110-649: Maydown (from Irish Magh Dúin meaning "plain of the stronghold") is a small village and townland in County Londonderry , Northern Ireland . It is near Derry and Strathfoyle and is within the Derry and Strabane district. In the 2001 Census , it had a population of 270 people. Maydown is an industrial zone and was the site of the first DuPont production facility in Europe . DuPont first invented Kevlar in 1965 and its Maydown manufacturing facility
220-547: 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
330-717: 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
440-575: 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
550-494: A century prior. Fishing boats originated from Basque country, England, France, and Portugal. In 1585, during the initial stages of Anglo-Spanish War , Bernard Drake led a devastating raid on the Spanish and Portuguese fisheries. This provided an opportunity to secure the island and led to the appointment of Proprietary Governors to establish colonial settlements on the island from 1610 to 1728. John Guy became governor of
660-747: A charter from English King Henry VII to "sail to all parts, countries and seas of the East, the West and of the North, under our banner and ensign and to set up our banner on any new-found-land" and on June 24, 1497, landed in Cape Bonavista . Historians disagree on whether Cabot landed in Nova Scotia in 1497 or in Newfoundland, or possibly Maine, if he landed at all, but the governments of Canada and
770-668: A constitutional name change of our province will reiterate that commitment". Following approval by the House of Commons and the Senate, Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson officially proclaimed the name change on December 6, 2001. Newfoundland and Labrador is the most easterly province in Canada, situated in the northeastern region of North America . The Strait of Belle Isle separates the province into two geographical parts: Labrador, connected to mainland Canada, and Newfoundland, an island in
880-478: 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,
990-553: 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
1100-460: 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
1210-435: A little lower on the coast than inland. The maritime climate produces more variable weather, ample precipitation in a variety of forms, greater humidity , lower visibility, more clouds, less sunshine, and higher winds than a continental climate. Human habitation in Newfoundland and Labrador can be traced back about 9,000 years. The Maritime Archaic peoples were sea-mammal hunters in the subarctic . They prospered along
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#17327830051961320-607: A major source of conflict between Britain, France and Spain, who all pressed for a share in the valuable fishery there. Britain's victories around the globe led William Pitt to insist nobody other than Britain should have access to Newfoundland. The Battle of Signal Hill was fought on September 15, 1762, and was the last battle of the North American theatre of the Seven Years' War . A British force under Lieutenant Colonel William Amherst recaptured St. John's , which
1430-547: A maritime border with Greenland . Labrador's land area (including associated small islands) is 294,330 km (113,640 sq mi). Together, Newfoundland and Labrador make up 4.06 per cent of Canada's area, with a total area of 405,720 km (156,650 sq mi). Labrador is the easternmost part of the Canadian Shield , a vast area of ancient metamorphic rock making up much of northeastern North America . Colliding tectonic plates have shaped much of
1540-585: 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
1650-575: 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
1760-411: A range of climates and weather patterns, including frequent combinations of high winds, snow, rain, and fog, conditions that regularly made travel by road, air, or ferry challenging or impossible. Monthly average temperatures, rainfall levels, and snowfall levels for four locations are shown in the attached graphs. St. John's represents the east coast, Gander the interior of the island, Corner Brook
1870-625: 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
1980-547: 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 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
2090-574: A strange land full of fish, and another from Portuguese maps that depict the Terra do Bacalhau , or land of codfish , west of the Azores . The earliest, though, is the Voyage of Saint Brendan , the fantastical account of an Irish monk who made a sea voyage in the early 6th century. While the story became a part of myth and legend, some historians believe it is based on fact. In 1496, John Cabot obtained
2200-545: 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
2310-523: Is Ikkarumikluak aamma Nunatsuak . Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador is the French name used in the Constitution of Canada. However, French is not widely spoken in Newfoundland and Labrador and is not an official language at the provincial level. On April 29, 1999, the government of Brian Tobin passed a motion in the Newfoundland House of Assembly requesting the federal government amend
