Languages of Ulster

[O'Callaghan]

It has to be complicated, due to the presence of Ulster Scots (generally referred to in the US as Scotch Irish).

Scotland has essentially three languages, English, Doric and Scots Gaelic (which they just call Gaelic). There was a fourth, Nore, but the last speaker died a long time ago. English and Doric are related and tend to slide gradually from one to the other. Most of the uninformed hear this mixture and assume the words they can't recognise are Gaelic, but they aren't.

Silly example of Doric: "Och aye, it's a braw brecht moonlicht nicht tonicht" (Oh yes, it's a brave bright moonlit night tonight). NB: This contains NO Gaelic.

In the Republic of Ireland there are only two languages, English and Irish (which is really Irish Gaelic).

I would imagine that Northern Ireland would have all the above, and I don't think the nomenclature for identifying them is all that straightforward. Ironically, the best area to learn Irish Gaelic is said to be Donegal, which is in Ulster but NOT in Northern Ireland (these two things are not the same).