Irish language declined steadily during the 19th century and was nearly wiped out by the Great Potato Famine of the 1840s, which particularly affected the Irish-speaking population. But contempt its decline the Irish language never ceased to exert a strong determine on Irish consciousness. From the mid-19th century, in the years following the famine, there was a resurgence in orthodox native Irish language and culture. This Gaelic revival led, in turn, to the Irish literary renaissance of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, in which native expression was explored and renewed by a generation of writers and academics. It also produced a resurgence in orthodox musical and dance forms. The cultural revivalism became an inspiration to the Irish nationalist fight of the early decades of the 20th century.

A flowering of Irish literary works occurred with the standardization of Irish in the mid-20th century. After World War II a new wave of poets, novelists, and dramatists produced a remarkable literature in modern Irish, among them Máirtín Ó Cadhain, Máirtín Ó Direáin, and Máire Mhac an tSaoi. Since the 1970s a younger generation of writers has made valuable contributions in Irish, notably Mícheál Ó Siadhail, Gabriel Rosenstock, Michael Hartnett, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, Áine Ní Ghlinn, and Cathal Ó Searcaigh.