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#17327830051962420-603: Is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family . It is a member of the Goidelic language group of 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
2530-452: 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
2640-650: Is also reflected in the name of Labrador, which derives from the surname of the Portuguese navigator João Fernandes Lavrador . Labrador's name in the Inuttitut / Inuktitut language (spoken in Nunatsiavut ) is Nunatsuak ( ᓄᓇᑦᓱᐊᒃ ), meaning "the big land" (a common English nickname for Labrador ). Newfoundland's Inuttitut/Inuktitut name is Ikkarumikluak ( ᐃᒃᑲᕈᒥᒃᓗᐊᒃ ), meaning "place of many shoals". Newfoundland and Labrador's Inuttitut / Inuktitut name
2750-589: Is also roughly triangular in shape: the western part of its border with Quebec is the drainage divide of the Labrador Peninsula . Lands drained by rivers that flow into the Atlantic Ocean are part of Labrador, and the rest belongs to Quebec. Most of Labrador's southern boundary with Quebec follows the 52nd parallel of latitude. Labrador's extreme northern tip, at 60°22′N, shares a short border with Nunavut on Killiniq Island . Labrador also has
2860-540: Is best known from a mortuary site in Newfoundland at Port au Choix . The Maritime Archaic peoples were gradually displaced by people of the Dorset culture (Late Paleo-Eskimo ) who also occupied Port au Choix. The number of their sites discovered on Newfoundland indicates they may have been the most numerous Aboriginal people to live there. They thrived from about 2000 BC to 800 AD. Many of their sites were on exposed headlands and outer islands. They were more oriented to
2970-511: 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
3080-519: Is one of only three places in the world where Kevlar is produced. The DuPont site at Maydown is now the lead partner in the University of Ulster 's Biodiversity Action on Industrial Site (BAIS) project that aims to enhance biodiversity on land close to industrial activity. DuPont has developed 116 acres (0.47 km) of its Maydown site into wildlife habitats open to the public and a visitor centre used by local schools. Maydown Precision Engineering
3190-587: 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
3300-594: Is particularly important for St. John's, where a heavy snowfall can be followed by rain, so no snow remains on the ground. Surface water temperatures on the Atlantic side reach a summer average of 12 °C (54 °F) inshore and 9 °C (48 °F) offshore to winter lows of −1 °C (30 °F) inshore and 2 °C (36 °F) offshore. Sea temperatures on the west coast are warmer than Atlantic side by 1–3 °C (approximately 2–5 °F). The sea keeps winter temperatures slightly higher and summer temperatures
3410-412: 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
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3520-422: Is the easternmost province of Canada , in the country's Atlantic region . The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador , having a total size of 405,212 km (156,453 sq mi). As of 2024 the population of Newfoundland and Labrador was estimated to be 545,247. The island of Newfoundland (and its smaller neighbouring islands) is home to around 94 per cent of
3630-666: 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
3740-614: The Newfoundland Act to change the province's name to "Newfoundland and Labrador". A resolution approving the name change was put forward in the House of Commons in October 2001, introduced by Tobin who had moved to federal politics. Tobin's successor as premier Roger Grimes stated: "The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador is firmly committed to ensuring official recognition of Labrador as an equal partner in this province, and
3850-493: The Atlantic Coast of North America from about 7000 BC to 1500 BC. Their settlements included longhouses and boat-topped temporary or seasonal houses. They engaged in long-distance trade, using as currency white chert , a rock quarried from northern Labrador to Maine . The southern branch of these people was established on the north peninsula of Newfoundland by 5,000 years ago. The Maritime Archaic period
3960-617: The Atlantic Ocean . The province also includes over 7,000 tiny islands. The highest point of the province is Mount Caubvick with the highest point on Newfoundland being Cabox . Newfoundland has a roughly triangular shape. Each side is about 400 km (250 mi) long, and its area is 108,860 km (42,030 sq mi). Newfoundland and its neighbouring small islands (excluding French possessions) have an area of 111,390 km (43,010 sq mi). Newfoundland extends between latitudes 46°36′N and 51°38′N. Labrador
4070-793: The Corte-Real brothers , Miguel and Gaspar , explored Newfoundland and Labrador, claiming them as part of the Portuguese Empire . In 1506, king Manuel I of Portugal created taxes for the cod fisheries in Newfoundland waters. João Álvares Fagundes and Pero de Barcelos established seasonal fishing outposts in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia around 1521, and older Portuguese settlements may have existed. Sir Humphrey Gilbert , provided with letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I , landed in St. John's in August 1583, and formally took possession of
