Cira Crespo
15-03-2026, BERRIA.
Abstract:
In this article, historian Cira Crespo discusses the evolution of the Irish language over the last 100 years. The pioneers of Irish independence (De Valera, O’Ceallaigh, etc.), for example, attached great importance to their own language. De Valera said: ‘If I were forced to choose between the freedom of my homeland without a language, or an Ireland with a language but without freedom, I would choose the latter. For if we preserve our language, sooner or later we will achieve freedom, whereas the loss of our language would spell the end of our identity and of our hope for freedom.’
Nowadays, only 5% of Irish people use their native language on a daily basis.
