Do Irish people speak Irish between theirselves?

Question

Because, one day I want to live in Ireland, with only my knowledge of English. Is that possible?

Answer 1

hi you

normally Irish is spoken in all parts of Ireland so you should have no problem with just having English

Answer 2

No, unless you're from a Gaeltacht area (Irish speaking), we don't speak Irish among ourselves, most of us speak English from birth and badly taught, compulsory Irish at schools ensures that whatever wish to learn or love it is extinguished.  

English is spoken in Ireland partially because of the conquest & the Plantations but also because it was viewed as the language of progress & commerce, if you were immigrating, you learned to speak English, if you wanted to do business, you learned English.  Standardised education in the nineteenth century also played its part & the Famine which destroyed areas where Irish speaking was most prevalent and again, because so many immigrating also needed to speak English in order to get ahead in the countries they went to.  The people who have been most successful in destroying the Irish language are the Irish themselves.

Answer 3

Michael K you are crying about it. Get over it or leave. Very few speak Irish because it isn't taught well and it is of no use in the international community.

Answer 4

No.Unfortunately most Irish people can only speak a foreign language.English.Irish-speakers are a minority.It's because our much bigger neighbour,England,invaded us centuries ago,& forbade us speaking our own language.How-ever,that's all history now,so there is no point in crying about it I'm sure you will have a great time when you visit us.

Answer 5

People who can speak Irish would but other from that we speak English.  The odd time we might throw in an Irish word but you will be fine....!

Answer 6

Hey okay iam irish living in Ireland.

English is the spoken language in ireland from when it was taken over by the english.

There are a few areas that speak irish knowen as gaelthatchts theese are mainly in the west.

Very few people can speak irish fluently so u really have nothing to worry about also its easy to learn a few words or cupla focal!!! lol

Answer 7

Of course it is possible. Irish is spoken on a daily basis in the Gaeltacht areas, and some families outside of these use it as their lingua franca, but generally the language is Hiberno-English. That said, every region has a distinctive accent.

Answer 8

Hey, english is spoken all the time in ireland except for a few places in the west. You will notice that signs on the road are in english and irish. No need to worry if you cant speak irish because you are among a large majority of native irish people that cant either.

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Answer 9

Well most people in Ireland speak english. There are some that can speak Irish as well. I am one of those as well as my Sister... Sometimes we would speak Irish to each other.. Also if we meet people we know that speak irish we would speak it... Very rarely tho..

Answer 10

no the language is obselete.

less than 1% of the population who live in the gaeltacht (Irish speaking area) use it in everyday conversation but the other 99% learn it in school and then forget about it

personally i think it is a huge waste of money. the government spends millions of € each year translating documents into Irish even though 99% of the population cant understand a word of it.

you will be fine - no one will even notice that you cant speak Irish and aswell as that - no one will care

Answer 11

I pretty sure they do just like any other culture

Answer 12

Most people in Ireland do not even know Irish.

English is the primary language used. You will be fine.

Answer 13

No we don't. But, Most of us know Irish. We speak English and We learn Irish at school. But, There are places in Ireland called Gaeilteacts  and There's no English in Them place's.

Answer 14

Every Irish speaks English albeit with subtle differences in pronunciation and term usage. If you speak native English all roads will be open before you...

Some people also know Irish (Gaelic). The zones in which Irish is predominant are known as Gaeltacht and are rapidly disappearing in spite of government 'protectionism'.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaeltacht