132-708: A townland ( Irish : baile fearainn ; Ulster-Scots : toonlann ) is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering 100–500 acres (40–202 ha). The townland system is of Gaelic origin, antedating the Norman invasion , and most have names of Irish origin. However, some townland names and boundaries come from Norman manors , plantation divisions, or later creations of
264-464: A common summer pasturage by the people of a whole parish or barony". Until the 19th century most townlands were owned by single landlords and occupied by multiple tenants. The cess , used to fund roadworks and other local expenses, was charged at the same rate on each townland in a barony , regardless of its size and productive capacity. Thus, occupiers in a small or poor townland suffered in comparison to those of larger or more fertile townlands. This
396-655: A temperate oceanic climate ( Köppen climate classification : Cfb), with upland areas in the Derryveagh and Blue Stack ranges classified as oceanic subpolar (Köppen climate classification: Cfc). The county's climate is heavily influenced by the North Atlantic Current . Due to the topography of western Donegal, it receives orographic rainfall, where the air is forced to rise on contact with its mountainous coastline and subsequently cools and condenses , forming clouds. The mountains of Donegal are among
528-547: 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
660-420: A "ground-level community effort". Taking place in the midst of The Troubles , the campaign was a rare example of unity between Catholics and Protestants , nationalists and unionists . Townlands and their names "seem to have been considered as a shared resource and heritage". Those involved in the campaign argued that, in many areas, people still strongly identified with their townlands and that this gave them
792-717: 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
924-488: A beach at Ballymanus, County Donegal, when local villagers attempted to bring ashore an unexploded marine mine . Eighteen men and boys between the ages of 13 and 34 were killed in the explosion. The partition of Ireland in the early 1920s severely affected County Donegal. Partition cut the county off, economically and administratively, from Derry, which had acted for centuries as the county's main port, transport hub and financial centre. Derry, together with west Tyrone ,
1056-575: 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
1188-478: 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,
1320-553: 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
1452-460: 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
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#17327754640551584-585: 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
1716-575: 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
1848-407: A postcode system was to be introduced (see Republic of Ireland postal addresses ). The system, known as Eircode , was introduced in 2014, but although more widely used by 2021, townlands remain predominant address identifiers in rural areas. Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish : Gaeilge ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( / ˈ ɡ eɪ l ɪ k / GAY -lik ),
1980-569: A quarter), "gort" and "quarter" ( Irish : ceathrú ). In County Fermanagh the divisions were "ballybetagh", "quarter" and "tate". Further subdivisions in Fermanagh appear to be related to liquid or grain measures such as "gallons", "pottles" and "pints". In Ulster, the ballybetagh was the territorial unit controlled by an Irish sept, typically containing around 16 townlands. Fragmentation of ballybetaghs resulted in units consisting of four, eight, and twelve townlands. One of these fragmented units,
2112-413: A quartzo-feldspathic paragneiss found around Lough Derg, which have been dated to 1.713 billion years ago. Donegal is the most seismically active part of Ireland. The Leenan Fault is a large strike-slip fault that bisects the county from Lough Swilly to Donegal Bay, and dozens of tremors have been recorded along the fault since the late 19th century, although none have been larger than a magnitude 3 on
2244-625: 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
2376-547: 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
2508-461: A sense of belonging. The Royal Mail's changes were seen as a severing of this link. At the time the county councils were the government bodies responsible for validating the change. However, as local government itself was undergoing changes, the Royal Mail's decision was "allowed ... to become law almost by default". County Fermanagh is the only county in Northern Ireland that managed to resist
2640-493: A settlement. Throughout most of Ulster, townlands were known as "ballyboes" ( Irish : baile bó , meaning "cow land"), and represented an area of pastoral economic value. In County Cavan similar units were called "polls", and in Counties Fermanagh and Monaghan , they were known as tates or taths . These names appear to be of English origin, but had become naturalised long before 1600. Modern townlands with
