Irish language

Irish (Gaeilge) is a Celtic language, which is mostly spoken in Ireland. Originally, it was spoken by nearly all Irish as first language, but today it is mostly spoken as second language. Nowadays, most Irish use English, while learning Irish at school.

Irish is daily spoken by 73,803 people in Ireland and by 4,166 in Northern Ireland. Irish isn't an official language in Northern Ireland, but it's a recognised minority language. The European Union thinks 141,000 people speak Irish as first language and 1,761,420 as second language. Irish is one of the official languages in the European Union.

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