The indigenous language of the Republic of Ireland.
Gaelic is the oldest of the Goidelic group of Celtic languages. It can be grouped into four periods: Old (circa 800-1000), Early or Early Middle (1200-1500), Middle (1200-1500), and Modern (from 1500).
Gaelic was originally a highly inflected language. Today, it is chiefly spoken in the West and Southwest of the Republic of Ireland, where it is an official language, and to some extent in Northern Ireland.
| Name | Where spoken | Language Family | How many (000s) |
| Irish Gaelic | Ireland (esp. west) | Indo-European (Celtic) | 30-100 |
Table source: The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, David Ctystal, Cambridge University Press
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