Around 1800, Irish was still spoken at home by a very large number of people across much of this island, especially in the west and south. Within one lifetime, it had declined sharply in many places.
That is a huge change in a short time. What could make a language slip away that fast?
We will open places on the map together. When it is your turn you may tap; everyone else watch for the Irish bit inside the name and be ready to say what you noticed.
Even where daily Irish speaking faded, the names on the map often stayed. Notice what the land still remembers.
Now listen. Some clips have millions of speakers. Some have far fewer. You cannot tell by the sound alone.
After each clip, show a thumbs-up when you think you know the language, or point to the flag or name your teacher shows. Then we reveal together.
Irish is still spoken every day in Gaeltacht areas and by families and schools across the island. You may hear it as a living voice, not only a name on a map.
Open your copy. Write one thing you would want kept from a language you know: English, Irish, or another language at home.
It might be a song, a joke, a prayer, a family saying, or the sound of a voice you love. Write it in your own words. There is no single right answer.
Sentence starter on the board: I would want to keep…
Around two hundred years ago, Irish was still spoken at home by a very large number of people across much of this island. The names on the map often survived when everyday speaking faded in many places.
We will take one question at a time:
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