What motivates adult language learners in the city of Belfast to enrol and remain in an Irish class in the first years of the twenty-first century is the subject of the research study reported here. The research is placed within the context of the long history of interest in Irish revival in the city as far back as the eighteenth century and is related to relevant literature on motivation and language learning. The paper provides results from quantitative data collected by means of questionnaires issued to learners throughout the city. An overwhelming interest in culture is what primarily motivates these learners to enrol in an Irish class. Learners are also motivated by a strong sense of identity and by a felt obligation to help preserve the language. The paper illuminates issues of language restoration and the links between identity and language preservation. The research reported here contributes to the literatures on motivation, on adult learning and on language survival.