Irish orthography Irish orthography Irish orthography has evolved over many centuries, since Old Irish was first written down in the Latin alphabet in about the 8th century AD. Prior to that, Primitive Irish was written in Ogham. Irish orthography is mainly based on etymological considerations, although a spelling reform in the mid-20th century simplified the relationship between spelling and pronunciation somewhat. There are three dialects of spoken Irish: Ulster (now predominantly in County Donegal), Connacht (Counties Mayo and Galway), and Munster (Counties Kerry, Cork, and Waterford). Some spelling conventions are common to all the dialects, while others vary from dialect to dialect.
Irish road bowling The first World Championship was as part of Cork 800 in 1985. The Irish form of road bowling is concentrated in counties Cork and Armagh (especially south Armagh). It is also played in Mayo (Castlebar), Limerick, Waterford, Louth, Monaghan and more recently in Tyrone and Wexford and also in Dagenham, London, UK. Klootschieten is a similar game played in the Netherlands and northwest Germany (Friesland and Schleswig-Holstein) and international events have been staged between these regions and Ireland. The Irish game also has players in Boston, Massachusetts; Cambridge, New York, and Bennington, Vermont, vicinity; Middletown, Connecticut; Traverse City, Michigan; the