Over the centuries, Ireland has successfully managed to retain much of her Celtic cultural identity and traditions intact. Despite the Norman 'invasions' from the 12th century, initial conquests turned quickly into settlement as Normans married Irish and adopted the native Irish language and customs. From the early medieval period Ireland was recognised as a great centre of literacy and learning. Ireland has a rich cultural tradition of poetry, music, arts and craftsmanship, much of which dates at least from this period. Irish monks and scholars also journeyed throughout Europe establishing settlements. In addition, Ireland was noted for its advanced legal system, known as the Brehon laws, and for its network of public hostels (the first of its kind).

The last recognised High King of Ireland was Ruaidhri O Conchobhair, who died in 1198. In 1175 he had signed the Treaty of Windsor which gave legal recognition to King Henry II as the sovereign lord of the country of Ireland. The provincial kings of Irish provinces continued to be elected for some centuries after this, however.

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By the 16th century Ireland, with its wealth of illuminated manuscripts, possessed one of the oldest literary traditions in Europe. Despite the fact that the majority of Ireland's population followed the Catholic faith, the first books to be printed in the Irish language were instigated by Protestants. Elizabeth I of England ordered that a Protestant Bible be made available in Irish, and Sean O Ceannaigh translated and published the Protestant Catechism in 1571. The New Testament was translated in 1603, and the Old Testament in 1685. The first book of Catholic doctrine in Irish was An Teagasg Criosdaidhe, which appeared in 1611. The first Irish dictionary, Focloir no Sanasan Nua, was published in 1643.

Ireland suffered a similar fate to Wales under the Tudor monarchy. It was the Tudors who began the process of the English colonisation of Ireland in the mid 16th century, by removing the native Irish from their lands and supplanting them with English (and later Scottish) colonists. This was to continue for a further hundred years, with Cromwell's plans for the colonisation of the country becoming law in 1653. Irish estates were seized and both landowners and tenants were banished to the lands west of the River Shannon - 'to Hell or Connacht' was the choice offered. The persecution of the Irish people was relentless, the educated classes being executed, imprisoned or banished to the West Indies, while others starved.

This ruthless persecution of the Irish, particularly the educated classes, throughout the 17th century inflicted a severe blow on the Irish language and culture. Irish literature managed to survive by staying 'underground' throughout the 18th century. Even during these hard times, literary masterpieces such as Cuirt an Mhean Oiche were being produced.

In the mid 18th century around two-thirds of the population still used Irish as their everyday language. However, by the close of that century, this number had declined to just over half. (2.4 million out of 4.75 million). 800,000 of these were monoglots. By the time the Government undertook the first language census in 1851, the number of Irish speakers had dramatically reduced to just over 1.5 million, or 23.3% of the population. It should be noted that the census was held after the terrible famine that swept Ireland, in which 1.5 million people died of starvation and another million were forced to emigrate.

Some attempts to prevent further decline of the Irish language were instigated in 1795 by a group of Ulster Protestants in Belfast. They began publishing the first Irish language periodical Bolg an tSolthair (Miscellany) "to recommend the Irish language to the notice of Irishmen". The Ulster Gaelic Society was founded soon after this and began producing contemporary works and translations of novels.

In 1831 a national system of education was introduced in Ireland, but this gave no place for the Irish language in schools. Many attempts were made to counteract this. Philip Barron founded an Irish College in Co. Waterford in 1835 to promote study of the language, and campaigned for the teaching of Irish in every school. An Irish language newspaper An Fior-Eireannach (The True Irishman) was launched in Co. Tipperary in 1862. In 1876 the Society for the Preservation of the Irish Language was formed (which was replaced by the Gaelic Union in 1879), and in 1878 Irish was finally recognised as a subject that could be taught in Intermediate Schools. However, as a result of the lack of recognition of the Irish language in the national educational system, Gaeilge suffered further decline, with just 14.4% of the population able to speak it by 1901.

