Irish to be spoken at coronation service of King Charles

The four traditional languages spoken in the UK will for the first time form part of a coronation service.

The congregation gathered for the crowning of the King and Queen Consort at Westminster Abbey will hear three Celtic languages - Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Irish - alongside English.

The announcement comes just days after it was revealed that Sinn Féin’s vice-president Michelle O’Neill will attend the coronation.

The party’s leader at Stormont said the gesture demonstrated her commitment to building good relations and advancing peace and reconciliation.

Ms O’Neill would be in line to become first minister if the current powersharing impasse is resolved and devolution returns in Belfast.

During the coronation, after a greeting and introduction by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Kyrie Eleison (Lord have mercy) prayer will be sung in Welsh.

The words include “Arglwydd, trugarha. Crist, trugarha. Arglwydd, trugarha” - which translates as “Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy”.

A Lambeth Palace spokesman said: "After the sermon, the hymn Veni Creator - Come Creator Spirit - will be sung.

"This ancient hymn has been part of coronation services since the 14th century, and is also used in ordination services when people are ordained deacons, priests and bishops.

“For the first time, we will hear this sung in the traditional languages of the nations of the United Kingdom: English, Welsh, Scots Gaelic and Irish Gaelic.”

Charles famously travelled to Aberystwyth University as a young man to learn the Welsh language under Welsh nationalist Dr Edward Millward, before his investiture as the Prince of Wales at Caernarfon Castle in 1969.

The then heir to the throne was the first English Prince of Wales in 668 years to take the trouble to learn Welsh, and he and his tutor struck up a friendship that endured.