History and Diffusion of Irish English

The English language has been attested in Ireland since the late twelfth century but did not become widespread until the beginning of the seventeenth century when vigorous planting of English settlers took place. Distinct forms of Irish English began to develop which were a mixture of diverse dialectal inputs from England and transfer phenomena from Irish as the native population began to switch to the language of the colonisers. Almost as the same time as planting of English settlers started there was a movement out of Ireland, either by deportation or voluntary emigration, largely due to economic circumstances. This led to areas in overseas anglophone regions showing centres of Irish emigration, e.g. Appalachia with eighteenth-century Ulster Scots or the north-eastern coast of the USA with nineteenth-century southern Irish Catholics. At these locations the linguistic impact of Irish English was slight but traces can be found still which testify to this input.