Do Irish people speak Irish, or is it called something else?

Question

anyone know where i can find a translator?

Cause im have a HUGE Irish background and i wanted to maybe learn how to speak it, so i need a little shove in the right direction! WHOO

Answer 1

yes we do, we learn it in school, and after god knows how many years of the Irish education system I think I speak better French then Irish, which is a shame.

'Irish' in Irish is Gaelic. Its spoken in western areas of Ireland, but the first language is English.
However, there was a recent successful petition to have Irish recognised as an official language in the EU, yippee

Answer 2

Well I've learnt Irish through I feel a much better system than my parents who would know a few words but can't even manage the pronunciation etc. The thing is I know a lot of Irish but the only place I've ever spoken it is in a classroom, I know people always go on about how we're losing our language but I think we're slowly starting to regain it. Supermarkets have their signs in Irish and stuff and it now seems to have a life after school. I would also point out that Gaelscoils are becoming more and more popular which may in a few years lead to a larger number of people speaking Irish on a daily basis. If we had all learnt it at home it would have given it a purpose but maybe that will happen at some point in the future.

Answer 3

Irish (Gaeilge) is a Celtic language of the Goidelic branch spoken in Ireland. Although once spoken across the whole of the island, it is presently a minority language. It is constitutionally upheld as the national and first official language of the Republic of Ireland and is an official language of the European Union.

The Goidelic languages (also sometimes called the Gaelic languages or collectively Gaelic) have historically been part of a dialect continuum stretching from the south of Ireland, the Isle of Man, to the north of Scotland. They are one of two major divisions of modern-day Insular Celtic languages (the other being the Brythonic languages). Goidelic is generally divided into: Irish (Gaeilge), Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig), and Manx (Gaelg).

Today, Celtic languages are limited to a few areas in the Great Britain, the Isle of Man, Ireland, eastern Canada, Patagonia, scattered groups in the United States and Australia, and on the peninsula of Brittany in France.

Answer 4

It's Gaeilge and it is called Irish in English.

Answer 5

Go here for a translator:
http://www.irishgaelictranslator.com/translation

This answer refers to natives of the Irish island and therefore does not include recent immigrant

The main three languages:

Irish Gaelic (Gaelige),
Hiberno-English*
and Ulster-Scots (Ulstèr-Scotch/ Scotch).

* A dialect of modern English.

Some samples of the three languages:

Tha ettlins o tha Boord fur this thrie yeir cumin wull maistlie tak on fower sinnèrie ploys
http://www.ulsterscotsagency.com/

Fógair na cúrsaí atá ar siúl agat, cuir do chuid sonraí inár nEolaire, i bhfógraí rangaithe NASC agus inár gClár Imeachtaí
http://www.gaeilge.ie/

We won the game, so we did. / The book, I have it with me./ Would ya look at yer one — she's after losing five stone in five weeks.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiberno-English

Everyone (the vast vast majority of people) over the school-going age of 5 speak English fluently or near-fluently. They have to, otherwise they would not get ahead in the country.

From Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_language

Of the Republic of Ireland's 4,057,646 residents who are aged three and over, 1,656,790 people (40.9%) regard themselves as competent in Irish. However, the number of people speaking Irish reflects the fact that Irish is a compulsory subject in education. Outside the educational system, 1,203,583 (29.7% of the population aged three years and over) regard themselves as competent Irish speakers. Of these 85,076 (7.1%) speak Irish on a daily basis, 97,089 (8.1%) weekly, 581,574 (48.3%) less often, 412,846 (34.3%) never, and 26,998 (2.2%) didn't state how often. The number of people in the Gaeltacht regions of Ireland is 89,260, as of the 2006 census. Of these, 71.4% aged three and over speak Irish and approximately 60% speak Irish on a daily basis.

The 2001 census in Northern Ireland showed that 167,487 (10.4%) people 'had some knowledge of Irish'. Combined, this means that around one in three people (~1.8 million) on the island of Ireland can understand Irish to some extent.

From Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulster_Scots_language

The 1999 Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey found that 2% of Northern Ireland residents claimed to speak Ulster Scots, which would mean a total speech community of approximately 30,000 in the territory, which does not include County Donegal. Some advocates have claimed that Ulster Scots is spoken by up to 100,000 people.

Answer 6

Tá Gaeilge agam.
It's called Irish by the English speakers, but "Gaeilge" in Irish.

There is a good free course on the web:

http://www.erinsweb.com/gaelic1.html, it has a very good pronunciation guide for English speakers

and a dictionary with link to a forum of speakers who will help you with difficult bits:
http://www.englishirishdictionary.com/

Ádh mór ort! (=good luck to you)

Answer 7

It's English with a heavy Irish brogue.

Answer 8

Gaelic.
(but most speak English)

Answer 9

Irish people speak Brody, or however its spelt lol.

Answer 10

i have no clue