All non-state languages across Europe suffer like Irish before 1914

Why was the Irish language so unique among non-state languages in Europe in the way it went into decline so early in comparison? Irish started to decline in the east of Ireland in the late 18th century and was a minority language nationally by the mid 19th century, and spoken by only 15% of people by the end of British rule. Contrast that to the regional languages of France, (except for those closest to Paris), which didn't really go into decline until the 20th century, to the regional languages of Spain such as Catalan which is still going strong, or to the then non-state languages of Eastern Europe such as Czech, Polish, Finnish etc which, upon their independence after WW1 became national languages like any other.

Even compared to other Celtic languages of the United Kingdom, Irish fell prematurely; the decline of Scottish Gaelic within the Highlands was largely within a late c19-early c20 timeline while within the Western Isles it is ongoing. Welsh only became a minority language within Wales in 1900 with large scale English immigration and is still a majority language in the North-West in 2016.

Thus what would need to change in ATL for most of the then non-state languages across Europe to decline like Irish did, in a timeline stretching from 1780-1914? This includes the Austro-Hungarian Empire etc.
 
Well, France wiped most of its minority languages, Breton is in the same shape as Irish and Occitan is nearly dead.

Also note that the Irish and the Scottish Gaels were mostly rebellious (Jacobite Rebellions being a notable) which lead to the repression from London, unlike the Welsh. Of course, there was the famine.

Similar repression and mass education would a great blow in Spain's minority, since Spanish greatly outnumbers the Basques, Catalans and Galicians. For Austria-Hungary that's impossible, the Germans are a minority in the huge Empire.
 
Even compared to other Celtic languages of the United Kingdom, Irish fell prematurely;

Actually Cornish declined much sooner, and became extinct by the end of the 18th century.

Regarding Irish, a big factor was that the Catholic Church in Ireland decided to embrace English during the 19th century, so that English was not only the language of social mobility but also of their religious faith.
 
If we're talking about the 'big languages' I can only think of how Dutch-speakers would easily shift to English in a long-lasting union.
 

Abhakhazia

Banned
Contrast that to the regional languages of France, (except for those closest to Paris), which didn't really go into decline until the 20th century, to the regional languages of Spain such as Catalan which is still going strong, or to the then non-state languages of Eastern Europe such as Czech, Polish, Finnish etc which, upon their independence after WW1 became national languages like any other.

Czech was in a similar position after Bohemia's failed bid for independence at the beginning of the Thirty Years' War. It rapidly declined and was really spoken in a few rural pockets, outside the peasantry only existing as an informal language or not at all.

However, in the 19th century, there was a huge movement to restore Czech, with an upswing in nationalist literature and publication of a German-Czech dictionary.
 
Galician and Aragonese are largely gone in Spain, IIRC.

Breton, Occitan and the multiple dialects within Languedoc and Languedoil all suffered miserably.

Cornish, as pointed out went extinct sooner. And the Strathclyde 'Welsh' even earlier.

How many people speak any of the variant Italian languages these days (especially the Franco-Italian ones of the North)?

Wendish, Sorb, and Prussian are all gone. As are a couple more Baltic languages whose names I can't even recall....

Irish is hardly unique.
 
Well, France wiped most of its minority languages, Breton is in the same shape as Irish and Occitan is nearly dead.

Also note that the Irish and the Scottish Gaels were mostly rebellious (Jacobite Rebellions being a notable) which lead to the repression from London, unlike the Welsh. Of course, there was the famine.

Similar repression and mass education would a great blow in Spain's minority, since Spanish greatly outnumbers the Basques, Catalans and Galicians. For Austria-Hungary that's impossible, the Germans are a minority in the huge Empire.

Manx from the Isle of man is dead as well
 
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