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Although the Republic of Ireland is officially bilingual, and the Irish language (Gaelic or Gaeilge) is learned by all schoolchildren, English is more commonly spoken. There are around 80,000 native speakers of Irish, making it Europe's least widespread official language. Because it often reflects expressions in Gaelic, Irish English is famed for its picturesque turns of phrase, much more poetic than American or British English. The Gaelic language is enjoying a revival: radio, television and the Internet all stir up interest in the old language. There are Gaelic-speaking clubs as far away as the U.S. West Coast. You are not likely to pick up very much Irish on a brief trip to Ireland; it is not related to English, and to an English speaker the spelling does not appear to reflect the pronunciation. Following are pronunciations of words you may come across:
| Bord Fáilte (Irish Tourist Board) | bord fawlty | |
| Ceilidh (traditional dance night) | kaylee | |
| Gaeilge (the Irish language) | gale-geh | |
| Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking country) | gale-tackt | |
| Garda (policeman) | gawrdah | |
| Fleadh (traditional music evening) | flah | |
| Taoiseach (prime minister) | teeschock |
| 1 | a haon | a hay-on |
| 2 | a dó | a doe |
| 3 | a trí | a tree |
| 4 | a ceathair | a ca-hir |
| 5 | a cuíg | a koo-ig |
| 6 | a sé | a shay |
| 7 | a seacht | a shocked |
| 8 | a hocht | a huct |
| 9 | a naoi | a neigh |
| 10 | a deich | a de |
| good day | lá maith | law mah |
| goodbye | slán | slawn |
| goodnight | oíche mhaith | ee-ha vah |
| How are you? | Conas taio? | co-nus tee? |
| please | más é do thoil é | maws eh duh hull eh |
| thanks | gura maith agat | gurrah mah a- gut |
| pub | tábhairne | taw-er nay |
| water | uisce | ishkek |
| whiskey | fuisci | fwishgee |
| yes | sea | shah |
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