A History of the Irish Language

In this book, Aidan Doyle traces the history of the Irish language from the time of the Norman invasion at the end of the 12th century to independence in 1922, combining political, cultural, and linguistic history. The book is divided into seven main chapters that focus on a specific period in the history of the language; they each begin with a discussion of the external history and position of the Irish language in the period, before moving on to investigate the important internal changes that took place at that time. A History of the Irish Language makes available for the first time material that has previously been inaccessible to students and scholars who cannot read Irish, and will be a valuable resource not only for undergraduate students of the language, but for all those interested in Irish history and culture.

Aidan Doyle is a lecturer in the Department of Irish at University College Cork. His main research interests include the syntax and morphology of contemporary Irish, and the history of the Irish language. He has contributed to edited volumes published by Mouton de Gruyter, John Benjamins, and Peter Lang, and has published articles in Yearbook of Morphology, Ériu, and Folia Linguistica Historica.

- 1: Introduction - 2: The Anglo-Normans and their heritage (1200-1500) - 3: The Tudors (1500-1600) - 4: The Stuarts (1600-1700) - 5: Two Irelands, two languages (1700-1800) - 6: A new language for a new nation (1800-1870) - 7: Revival (1870-1922) - 8: The modernization of Irish (1870-1922) - 9: Conclusion - Glossary - References - Index