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The Irish language is spoken predominantly by people in Ireland, and is one of the most popular languages in Ireland along with English and ISL (Irish Sign Language). Although English tends to be the language most people use day-to-day, there are predominantly Irish-speaking areas in Ireland called Gaeltachts, mostly to the South-West, West and North of the country. The schools in Gaeltacht areas teach through their local dialect of Irish, and you can also find Gaelscoileanna (schools which teach predominantly through Irish) outside the Gaeltachts.

The main dialects are Munster, Connacht and Ulster Irish, which correspond roughly to the Provinces of Ireland. Each has its own pronunciation and vocabulary, but use a common base. The Irish most people learn in school between the ages of 5 and 18 tends to be local to their region – although as teachers come from all parts of Ireland it is possible to find a teacher from Donegal working in Kerry!

There are differences in greetings in particular, which can confuse many a visitor who has learned one of the standard call-response pair of phrases and is presented with a completely different one!

Thanks for dropping by! This all started as a discussion of how confident people feel pronouncing “Worcestershire sauce”, and morphed into a discussion of Irish pronunciation. Which was followed, late at night, by a foolish offer to teach people how Irish names and placenames are pronounced…and so Irish for the Curious was born.