I am from the USA and I want to know, do most people?

Question

in Ireland speak Gaelic or English? Is it very difficult to learn Gaelic? Thank you for your answers.

Well, I've received some interesting answers so far. I believe for the most part English must be the dominant language. I have heard people speak Gaelic and it sounds very beautiful and melodic. I appreciate those of you who answered me intelligently,.. the others I must ignore. ty

Answer 1

only 30% of all people heere in ireland actually claim to speak irish (gaelic) at all, even though it is a compulsory subject all through school. anyway, english is the dominant language by far. there are a few communities, the gaeltacht areas, where irish is the dominant language, but everyone there is bilingual too. they'll speak irish among themselves, but they'll speak english to you. the only thing you have to watch is the street signage, it's monolingually irish in the gaeltacht areas (large parts of connemara, the macroom area in west cork, some parts of northwest donegal, the dingle area in kerry, and some small areas of waterford and meath), so if you're going to drive, buy your maps locally - irish made maps will always have the english and irish names for a place - or you'll have a problem finding your way around. as for learning irish, forget it, you need brain surgery to even figure out the prononciations from the spellings. guess how this is pronounced (it's a girl's name): eadeoin. you won't guess, it's "aideen". the title of the prime minister here is taoiseach, which is pronounced "teeshuck". it's a beautiful, melodious language, especially when sung, but i'd leave the idea of learning it to those with an academic interest.

Answer 2

Almost all people in Ireland can speak English and many do as their first language. However in the 'Gaeltacht' areas mostly on the West Coast (Donegal, Mayo, Galway and Kerry) Gaelic is the first language. Hope this helps, if you are planning to go to Ireland, have a good trip and take an umbrella.

Answer 3

English

Answer 4

Although Gaelic (Known more as irish or gaeilge!) is Irelands first official language, less than a quater of us speak it. it is cumpolsory for all children to learn it in primary and secondary school, but we never become fluent at it. Any one in ireland that can speak full irish, can definitely speak full english too! oh, and its mostly in the west of ireland that it is used. so dont worry, every single irish person can speak english. All signposts, shops etc. are all in english.
not being able to speak gaelic or irish - will definitely not be a problem.
Grace, Co. Cork - age 14

Answer 5

The majority of people in Ireland speak English cause when the English took over the Irish language was banned. We learn Irish in school and we have to take it in our exams but the day to day language is English. Some areas are Irish speaking like certain parts of Galway and Donegal

Answer 6

southern ireland is still trying to uphold the gaelic language, im sure there is still a village that speak gaelic only (im sure my irish friends out there will say if this is true or not) When ive gone across the pond most seem proud to carry on the gaelic but i think its almost a second language to them as english comes first. if you listen to songs in gaelic they sound so haunting and romantic - awesum

Answer 7

In Ireland the vast majority speak english as their main language. Irish is spoken in small areas of Meath,Donegal,Galway,Kerry and Wexford. Gaeilge is not especially difficult to learn, if u have any experience of german it is said that it is something similar. The speech is formulated by stringing words together to represent words in english. E.G hello is Dia Duit.

Hope this was some help

Answer 8

As has been stated ALL Irish speak English. Not being able to speak Irish will never be an issue. However, Irish is technically the official language.

Answer 9

Gaelic. It is now the official language of Ireland. I do know that English is fairly common there as well.

Answer 10

Many of the native languages of the British Isles are in danger of becoming lost. Welsh, a languge on the west coast of Great Britain formerly known as Cornwall and today known as Wales, is so endangered that the primary schools are trying to reawaken the language in the younger people. The problem is that English now dominates all of Great Britain.

Gaelic, the original language of Ireland, is likewise endangered, for it is not spoken in business anywhere in the British Isles on a regular basis. It is a beautiful language, however, and one I would encourage anyone with a knack for learning languages to study. I think you would discover a great many people who would want to help and share the language in order to keep it alive.