4180-733: The Grand Banks , employing some 10,000 sailors; many continuing to come from the Basque Country , Normandy, or Brittany. They dried and salted cod on the coast and sold it to Spain and Portugal. Heavy investment by Sir George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore , in the 1620s in wharves, warehouses, and fishing stations failed to pay off. French raids hurt the business, and the weather was terrible, so he redirected his attention to his other colony in Maryland . After Calvert left, small-scale entrepreneurs such as Sir David Kirke made good use of
4290-677: The Great Depression and Newfoundland's participation in the First World War . On March 31, 1949, it became the 10th and most recent province to join the Canadian Confederation as "Newfoundland". On December 6, 2001, the Constitution of Canada was amended to change the province's name from "Newfoundland" to "Newfoundland and Labrador". The name "New founde lande" was uttered by King Henry VII about
4400-631: 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 ")
4510-534: The 1690s, destroyed nearly every English settlement on the island. The entire population of the English colony was either killed, captured for ransom, or sentenced to expulsion to England, with the exception of those who withstood the attack at Carbonear Island and those in the then remote Bonavista . After France lost political control of the area after the Siege of Port Royal in 1710 , the Miꞌkmaq engaged in warfare with
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4620-634: 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
4730-789: 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
4840-403: 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
4950-571: 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
5060-569: The Beothuk population, and they were extinct by 1829. The oldest confirmed accounts of European contact date from a thousand years ago as described in the Viking (Norse) Icelandic Sagas . Around the year 1001, the sagas refer to Leif Erikson landing in three places to the west, the first two being Helluland (possibly Baffin Island ) and Markland (possibly Labrador ). Leif's third landing
5170-627: The British throughout Dummer's War (1722–1725), King George's War (1744–1748), Father Le Loutre's War (1749–1755) and the French and Indian War (1754–1763). The French colonization period lasted until the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713, which ended the War of the Spanish Succession : France ceded to the British its claims to Newfoundland (including its claims to the shores of Hudson Bay ) and to
5280-839: The Calvert family's control. The majority Catholic population that developed, thanks to Irish immigration , in St. John's and the Avalon Peninsula , was subjected to same disabilities that applied elsewhere under the British Crown. On visiting St. John's in 1786, Prince William Henry (the future King William IV ) noted that "there are ten Roman Catholics to one Protestant", and he counselled against any measure of Catholic relief. Following news of rebellion in Ireland , in June 1798, Governor Vice-Admiral Waldegrave cautioned London that
5390-624: The Colonies formally stated that a new commission would be issued to Governor Cochrane to remove any and all Roman Catholic disabilities in Newfoundland. By then Catholic emancipation was bound up (as in Ireland) with the call for home rule . After the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, France and other nations re-entered the fish trade and an abundance of cod glutted international markets. Prices dropped, competition increased, and
5500-540: The English constituted but a "small proportion" of the locally raised Regiment of Foot . In an echo of an earlier Irish conspiracy during the French occupation of St. John's in 1762, in April 1800, the authorities had reports that upwards of 400 men had taken an oath as United Irishmen , and that eighty soldiers were committed to killing their officers and seizing their Anglican governors at Sunday service. The abortive mutiny , for which for which eight men (denounced by Catholic Bishop James Louis O'Donel as "favourers of
5610-404: 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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#17327830051965720-424: The French had seized three months earlier in a surprise attack. From 1763 to 1767, James Cook made a detailed survey of the coasts of Newfoundland and southern Labrador while commander of HMS Grenville . (The following year, 1768, Cook began his first circumnavigation of the world .) In 1796, a Franco-Spanish expedition again succeeded in raiding the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador, destroying many of
5830-421: The French possessions in Acadia . Afterward, under the supervision of the last French governor, the French population of Plaisance moved to Île Royale (now Cape Breton Island ), part of Acadia which remained then under French control. In the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), France had acknowledged British ownership of the island. However, in the Seven Years' War (1756–1763), control of Newfoundland once again became
5940-425: 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
6050-424: 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 ,
