Current situation and endangerment

Current statistics

According to glottolog.org, the Irish Gaelic language is 100% endangered and its Glottocode is Irish 3437.  I found this information after typing "Irish" into the search bar, typing "Irish Gaelic" came up with no results.  The Endangered Languages Project has similar results as glottolog.org.  The language code for this website is ISO 639-3.  

Other than stating that this language is endangered, the Endangered Languages Project also has some ideas of why the language is becoming more endangered.  According to the site, the main reason for the lack of language use is because the younger generations do not practice speaking Irish Gaelic outside of the house, instead they speak English.  By following this logic, they will eventually lose the language once they move away from their parents and make the language increasingly more endangered.  

History of the endangerment of Irish Gaelic

According to The Irish Story website, Gaelic was illegal to speak in certain instances and places when English speaking colonists came to Ireland.  In 1367, British law made it illegal for English colonists to learn and speak Irish Gaelic and also made it illegal for native Irish people to speak to the English colonists in anything other than English.  Article III of The Statute of Kilkenny banished the Irish Gaelic language and traditional Irish clothes from being worn.  

More laws were added by the British parliament that limited the usage of Irish Gaelic being spoken in the Irish judicial and legislative sections throughout the 16th century.  In 1537, Gaelic was no longer allowed to be spoken in the Irish parliament according to The Statute of Ireland - An Act for English Order Habit and Language.  In 1541, the English passed legislation to ban the Irish Gaelic language from being spoken at all in areas under British rule.  

A few centuries later, The Administration of Justice (language) Act (Ireland) was established.  The act was created in 1737 and was used to say that any legal documents or hearings in the courtroom had to be in English and not in Irish Gaelic, if this law was broken you were either held in contempt of court or had to pay 20 euros.  According to The Irish Story website, there is an instance where 8 innocent people were put to death because they could not speak English during their murder trial, it also did not help that their solicitor could not speak Irish and therefore could not provide adequate council.  Another example of this act taking place is in 2006 when an Irish speaker, Caoimhin Mac Giolla Cathain, used Irish to fill out a liquor license and was refused based on The Administration of Justice (language) Act (Ireland) of 1737.