2772-623: A similarly placed coastal station in the southwest of Ireland records just 3. Donegal can be divided into six main geological subdivisions. Of these, the most expansive sections are the Lower Carboniferous limestones and sandstones of south Donegal, the Devonian granite of the Donegal batholith , which extends for about 75 km northeast to southwest from Ardara to Fanad Head, and quartzo-feldspathic Dalradian rocks from
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#17327754640552904-511: A small border with only one other county in the Republic of Ireland – County Leitrim . The vast majority of its land border (93%) is shared with three counties of Northern Ireland : County Tyrone , County Londonderry and County Fermanagh . This geographic isolation from the rest of the Republic has led to Donegal people maintaining a distinct cultural identity and has been used to market
3036-532: A team of horses yoked to a plough). Thomas Larcom , the first Director of the Ordnance Survey of Ireland , made a study of the ancient land divisions of Ireland and summarised the traditional hierarchy of land divisions thus: 10 acres – 1 Gneeve; 2 Gneeves – 1 Sessiagh; 3 Sessiaghs – 1 Tate or Ballyboe; 2 Ballyboes – 1 Ploughland, Seisreagh or Carrow; 4 Ploughlands – 1 Ballybetagh, or Townland; 30 Ballybetaghs – Triocha Céad or Barony . This hierarchy
3168-435: A townland is about 325 acres (1.32 km; 132 ha), but they vary widely in size. William Reeves 's 1861 survey states that the smallest was Old Church Yard, near Carrickmore , in the parish of Termonmagurk , County Tyrone , at 0.625 acres (0.253 ha) and the largest, at 7,555 acres (30.57 km; 11.805 sq mi), was and is Fionnán (also called Finnaun) in the parish of Killanin , County Galway . In fact,
3300-545: 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
3432-418: Is 6,053 acres (Tawnawully Mountains). The average size of a townland in the county (excluding towns) is 438 acres. The county may be informally divided into a number of traditional districts. There are two Gaeltacht districts in the west: The Rosses ( Irish : Na Rosa ), centred on the town of Dungloe ( Irish : An Clochán Liath ), and Gweedore ( Irish : Gaoth Dobhair ). Another Gaeltacht district
3564-603: 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
3696-489: Is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region . It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconnell or Tirconaill ( Tír Chonaill ), after the historic territory . Donegal County Council is the local council and Lifford is the county town . The population was 167,084 at the 2022 census . County Donegal
3828-452: 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
3960-467: Is based on the Gaelic system of land division, and the first official evidence of the existence of this Gaelic land division system can be found in church records from before the 12th century, it was in the 1600s that they began to be mapped and defined by the English administration for the purpose of confiscating land and apportioning it to investors or planters from Britain. The term "townland" in English
4092-474: Is derived from the Old English word tūn , denoting an enclosure. The term describes the smallest unit of land division in Ireland, based on various forms of Gaelic land division, many of which had their own names. The term baile , anglicised as "bally", is the most dominant element used in Irish townland names. Today, the term "bally" denotes an urban settlement, but its precise meaning in ancient Ireland
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4224-511: 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
4356-674: Is headquartered at the County House in Lifford. Elections to the County Council take place every five years. Thirty-seven councillors are elected using the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (STV). The county is divided into the following local electoral areas : Buncrana (5 seats), Carndonagh (4), Donegal (6), Glenties (6), Letterkenny (7), Lifford–Stranorlar (6) and Milford (3). Donegal County Council has three representatives on
4488-539: Is located in the north-west: Cloughaneely ( Irish : Cloich Chionnaola ), centred on the town of Falcarragh ( Irish : An Fál Carrach ). The most northerly part of the island of Ireland is the location for three peninsulas : Inishowen , Fanad and Rosguill . The main population centre of Inishowen, Ireland's largest peninsula, is Buncrana . In the east of the county lies the Finn Valley (centred on Ballybofey ) and The Laggan district (not to be confused with
4620-417: Is named after the town of Donegal (from Irish Dún na nGall 'fort of the foreigners') in the south of the county. It has also been known by the alternative name County Tyrconnell or Tirconaill ( Tír Chonaill , meaning 'Land of Conall '). The latter was its official name between 1922 and 1927. This is in reference to the túath or Gaelic kingdom of Tír Chonaill (on which
4752-587: 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