6160-429: The Royal Gazette and Newfoundland Advertiser, who resided in New Brunswick and Newfoundland, freed his enslaved servant Dinah, upon his death in Newfoundland in 1847, notably after the Slavery Abolition Act in 1833 . Notably, the Kirke brothers who were merchants in the triangular trade, brought Olivier Le Jeune to New France, where he was sold in 1629. In 1655, France appointed a governor in Plaisance (Placentia),
6270-460: The United Kingdom recognise Bonavista as being Cabot's "official" landing place. In 1499 and 1500, Portuguese mariners João Fernandes Lavrador and Pero de Barcelos explored and mapped the coast, the former's name appearing as "Labrador" on topographical maps of the period. Based on the Treaty of Tordesillas , the Portuguese Crown claimed it had territorial rights in the area John Cabot visited in 1497 and 1498. Subsequently, in 1501 and 1502,
6380-577: 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
6490-492: The coast of Labrador with Inuit groups that had large populations. The Miꞌkmaq of southern Newfoundland spent most of their time on the shores harvesting seafood; during the winter they would move inland to the woods to hunt. Over time, the Miꞌkmaq and Innu divided their lands into traditional "districts". Each district was independently governed and had a district chief and a council. The council members were band chiefs, elders and other worthy community leaders. In addition to
6600-404: The coast. These rights were reaffirmed by treaties in 1818, 1854 and 1871, and confirmed by arbitration in 1910. The founding proprietor of the Province of Avalon , George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore , intended that it should serve as a refuge for his persecuted Roman Catholic co-religionists. But like his other colony in the Province of Maryland on the American mainland, it soon passed out of
6710-563: The colony's profits evaporated. A string of harsh winters between 1815 and 1817 made living conditions even more difficult, while fires at St. John's in 1817 left thousands homeless. At the same time a new wave of immigration from Ireland increased the Catholic population. In these circumstances much of the English and Protestant proprietor class tended to shelter behind the appointed, and Anglican, "naval government". A broad home-rule coalition of Irish community leaders and ( Scottish and Welsh ) Methodists formed in 1828. Expressing, initially,
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#17327830051966820-516: The concerns of a new middle class over taxation, it was led by William Carson, a Scottish physician, and Patrick Morris, an Irish merchant. In 1825, the British government granted Newfoundland and Labrador official colonial status and appointed Sir Thomas Cochrane as its first civil governor. Partly carried by the wave of reform in Britain, a colonial legislature in St. John's, together with the promise of Catholic emancipation, followed in 1832. Carson made his goal for Newfoundland clear: "We shall rise into
6930-588: The district councils, the Miꞌkmaq tribes also developed a Grand Council or Santé Mawiómi , which according to oral tradition was formed before 1600. By the time European contact with Newfoundland began in the early 16th century, the Beothuk were the only indigenous group living permanently on the island. Unlike other groups in the Northeastern area of the Americas, the Beothuk never established sustained trading relations with European settlers. Their interactions were sporadic, and they largely attempted to avoid contact. The establishment of English fishing operations on
7040-620: The dogs, larger weapons and other technologies that gave the expanding Inuit an advantage. The inhabitants eventually organized themselves into small bands of a few families, grouped into larger tribes and chieftainships . The Innu are the inhabitants of an area they refer to as Nitassinan , i.e. most of what is now referred to as northeastern Quebec and Labrador. Their subsistence activities were historically centered on hunting and trapping caribou , deer and small game. Coastal clans also practiced agriculture, fished and managed maple sugar bush. The Innu engaged in tribal warfare along
7150-664: 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 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
7260-414: 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
7370-470: The enslaved persons of African descent on plantations in the West Indies . Products typically associated with Newfoundland such as molasses and rum ( Screech ), were produced by the enslaved persons of African descent on plantations in the West Indies, and shipped to Newfoundland and England on merchant ships. Some merchants in Newfoundland enslaved persons of African descent such as St. John's merchant, Thomas Oxford. John Ryan , merchant and publisher of
7480-405: The facilities. Kirke became the first governor of Newfoundland in 1638. A triangular trade with New England, the West Indies, and Europe gave Newfoundland an important economic role. By the 1670s, there were 1,700 permanent residents and another 4,500 in the summer months. This trade relied upon the labour of enslaved people of African descent. Salted cod from Newfoundland was used to feed
7590-430: 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
