Who Are the Irish?
The Irish are a Celtic people native to the island of Ireland, comprising the Republic of Ireland (5 million) and Northern Ireland (1.9 million in the UK). Approximately 70 million people worldwide claim Irish ancestry, making the Irish diaspora one of the largest relative to homeland population. Irish Gaelic (Gaeilge) is the first official language of Ireland, though English dominates daily life. The Irish maintained their language and culture through centuries of English colonization, famine, and emigration. Today, Ireland balances EU membership, economic modernization, and Celtic cultural revival.
The Irish Language
Irish (Gaeilge) is a Celtic language closely related to Scottish Gaelic and Manx. Once spoken across Ireland, it declined under English rule, with the Great Famine (1845-52) accelerating language shift. By independence (1922), native speakers were concentrated in western coastal regions called the Gaeltacht. The Irish state made Irish a required subject in schools and the first national language constitutionally. Despite this official status, daily use remained limited. Recent decades have seen urban Irish-medium schools (Gaelscoileanna) grow, and Irish-language media expand, though the Gaeltacht continues to shrink.
Music and Dance
Traditional Irish music—fiddle, uilleann pipes, bodhrán, and tin whistle—experienced global revival through groups like The Chieftains, Planxty, and contemporary artists. Session (seisiún) culture keeps music social and participatory. Irish dance, particularly since Riverdance (1994), has achieved international popularity, though traditionalists debate commercialization. Set dancing and céilí dancing remain community traditions. Music and dance connect diaspora communities to Ireland; every St. Patrick's Day demonstrates Irish culture's global reach, for better or worse.
The Diaspora
Mass emigration, particularly following the Great Famine, created Irish communities worldwide. The US has the largest (over 30 million claiming Irish ancestry), with significant populations in Britain, Australia, Canada, and Argentina. Diaspora Irish shaped politics (from American urban machines to anti-British revolutionary funding), culture (country music, rock), and Catholicism (building church infrastructure across multiple continents). Modern Ireland maintains diaspora connections while receiving immigration itself—a reversal of historical patterns.
Celtic Christianity and Mythology
Ireland was evangelized in the 5th century by St. Patrick and others, developing a distinctive Celtic Christianity that preserved learning during the early medieval period ("island of saints and scholars"). Monasteries produced illuminated manuscripts including the Book of Kells. Pre-Christian mythology—the Tuatha Dé Danann, Cú Chulainn, the Fianna—survived in literary tradition and continues inspiring artists. Sacred sites like Newgrange predate Egyptian pyramids. This layered heritage—prehistoric, Celtic, Christian—creates rich cultural resources for contemporary Irish identity.
References
- Foster, R. F. (1988). Modern Ireland 1600-1972
- Ó Tuama, S. & Kinsella, T. (1981). An Duanaire 1600-1900: Poems of the Dispossessed
- Kenny, K. (2000). The American Irish: A History