4884-592: Is part of the Border strategic planning area. There are eight historic baronies in the county. While baronies continue to be officially defined units, they ceased to have any administrative function following the Local Government Act 1898 , and any changes to county boundaries after the mid-19th century are not reflected in their extent. The last boundary change of a barony in Donegal was in 1851 when
5016-527: Is particularly far from the ocean, giving it a generally cooler climate that is more similar to western Scotland than the rest of Ireland. The average maximum temperature in July at Malin Head is just 16.8 °C (62 °F). However, due to its exposed coastal location, the climate at Malin Head is not representative of most of the county. Winds are much lighter in the county's interior and temperatures are cooler in
5148-412: 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
5280-512: Is the largest town in the Border Region and the 21st largest urban area in the Republic of Ireland. Under CSO classification, an "Urban Area" is a town with a population greater than 1,500. As of the 2016 Census, Donegal is the most rural / least urbanised county in Ireland, with less than one-third of the population (27.3 per cent) living in urban areas and over 70 per cent in rural areas. The Donegal Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking area)
5412-536: Is the second-largest in Ireland. The version of the Irish language spoken in County Donegal is Ulster Irish . Of the Gaeltacht population of 24,744 (16% of the county's total population), 17,132 say they can speak Irish. There are three Irish-speaking parishes: Gweedore , The Rosses and Cloughaneely . Other Irish-speaking areas include Gaeltacht an Láir : Glencolmcille , Fintown , Fanad and Rosguill ,
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5544-460: Is unclear, as towns had no place in Gaelic social organisation. The modern Irish term for a townland is baile fearainn (plural: bailte fearainn ). The term fearann means "land, territory, quarter". The Normans left no major traces in townland names, but they adapted some of them for their own use, possibly seeing a similarity between the Gaelic baile and the Norman bailey , both of which meant
5676-666: 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
5808-514: The Gulf of Mexico , a low-pressure Polar front regularly passes to the northwest of the island, bringing cold and unsettled weather to the region. The upland areas of Donegal will reliably receive some covering of snow every year. In lowland areas, snow - while still relatively infrequent - is more common than in the rest of Ireland. Despite its coastal location, Malin Head records an average of 20 days of snowfall per year. In contrast Valentia Island ,
5940-677: The International Criminal Court in 2001 received the lowest support in Donegal, with just 55.8% of voters backing the proposal, compared with 64.2% nationally. Donegal is the only county to have voted against the Treaty of Lisbon twice, in 2008 and 2009. Voters in the county also rejected both the Fiscal Treaty and the referendum on children's rights and state care in 2012. On the issue of abortion and right to life vs pro-choice , Donegal has consistently been
6072-756: The Lagan Valley in the south of County Antrim ), which is centred on the town of Raphoe . Donegal is the most mountainous county in Ulster. It consists of two ranges of low mountains, the Derryveagh Mountains in the north and the Blue Stack Mountains in the south, with Errigal at 751 m (2,464 ft) the highest peak, making it the 11th-highest county top in Ireland. It has a deeply indented coastline forming natural sea loughs , of which Lough Swilly and Lough Foyle are
6204-534: The Local Government Reform Act 2014 was commenced and their functions were taken over by Donegal County Council. The Dáil constituency of Donegal constituency (5 TDs ) covers almost the entire county, with the exception of a small area in southern Donegal around Bundoran and Ballyshannon, which is part of the Sligo–Leitrim constituency . Historically, the county was represented in
6336-563: The Northern and Western Regional Assembly . Council elections are held every 5 years, with the next election due to be held in June 2029. The 2024 Donegal local election had a voter turnout of 54.7%. The highest turnout was at Milford (63.1%) and the lowest was at Letterkenny (51.4%). Until 2014, there were town councils in Letterkenny, Bundoran , Ballyshannon and Buncrana. The town councils were abolished in June 2014 when provisions of
6468-476: The Ordnance Survey . The total number of inhabited townlands in Ireland was 60,679 in 1911. The total number recognised by the Irish Place Names database as of 2014 was 61,098, including uninhabited townlands, mainly small islands. In Ireland, a townland is generally the smallest administrative division of land, though a few large townlands are further divided into hundreds . The concept of townlands
6600-790: The Parliament of Ireland through the Donegal Borough constituency, which lasted from 1613 to 1800, when the Irish Parliament was abolished. Following the Act of Union , the county was represented in Westminster through the Donegal constituency until 1885. Following this, the county was broken up into four separate constituencies – North Donegal , South Donegal , East Donegal and West Donegal – which persisted until independence. The Government of Ireland Act 1920 reformed
