Fingallian

Extinct Middle English dialect of eastern Ireland
the Gaelic Athletic Association club

Fingallian or the Fingal dialect is an extinct language formerly spoken in Fingal, Ireland. It is thought to have been an offshoot of Middle English, which was brought to Ireland during the Norman invasion, Although little is known of Fingallian, it is thought to have been similar to the Forth and Bargy dialect of County Wexford. The surviving literature of Fingallian consists of two satirical or humorous poems, the short "Fingallian Dance" and the much longer Purgatorium Hibernicum. Both poems are anonymous and are thought to be humorous parodies of Fingallian.

Fingallian was spoken in the region of Fingal, traditionally the part of County Dublin north of the River Tolka. It was spoken in the area near the northern border. The name "Fingal" is from the Irish Fine Gall, or "territory of foreigners", probably a reference to a Norse settlement in the area. The linguist Alf Sommerfelt proposed the idea of a Norse influence on the Fingallian dialect, but later scholars have found no evidence of such a connection. Like the Yola dialect of Forth and Bargy in County Wexford, Fingallian is thought to have derived from Middle English, which was introduced by "Old English" settlers after the Anglo Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169. Middle English was well established in southeastern Ireland until the 14th century, when the area was re Gaelicized and English was displaced. As such, the Yola and Fingal dialects would have been the only attested relicts of this original English variety in Ireland.