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Irish Language Facts
Irish (Gaeilge in Irish) is a Goidelic language spoken in Ireland and in small communities in Canada and Argentina. Irish is constitutionally recognised as the first official language of the Republic of Ireland, and has recently received a degree of formal recognition in Northern Ireland, under the Good Friday Agreement alongside the varieties of Lowland Scots spoken in Northern Ireland.Spoken in: Ireland, small communities in Newfoundland and Argentina
Region: Gaeltachtaí
Total speakers: 260,000 rate themselves 'good' or 'very good' at Irish, only 10,000 use it as their spoken language.
Official language of: Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland.
Statistics:
Ireland: 260,000
Galway:?
Mayo:?
Kerry:?
Donegal:?
Meath:?
Cork:?
Waterford:?
Scotland:?
Isle of Man:?
Brazil:?
Canada:?
UK:95,000
USA:?
Total: 350,000
The language is sometimes referred to in English as Gaelic, Irish Gaelic, or Erse (originally a Scots word), but is more generally referred to in Ireland as the Irish language or simply Irish. The use of the term Irish also avoids confusion with Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig na h-Alba), the closely-related language spoken in Scotland and usually referred to in English as simply Gaelic.
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