This paper presents a historical commentary on some of the literature on the language predicament--and especially the kind of bilingual community--found in the Irish Gaeltacht. The Gaeltacht communities in Ireland constitute a residual minority of what was, until recent times, the major linguistic group on the island. Conquest and colonization during the 16th and 17th centuries defeated the entire Gaelic order. The key determinant of identity became the question of religious loyalty. The leaders of the Catholic community, whether of Gaelic or Anglo-Norman stock, accepted that Irish was the language of the dispossessed and worked to ensure that their religion would not preclude their civil rights. In 1922, Irish was declared the official language of the new Free State. In 1925, a Commission established to inquire into the condition of the Gaeltacht, condemned the anglicization of official forms and identified four groups responsible for linguistic development in the Gaeltacht: the Catholic clergy, the professions, the press, and the directors of industrial and commercial establishments. The Commission proposed planned migration of 'homogeneous communities' to land that could support a community. However, real Gaeltacht communities declined due to emigration to industrial centers abroad. (Contains 24 references.) (CK)