Yola: A History of Ireland’s Lost Language

Irish History Podcast

Fin Dwyer

Ireland, Irish History, Norman Invasion, Great Hunger, Vikings, Interviews, History, War Of Independence, Great Famine

4.7 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 16 July 2025

⏱️ 23 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When we think of Ireland’s past, we usually envisage an island shaped by two languages: Irish and English. But hidden in the history of South Wexford is Yola, a unique dialect that survived for centuries after the Norman invasion, only to vanish almost without a trace.

In this episode, I am joined by Sascha Sanchi Cooney to explore the fascinating story of Yola: where it came from, who spoke it, what it sounded like, and why it disappeared. From medieval settlers to the Great Vowel Shift and the impact of Cromwell, the history of this dialect is intriguing.

Get a copy of Sasha's 2019 book The Forth & Bargy Dialect at your local library https://waterford.spydus.ie/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/FULL/WPAC/BIBENQ/458376473/1314333,1

Follow Sasha's work on Linkedin https://ie.linkedin.com/in/sascha-santschi-cooney-76a885188

Sound by Kate Dunlea.

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Transcript

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1:04.6	When we think of Ireland's history, we usually tend to assume there were only two main languages, Irish and English.
1:14.7	However, Ireland has always been home to a rich and diverse tapestry of languages.
1:19.8	Kant, the language of the traveller community, has been spoken on the island for centuries and at various times in our past, dialects of French, Welsh, and indeed Old Norse,
1:30.0	were spoken widely on the island. Yet the story of Yola, the focus of today's episode,
1:35.4	is perhaps the most intriguing of all. Although Yola hasn't been spoken for nearly 200 years,
1:42.0	if you visited the 4th and Bargy region of South Waxford in the 18th century,
1:47.2	you would have encountered a strange dialect,
1:49.8	unlike any other language spoken in Ireland at the time.
1:53.3	While its precise origins are somewhat obscure,
	...

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