6732-522: The Poisoned Glen . Valleys such as these were the last areas to retain glaciers as temperatures rose. As the ice sheet thinned, topography became the dominant force driving the direction of ice and meltwater flow. Erosion by glacial meltwater carved out large channels in southern Donegal which directed water and sediment to outwash fans in Donegal Bay. The area south of Donegal town, where
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#17327754640556864-589: The Precambrian era, which cover much of the rest of the county. The geology of Donegal is very similar to that of County Mayo , and both counties are located within the Grampian Terrane . The oldest rocks in Ireland are a granitic gneiss found on the island of Inishtrahull , located ca. 10 km (6.2 mi) north-east of Malin Head. They are 1.78 billion years old, making them Paleoproterozoic in age. The oldest rocks on mainland Donegal are
6996-483: The Republic of Ireland by an internal border of only a few kilometres. The existence of a border cutting County Donegal off from its natural hinterlands in Derry City and West Tyrone greatly exacerbated the economic difficulties of the county after partition. The county's economy is particularly susceptible, like that of Derry City, to the currency fluctuations of the euro against sterling . Added to all this, in
7128-576: 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 ")
7260-642: The Richter scale . The county's landscape was carved out by glaciation at the end of the Pleistocene and the subsequent retreat during the early Holocene . Donegal contains one of Ireland's three glacial fjords (or fjards ) at Lough Swilly , the others being Carlingford Lough and Killary Harbour . Lough Swilly is the county's largest inlet and forms the western boundary of the Inishowen Peninsula . The thick ice sheet that once covered
7392-474: The River Eske flows into the bay, is an example of one of these outwash areas. Sea levels in the area began to stabilise around 5,000 years ago, and the balance of erosion and deposition along Donegal's coastline resulted in the development of many sandy beaches and spits interspersed with jagged sea cliffs. Letterkenny is by far the largest settlement in Donegal, with a population of just over 22,000. It
7524-742: The Royal Irish Army were stationed there, the Dublin authorities were unable to establish control over Tír Chonaill and Inishowen until after the Battle of Kinsale in 1602. Full control over the new County Donegall was only achieved after the Flight of the Earls in September 1607. It was the centre of O'Doherty's Rebellion of 1608 with the key Battle of Kilmacrennan taking place there. The county
7656-527: The Royal Mail decided that the townland element of the address was obsolete in Northern Ireland. Townland names were not banned, but they were deemed "superfluous information" and people were asked not to include them on addresses. They were to be replaced by house numbers, road names and postcodes . In response the Townlands Campaign emerged to protest against the changes. It was described as
7788-557: The "quarter", representing a quarter of a ballybetagh, was the universal land denomination recorded in the survey of County Donegal conducted in 1608. In the early 17th century 20 per cent of the total area of western Ulster was under the control of the church. These " termonn " lands consisted likewise of ballybetaghs and ballyboes, but were held by erenaghs instead of sept leaders. Other units of land division used throughout Ireland include: "Cartrons" were also sometimes called "ploughlands" or "seisreagh" ( Irish : seisreach , meaning
7920-634: 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
8052-423: The 1890s. Due to interbreeding, most of the deer in the county are now a Sika-Red deer hybrid. The Wild Ireland wildlife park near Burnfoot showcases some of Donegal's historic animal species that were hunted to extinction, including brown bears , lynxes and gray wolves . In 2001, the golden eagle was re-introduced into Glenveagh National Park and is currently Ireland's only breeding population. A survey of
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#17327754640558184-789: 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
8316-403: 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
8448-466: 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
8580-407: The Erne to the River Shannon was constructed between 1846 and 1860, creating Ireland's longest navigable waterway. The project was plagued with setbacks and closed in 1870, ten years after its completion. A joint effort between the Irish and Northern Irish governments restored the canal in the late 20th century, and the Shannon–Erne Waterway reopened in 1994. Historically, the eastern boundary of
8712-404: 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
