In 1841 nearly a third of a million people (330,000) lived in Tyrone and 60% of them spoke Irish. Then came the Famine and with it the destruction of our communities. By 1861 Irish speakers accounted for just 5% of our population (which had in any case fallen by nearly 100,000). But by 2011, a century-and-a-half later, 16% of our Tyrone population had a knowledge of Irish.
If we pro rata those numbers to Kildress, in 1841 we had well over 4,500 Irish speakers here. And now we should have 350 people with a knowledge of the Language.
Why are we talking about this?
Because over the weekend you gifted £730 plus €11 to our Annual Irish Language Collection. ALL of that money will be used to support the development of the Language here and generosity like that is part of the reason why Irish is rising again. Thank you for it.
‘Ná lagadh Dia do lámh – May God never weaken your hand’.
