This book focuses on the sociolinguistic consequences of historical contact between indigenous Irish peoples and newer English and Scottish settlers in what is now the territory of Northern Ireland (NI). The contact varieties that resulted represent the oldest L2 'Englishes' globally. Moreover, the degree of admixture from English, Irish and Scots in the contemporary dialects of NI reflects various external forces. Naturally, these varieties share certain structural features with sister Celtic Englishes and indeed with other vernacular Englishes globally. However, there are other linguistic traits that seem to be unique and therefore essentially local.

Irish English, Volume 1 - Northern Ireland aims to provide insights into the evolution of language in 21st century NI and to promote an understanding of linguistic diversity in this region in the context of World Englishes by including:

*An overview of cultural, demographic and geographic aspects of NI's languages/dialects *An extensive, though accessible, description of their structures *A history of language in NI, pinpointing regional/social differences as well as current changes *An annotated bibliography of relevant literature and a general bibliography to aid further research *Speech and text samples from the 19th-21st centuries.