8844-413: The Irish acre, the English acre, the Cunningham acre, the plantation acre and the statute acre. The Ordnance Survey maps used the statute acre measurement. The quality and situation of the land affected the size of these acres. The Cunningham acre is given as intermediate between the Irish and English acres. Many of these land division terms have been preserved in the names of modern townlands. For example,
8976-425: 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
9108-400: The O'Donnell Kings of Tír Chonaill were traditionally inaugurated, from the 1460s onwards, at Doon Rock near Kilmacrennan . The O'Donnell's royal or chiefly power was finally ended in what was then the newly created County Donegal in September 1607, following the Flight of the Earls from Portnamurray, near Rathmullan . The modern County Arms of County Donegal (dating from the early 1970s)
9240-424: 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 ,
9372-437: The ban on abortion in Ireland received the most support in Donegal. Nationally, 50.42% of voters voted against the amendment, whereas 68.8% of voters in Donegal voted in favour of it. In May 2018, Donegal was the only county in Ireland to vote against the repeal of the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution which had acknowledged the right to life of the unborn. In October 2018, 48.5% of voters in Donegal voted against repealing
9504-420: The barony of Inishowen was divided into Inishowen East and Inishowen West. The barony of Kilmacrennan covers a large portion of northwest Donegal and is the largest in the county. With an area of 312,410 acres (1,264 km ), Kilmacrennan is also the largest barony in Ireland, being roughly equal in size to County Monaghan . The smallest barony is Inishowen West, at 77,149 acres (312.21 km ). Townlands are
9636-693: 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
9768-525: The change completely. Nevertheless, many newer road signs in parts of Northern Ireland now show townland names (see picture). In 2001 the Northern Ireland Assembly passed a motion requesting government departments to make use of townland addresses in correspondence and publications. In the Republic of Ireland townlands continue to be used on addresses. In 2005 the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources announced that
9900-469: The cloudiest places in Ireland, and northern Donegal is the windiest. Irish monthly record wind speeds for March, June, July, September, November and December have all been set at Malin Head . The highest wind speed ever recorded in Donegal was 181 km/h (112 mph) on 16 September 1961, during Hurricane Debbie . The Atlantic Ocean has a significant cooling effect and, due to the county's long, thin shape and punctuated coastline, nowhere in Donegal
10032-656: The county was based) and the earldom that succeeded it. County Donegal was the home of the once-mighty Clann Dálaigh, whose best-known branch was the Clann Ó Domhnaill, better known in English as the O'Donnell dynasty . Until around 1600, the O'Donnells were one of Ireland's richest and most powerful native Irish ruling families. Within Ulster, only the Uí Néill (known in English as the O'Neills) of Tír Eoghain (Tirowen or modern Tyrone) were more powerful. The O'Donnells were Ulster's second most powerful clan or ruling family from
10164-536: The county with the slogan "Up here it's different". While Lifford is the county town , Letterkenny is by far the largest town in the county with a population of just under 20,000. Letterkenny and the nearby city of Derry form the main economic axis in the northwest of Ireland. Indeed, what became the City of Derry was officially part of County Donegal up until 1610. It is part of the Northern and Western Region (a NUTS 2 European statistical Region ), within which it
10296-400: The county's forests are commercial timber plantations which were initially established in the 1930s as a way to create rural employment in areas with poor agricultural land and high rates of emigration. The county contains extensive tracts of blanket bog which are concentrated in western and upland regions. Blanket bog covers an area of 148,656 ha (367,337 acres), or roughly 30 percent of
10428-410: The county. Donegal has been labelled the "forgotten county" by its own politicians, owing to the perception that it is ignored by the government, even in times of crisis. Located in the northwest corner of Ireland , Donegal is the island's northernmost county. In terms of size and area, it is the largest county in Ulster and the fourth-largest county in all of Ireland. Uniquely, County Donegal shares
10560-574: The early 13th century through to the start of the 17th century. For several centuries, the O'Donnells ruled Tír Chonaill (Tyrconnell), a túath or Gaelic kingdom in west Ulster that covered almost all of modern County Donegal. The head of the O'Donnell family had the titles An Ó Domhnaill (meaning The O'Donnell in English) and Rí Thír Chonaill (meaning King of Tír Chonaill in English). Based at Donegal Castle in Dún na nGall (modern Donegal Town),
10692-664: 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
10824-474: 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
