() is
Irish for "Ireland", the name of both
an island in the North Atlantic and the sovereign state of the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. ...
which governs 84% of the island's landmass. The latter is distinct from
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...
, which covers the remainder of the northeast of the island. The same name is also sometimes used in English ( ).
Etymology
The modern Irish ''Éire'' evolved from the
Old Irish
Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writte ...
word ''
Ériu'', which was the name of Ireland and of a
Gaelic
Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, an ...
goddess. ''Ériu'' is generally believed to have been the matron goddess of Ireland, a goddess of sovereignty, or simply a goddess of the land. ''Ériu'' has been derived from reconstructed
Archaic Irish
Primitive Irish or Archaic Irish ( ga, Gaeilge Ársa), also called Proto-Goidelic, is the oldest known form of the Goidelic languages. It is known only from fragments, mostly personal names, inscribed on stone in the ogham alphabet in Ireland ...
''*Īweriū'',
[ Koch, John T. (2005), ''Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia'', ABC-CLIO, pp.709-710] and further from the
Proto-Celtic
Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, is the ancestral proto-language of all known Celtic languages, and a descendant of Proto-Indo-European. It is not attested in writing but has been partly reconstructed through the comparative method. Proto-Celt ...
*''Φīwerjon-'' (nominative singular ''Φīwerjū''). This suggests descent from the
Proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo ...
*''piHwerjon-'' ("fertile land" or "abundant land"),
from the adjective ''*piHwer-'' ("fat") – cognate with
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...
''
píeira'' and
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...
''pīvarī'', ("fat, full, abounding").
The Archaic Irish form was borrowed into Ancient Greek. During his exploration of northwest Europe (circa 320 BCE),
Pytheas of Massilia called the island ''Ierne'' (written ).
The
Pseudo-Aristotelian text ''
On the Universe
''On the Universe'' ( el, Περὶ Κόσμου; la, De Mundo) is a theological and scientific treatise included in the Corpus Aristotelicum but usually regarded as spurious. It was likely published between and the . The work discusses cosmolo ...
'' (393b) has:
Translation: There are two very large islands in it, called the British Isles, Albion and Ierne.
[ at the Open Library Project.] (modern Great Britain and Ireland).
In his book ''Geographia'' (circa 150 CE),
Claudius Ptolemaeus called the island ''Iouernia'' (written ; ''ou'' represented /w/) and named a tribal group called the (, ' or
Iverni who lived in the southwest.
This was borrowed into
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
as ''
Hibernia''.
The evolution of the word would follow as such:
*
Proto-Celtic
Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, is the ancestral proto-language of all known Celtic languages, and a descendant of Proto-Indo-European. It is not attested in writing but has been partly reconstructed through the comparative method. Proto-Celt ...
*''Φīwerjon-'' (nominative singular *''Φīwerjū'')
**
Archaic Irish
Primitive Irish or Archaic Irish ( ga, Gaeilge Ársa), also called Proto-Goidelic, is the oldest known form of the Goidelic languages. It is known only from fragments, mostly personal names, inscribed on stone in the ogham alphabet in Ireland ...
*''Īweriū''
***
Old Irish
Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writte ...
''Ériu''
****
Modern Irish ''Éire''
An Old Irish by-form of this placename was ''íriu'', meaning "land, earth".
In
Irish mythology
Irish mythology is the body of myths native to the island of Ireland. It was originally oral tradition, passed down orally in the Prehistoric Ireland, prehistoric era, being part of ancient Celtic religion. Many myths were later Early Irish ...
, Íth is the first of the
Milesians (Irish) to see Ireland from
Iberia
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese language, Aragonese and Occitan language, Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a pe ...
. Later, he is the first to step ashore and praises the island's abundance, saying to the
Tuatha Dé Danann: "You dwell in a good land. Abundant are its mast and honey and wheat and fish".
A 19th-century proposal, which does not follow modern standards of etymology, derives the name from
Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...
: ''ì'' (island) + ''thiar'' (west) + ''fónn'' (land), which together give ''ì-iar-fhónn'', or "westland isle". The etymology fails in that ''tiar'' (the historical form) has no ''*téir'' forms which would allow the development of the ''*é'' of ''Éire''; moreover, Old Irish ''í'' ("island") was a late loanword from Old Norse ''ey'' ("island"), and so did not exist in prehistoric Ireland.
Difference between ''Éire'' and ''Erin''
While ''Éire'' is simply the name for the island of Ireland in the Irish language, and sometimes used in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ...
, ''Erin'' is a common poetic name for Ireland, as in ''
Erin go bragh''. The distinction between the two is one of the difference between
cases of
nouns in Irish. ''Éire'' is the
nominative case
In grammar, the nominative case ( abbreviated ), subjective case, straight case or upright case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or (in Latin and formal variants of Eng ...
