Modern Irish is a VSO language, in common with the other Celtic
languages, and the order of elements in the structure of transitive
sentences is verb-subject-object. This book provides a characterisation
of the nominal, verb, clause and information structure of the Irish
language from a functional perspective based on Role and Reference
Grammar. Included in this analysis are the layered structure of the noun
phrase of Irish and the various NP operators, the layered structure of
the clause and the verbal system at the syntax-semantic interface along
with a number of verb valence behaviours as mediated by event and
argument structure. The book also surveys previous treatments of Irish
within a functionalist approach. The book examines the derivation of the
verbal noun and the contexts in which it is used. It also provides an
account of light verbs and complex predicates as they occur within Irish
and link this to a characterisation of the information structure of
Irish. Additionally it provides an analysis of certain linguistically
interesting phenomena that are particular to Irish (and the other Celtic
languages) including the two verbs of 'to be'.