10956-813: The entire county. Donegal has a wide variety of habitats, and over half of Ireland's plant and animal species can be found within the county. Approximately 11.4 per cent of the county is covered in forest, which is about average nationally. Forest cover is not evenly spread across the county and some areas, such as Pettigo and around Lough Derg , are very heavily forested, while more exposed coastal and upland areas are virtually barren. Around 65 per cent of Donegal's forests are publicly owned. Despite its northerly latitude and geographic isolation, Donegal also hosts two species of amphibian ( common frog & smooth newt ) and two reptile species ( Leatherback turtle and viviparous lizard ). The native Irish red deer in Donegal went extinct around 1860 and were re-introduced in
11088-560: 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
11220-431: The four constituencies into a single entity covering "the administrative county of Donegal". This was broken up into Donegal East and Donegal West from 1937 to 1977, and into Donegal North-East and Donegal South-West from 1981 to 2016. Donegal voters have a reputation nationally for being "conservative and contrarian", and have often voted against amendments to the Irish constitution which received broad support in
11352-554: The highest sea cliffs in Europe, while Malin Head is the most northerly point on the island of Ireland. Two permanently inhabited islands, Arranmore and Tory Island , lie off the coast, along with a large number of islands with only transient inhabitants. The 129 km long River Erne , Ireland's ninth-longest river, enters Donegal Bay near the town of Ballyshannon . The River Erne, along with other Donegal waterways, has been dammed to produce hydroelectric power. A canal linking
11484-599: The islands of Arranmore , Tory Island and Inishbofin . Gweedore is the largest Irish-speaking parish, with over 5,000 inhabitants. All schools in the region use Irish as the language of instruction. According to the 2022 Census, the number of people (aged three and over) who stated that they could speak Irish in Donegal was 59,130 (35.4% of the county's total population) compared with 56,738 in 2016. Of these 7,750 said they spoke Irish daily while 4,533 spoke Irish weekly. Donegal County Council has been in existence since 1899 and has responsibility for local administration. It
11616-596: The kingdom of Tír Chonaill was demarcated by the River Foyle . In the 17th century, an area of land west of the Foyle was transferred to the newly established city of Derry. The Foyle still demarcated a large section of Donegal's eastern border. To the south, the Drowes River forms a 9 km (6 miles) long natural boundary with County Leitrim. Donegal has a population density of 34.2 people per square kilometre,
11748-716: 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
11880-410: 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
12012-425: 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 ,
12144-569: The late 20th century, County Donegal was adversely affected by The Troubles in Northern Ireland. The county suffered several bombings and assassinations. In June 1987, Constable Samuel McClean, a Donegal man who was a serving member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), was shot dead by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA) at his family home near Drumkeen . In May 1991,
12276-576: The lowest in Ulster and the fifth lowest in Ireland. The county has an expansive network of wildlife and conservation zones, including 46 European Union designated Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and 26 Special Protection Areas (SPAs), as well as 14 Natural Heritage Areas (NHAs), 74 proposed Natural Heritage Areas, 145 Irish Geological Heritage Areas (IGHs) and Ireland's second largest national park, Glenveagh , which extends to over 42,000 acres (170 km ) in northwestern Donegal. Owing to its scenic landscape and " world-class wilderness ", Donegal
12408-552: The macroscopic marine algae of County Donegal was published in 2003. The survey was compiled using the algal records held in the herbaria of the following institutions: the Ulster Museum , Belfast ; Trinity College Dublin ; NUI Galway , and the Natural History Museum , London. Records of flowering plants include Dactylorhiza purpurella (Stephenson and Stephenson) Soó. The majority of Donegal has
12540-582: 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
12672-538: The most conservative county in Ireland. In 1992, two referendums on the issue were held. The first was an amendment which specified that the State could not limit the freedom of travel of women seeking abortions abroad. The second specified that the distribution of information about abortion services available in other countries was not unlawful. In contrast to the rest of Ireland, Donegal voted decisively against these amendments. The twenty-fifth amendment in 2002 to tighten
