The bar chart illustrates the proportion of Irish language speakers by province in the Republic of Ireland in five different years between 1981 and 2002.
Overall, the provinces shown are Leinster, Munster, Connacht, and Ulster (state). Connacht was clearly the largest group. There was also a noticeable gap between the top and bottom categories.
Specifically, Connacht presented the highest percentage, approximately 39%, in both 1981 and 1986, while it ended at about 49%. A similar growth in proportion can also be seen in Munster and the State, which started at about 30% and concluded at over 40%, followed by Munster, which began at 35% in 1981 and ended at almost above 45%.
On the other hand, Leinster and Ulster had a slight decrease in 1986, which totaled 27% and 29% respectively. This contrast underlines that the following years of both significantly increased by 2002, accounting for 38% and 42%.
