An Irish tale: Unesco declared it ‘endangered’ 24 years ago, now 40% of Ireland speaks the language

When Ireland was under the British rule, the administration passed the Justice (Language) Act (Ireland) 1737. According to it, all proceedings in the country's court were supposed to be in the English language. It was made a criminal offence to use any language other than English in the court. The ban continued until 2025, when the administration finally decided to withdraw the law.

However, the psychological impacts of the bill were severe. English, considered to be the language of elites, became more prominent than it. People were using it as their daily language. This led the Unesco to declare Irish as a 'definitely endangered' language.

However, a silent revolution led by 'Irish enthusiasts', and backed by state policies gradually brought about a behavioural change. A report by TheEconomist says that now in 2026, roughly 40 per cent of the Ireland's population now speaks Irish, which is an increase of 18 per cent compared to a century ago.

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Revival of Irish

The state administration has launched polices to make Irish as a mainstream language. The government increased public-sector Irish-speaking recruitment quota and brought a 400 per cent increase in Irish-language school enrolment.

The government released a 20-year strategy for the Irish language in 2010 along with its action plan for the Irish launched in 2018.

However, more than the state policies, it is the determination of Irish lovers that has laid the foundation for the language's revival.

Millennials and Generation Z are increasingly using Irish in rap music, podcasts, and other such areas. Irish-language influencers, and celebrities have made the language back in the trend. It has become one of the fastest-growing languages on learning app Duolingo, as per a report by The Sydney Morning Herald.

Ireland is not alone in this movement of language revivalism. Wales' Welsh has also grown from 5,00,000 to over 8,00,000 speakers since 1981, while Hebrew's transformation from a purely ritual tongue to a living national language in the 19th and 20th centuries remains the most significant language revival in modern history.

Meanwhile, Unesco still maintains its endangered category tag for Irish. Analysts warn that this Irish revival can be a shot term phenomena if not sustained wisely. The UN agency says that its endangered tag is not just decided by the number of speakers worldwide, but the risk factor to a language is determined by its ‘intergenerational transmission’ - whether older generations pass on the language to younger generations.

The Irish case suggests that language survival requires both institutional support as well as organic cultural energy, and the two can, under the right conditions, reinforce each other.