Did you know?

The Irish language is recognised in the Constitution of the Republic of Ireland as the national and first official language of the country. And, since the 1st of January 2007, Irish has been an official language of the European Union.

The Irish-speaking areas, the Gaeltachtaí (singular: Gaeltacht), are mainly located on the western seaboard: in Donegal, Mayo, Galway, Cork and Kerry. There are also small Gaeltachtaí in County Waterford (An Rinn) and in County Meath (Ráth Chairn). There are thought to be between 70,000 and 80,000 native speakers of Irish, although many more people, particularly in Dublin and Belfast, use the language on a daily basis.