ABSTRACT
The Galltacht will be treated here in two divisions, beginning with the non-Gaeltacht parts of the Republic of Ireland, in which efforts to revive or restore the language have been great, and in which hopes are sometimes expressed that Irish-speaking communities or at least family networks may eventually emerge. There has been no state support for Irish in Northern Ireland, except for the continuation of pre-1922 British policies in the schools and a few additional permissive developments, and the fact that revival efforts have therefore been left very largely to the voluntary sector makes a useful contrast to the results of ‘compulsory Irish’ policies in the South, so merits separate attention.
