爱尔兰语（Gaeilge na hÉireann），在英语中也称为Irish、Gaelic、Irish Gaelic或Erse（此语汇系借用自苏格兰语），因此在汉语中爱尔兰语也有「盖德尔语」、「盖尔语」、或「爱尔兰盖尔语」等其他译名。爱尔兰语在语言分类上属于印欧语系的凯尔特语族，和同属该语族的布列塔尼语、威尔斯语、以及苏格兰盖尔语有相当密切的关系。

虽然爱尔兰语是爱尔兰共和国的官方语言，同时也是北爱尔兰官方承认的区域语言，而英语为第二官方语言，但是英语却为绝大多数爱尔兰人的母语，爱尔兰语作为主要语言的通行范围限于西海岸的一些地区。

Irish (Gaeilge), also referred to as Gaelic or Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is spoken as a first language by a small minority of Irish people, and as a second language by a rather larger group. Irish enjoys constitutional status as the national and first official language of the Republic of Ireland, and is an officially recognised minority language in Northern Ireland. It is also among the official languages of the European Union. The public body Foras na Gaeilge is responsible for the promotion of the language throughout the island of Ireland.