The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

lEELAXD. 899
South America, have never yet crossed the narrow Irish Sea. Nor are Jews very
numerous.
But whatever race element may preponderate in the Irish people, the ancient
language, still spoken on Eathlin Island and in a few remote glens of Antrim,
Fig. 200.—LixGvisTic Map of Ireland.
Proportion of Celtic-speaking Inhabitants.
10 to 25 per cent. 25 to 50 per cent. Over 50 per cent.
is now of very little importance. In Ireland it is understood by a majority only in
portions of the west and south-west, and more especially in the counties of ilayo and
Waterford. In 1851 the districts in which Irish was the language of the majority
hud an area of 9,325 square miles, with 1,328,938 inhabitants ;
D D 2
in 1871 their area