1.
Irish language
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Irish, also referred to as Gaelic or Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people. Irish enjoys constitutional status as the national and first official language of the Republic of Ireland and it is also 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 of Ireland and it has the oldest vernacular literature in Western Europe. The fate of the language was influenced by the power of the English state in Ireland. Elizabethan officials viewed the use of Irish unfavourably, as being a threat to all things English in Ireland and its decline began under English rule in the 17th century. In the latter part of the 19th century, there was a decrease in the number of speakers. Irish-speaking areas were hit especially hard, by the end of British rule, the language was spoken by less than 15% of the national population. Since then, Irish speakers have been in the minority, efforts have been made by the state, individuals and organisations to preserve, promote and revive the language, but with mixed results. Around the turn of the 21st century, estimates of native speakers ranged from 20,000 to 80,000 people. In the 2011 Census, these numbers had increased to 94,000 and 1.3 million, there are several thousand Irish speakers in Northern Ireland. It has been estimated that the active Irish-language scene probably comprises 5 to 10 per cent of Irelands population, there has been a significant increase in the number of urban Irish speakers, particularly in Dublin. In Gaeltacht areas, however, there has been a decline of the use of Irish. Údarás na Gaeltachta predicted that, by 2025, Irish will no longer be the language in any of the designated Gaeltacht areas. Survey data suggest that most Irish people think highly of Irish as a marker of identity. It has also argued that newer urban groups of Irish speakers are a disruptive force in this respect. In An Caighdeán Oifigiúil the name of the language is Gaeilge, before the spelling reform of 1948, this form was spelled Gaedhilge, originally this was the genitive of Gaedhealg, the form used in Classical Irish. Older spellings of this include Gaoidhealg in Classical Irish and Goídelc in Old Irish, the modern spelling results from the deletion of the silent dh in the middle of Gaedhilge, whereas Goidelic languages, used to refer to the language family including Irish, comes from Old Irish
2.
Gaeltacht
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Gaeltacht is an Irish-language word used to denote any primarily Irish-speaking region. The boundaries of the Gaeltacht have included a percentage of resident English-speakers since British colonisation. It is now recognised that the Gaeltacht is threatened by serious language decline, research published in 2015 showed that of the 155 electoral divisions in the Gaeltacht, only 21 are communities where Irish is spoken on a daily basis by 67% or more of the population. 67% is regarded by some academics as a point for language survival. In 1926 the official Gaeltacht came into being after the report of the first Gaeltacht Commission Coimisiún na Gaeltachta, the exact boundaries were not defined. The quota at the time was 25%+ Irish-speaking, although in many cases Gaeltacht status was accorded to areas that were weaker than this. The Irish Free State recognised that there were Irish-speaking or semi-Irish-speaking districts in 15 of its 26 counties, in the 1950s another Gaeltacht Commission concluded that the Gaeltacht boundaries were ill-defined. It recommended that the Gaeltacht status admittance of an area be based solely on the strength of the language there, the Gaeltacht districts were initially defined precisely in the 1950s, excluding many areas which had witnessed a decline in the language. This left Gaeltacht areas in seven of the states 26 counties and this would threaten the future of the Gaeltacht. Parents felt that the educational system cancelled their efforts to pass on Irish as a language to their children. The study added that a significant number of Gaeltacht schools had switched to teaching through English, in 2002 the third Coimisiún na Gaeltachta stated in its report that the erosion of Irish in the Gaeltacht was now such that it was only a matter of time before the Gaeltacht disappeared. In some areas Irish had already ceased to be a community language, even in the strongest Gaeltacht areas, current patterns of bilingualism were leading to the dominance of English. Policies implemented by the State and voluntary groups were having no effect, a new language reinforcement strategy was required, one that had the confidence of the community itself. The Commission recommended, among other things, that the boundaries of the official Gaeltacht should be redrawn. It also recommended a comprehensive study to assess the vitality of the Irish language in the remaining Gaeltacht districts. The study was undertaken by Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge, and on 1 November 2007 Staidéar Cuimsitheach Teangeolaíoch ar Úsáid na Gaeilge sa Ghaeltacht appeared, in response to this situation, the government introduced the Gaeltacht Bill 2012. Its stated aim was to provide for a new definition of based on language criteria. This status could only be revoked if the area failed to prepare a language plan, the Bill was also criticised for placing all responsibility for the maintenance of Irish on voluntary organisations, with no increase in resources
3.
