Irish Literature - The Beginning of Writing in Irish

The Beginning of Writing in Irish

Irish has one of the oldest vernacular literatures in western Europe (after Greek and Latin).

The Irish became fully literate with the arrival of Christianity in the fifth century. Before that time a simple writing system known as "ogham" was used for inscriptions. The introduction of Latin led to the adaption of the Latin alphabet to the Irish language and the rise of a small literate class, both clerical and lay.

Read more about this topic:  Irish Literature

Famous quotes containing the words beginning, writing and/or irish:

    I rise in the dawn, and I kneel and blow
    Till the seed of the fire flicker and glow;
    And then I must scrub and bake and sweep
    Till the stars are beginning to blink and peep;
    And the young lie long and dream in their bed....
    William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)

    It is like writing history with lightning and my only regret is that it is all so terribly true.
    Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)

    The Irish are a fair people; they never speak well of one another.
    Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)