82-577: Birr ( / ˈ b ɜːr / ; Irish : Biorra , meaning "plain of water") is a town in County Offaly , Ireland. Between 1620 and 1899 it was called Parsonstown , after the Parsons family who were local landowners and hereditary Earls of Rosse . The town is in a civil parish of the same name. Birr is a designated Irish Heritage Town with a carefully preserved Georgian heritage. Birr itself has graceful wide streets and elegant buildings. Many of
164-506: A steam-powered car on a bend. The vehicle traversed her, causing fatal injuries. A descendant of the O'Carrolls, Charles Carroll was the first and only Catholic to sign the United States Declaration of Independence and, also, the only signatory to give his address. To distinguish himself from his father, Charles Carroll of Annapolis , he signed in full as "Charles Carroll of Carrollton". In local government, Birr
246-547: 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
328-717: 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
410-575: 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
492-491: A building known as John's Hall built in the style of a Greek Temple. The Seffin Stone is said to mark the centre of Ireland. Mentioned by Geraldus Cambrensis , who referred to it as Umbilicus Hiberniae , the indentations on the stone are as old as megalithic sites, such as Newgrange . Myths claim that the indentations are from the hand of Fionn MacCuthaill , hence the origin of the name as Suigh Finn (pronounced "See-Finn"),
574-712: A castle located at the present site of Birr Castle . Following the Plantations of Ireland , Birr was located in the Barony of Ballybritt following the formation of King's County (now County Offaly) in 1556. The town itself is an old market and former garrison town dating to the 1620s. The town was also the location of the Crotty Schism , one of the few schisms to affect the Catholic Church in Ireland in
656-478: 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,
738-553: 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
820-460: 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
902-590: A history of the telescope and the significance of the work carried out here. The workhouse, located in Syngefield, on Newbridge Street, opened in 1842 before the Great Famine . The building is now mainly derelict. It is not yet open to the public. On 31 August 1869, the first road fatality recorded in history occurred in Birr, when local-born scientist Mary Ward , a cousin of The 3rd Earl of Rosse , fell from
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#1732773273094984-573: A landscaped park with waterfalls, rivers and a lake, as well as the large reflecting telescope, the Leviathan of Parsonstown , and the modern radio-telescope, I- LOFAR . Below the South face of the Castle proper, St. Brendan's Well can be found. It is a set of steps descending below ground level covered by a small gated grotto. The bottom step is submerged in well water. The main feature on the grounds of
1066-637: A monument erected in memory of the soldiers of the Leinster Regiment who were killed during their service. A wreath-laying ceremony takes place annually. Much of the Barracks' historical footprint is now occupied by the Grant Engineering factory. See Annals of Inisfallen . Birr is a designated Irish Heritage Town due to the preservation and wealth of Georgian architecture in the town. The earliest Georgian-style buildings dating from
1148-585: 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
1230-575: 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
1312-625: 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
1394-492: 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
1476-545: 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
1558-603: 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
1640-576: Is a municipal district within Offaly County Council . The district itself covers the entire west and south of Offaly. The district returns 6 elected representatives to Offaly County Hall in Tullamore. The area was administered by Birr Urban District Council until 2002, and subsequently by Birr Town Council until 2014, when the council was dissolved and administration of the town was amalgamated with Offaly County Council in accordance with
1722-452: 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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#17327732730941804-511: 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
1886-403: Is home to the current peer , Brendan Parsons, 7th Earl of Rosse , with family members resident in the demesne. As a family home, most of the castle is only open to the public on special occasions, though five reception rooms can be visited, by guided tour only, through the demesne's visitor centre. The castle's demesne , however, is open to tourists every day of the year, and the gardens comprise
1968-587: 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
2050-506: Is recorded as the lowest score ever in a hurling match in the Guinness Book of Records . Founded in 1887, Birr RFC has lapsed on several occasions, particularly during the two world wars and again in the mid-1950s. It was reformed in 1963 and has been in continuous existence since. Birr Golf Club is an 18-hole golf course which was founded in 1893. The course was founded originally at Barrone Court, moving to its present location at
2132-412: 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
2214-666: 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
2296-641: The Cardwell Reforms and the barracks became the depot for the 100th (Prince of Wales's Royal Canadian) Regiment of Foot and the 109th Regiment of Foot (Bombay Infantry) . Following the Childers Reforms , the 100th and 109th regiments amalgamated to form the Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians) with its depot in the barracks in 1881. The regiment moved into the barracks on 17 November 1882. Some 6,000 recruits enlisted at