Newry
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Newry is a city in Northern Ireland,34 miles from Belfast and 67 miles from Dublin. It had a population of 29,946 in 2011, Newry straddles counties Armagh and Down. Newry was founded in 1144 alongside a Cistercian monastery, although there are references to settlements in the area. It is one of Irelands oldest towns, the city is an entry to the Gap of the North, close to the border with the Republic of Ireland. It grew as a town and a garrison and became a port in 1742 when it was linked to Lough Neagh by the first summit-level canal built in Ireland or Great Britain. In 2002, as part of Queen Elizabeths Golden Jubilee celebrations, the name Newry is an anglicization of An Iúraigh, an oblique form of An Iúrach, which means the grove of yew trees. The modern Irish name for Newry is An tIúr, which means the yew tree, an tIúr is an shortening of Iúr Cinn Trá, yew tree at the head of the strand, which was formerly the most common Irish name for Newry. This relates to a story that Saint Patrick planted a yew tree there in the 5th century. The Irish name Cathair an Iúir appears on some signs around the city. In 820, the Danes made one of their earliest irruptions at Newry abbey, from whence they proceeded to Armagh, taking it by storm, todd James Henthorn tells us more in his 1867 Volume, where he tells us the abbey was attacked in 824. A small medieval town was in situ to the North and South of the abbey which was refounded in 1142 by King O Carroll of the Oriel on the request of Saint Malachi. The landing stage of the abbey was situated to the North of the college in Killmorey street, from early times it was the main pier. It stayed as such until the construction of the new canal took place, the abbey was later converted to a collegiate church in 1543, before being surrendered to the crown in 1548. The abbey is seen to be giving its earnings to the crown almost 200 years before this date and it is described as being one of the richest and largest in Ireland. The Vikings attacked the Abbey many time, slaughtering its occupants, the town was granted its first charter between 1157 by High King of Ireland Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn. In 1162 the monastery was attacked and burned to some degree, there is no evidence however as to how much of the abbey was burned in this attack stones dont burn so it was not completely destroyed as may be assumed. De Courcys lordship ensured a safe spell for the abbey after he had several castles in and around Newry. In 1539 an English mercenary, Nicholas Bagenal, fled to Ireland after murdering a man in Leek, Staffordshire, after some time in the employment of the O Neill he reached a high status, was granted a pardon in 1543, and became Marshal of the army
4.
County Dublin
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County Dublin is a former county in Ireland. It is conterminous with the Dublin Region and is in the province of Leinster and it is named after the city of Dublin, which is the regional capital and the capital city of Ireland. County Dublin was one of the first parts of Ireland to be shired by John, prior to 1994 County Dublin was also an administrative unit covering the whole county outside of Dublin City Council. In 1994 Dublin County Council was abolished and replaced with three separate administrative county councils, Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin, the total population of the three aforementioned counties and Dublin city was 1,345,402 according to the census of 2016. Since the abolition of the Dublin Regional Assembly by statutory instrument No, 573/2014, the Eurostat statistical region known as Dublin Region falls under the remit of the wider Eastern and Midland Regional Authority. There are four local authorities whose remit collectively encompasses the area of the county and city of Dublin. These are Dublin City Council, South Dublin County Council, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, prior to the enactment of the Local Government Act 1993, the county was a unified whole even though it was administered by two local authorities - Dublin County Council and Dublin Corporation. They rank equally as first level administrative units of the NUTS3 Dublin Region for Eurostat purposes. There are 34 LAU1 entities in the Republic of Ireland, each local authority is responsible for certain local services such as sanitation, planning and development, libraries, the collection of motor taxation, local roads and social housing. Dublin County Council was abolished in 1994 and the area divided among the counties of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Fingal. To these areas may be added the area of Dublin city which collectively comprise the Dublin Region, the area lost its administrative county status in 1994, with Section 9 Part 1 of the Local Government Act,1993 stating that the county shall cease to exist. I am not sure whether Dubliners realise that that is what we are about today, the county is part of the Dublin constituency for the purposes of European elections. Together they return 44 deputies to the Dáil, despite the legal status of the Dublin Region, the term County Dublin is still in common usage. Many organisations and sporting teams continue to organise on a County Dublin or Dublin Region basis, the term Greater Dublin Area, which might consist of some or all of the Dublin Region along with counties of Kildare, Meath and Wicklow, has no legal standing. The Dublin Region is a NUTS Level III region of Ireland, the region is one of eight regions of the Republic of Ireland for the purposes of Eurostat statistics. It is co-extensive with the old county, the regional capital is Dublin City which is also the national capital. The latest Ordnance Survey Ireland Discovery Series 1,50,000 map of the Dublin Region, Sheet 50, shows the boundaries of the city and three surrounding counties of the region. Extremities of the Dublin Region, in the north and south of the region, Local radio stations include 98FM, FM104,103.2 Dublin City FM, Q102, SPIN1038, Sunshine 106.8, TXFM, Raidió Na Life and Radio Nova
5.
