| Newfoundland Irish | ||
|---|---|---|
| Gaeilinn Talamh an Éisc | ||
| Spoken in | Canada | |
| Region | Newfoundland, mostly on Avalon Peninsula | |
| Total speakers | possibly none; moribund or extinct | |
| Language family | Indo-European | |
| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639-1 | ga | |
| ISO 639-2 | gle | |
| ISO 639-3 | gle | |
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Newfoundland Irish (Irish: Gaeilge Thalamh an Éisc) is a dialect of the Irish language specific to the island of Newfoundland and widely spoken until the mid-20th century[citation needed] . It is very similar to the language heard in the southeast of Ireland centuries ago, due to mass immigration from the counties Waterford, Wexford, Kilkenny, Tipperary, and Cork.
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Irish settlement of Newfoundland
Seven English colonies were established by royal charter in Newfoundland between 1610 and 1628, and London-based mercantile companies used Celtic-speaking peasants to settle each one. The colonists were primarily Welsh peasants but there were also many Irish peasants who usually only spoke Irish. The language was commonly spoken in rural areas until the mid-20th century. There is evidence to suggest that as many as 90% of the Irish immigrants to Newfoundland in the 17th and 18th centuries only spoke Irish.[citation needed]
Court records show that defendants often required Irish-speaking interpreters, which indicates that the dominant language in many areas of the Avalon Peninsula was Irish rather than English. Ecclesiastical documents bolster this case; for example, in the mid-1760s a Methodist missionary named Reverend Laurence Coughlan converted virtually the whole North Shore[which?] to Methodism. Observers credited the success of his evangelical revival at Carbonear and Harbour Grace to the fact that he was fluently bilingual in English and Irish. The Roman Catholic bishops also realized the importance of Irish-speaking priests - in letters to Dublin, Bishop James Louis O'Donel requested a Franciscan missionary for the parishes of St. Mary's and Trepassey, indicating that it was absolutely necessary that he should speak Irish[citation needed].
Current status
A 2001 census report indicated that ten people in Newfoundland had a Gaelic language as their mother tongue [1]PDF (8.25 KiB). However, the report does not specify which languages are included in this figure. Scholars at Memorial University of Newfoundland concluded that Newfoundland Irish became extinct during the 20th century [2].
Linguistic influences
Newfoundland is the only place outside Europe with its own distinctive name in the Irish language, Talamh an Éisc, literally "Land of the Fish [singular]" but meaning "the Fishing Ground".[citation needed]
See also
External links
- Newfoundland: The Most Irish Place Outside of Ireland
- Dictionary of Newfoundland English Online
- Statistics Canada 2001 Census InformationPDF (15.3 KiB)
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