7700-409: The first settlement at Cuper's Cove . Other settlements included Bristol's Hope , Renews , New Cambriol , South Falkland and Avalon (which became a province in 1623). The first governor given jurisdiction over all of Newfoundland was Sir David Kirke in 1638. Explorers quickly realized the waters around Newfoundland had the best fishing in the North Atlantic. By 1620, 300 fishing boats worked
7810-476: The former Basque fishing settlement, thus starting a formal French colonization period in Newfoundland as well as a period of periodic war and unrest between England and France in the region. The Miꞌkmaq, as allies of the French, were amenable to limited French settlement in their midst and fought alongside them against the English. English attacks on Placentia provoked retaliation by New France explorer Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville who during King William's War in
7920-551: The geology of Newfoundland. Gros Morne National Park has a reputation as an outstanding example of tectonics at work, and as such has been designated a World Heritage Site . The Long Range Mountains on Newfoundland's west coast are the northeasternmost extension of the Appalachian Mountains . The north-south extent of the province (46°36′N to 60°22′N), prevalent westerly winds, cold ocean currents and local factors such as mountains and coastline combine to create
8030-650: The infidel French") were hanged, may have been less a United Irish plot, than an act of desperation in the face of brutal living conditions and officer tyranny. Many of the Irish reserve soldiers were forced to remain on duty, unable to return to the fisheries that supported their families. Yet the Newfoundland Irish would have been aware of the agitation in the homeland for civil equality and political rights. There were reports of communication with United men in Ireland from before '98 rebellion; of Thomas Paine 's pamphlets circulating in St. John's; and, despite
8140-531: The island. Sometime before 1563, Basque fishermen, who had been fishing cod shoals off Newfoundland's coasts since the beginning of the sixteenth century, founded Plaisance (today Placentia ), a seasonal haven which French fishermen later used. In the Newfoundland will of the Basque seaman Domingo de Luca, dated 1563 and now in an archive in Spain, he asks "that my body be buried in this port of Plazençia in
8250-399: The land explored by Sebastian and John Cabot . In Portuguese , it is Terra Nova (while the province's full name is Terra Nova e Labrador ), which literally means "new land" and is also the French name for the province's island region ( Terre-Neuve ). The name "Terra Nova" is in wide use on the island (e.g. Terra Nova National Park ). The influence of early Portuguese exploration
8360-716: 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
8470-410: 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
8580-476: 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 ,
8690-582: 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
8800-624: The most recent cultural manifestation of peoples who first migrated from Labrador to Newfoundland around 1 AD. The Inuit , found mostly in Labrador, are the descendants of what anthropologists call the Thule people , who emerged from western Alaska around 1000 AD and spread eastwards across the High Arctic tundra reaching Labrador around 1300–1500. Researchers believe the Dorset culture lacked
8910-804: 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
9020-469: 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
9130-655: 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
9240-503: 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
9350-462: The outer coastline of the island, and their later expansion into bays and inlets, cut off access for the Beothuk to their traditional sources of food. In the 18th century, as the Beothuk were driven further inland by these encroachments, violence between Beothuk and settlers escalated, with each retaliating against the other in their competition for resources. By the early 19th century, violence, starvation, and exposure to tuberculosis had decimated
9460-603: The place where those who die here are usually buried". This will is the oldest-known civil document written in Canada. Twenty years later, in 1583, Newfoundland became England's first possession in North America and one of the earliest permanent English colonies in the New World when Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed it for Elizabeth I . European fishing boats had visited Newfoundland continuously since Cabot's second voyage in 1498 and seasonal fishing camps had existed for
9570-557: 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
9680-414: The population is descended from English and Irish settlers, with the majority immigrating from the early 17th century to the late 19th century. St. John's , the capital and largest city of Newfoundland and Labrador, is Canada's 22nd-largest census metropolitan area and home to about 40% of the province's population. St. John's is the seat of the House of Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador as well as
9790-673: The province's highest court, the Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal . Until 1949, the Dominion of Newfoundland was a separate dominion in the British Empire. In 1933, the House of Assembly of the self-governing dominion voted to dissolve itself and to hand over administration of Newfoundland and Labrador to the British-appointed Commission of Government . This followed the suffering caused by
