Introduction

Until the thirteenth century speakers of Irish, together with the related languages Scottish Gaelic and Manx, formed a single speech community. Thereafter, socio-political developments fragmented the larger community and substantial morphological and phonological differences developed. These historical connections notwithstanding, in this chapter the primary focus concerns the Irish language, its history and current situation on the island of Ireland.

Linguistic history

Most scholars divide the historical development of Irish into four periods on the basis of socio-historical and/or linguistic evidence. These periods are, by convention, referred to as Old Irish, Middle Irish, Early Modern and Modern Irish.

Old Irish (500–900)

Irish appears to have been spoken in Ireland from at least the early centuries of the Christian era. While it is clear that the language was first brought to Ireland by Celtic groups migrating from continental Europe, a precise date for its introduction into the island has not been established.

The earliest written evidence of the language spoken in Ireland dates from the fifth and sixth centuries, when a form of writing known as Ogham was developed. This was based on the Latin alphabet and was written along the edges of stone monuments as a series of coded notches cut into the stone. The earliest written sources with continuous texts in Irish – glosses and commentaries on biblical texts – date from the seventh century. Later sources include a large number of lyric poems and epic tales.