In 1893 Conradh na Gaeilge (The Gaelic League) was formed, which aimed to save the Irish language from destruction in the Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking areas), and also to restore it to areas where it had disappeared. Conradh na Gaeilge took over responsibility for the publication of The Gaelic Journal and also initiated other Irish language periodicals such as Fainne an Lae (Dawn) and An Claidheamh Soluis (The Sword of Light - a name drawn from Irish Celtic mythology). By 1904 the League had 593 active branches.

After allowing the Irish language a limited status as an optional subject in the school curriculum since 1878, a Government Commission on secondary education in 1899 tried to eliminate it. However The Gaelic League, helped by many eminent Celtic scholars of the day, was swift to respond, winning new status for the language. The bilingual education policy for primary schools in Irish-speaking areas was accepted in 1906, and in 1909 the University Commission accepted Irish as a subject that could be taught.

Since its beginning the Irish Republican State has stated that Irish is the first official language of Ireland, and its intention has always been to restore the language in every part of life throughout the country. Article 8 of the Constitution of the Irish Republic states: "The Irish language, as the national language, is the first official language". English is recognised as a second official language. However, Article 8 goes on to state that; "provision may, however, be made by law for the exclusive use of either of the said languages for any one or more official purposes...." This is clearly a 'get-out' clause, it being obvious which language has had the most 'exclusive use' made of it. There has been a lack of official bilingual forms and facilities for Irish medium schools have been poor.

The census figures for this century show some degree of success: in 1946 - 21.2% of the population could speak Irish; in 1971 - 28.3%; in 1981 - 31.6%. However the Irish government is still a long way from achieving its goals. For these figures only show the number of people who are able to speak the language (and following on from the bilingual education policies, we would expect such an increase). What the policies have not created, though, is an Irish-speaking society, or opportunities to use the language in daily life. In fact, the population in Irish-speaking areas is declining, and Irish speakers in Irish speaking areas now form only 1% of the population. There has been a lack of use of Gaeilge in the media (although the all-Gaeilge channel Telefis was finally established in 1997), in public administration and in the workplace. This lack of commitment to the language in every other sphere of public life has led many to feel that learning the language at school was a waste of time for them.

In 1926 anyone working in the civil service was required to pass a test of competence in Gaeilge. Despite this, none of the civil service departments carried out their business through this medium. The test has now been removed.

The modern revival in Irish literature has been helped by a Government sponsored publisher An Gum, which was established in 1926. Many translations of other works into Irish have been made, and there is a growing number of original Irish literary works.

Due to the half-hearted policies of successive Irish governments, much of the work in promoting the language was left to voluntary bodies. In 1943 the Government finally established Comhchaidreamh na Gaeilge, a unifying body to co-ordinate the work of the 16 voluntary organisations in existence. This body was later re-named Comhdhail Naisiunta na Gaeilge.

As for the production of records and film in Irish, a private company called Gael-Linn was set up in 1953, which financed the first feature film in Irish. Gael-Linn still flourishes and has produced records, films and television programmes. In 1962 the Glor na Gael award was started, which offered an award each year to the town which had done the most to promote Gaeilge.

There are six recognised Irish-speaking areas along the west and south coasts of Ireland. They are: Donegal, Mayo, Galway, Kerry, Cork and Waterford. The population of these areas has continued to decline this century with every generation. In a similar experience to that of the Scottish Gaels, the Irish Gaeltacht dwellers increasingly came to view their language as being associated with impoverished rural areas and financial hardship, whereas the language of the towns, of officialdom and of affluence became English.

In 1973 Irish became an official EEC language, although there are no facilities for translation available within the European Parliament. In 1982 the European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages was established (with about 30 million people in Europe speaking them). Ireland became affiliated to the bureau in 1983. The bureau supports the rights of speakers of these languages in education, the media and public administration.

In 1984 the Northern Ireland Office took an important step forward by giving formal recognition to the Irish medium school in Shaw's Road, Belfast, and in 1981 BBC Radio Ulster began broadcasting for the first time Irish language radio programmes.