New speakers of Irish and identities

Abstract

This chapter examines the links between the Irish language and identity in the discourses of new speakers. Despite the strong historical association of Irish with national ethnocultural identity, the chapter identifies a wider range of identity constellations to which new speakers adhere. These include linguistic identities based primarily on Irish or English, or standard language versus dialect. Some participants articulate ambiguous, mixed or qualified linguistic identities. The chapter concludes with an analysis of the intersection between linguistic and sexual identities.