Irish survives its harsh history

Although commonly referred to as Gaelic, to native speakers the language is simply Irish, said Thomas Ihde, associate professor of Irish at Lehman College in the Bronx. Irish is actually one of three Gaelic languages, he said, the others being Scottish Gaelic and Manx.

For generations, the British clamped down on Irish culture, including use of the language, Ihde said. The Irish-speaking areas of the country that remained were among the poorest, and the Irish Potato Famine in 1845 hit them the hardest. Millions died or fled for America, he said.

"It was the final blow to the Irish language, it disappeared," said Raymond Clarke, 81, of Northport, a founder of the Gerry Tobin Irish Language School in Babylon. "It's like finding a part of Italy where there's no Italian spoken." The language was so poorly regarded that before Ireland officially shed British rule in 1949, children in school who were caught speaking Irish were often beaten, Ihde said.

Today, about 5 percent of Ireland's population use Irish as their main language. Most live in the western part of the country, in communities called Gaeltacht, where Irish is spoken almost exclusively, Ihde said.