A Global History of the Irish Language in the Nineteenth Century

Nicholas Wolf, New York University

The Distribution of Irish-Born Native Speakers of Irish Worldwide, ca. 1900-1910*

100,000

300,000

500,000

700,000

900,000

Ireland (60%)

United States (25%)

Other (15%)

Garret FitzGerald (1983)

Revival Organizations: SPIL, Gaelic Union, Gaelic League

Bean Uí Chobhthaigh, National Folklore Schools Collection, Vol. 633 (1937)

"Bhí scoile scairte i gCuibhreann ag Dick Madigan, Cíarraidheach, go dtí 58 blíana ó shoin. Fear bacac crosta ab eadh é agus bhíodh an scoil ar siúbhal 'na thigh féin. Bhí an ghaedhilg go líomhtha aige agus núair bhíodh sé ar buile, labharadh sé í ag cáineadh na scoláirí acht dá gcloiseadh sé focal gaedhilge dá labhairt ag na scolairí do thabharfadh sé léasadh dóibh."

"Dick Madigan, a Kerryman, had a hedge school in Querrin up until 58 years ago. He was a despicable, difficult man, and the school was held in his own house. He had fluent Irish, and when he was angry he would speak it when admonishing the students but if he heard a word of Irish spoken by the students he would give them a flogging."

Difference between % of Full Population under 20 and

% of Irish-Speaking Population under 20, 1851-91

Province	1851	1871	1891
Munster	.14	.26	.31
Ulster	.14	.15	.16
Connacht	.10	.20	.25
Leinster	.36	.38	.36

Province	1851	1871	1891
Munster	.14	.26 (-.12)	.31
Ulster	.14	.15	.16
Connacht	.10	.20 (-.10)	.25
Leinster	.36	.38	.36

Difference between % of Full Population under 20 and

% of Irish-Speaking Population under 20, 1851-91

In sum...

Munster was missing 100,000 Irish-speaking youths under age 20 in 1871 it needed to sustain the proportion of young Irish speakers it had in 1851 (on a all-language population under 20 of 640,000)
Connacht was missing 60,000 in 1871 to match its 1851 proportion (out of 410,000)
Ulster was missing 6,000 (out of 832,000; 0.72%)

Total Number of Irish-Mother-Tongue Claimants Per State, 1910

Top Two States, Percentage of Overall Irish-Born Claiming Irish by Decade of Immigration

Decade	State 1	State 2
1830-39	New York (33.4%)	Illinois (22.1%)
1840-49	New York (13.5%)	Pennsylvania (13.5%)
1850-59	New York (15.7%)	Pennsylvania (11.9%)
1860-69	New York (16.8%)	Massachusetts (11.7%)
1870-79	New York (15.4%)	Pennsylvania (15.1%)
1880-89	New York (18.7%)	Massachusetts (15.9%)
1890-99	Massachusetts (21.4%)	New York (17.4%)
1900-10	New York (21.4%)	Pennsylvania (15.5%)