Gaeltarra Éireann () was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

state industrial development agency set up in 1957 specifically for the

Gaeltacht ( , , ) are the districts of Ireland, individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home. The ''Gaeltacht'' districts were first officially reco ...

– the

-speaking areas of Ireland. Gaeltarra Éireann followed on from the dedicated government department that had been initiated to coordinate Gaeltacht affairs when the new boundaries were drawn up for the reduced size Gaeltacht in 1956.An Coimisinéir Teanga, ''Protecting language rights''
(retrieved 11 October 2006) Gaeltarra Éireann was replaced in 1980 by the newly formed agency

Údarás na Gaeltachta Údarás na Gaeltachta (; meaning "Gaeltacht Authority"), abbreviated UnaG, is a regional state agency which is responsible for the economic, social and cultural development of Irish-speaking (Gaeltacht) regions of Ireland. Its stated purpose is ...

History

Gaeltarra's approach to the task at hand was centered on the belief that there had to be some sort of an urban focus in the Gaeltacht, something that would attract inward industrial investment and keep young people in the area. It created two major industrial estates, one at

Derrybeg Doirí Beaga (anglicised as Derrybeg, meaning 'small oak trees'), is a Gaeltacht village and townland in the parish of Gweedore (''Gaoth Dobhair'') in County Donegal, Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in t ...

in northwestern County Donegal, and another around

Spiddal Spiddal ( ga, An Spidéal , meaning 'the hospital') is a village on the shore of Galway Bay in County Galway, Ireland. It is west of Galway city, on the R336 road. It is on the eastern side of the county's Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking area) an ...

in southwestern County Galway. Initially, this was controversial, as

Crolly ''Croithlí'' or ''Croichshlí'' (anglicised as Crolly) is a village in the ''Gaeltacht'' parishes of Gweedore (''Gaoth Dobhair'') and The Rosses (''Na Rossan'') in the west of County Donegal, Ireland. The two parishes are separated by the Crolly ...

, County Donegal and Toormakeady, County Mayo already had successful industries, and were established economic bases. Gaeltarra Éireann stated that it picked these two locations as they were, according to the census, the strongest districts linguistically (in terms of Irish), and they sought to "raise the flag" as it were and possibly encourage other people in slightly weaker Gaeltacht areas to continue to speak the language. In terms of creating jobs these schemes were relatively successful. They attracted business into small rural communities on the western fringes of Europe, in areas that had previously been suffering from a long-term economic decline and depopulation. However, it is now viewed that despite all this Gaeltarra Éireann failed in perhaps its most fundamental objective - to safeguard the use of the Irish language as the main community language in the Gaeltacht.

References

Culture of Ireland Gaelic culture Irish language organisations Economy of the Republic of Ireland Defunct government agencies of Ireland {{ling-org-stub