Green English: Ireland's Influence on the English Language

Although English has been spoken in Ireland for eight centuries and used creatively in literature for over six centuries, Irish speakers did not simply adopt English; they grafted it onto a Gaelic stem, making it capable of expressing an Irish culture and world view. This book explores the origins and development of English in Ireland; how emigrants, missionaries and writers have influenced English world-wide; how it is used; and how the loss of a mother tongue can affect a nation's psyche, and whether the "loss" has been accompanied by "abundant recompense".