Is there a significant difference between Scottish and Irish Gaelic?

Question

I'm from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia... and there are still some people that speak Gaelic in the area... but contrary to what most people seem to think, none of the younger generation does! Anyway, the Gaelic there is mostly Scottish Gaelic and I am just wondering if there is a big difference between the Gaelic from Scotland and the Gaelic from Ireland? Is it so significant that Irish and Scottish Gaels would not be able to understand each other or so insignificant as to be equal to the difference between Canadian English and British English. Thanks for your help!

Answer 1

There are enough differences between them to make mutual understanding very difficult, if not impossible, when they are speaking to one another. The writing systems were developed independently and differ in several respects. The two languages are about as closely related as English and Frisian, since it was about the same time period when the ancestors of the Scots moved from Ireland to Scotland as when the Anglo-Saxons moved to England from northern Germany.

Answer 2

from what i understand, its has the same base but over the years they have changed, and also there are various versions of gaelic depending on your region. there are differences in spellings, way of saying phrases/words,etc. there are also variants depending on regions. so certain regional gaelic is closer to others (ie.Islay and Argyll Gaelic are fairly similar to Irish), but they are mostly arent mutually comprehensible. irish gaelic is referred to as irish, to avoid confusion. i dont speak any form of gaelic so im not sure how much of a help that is.