Old Irish

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The western Britain in a satellite photograph by the European Space Agency.

Old Irish was the Goidelic language in the Middle Ages. People spoke Old Irish in Ireland, before the year 1000 AD.[1] Old Irish was a Goidelic language, and modern Goidelic languages like Irish and Scots Gaelic came from it.[1]

People speaking Insular Celtic languages probably first came to Ireland at the start of the Iron Age, about 500 BC.[2] By around 500 AD, people in Ireland all had the same Goidelic language and culture.[2] Speakers of Old Irish began to move to Britain as Britain became weaker.[2] Other peoples of Britain named these people the Scot.[2]

Old Irish was the only language in the Goidelic languages until Old Irish split into the modern Goidelic languages of Irish, Scots Gaelic, and Manx.[2] These languages are Insular Celtic languages and part of the bigger group of Celtic languages.[2]

References[change | change source]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2015) [2010]. "Old Irish". Oxford Dictionary of English (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780199571123.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-172766-5. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Welch, Robert (2003) [2000]. The Concise Oxford Companion to Irish Literature (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780192800800.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-280080-0.