A perfect example is Uíbh Ráthach, in the late 19th century it in fact had more native speakers than Corca Dhuibhne. I have often wondered why Irish didn't survive in Bearra.

Irish in Mayo is now very weak. I was there this summer, spent a week in the Gaeltacht there. There is essentially no Irish in the Belmullet penninsula outside of people in the >70 age range. There are still middle-aged people who speak Irish in Cill Ghallagáin and Ceathrú Thaidhg and I heard some children speak it. It seems to me that these two villages are really all that is left of the Mayo Gaeltacht.

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The dialect I use is Cork Irish.
Ar sgáth a chéile a mhairid na daoine, lag agus láidir, uasal is íseal

I'm afraid the problem is this: people don't care.
Many native speakers don't care about their language, they don't care about their children speaking it, they don't care about the language & culture disappearing. Same here in Brittany.
Here, grandparents know it but don't use it much because they don't care; their children understand it but usually don't speak and don't want to either because they don't care. Their grandchildren don't understand it, don't speak it and they don't care.

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Is fearr Gaeilg na Gaeltaċta ná Gaeilg ar biṫ eile
Agus is í Gaeilg Ġaoṫ Doḃair is binne

I'm not sure that it's a case of not needing the Gaeltacht; I think people fear that they cannot depend on the Gaeltacht definitely surviving. The fact that the language seems to be gaining momentum outside of the Gaeltacht will hopefully lead to a greater, not lesser, appreciation of Gaeltacht speakers. I firmly believe the walls/barriers between speakers inside and outside the Gaeltacht are coming down because such a mixture of speakers are now available on radio and television.

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Yes I was in Ceathrú Thaidhg during the summer, it does seem to be the only fíor-Ghaeltacht left in the whole county!

Theres still Irish left around Blacksod but its hidden.

Gaeilg Mhaigh Eo Abú!


Here is a set of slides on SG:
https://www.academia.edu/Documents/in/S ... ic_Studies

(sign in via FB if it won't load, or ask me to put up a URL)

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__̴ı̴̴̡̡̡ ̡͌l̡̡̡ ̡͌l̡*̡̡ ̴̡ı̴̴̡ ̡̡͡|̲̲̲͡͡͡ ̲▫̲͡ ̲̲̲͡͡π̲̲͡͡ ̲̲͡▫̲̲͡͡ ̲|̡̡̡ ̡ ̴̡ı̴̡̡ ̡͌l̡̡̡̡.___