ABSTRACT
Local enquiries in 1956-7 revealed a complex linguistic situation in most of Iorras/Erris, the old barony that covers most of the contested territory. Most adults could speak Irish but although a big proportion of children understood Irish on first arrival at school the percentage who spoke it fluently in keeping with their age was very low. One observer could therefore truly gather that everyone in Iorras spoke Irish where another could conclude that little Irish was used.
