Nearly 25,000 (24,664) people in Kerry speak Irish at least weekly.
That is one of the findings included in a socio-economic analysis of the county, commissioned by Kerry County Council.
The analysis was compiled as part of the council’s latest six-year Local Economic and Community Plan (LECP).
The LECP’s objectives include protecting and enhancing Kerry’s Gaeltacht areas and Gaeltacht Service Towns.
It also aims to promote and support the growth of Irish as a living community language within the Kerry Gaeltachtaí, and to preserve and maintain local traditions and Gaeltacht heritage.
It states the population of Kerry’s two Gaeltacht areas, Uíbh Ráthaigh and Corca Dhuibhne, increased by almost 4 per cent (3.7%), from 8,756 to 9,036, between the last two censuses.
The proportion of Irish speakers in the Corca Dhuibhne Gaeltacht rose slightly to just under 72 per cent (71.7%), while in the Uíbh Ráthaigh Gaeltacht it declined by 4 per cent, to nearly 59 per cent (58.7%) over the same period.
Although Kerry accounts for just 3 per cent of Ireland’s total population, 9.3 per cent of the State’s total Irish-speaking population live in the county’s Gaeltachtaí.
Kerry County Council’s recently published LECP states that the county aspires to be a destination of choice to live, work and thrive, where the Irish language and cultural heritage are celebrated.