9900-607: The province's population, with more than half residing in the Avalon Peninsula . Labrador has a land border with both the province of Quebec , as well as a short border with the territory of Nunavut on Killiniq Island . The French overseas collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon lies about 20 km (12 mi) west of the Burin Peninsula . According to the 2016 census, 97.0% of residents reported English as their native language, making Newfoundland and Labrador Canada's most linguistically homogeneous province. Much of
10010-492: 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 )
10120-488: 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
10230-647: 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
10340-414: The sea than earlier peoples, and had developed sleds and boats similar to kayaks . They burned seal blubber in soapstone lamps. Many of these sites, such as Port au Choix , recently excavated by Memorial archaeologist, Priscilla Renouf, are quite large and show evidence of a long-term commitment to place. Renouf has excavated huge amounts of harp seal bones at Port au Choix, indicating that this place
10450-458: The settlements. By the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), French fishermen gained the right to land and cure fish on the "French Shore" on the western coast. (They had a permanent base on the nearby St. Pierre and Miquelon islands; the French gave up their French Shore rights in 1904.) In 1783, the British signed the Treaty of Paris with the United States that gave American fishermen similar rights along
10560-675: 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
10670-417: The various climates of the province. Newfoundland, in broad terms, has a cool summer subtype, with a humid continental climate attributable to its proximity to water — no part of the island is more than 100 km (62 mi) from the Atlantic Ocean . However, Northern Labrador is classified as a polar tundra climate, and southern Labrador has a subarctic climate . Newfoundland and Labrador contain
10780-579: The war with France, of hundreds of young County Waterford men still making a seasonal migration to the island for the fisheries, among them defeated rebels, said to have "added fuel to the fire" of local grievance. When news reached Newfoundland in May 1829 that the UK Parliament had finally conceded Catholic emancipation , the locals assumed that Catholics would now pass unhindered into the ranks of public office and enjoy equality with Protestants. There
10890-416: The west coast of the island and Wabush the interior of Labrador. Climate data for 56 places in the province is available from Environment Canada . The data for the graphs is the average over 30 years. Error bars on the temperature graph indicate the range of daytime highs and night time lows. Snowfall is the total amount that fell during the month, not the amount accumulated on the ground. This distinction
11000-594: 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
11110-614: Was a celebratory parade and mass in St. John's, and a gun salute from vessels in the harbour. But the attorney general and supreme court justices determined that as Newfoundland was a colony, and not a province of the United Kingdom , the Roman Catholic Relief Act did not apply. The discrimination was a matter of local ordinance. It was not until May 1832 that the British Secretary of State for
11220-538: Was a prime location for the hunting of these animals. The people of the Dorset culture (800 BC – 1500 AD) were highly adapted to a cold climate, and much of their food came from hunting sea mammals through holes in the ice. The massive decline in sea ice during the Medieval Warm Period would have had a devastating effect upon their way of life. The appearance of the Beothuk culture is believed to be
11330-531: 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
11440-469: Was at a place he called Vinland (possibly Newfoundland). Archaeological evidence of a Norse settlement was found in L'Anse aux Meadows , Newfoundland , which was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1978. There are several other unconfirmed accounts of European discovery and exploration, one tale of men from the Channel Islands being blown off course in the late 15th century into
11550-668: 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
11660-506: Was established in 1985. It was also the site of Royal Air Force Station Maydown, USAAF airfield and later transferred to the Royal Navy as Royal Naval Air Station airfield, RNAS Maydown , during World War II . Maydown F.C. is the local football team. On Census day in 2011: Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish : Gaeilge ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( / ˈ ɡ eɪ l ɪ k / GAY -lik ),
11770-526: 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. Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador
11880-474: 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
11990-693: 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
12100-495: 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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