12804-449: The most notable. Donegal boasts the longest mainland coastline of any county in Ireland, and has either the longest or third longest total coastline (including islands), depending on how it is measured. Estimates of the length of the coastline range from less than 1,000 km (621 mi) to 1,235 km (767 mi). The official figure used by Donegal County Council is 1,134 km (705 mi). The Slieve League cliffs are among
12936-804: 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
13068-469: 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
13200-655: 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
13332-503: 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
13464-557: 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
13596-475: The prefix pol- is widely found throughout western Ireland, its accepted meaning being "hole" or "hollow". In County Cavan, which contains over half of all townlands in Ulster with the prefix pol- , some should probably be better translated as "the poll of ...". In County Tyrone, the following hierarchy of land divisions was used: "ballybetagh" ( Irish : baile beithigh , meaning "cattle place"), "ballyboe", "sessiagh" ( Irish : séú cuid , meaning sixth part of
13728-596: The prefix tat- are confined almost exclusively to the diocese of Clogher, which covers Counties Fermanagh and Monaghan, and the barony of Clogher in County Tyrone ), and cannot be confused with any other Irish word. The use of the term can also be seen in the diocese of Clogher parish of Inniskeen area within Louth where the townlands of Edenagrena, Drumsinnot, Killaconner and Torpass were referred to collectively as "the four tates of Ballyfoylan." In modern townland names
13860-691: The prominent Sinn Féin politician Councillor Eddie Fullerton was assassinated by the Provisional IRA's opponent, the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), at his home in Buncrana . This added further to the economic and social difficulties of the county, although the greater economic and administrative integration with Northern Ireland, following the Good Friday Agreement of April 1998, has been of benefit to
13992-464: The region carved out deep basins in the Donegal uplands and many tarns or corrie lakes developed in these depressions after the ice had melted, including Lough Maam below Slieve Snaght and Lough Feeane under Aghla More . Larger glacial lakes formed in the county's distinctive U-shaped valleys , such as Lough Beagh and Gartan Lough in Glenveagh , and Dunlewey Lough and Lough Nacung Upper in
14124-492: 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 )
14256-432: 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
14388-451: The rest of Ireland. Conversely, voters in the county have also supported several referendums which were not enacted. The trend first emerged in 1958, when voters in Donegal overwhelmingly voted to alter the electoral system from proportional representation to first-past-the-post in a referendum which was defeated nationally. In 1968, voters in the county backed two separate bills which were also widely rejected nationwide. The first vote
14520-647: 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
14652-490: The smallest officially defined geographical divisions in Ireland. There are 2,787 townlands in Donegal and an additional 47 historic town boundaries. These town boundaries are registered as their own townlands and are much larger than rural townlands. The smallest rural townlands in Donegal are just 1 acre in size, most of which are either lough islands or offshore islets (Corragh Island, Bishop's Island, Juniper Island, O'Donnell's Island, etc.). The largest rural townland in Donegal
14784-449: The term "bally" in some townland names is that it can be difficult to distinguish between the Irish terms baile meaning "townland" and béal átha meaning "approach to a ford". An example of the latter is Ballyshannon , County Donegal , which is derived from Béal Átha Seanaidh . "Sub-townlands" ( Irish : fo-bhaile ) are also recorded in some areas, smaller divisions of a townland with their own traditional names. The average area of
14916-698: The term "cartron" in both its English and Irish forms has been preserved in the townland names of Carrowmeer, Cartron and Carrowvere, while the term "sessiagh" survives in the names Shesia, Sheshodonell, Sheshymore and Shessiv. The terms "ballyboe" and "ballybetagh" tend to be preserved in the truncated form of "bally" as a prefix for some townland names, such as Ballymacarattybeg near Poyntzpass , County Down. Less well-known land division terms may be found in other townland names such as Coogulla ( Irish : Cuige Uladh , "the Ulster fifth"), Treanmanagh ( Irish : an train meánach , "the third middle") and Dehomade ( Irish : an deichiú méid , "the tenth part"). A problem with
15048-465: The townland of Clonskeagh in the barony of Uppercross (abutting the main Clonskeagh townland in the barony of Dublin ) was only 0.3 acres (1,200 m) although the area is now urbanised, so that the townlands are unused and their boundaries are uncertain. The ballyboe, a townland unit used in Ulster, was described in 1608 as containing 60 acres of arable land, meadow, and pasture. However, this