2378-500: The Local Government Reform Act 2014 . Birr Court House, built c1830, is a detached five-bay two-storey castellated courthouse located on Townsend St, Birr. Over the years the building has served as a prison, court and county council offices. The courthouse has since closed down and now lies empty. The Courthouse was used to host Creative Arts events during Vintage Week 2023 and is hoped to be developed as part of
2460-631: 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 ")
2542-549: The River Shannon near Victoria Lock . The Ormond Flying Club has been in operation at Birr Airfield for over 30 years. Birr lies on the N52 and N62 national secondary roads . The routes are combined as they pass through Birr. The R439 , R440 and R489 regional roads also terminate in the town. Bus Éireann provide public transport services to the town. The Athlone to Limerick service regularly passes through
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2624-624: The 1740s are located in Emmet Square and Emmet Street (then known as Cumberland Square and Cumberland Street). The column in the centre of the square dates from 1747 and was built to carry the statue of the Duke of Cumberland , known as the Bloody Duke and the victor of the Battle of Culloden . The statue was removed in 1915 as it was in danger of collapse. The Oxmantown Mall was laid out in
2706-634: 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
2788-789: 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
2870-621: The 19th century. The church on Castle Street were the result of the Crotty Schism and were allowed to fall into a derelict condition after disuse following the end of the schism. The church is known locally as Crotty's Church. In the early 2020s it was restored externally and converted into a private residence contrary to the wishes of the Town's residents. This is all the more puzzling when the Birr Georgian Society were refused
2952-403: 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
3034-571: 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
3116-667: The Creative Court project into a more permanent arts venue. The town is served by three primary schools (St Brendan's Boys school, Mercy Primary School and the Model Primary School) and one secondary school ( St. Brendan's Community School ). Birr's hurling team, Birr GAA , has won the All-Ireland championship four times. Several of Birr's hurlers, including Brian Whelahan , attended St. Brendan's Community School . The first ever All-Ireland hurling final
3198-471: 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
3280-531: The Glenns, north of Birr, in 1909. The annual Birr Vintage Week and Arts Festival takes place in the town in August. The festival is run over one week, and includes a vintage parade, markets, and music and theatre events. Birr is also home to Birr Festival of Music, OFFline Film Festival, Scripts Ireland's Playwriting Festival and Hullabaloo! Offaly's Children's Arts Festival. Birr Theatre and Arts Centre, located in
3362-549: 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
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3444-654: The MacRegol Gospels, named after the abbot at the turn of the 8th/9th century and now to be seen in the Bodleian Library in Oxford . The Synod of Birr , held in 697 , was the occasion on which the Cáin Adomnáin , or law of innocents, was pronounced. In Gaelic Ireland , Birr was located in the O'Carroll territory of Éile . This petty kingdom ( Irish : Tuatha ) formed an area that now forms
3526-678: The Oxmantown Mall, is a local cultural and social amenity for the arts, dance, film, music and theatre. The theatre has a 220 seating capacity. The building dates from January 1889 and is a Victorian period style structure within the surrounds of the tree lined Oxmantown Mall. Birr Stage Guild also stage plays in the theatre. Birr, classified as an oceanic climate by Köppen , has cool winters, mild summers and adequate rainfall year-round. Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish : Gaeilge ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( / ˈ ɡ eɪ l ɪ k / GAY -lik ),
3608-620: 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 ,
3690-701: The Seat of Fionn. It is located to the left of the gates to John's Hall, on John's Mall, close to Emmet Square. The Stone is accompanied by a decommissioned cannon, The Crimean Gun, which was presented to the Parsons family and the people of Birr following its capture during the Siege of Sevastopol in the Crimean War . The Cannon was originally displayed inside the Castle Demesne before being placed outside John's Hall. In Emmet Square stands Dooly's Hotel : one of
3772-551: The barracks during the First World War : an airfield was built there in 1917 and Sergeant John Allan was killed when his plane crashed into Crinkill House on 28 March 1919. The Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians) was disbanded at the time of Irish Independence in 1922. The barracks were taken over by the Irish Army at that time but a small group of Irish Republican Army irregulars took control of
3854-746: 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
3936-647: The castle is the great Leviathan of Parsonstown , an astronomical telescope with a 72-inch metal mirror erected by The 3rd Earl of Rosse , which was, until 1917, the largest telescope in the world. The spiral structure of nebulae was discovered through this telescope. It featured in the PBS (USA) documentary, 'Telescope – Hunting the Edge of Space Part 1: The Mystery of the Milky Way' (2011). Astronomy broadcaster Sir Patrick Moore wrote The Astronomy of Birr Castle (1971) ,
4018-415: The course of the Stuart plantation, c. 1620. Sir Laurence Parsons built most of the structure of the present castle on the site of the original castle's Gatehouse. The castle was twice besieged in the 17th century and one of the towers still shows the scars of the artillery of Patrick Sarsfield, 1st Earl of Lucan , who tried unsuccessfully to take it. The castle remains the seat of the Earls of Rosse and