Republic of Ireland
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Ireland, also known as the Republic of Ireland, is a sovereign state in north-western Europe occupying about five-sixths of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, which is located on the part of the island. The state shares its land border with Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom. It is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the Celtic Sea to the south, Saint Georges Channel to the south-east, and it is a unitary, parliamentary republic. The head of government is the Taoiseach, who is elected by the Dáil and appointed by the President, the state was created as the Irish Free State in 1922 as a result of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. It was officially declared a republic in 1949, following the Republic of Ireland Act 1948, Ireland became a member of the United Nations in December 1955. It joined the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the European Union, after joining the EEC, Ireland enacted a series of liberal economic policies that resulted in rapid economic growth. The country achieved considerable prosperity between the years of 1995 and 2007, which known as the Celtic Tiger period. This was halted by a financial crisis that began in 2008. However, as the Irish economy was the fastest growing in the EU in 2015, Ireland is again quickly ascending league tables comparing wealth and prosperity internationally. For example, in 2015, Ireland was ranked as the joint sixth most developed country in the world by the United Nations Human Development Index and it also performs well in several national performance metrics, including freedom of the press, economic freedom and civil liberties. Ireland is a member of the European Union and is a member of the Council of Europe. The 1922 state, comprising 26 of the 32 counties of Ireland, was styled, the Constitution of Ireland, adopted in 1937, provides that the name of the State is Éire, or, in the English language, Ireland. Section 2 of the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 states, It is hereby declared that the description of the State shall be the Republic of Ireland. The 1948 Act does not name the state as Republic of Ireland, because to have done so would have put it in conflict with the Constitution. The government of the United Kingdom used the name Eire, and, from 1949, Republic of Ireland, for the state, as well as Ireland, Éire or the Republic of Ireland, the state is also referred to as the Republic, Southern Ireland or the South. In an Irish republican context it is referred to as the Free State or the 26 Counties. From the Act of Union on 1 January 1801, until 6 December 1922, during the Great Famine, from 1845 to 1849, the islands population of over 8 million fell by 30%
6.
Ireland
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Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest on Earth. Politically, Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland, which covers five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, in 2011, the population of Ireland was about 6.4 million, ranking it the second-most populous island in Europe after Great Britain. Just under 4.6 million live in the Republic of Ireland, the islands geography comprises relatively low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain, with several navigable rivers extending inland. The island has lush vegetation, a product of its mild, thick woodlands covered the island until the Middle Ages. As of 2013, the amount of land that is wooded in Ireland is about 11% of the total, there are twenty-six extant mammal species native to Ireland. The Irish climate is moderate and classified as oceanic. As a result, winters are milder than expected for such a northerly area, however, summers are cooler than those in Continental Europe. Rainfall and cloud cover are abundant, the earliest evidence of human presence in Ireland is dated at 10,500 BC. Gaelic Ireland had emerged by the 1st century CE, the island was Christianised from the 5th century onward. Following the Norman invasion in the 12th century, England claimed sovereignty over Ireland, however, English rule did not extend over the whole island until the 16th–17th century Tudor conquest, which led to colonisation by settlers from Britain. In the 1690s, a system of Protestant English rule was designed to materially disadvantage the Catholic majority and Protestant dissenters, with the Acts of Union in 1801, Ireland became a part of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland saw much civil unrest from the late 1960s until the 1990s and this subsided following a political agreement in 1998. In 1973 the Republic of Ireland joined the European Economic Community while the United Kingdom, Irish culture has had a significant influence on other cultures, especially in the fields of literature. Alongside mainstream Western culture, an indigenous culture exists, as expressed through Gaelic games, Irish music. The culture of the island shares many features with that of Great Britain, including the English language, and sports such as association football, rugby, horse racing. The name Ireland derives from Old Irish Eriu and this in turn derives from Proto-Celtic *Iveriu, which is also the source of Latin Hibernia. Iveriu derives from a root meaning fat, prosperous, during the last glacial period, and up until about 9000 years ago, most of Ireland was covered with ice, most of the time