15180-491: The townland system. Slight adjustments are still made. There were 60,679 in 1911, compared to 60,462 townlands in 1901. Townlands form the building blocks for higher-level administrative units such as parishes and district electoral divisions (in the Republic of Ireland ) or wards (in Northern Ireland ). Before 1972 townlands were included on all rural postal addresses throughout the island, but in that year
15312-675: 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
15444-433: The winter and warmer in the summer. Annual rainfall in the county ranges from around 850 mm (33 in) in the lowlands of north-eastern Donegal to over 2,000 mm (79 in) in western mountainous areas. Precipitation exceeding 1 mm (0.04 in) will fall across all areas of Donegal on over 150 days per year. While the prevailing wind direction in Ireland is south-westerly, which brings warm, moist air from
15576-594: 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
15708-531: 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
15840-668: 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
15972-623: 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. County Donegal County Donegal ( / ˌ d ʌ n i ˈ ɡ ɔː l , ˌ d ɒ n -/ DUN -ee- GAWL , DON - ; Irish : Contae Dhún na nGall )
16104-466: Was henceforward in a new, different jurisdiction which remained within the United Kingdom , officially called Northern Ireland . Partition also meant that County Donegal was now almost entirely cut off from the rest of the jurisdiction in which it now found itself, the new dominion called the Irish Free State (later called Ireland from 1937). The county is physically connected to the rest of
16236-539: Was influenced by the design of the old O'Donnell royal arms. The County Arms is the official coat of arms of both County Donegal and Donegal County Council. The modern County Donegal was made a shire by order of the English Crown in 1585. The English authorities at Dublin Castle formed the new county by amalgamating the old Kingdom of Tír Chonaill with the old Lordship of Inishowen . Although detachments of
16368-532: Was misleading, as the size of townlands under the Gaelic system varied depending upon their quality, situation and economic potential. This economic potential varied from the extent of land required to graze cattle to the land required to support several families. The highest density of townland units recorded in Ulster in 1609 corresponds to the areas with the highest land valuations in the 1860s. It seems that many moorland areas were not divided into townlands until fairly recently. These areas were "formerly shared as
16500-551: Was named National Geographic's "Coolest place on the Planet" in 2017. The county was also ranked the 4th best region in the world by Lonely Planet's Best in Travel series for 2024, which called Donegal " purely wild with a big heart ". The forested area in the county extends to 55,534 ha (137,228 acres), the 4th highest total forest cover in Ireland. Historic deforestation left Donegal devoid of forest cover by 1900. Much of
16632-516: Was not applied uniformly across Ireland. For example, a ballybetagh or townland could contain more or less than four ploughlands. Further confusion arises when it is taken into account that, while Larcom used the general term "acres" in his summary, terms such as "great acres", "large acres" and "small acres" were also used in records. Writing in 1846, Larcom remarked that the "large" and "small" acres had no fixed ratio between them, and that there were various other kinds of acre in use in Ireland, including
16764-647: Was one of those 'planted' during the Plantation of Ulster from around 1610 onwards. What became the City of Derry was officially part of County Donegal up until 1610. County Donegal was one of the worst affected parts of Ulster during the Great Famine of the late 1840s in Ireland. Vast swathes of the county were devastated, with many areas becoming permanently depopulated. Vast numbers of County Donegal's people emigrated at this time, chiefly through Foyle Port . The Ballymanus mine disaster occurred on 10 May 1943 on
16896-523: 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
17028-462: Was reformed by Griffith's Valuation . During the 19th century an extensive series of maps of Ireland was created by the Irish division of the Ordnance Survey for taxation purposes. These maps both documented and standardised the boundaries of the more than 60,000 townlands in Ireland. The process often involved dividing or amalgamating existing townlands, and defining townland boundaries in areas such as mountain or bog that had previously been outside
17160-637: 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
17292-412: Was to allow rural constituencies to elect a disproportionate number of TDs . Thirty-four constituencies voted against the amendment and four voted in favour, two of which were Donegal North-East and Donegal South-West . In the second vote, both Donegal constituencies again voted for the introduction of a first-past-the-post system, which was rejected. The 23rd Amendment permitting the State to join
17424-442: 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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