4100-425: The early 19th century and was designed as a promenade leading from Birr Castle gates to the Church of Ireland . The mall is tree lined on one side with the Georgian houses on the other. John's Mall was also built during this time also with fine Georgian buildings. The area is also known as the chains due to the sturdy chain railings enclosing the central plots in the centre of the Mall. Birr Town Council met here in
4182-664: 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
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#17327732730944264-414: 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
4346-430: 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
4428-429: The hotel is named "Melba's" to mark the occasion. On the Wilmer road, near the County Arms Hotel, is a Gothic-style Catholic church built. St. Brendan's Church of Ireland was also built in Gothic style in 1815 and is located in the Oxmantown Mall. A smaller Methodist Church known as Wesley Chapel was built in 1820 on Emmett Street to accommodate a growing Methodist congregation following the preaching of John Wesley in
4510-408: The houses in John's Place and Oxmantown Mall have exquisite fanlight windows of the Georgian period. The town is known for Birr Castle and Gardens: the home of the Parsons family and the site of the Leviathan of Parsonstown , which was the largest telescope in the world for over 70 years. The town is situated near the meeting of the Camcor and Little Brosna rivers, the latter flowing on into
4592-498: 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
4674-410: 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
4756-425: 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 ,
4838-409: The late 18th century in Birr. The Sisters of Mercy convent on Wilmer Road beside the Catholic church is also a gothic-styled building. Most of the convent was converted by Offaly County Council to civic offices and a public library. In the 16th century, the O'Carrolls of Éile had one of their castles here and this was granted to the English-born politician and judge Sir Lawrence Parsons in
4920-399: 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
5002-497: 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
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#17327732730945084-409: 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
5166-522: 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
5248-442: The oldest coaching inns in Ireland, dating from 1747. The name of Galway Blazers was given to the Galway Hunt after a celebration held in the hotel in 1809 resulted in the premises being set on fire. Film director John Huston was latterly a member of the Galway Blazers. Australian soprano Dame Nellie Melba famously sang to crowds gathered below in the Square, from her hotel room above in Dooly's Hotel. The nightclub attached to
5330-399: The opportunity to restore the building into a Museum following minor interior damage during preliminary works some years ago. Birr Barracks became the depot of the Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians) from 1881. The barracks at Birr was burned down in 1922 during the Irish Civil War and the outer perimeter wall is all that remains. Outside the old Barracks Wall, there is
5412-448: 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
5494-415: 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
5576-436: 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 )
5658-432: 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
5740-452: 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
5822-403: The south of County Offaly and the northeast of County Tipperary . The Tuatha was subject to the overkingdom ( Irish : Rí ruirech ) of Munster and formed a border with the Kingdom of Meath to the east. The boundary between Ely O'Carroll and the ancient Meath is co-terminous with the present boundary between the Diocese of Killaloe and the Diocese of Meath . The O'Carroll family had
5904-509: The town daily. Kearns privately owned bus service provides a number of direct bus services to Dublin from Birr, as well as a weekend service connecting the town with the city of Galway via Portumna, Killimor, and, Loughrea. Birr railway station, the terminus of a branch from the Limerick–Ballybrophy line at Roscrea , opened on 8 March 1858 and closed on 1 January 1963. A monastery was founded here by St Brendan of Birr . It produced
5986-726: 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
6068-594: 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
6150-517: Was a military installation in Crinkill , near Birr, County Offaly in Ireland . The barracks were built by Bernard Mullins at the instigation of Lawrence Parsons, 2nd Earl of Rosse , who had supported the need to build some barracks within a few hours’ march of the River Shannon , and were completed between 1809 and 1812. In 1873 a system of recruiting areas based on counties was instituted under
6232-531: 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
6314-668: 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
6396-596: 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. Birr Barracks Birr Barracks ( Irish : Dún Bhiorra ) also known as Crinkill Barracks ( Irish : Dún Chríonchoill )
6478-474: 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
6560-466: Was played in Hoare's field (currently the location of a Tesco store) in Birr on Easter Sunday , 1 April 1888, between Tipperary and Galway. The match was won by Tipperary on a score line of 1 goal, 1 point and 1 forfeit point to Galway's no score. A forfeit point was given against a player carrying the sliotar over his own goal line. The remarkably low score, albeit under different rules to the modern game,
6642-693: 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
6724-442: 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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