From Wikipedia:
quote:The strongest dialect of Connacht Irish is to be found in Connemara and the Aran Islands. Much closer to the larger Connacht Gaeltacht is the dialect spoken in the smaller region on the border between Galway (Gaillimh) and Mayo (Maigh Eo). The northern Mayo dialect of Erris (Iorras) and Achill (Acaill) is in grammar and morphology essentially a Connacht dialect, but shows some similarities to Ulster Irish due to large-scale immigration of dispossessed people following the Plantation of Ulster.
quote:Are the dialects still extant in County Donegal typical of Ulster Irish as it used to be?
Yes, for the area they survive in, which is Donegal. That dialect, of course, would not have all the same features as the other extinct Ulster dialects, because the language spectrum was a continuum in the past. Now the Donegal features are spreading into the previous Irish speaking area of Ulster, including the features from the Standard, and other dialects through mass communication. I think there is some leveling of some regionalities, though, due to the outside influence.
Addition: If your interested in learning modern Ulster Irish, you want to learn one of the Donegal dialects, since this is the only dialect which survived to today in Ulster.
(Message edited by seánw on July 19, 2010)
