Did you know that Irish speakers can generally be separated into two unique groups? There are native Irish speakers who generally reside in the Gaeltacht area, and then there are urban Irish speakers which basically defines anyone not from the Gaeltacht. Also the urban speaker title generally refers to someone who might have a loose comprehension of Irish Gaelic, although I have heard the term applied to even fluent Irish city dwellers. There are clearly some cultural inferences in the two definitions, aside from the language context itself. Enya, one of Ireland's most famous singers, is from the Gaeltacht area of Ireland, and she also happens to be a person who was brought up speaking Irish Gaelic as a first language. Sadly if you look at a map charting the Gaeltacht areas on the island over the last century, you will see that they have shrunken dramatically. The last census was done in 2007, showing only tiny Gaeltacht enclaves remaining.
