Jay Bee wrote:
Possibly, but it hard to know.
The second map is not very accurate, there are still native Irish speaking community's in all the areas of Corca dhuibhne Gaeltacht which that map excludes. Ive heard it spoken frequently enough in West Cork and in Rinn ive heard teenagers using amongst themselves. It seems wrong the exclude them just because its no longer the majority language. Especially since the language has been transmitted continuously from generation to generation.
I looked up his townland in the 1901 census, very few profess an ability with Irish, mostly elderly . But there could easily have been a under reporting, as I mentioned before in a previous post, many of my family come from the area's where Donegal, Tyrone and Fermanagh meet , in many townlands in 1911 people who recorded themselves in the 1901 census as Irish speakers no longer do so. And from Anecdotal evidence ive heard over the years, there were still some family's using Irish decades after it ceased to be recorded as Irish speaking. So its quite possible that he would have learned Irish at home at the turn of the century , especially since the people who appear to be his mother and father are recorded as Irish speakers.