www.heritage.nf.ca...
Irish Gaelic
Most Irish settlers came from southeastern Ireland in the first half of the 19th century. Though some of this group spoke Irish Gaelic and little if any English on arrival, there are few actual accounts of Irish being spoken in Newfoundland, or of Irish being passed on within families. Irish Gaelic disappeared from the island early in the 20th century, but has left a number of traces in Newfoundland English. These include vocabulary items such as scrob "scratch", sleveen "rascal" and streel "slovenly person," grammatical patterns such as the "after" perfect as in "she's already after leavin'," and pronunciation features such as the "light" Irish l in words like "hill" or "pole".
hope this helps.
BTW...there's old Irish settlements all around SW Ontario...Listowel, Bornholm, Ethel, etc are all full of Irish descendants, so it's not 'just on the Rock' (Newfoundland).
My wife's family on her mothers side were among the first settlers in those areas.




