A complex series of population movements and language contacts lies at the heart of the history of Irish English. Though the Viking presence in Ireland had little direct impact on the development of Irish English, the establishment of coastal towns was crucial for the development of relations between Ireland and the rest of Europe. It is convenient to separate the linguistic history of English in Ireland into two phases based on the external history: a medieval phase, leaving only traces in the archaic dialect of Forth and Bargy; and the modern phase based on the resurgence of English, including Scots, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The Gaelic Society in 1807 and the subsequent development of a national Irish-language movement coincided with political movements for Irish independence to the extent that the language policy of the independent government established after the partition of Ireland in 1921-2 was firmly orientated towards the support of the Irish language.