History of Gaelic in Ireland

This Celtic language came to Ireland before 300BC. The first evidences are written names in commemorative stones known as Ogham.

     In the 5^th Century, when Christianity established In Ireland, the monks who wrote in roman lettering, started writing little poems and other things in Irish in the margins of manuscripts.  Christian Latin brought many terms to the Irish language, especially those related to literacy and religion.

     During the Early Christian Period, many Irish tribes established in Scotland and introduced their language and culture. As these Irish tribes gained more military, economic and political power the language became pervasive.

     In the 9^th Century, the Irish language became even more powerful spreading across whole Scotland and northern Britain. The arrival of the Vikings and their settlements introduced many maritime and commercial words to the Irish language, but these Vikings were defeated in the Battle of Contarf (1014) and the Irish-speaking world of Ireland and Scotland seemed to be at the height of their economic and cultural power.

     In the 12^th Century the Anglo-Norman conquest of Ireland brought new cultural and linguistic influences. These settlers who spoke Norman-French or English had a very good relation with the natives, this led to many new words coming into Irish, as well as changes in pronunciation and accent in some areas.

     From this period on, English was mainly spoken in the area around Dublin, and the Irish culture and society thrived and blossomed until the coming of the Tudors.