More than one million people are actively learning Irish

More than one million people are actively learning Irish on Duolingo according to data from the language app.

A recent report (June 2021) listed Irish as the 16th most popular language to learn on the app, with 1.10 million users actively learning the language.

In December 2020, according to Duolingo Irish was the fastest growing language and the number one language to learn in Ireland.

Noah Higgs, an Irish language teacher who has contributed to the Irish section of Duolingo, told RTÉ Radio One's Morning Ireland that Irish has become so popular on the app thanks to the Irish diaspora around the world who want to learn about the tradition and the language of their ancestral homeland.

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An Claíomh Solais means "The Sword of Light", and is named after an Irish newspaper originally published around the beginning of the twentieth century. This project is opening a window to that time, not so long ago, and sharing the hopes, dreams and visions of the men and women who founded the modern Irish Republic.

The project will follow in their footsteps along the path laid down by Hyde, O'Conaire, MacNeill, Cusack and many others through sharing news, ideas, articles of Irish cultural interest and more, as well as helping to support Irish language and cultural initiatives. You can find out more about An Claíomh Solais by clicking on the buttons below, or join our team as we begin the great Gaelic restoration!

Mionn

I n-ainm Dé,
Dar Críost a Aon-Ṁac,
Dar Muire a Ċaoṁ-Ṁáṫair,
Dar Pádraic Apstal Gaeḋeal,
Dar dílseaċt Ċuilm Ċille,
Dar clú ar gciniḋ,
Dar crú ar sinnsear,
Dar dúnṁarḃaḋ Aoḋa Ruaiḋ,
Dar bás truaiġṁéileaċ Aoḋa Uí Néill,
Dar oiḋeaḋ Eoġan Ruaiḋ,
Dar mian an tSáirséalaiġ le huċt a ḃáis,
Dar osna éagcoṁlainn an Ġearaltaiġ,
Dar créaċtaiḃ cróil
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Collapse of the Terror

British Rule's Last Stages

What the Elections Meant

We have seen how in ancient Ireland the people were themselves the guardians of their land, doing all for themselves according to their own laws and customs, as interpreted by the Brehons, which gave them security, prosperity, and national greatness, and how this was upset by the English determination to blot out Irish ways, when came poverty, demoralisation and a false respect for English standards and habits.

The English power to do this rested on military occupation and on econ
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The Parting of Goll From His Wife

When they are shut up by Fionn on a sea-girt rock, without chance of escape.

A Dialogue

(Goll speaks)
The end is come; upon this narrow rock
To-morrow I must die;
Wife of the ruddy cheeks and hair of flame,
Leave me to-night and fly.
Seek out the camp of Fionn and of his men
Upon the westward side;
Take there, in time to come, another mate.
Here I abide.

(Goll's wife replies)
Which way, O Goll, is my way, and thou perished?
Alas! few friends have I!
Small praise that woman
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The Great Lamentation of Deirdre for the Sons of Usna

"As to Deirdre, she was a year in the household of Conchobar, after the death of the Sons of Usna. And though it might be a little thing to raise her head or to bring a smile over her lip, never once did she do it through all that space of time.... She took not sufficiency of food or sleep, nor lifted her head from her knee. When people of amusement were sent to her, she would break out into lamentation:—

Splendid in your eyes may be the impetuous champions
Who resort to Emain after a foray;
More brilliant yet was the return
Of Usna's h
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Coolock and the Union Jack

In recent days there's been an uproar over the appearance of the Irish tricolour, symbol and standard of the Republic, waving alongside the Union Jack during protest marches in Belfast. Outrage has been expressed in the halls of power from Dáíl Éireann to Stormount to Westminster. And in fairness it is quite a picture – not something you'd see every day.

But what do we really see when we look at this picture? Should we take it at face value or should we have a conversation about the cause and context of this undoubtedly historical event? Not a hi
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The Irish Flag

The Council of the Irish Citizen Army has resolved, after grave and earnest deliberation, to hoist the green flag of Ireland over Liberty Hall, as over a fortress held for Ireland by the arms of Irishmen. This is a momentous decision in the most serious crisis Ireland has witnessed in our day and generation. It will, we are sure, send a thrill through the hearts of every true Irish man and woman, and send the red blood coursing fiercely along the veins of every lover of the race.

It means that in the midst of and despite the treasons and backslidings of leaders and guides, in the
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