Irish (), sometimes referred to as Irish Gaelic or just Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European languages family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is spoken as a first language by a small minority of Irish people, and as a second language by a rather larger group. Irish enjoys constitutional status as the national and first official language of the Republic of Ireland, and is an officially recognised minority language in Northern Ireland. It is also an official language of the European Union. The public body Foras na Gaeilge is responsible for the promotion of the language throughout the island of Ireland. Irish was the predominant language of the Irish people for most of their recorded history, and they brought it with them to other countries, notably Scotland and the Isle of Man, where it gave rise to Scottish Gaelic and Manx respectively. It has the oldest vernacular literature in Western Europe. The fate of the language was influenced by the increasing 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. Its decline began under English rule in the seventeenth century. In the latter part of the nineteenth century there was a dramatic decrease in the number of speakers, beginning after the Great Famine of 1845–52 (when Ireland lost 20–25% of its population either to emigration or death). 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. This is now the case even in areas officially designated as the Gaeltacht. 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 2006 census for the Republic, 85,000 people reported using Irish as a daily language outside of the education system, and 1.2 million reported using it at least occasionally in or out of school. In the 2011 Census, these numbers had increased to 94,000 and 1.3 million, respectively. 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 Ireland’s population. In recent decades there has been a significant increase in the number of urban Irish speakers, particularly in Dublin. This community, described as disparate but large, well-educated and mostly middle-class, enjoys a lively cultural life, and has been linked to the growth of non-mainstream schools which teach through the medium of Irish. There are also many Irish speakers abroad, particularly in the United States and Canada. Irish was spoken until the early twentieth century on the island of Newfoundland, in a form known as Newfoundland Irish.
