, totalling 71,968. In response to
7290-531: Was also sometimes used in Scots and then in English to refer to Irish; as well as Scottish Gaelic. Written Irish is first attested in Ogham inscriptions from the 4th century AD, a stage of the language known as Primitive Irish . These writings have been found throughout Ireland and the west coast of Great Britain. Primitive Irish underwent a change into Old Irish through the 5th century. Old Irish, dating from
7380-668: Was enacted 1 July 2019 and is an 18-page document that adheres to the guidelines of the Official Languages Act 2003 . The purpose of the Scheme is to provide services through the mediums of Irish and/or English. According to the Department of the Taoiseach, it is meant to "develop a sustainable economy and a successful society, to pursue Ireland's interests abroad, to implement the Government's Programme and to build
7470-727: Was envisioned that they could use the town as a base from which to link up with other Anti-Treaty fighters to launch a new attack on Dublin in July 1922. However, the plan was hampered by lack of coordination and provisions. The Anti-Treaty forces were quickly dispersed following a skirmish with Free State troops. Above the nearby village of Lacken in the early hours of 18 April 1941, an RAF Handley Page Hampden aircraft (Registration AD730) got lost in bad weather and crashed on Black Hill (Kilbeg) killing its entire crew of four. The airmen were brought to Blessington and buried with full military funerals on 22 April 1941 at St. Mary's Church by order of
7560-510: Was establishing itself as the primary language. Irish speakers had first arrived in Australia in the late 18th century as convicts and soldiers, and many Irish-speaking settlers followed, particularly in the 1860s. New Zealand also received some of this influx. Argentina was the only non-English-speaking country to receive large numbers of Irish emigrants, and there were few Irish speakers among them. Russborough House Russborough House
7650-474: Was passed 14 July 2003 with the main purpose of improving the number and quality of public services delivered in Irish by the government and other public bodies. Compliance with the Act is monitored by the An Coimisinéir Teanga (Irish Language Commissioner) which was established in 2004 and any complaints or concerns pertaining to the Act are brought to them. There are 35 sections included in
7740-481: Was previously called Munfine , and in the Medieval period was part of the lordship of Threecastles; Threecastles Castle is a three-storey tower house situated 5 km from Blessington, which was most likely built by Gerald Fitzgerald , Lord Deputy of Ireland , or his son Sir James Fitzgerald. The abandoned medieval village of Burgage More is just south of Blessington town. It was an ecclesiastical settlement and
7830-693: Was spoken throughout Ireland, Isle of Man and parts of Scotland . It is the language of a large corpus of literature, including the Ulster Cycle . From the 12th century, Middle Irish began to evolve into modern Irish in Ireland, into Scottish Gaelic in Scotland, and into the Manx language in the Isle of Man . Early Modern Irish , dating from the 13th century, was the basis of the literary language of both Ireland and Gaelic-speaking Scotland. Modern Irish, sometimes called Late Modern Irish, as attested in
7920-410: Was submerged by the damming of the waterfall, and the remains of roads can still be seen leading down into the lake. In addition to electricity, the lakes also provide water for the locality and the Dublin region as well as provide a leisure resource. There is now a lakeside luxury hotel complex in the Blessington area, with its own helipad, and lakeside facilities which have helped to develop tourism in
8010-470: Was then Russelltown. He became an MP and was made Earl of Milltown in 1763. Russborough house was designed for Joseph Leeson by Richard Castle and built between 1741 and 1755. While the house was being built Joseph embarked on two Grand Tours to acquire a suitably impressive collection of paintings, sculpture and furnishings to adorn his new home. Back at the Russborough, Ireland's and Europe's finest artisans and craftspeople were appointed by Castle to create
8100-442: Was unable to accomplish some everyday tasks, as portrayed in his documentary No Béarla . There is, however, a growing body of Irish speakers in urban areas, particularly in Dublin. Many have been educated in schools in which Irish is the language of instruction. Such schools are known as Gaelscoileanna at primary level. These Irish-medium schools report some better outcomes for students than English-medium schools. In 2009,
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