When did English become dominant in Ireland?

Question

I know there are two official languages in Ireland - Irish(Gaelige) and English.
However, hardly anyone speaks Irish as their first language and English is by far the predominant language spoken throughout the country.
It seems almost everyone in Ireland speaks only English now.

1. When did English become a predominant language in Ireland?

2. Why has Irish language been dying out? Have English people forced to speak English to Irish people?

Answer 1

1. English became the predominant language in Ireland in the 19th century. From John Wells' *Accents of English*: "It is estimated that at the beginning of the 19th century, half the population spoke Irish; but by 1851 only a quarter did so, and only 5 percent were monoglots with no knowledge of English."

2. It's not. The number of speakers is actually increasing, since Irish is compulsory in schools in the Republic. There are several thousand native speakers in the Gaeltacht regions, and about 40% of Ireland's population claim competence in Irish. As for why English became dominant, just look at the history.

Answer 2

I'm from Ireland but i don't know when the language began being spoken but England ruled something like a fifth of the world so that's why a lot of nations now speak English i never really learned that though in school now that you said it ill look it up online but i think when i was 5 or something my teacher said that in Ireland the English forced you to speak English or something but in Ireland today 90,000 people in Ireland out of a population of something like 4,200,000 are able to speak in Irish to people and everything that number is increasing really fast and in Ireland there are schools which are normal schools and schools where you have to speak Irish so that from the age of 4 when you start school you can speak it perfectly for the rest of your life i go to a normal school but i wish i was sent to an Irish school when i was younger but even in normal schools in Ireland you still learn Irish but you can speak English to the teachers and to your friends when in Irish schools you cant say an single English word not even on break

Answer 3

It became dominant around the time of the famine 1840ish onwards.
Irish people insisted that their children were taught english in the hedge schools as it ensured a job in america if they emigrated, before this the language was very strong.

Your question "Have English people forced to speak English to Irish people?" should be rearranged to have the English forced the irish to speak english in their own country

Answer 4

The fact that our native Irish language has survived at all is a tribute to the resistance of the Irish to domination throughout the centuries. Many attempts were made to kill the language by outlawing it. In 1367 a Statute was passed by the English ordering
"that every Englishman do use the English language, and be named by an English name, leaving off entirely the manner of naming used by the Irish"
"and if any English, or Irish living amongst the English, use the Irish language amongst themselves, contrary to the ordinance, and therof be attainted, his lands and tenements, if he have any, shall be seized into the hands of his immediate lord"

This began the anglicization of many Irish words and names, the word "Gaelic" itself is an example. The name of our language in Irish is "Gaeilge"

The language and traditions still survived, so from 1691 English laws were passed in Ireland to further subdue the Irish and the Irish way of life, they became known as The Penal Laws. In 1695 an act stated
"Whereas it has been found by experience that tolerating at papists keeping schools or instructing youth in literature is one great reason of many of the natives continuing ignorant of the principles of the true religion, and strangers to the scriptures, and of their neglecting to conform themselves to the laws of this realm, and of their not using the English habit and language".
So the Irish were forbidden to keep or teach in schools unless they adopted the English religion and language.

The Irish continued to teach the language and literature in hidden places known as 'Hedge Schools' as they were often held in fields under the cover of hedges. In 1835 the number of Irish language speakers, mainly in rural areas, was estimated at 4 million. Then came the potatoe blight, the Great Famine, which decreased the population by death and emmigration so that "By 1891, the number of Irish speakers had been reduced to 680,000 and, according to that year's census of population, Irish speakers under the age of ten represented no more than 3.5% of their age-group."

"When the position began to stabilize early in the twentieth century, Irish remained as a community language only in small discontinuous regions, mainly around the western seaboard, collectively called the Gaeltacht."

Answer 5

When the English invaded Ireland. No one speaks Irish because whats the point, it is an extremely complicated language, I was forced to learn it in school for 13 years.