Introduction1.1 Historical background information about IrelandPrehistoric Ireland spans the earliest known period of settlement around 8000 BC BC to Protohistoric Gaelic Ireland to Early Ireland. the Viking era and in the 5th century the era of Christianization. This period notably includes the Hiberno-Scottish mission from Christianized Ireland to pagan Europe and Great Britain (Campbell, 2014). At the start of this period, Ireland had just emerged from a very mysterious decline which, according to archaeological evidence, affected living standards and population levels from 100 BC to around 300 BC. The population was entirely rural and scattered, characterized by small circular forts. human populations (Keating-Miller, 2009). The main activity was hunting and gathering, although archaeological evidence shows that animal husbandry and grain cultivation was an important economic activity from 200 AD. Cattle were highly valued and cattle raiding was a large part of warfare. The known history of the Irish people begins with the introduction of Latin literacy and Christianity, beginning in the 5th century. One of the most reliable historical events is the ordination of Palladius by Pope Calestine I as the first Irish bishop to the Christians of this region in 431. By the 6th century the Church had already developed a separate diocese, although the country was still predominantly pagan (Campbell, 2014).Maps of Ancient Ireland (Campbell, 2014): The Norman invasion in the 12th century marked the beginning of direct English involvement. On 1 May 1169 an army of around 600 men attacked Bannow Strand coinciding with the period of further Norman expansion at the invitation of Dermot Mac Murro...... middle of paper ...... much concern the declining use of Irish and implemented policies aimed at preserving the language from extinction. Works CitedBréartúin, C. Ó., & Coistín, S. Ó. (2013). Irish language software localization. Multilingual, 24(3), 30-33. Broin, B. Ó. (2013). The demographic evolution of the Irish language. Multilingual, 24(3), 24-28. Campbell, K.L. (2014). The History of Ireland: From Prehistory to the Present. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. Edwards, J. (2014). The Irish language: an annotated bibliography of sociolinguistic publications, 1772-1982. London: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group. Keating-Miller, J. (2009). Language, identity and liberation in contemporary Irish literature. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Walsh, J. (2012). Language policy and language governance: a case study of Irish language legislation. Language policy,11(4), 323-341.