Gaeilge, also known as Irish Gaelic or Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family (Indo-European → Celtic → Insular Celtic → Goidelic → Irish), historically spoken by the Irish people.
Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of the population. Around the turn of the 21st century, estimates of native speakers ranged from 20,000 to 80,000 people. In the 2011 census for the Republic, 94,000 people reported using Irish as a daily language outside of the education system, and 1.3 million reported using it at least occasionally in or out of school. Currently the UNESCO has classified the Irish language as “Definitely Endangered.”
There are also thousands of Irish speakers in Northern Ireland, and a comparable number of fluent speakers in the United States and Canada. Historically the island of Newfoundland had a dialect of Irish Gaelic, called Newfoundland Irish.
Listen to a documentary that explains all disappearing languages in the world. The Irish part starts about 05:40 of the 12+ minutes. Here is the link to the France24 program: http://www.france24.com/fr/20130119-intelligence-economique-disparition-des-langues-les%20degats-de-la-concurrence-irlande-gaelique
If you are interested in learning the Irish language, here in Ottawa, join us for our weekly classes. For more information, check: http://www.ottawacomhaltas.com/events.php
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