You probably already suspect as much, but it's not about being useful as such, in much the same way that most art and culture isn't particularly useful in the p

You probably already suspect as much, but it's not about being useful as such, in much the same way that most art and culture isn't particularly useful in the practical sense. In 1800 more people spoke Irish than spoke Dutch, Swedish, Danish or Finnish. It adds perspective what the value is if you consider what would be lost if another of those languages died back as comprehensively as Irish did, to be replaced by something like English or German. A whole world of poetry, insults and turns of phrase are opened up to me. I can understand the meanings of place names around the country (Baltimore means "the town of the [Downton Abbey-esque] big house"). It's a rebuttal to the notion that the Irish are really just West English, despite their exceptionalism. As for how I use the language; I struggle through novels, I listen to Irish language radio and podcasts (I don't watch much TV, though there is an Irish-language station), I talk to my partner in Irish when we want to discuss something private while in public, I talk to other people in Irish when the opportunity arises.