, the case that is used for nouns that are the
subject of a sentence, i.e., the noun that is ''doing'' something as well as the direct
object
Object may refer to:
General meanings
* Object (philosophy), a thing, being, or concept
** Object (abstract), an object which does not exist at any particular time or place
** Physical object, an identifiable collection of matter
* Goal, an ...
of a sentence. ''Erin'' derives from ''Éirinn'', the Irish
dative case
In grammar, the dative case ( abbreviated , or sometimes when it is a core argument) is a grammatical case used in some languages to indicate the recipient or beneficiary of an action, as in "Maria Jacobo potum dedit", Latin for "Maria gave Jacob ...
of ''Éire'', which has replaced the nominative case in
Déise Irish and some non-standard sub-dialects elsewhere, in
Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...
(where the usual word for Ireland is ) and
Manx (like Irish and Scottish Gaelic, a Goidelic Celtic language), where the word is spelled "Nerin," with the initial ''n-'' probably representing a fossilisation of the preposition ''in''/''an'' "in" (cf. Irish ''in Éirinn'', Scottish ''an Èirinn''/''ann an Èirinn'' "in Ireland"). The
genitive case
In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can a ...
, ''Éireann'' (e.g. ''stair na hÉireann'' "the history of Ireland, Ireland's history"), is found in the Gaelic forms of the titles of companies and institutions in Ireland e.g. ''
Iarnród Éireann'' (''Irish Rail''), ''
Dáil Éireann'' (''Irish Parliament''), ''
Poblacht na hÉireann'' (''The Republic of Ireland'') or ''
Tuaisceart Éireann'' (''Northern Ireland'').
As a state name
Article 4 of the
Irish constitution adopted in 1937 by the government under
Éamon de Valera states "''Éire'' is the name of the state, or in the English language, ''Ireland''". The Constitution's English-language
preamble also describes the population as "We, the people of Éire". Despite the fact that Article 8 designated Irish as the "national" and "first official" language, ''Éire'' has to some extent passed out of everyday conversation and literature, and the state is referred to as ''Ireland'' or its equivalent in all other languages.
The name "Éire" has been used on Irish
postage stamps since 1922; on all
Irish coinage (including
Irish euro coins); and together with "Ireland" on passports and other official state documents issued since 1937. "Éire" is used on the
Seal of the President of Ireland.
Initially, after 1937 the United Kingdom insisted on using only the name "Eire" and refused to accept the name "Ireland". It adopted the
Eire (Confirmation of Agreements) Act 1938
The Eire (Confirmation of Agreements) Act 1938 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed on 17 May 1938. It was the British implementing measure for the 1938 Anglo-Irish Agreements which were signed at London on 25 April 1938 b ...
putting in law that position. At the
1948 Summer Olympics
The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ...
in London the organisers insisted that the Irish team march under the banner "Eire" notwithstanding that every other team was marching according to what their name was in English. The UK Government generally avoided all reference to "Ireland" in connection with the state and used what Senator
Thomas O'Connell described as "sneering titles such as Eirish". However, the term "Eirish" was also used by some writers in the US, who referred to "the Eirish people". Using the genitive form ''Éireann'' as an adjective, the UK media would refer to "Eireann Ministers" and the "Eireann Army". The
Ireland Act 1949 changed this to "Republic of Ireland". It was not until after the 1998
Good Friday Agreement that the UK government accepted the preferred name of simply "Ireland", at the same time as the Republic of Ireland dropped its territorial claim over Northern Ireland.
Before the 1937 Constitution, "Saorstát Éireann" (the Irish name of the
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between ...
) was generally used.
During
the Emergency (as the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
was known), Irish ships had "EIRE" (and the
Irish tricolour) painted large on their sides and deck, to identify them as neutrals.
In the 1947
Sinn Féin Funds case
The Sinn Féin Funds case (''Buckley and Others v. Attorney General and Another'') was a 1942–1948 Irish court case in which the Sinn Féin party claimed ownership of funds deposited with the High Court in 1924 which had belonged to the Sin ...
, a co-defendant was cited as "the Attorney General of Eire" in the High and Supreme Court cases, and there were similar cases where "Eire" was used in the late 1940s as a descriptor of the state in English.
In 1922–1938 the
international plate on Irish cars was "SE". From 1938 to 1962 it was marked "EIR", short for Éire. In 1961 statutory instrument no. 269 allowed "IRL", and by 1962 "IRL" had been adopted. Irish politician
Bernard Commons TD suggested to the
Dáil in 1950 that the Government examine "the tourist identification plate bearing the letters EIR ... with a view to the adoption of identification letters more readily associated with this country by foreigners". "EIR" is also shown in other legislation such as the car insurance statutory instrument no. 383 of 1952 and no. 82 of 1958.
Under the
1947 Convention Irish-registered aircraft have carried a registration mark starting "EI" for Éire.
From January 2007, the
Irish Government
The Government of Ireland ( ga, Rialtas na hÉireann) is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland.
The Constitution of Ireland vests executive authority in a government which is headed by the , the head of government. The gover ...
nameplates at meetings of the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
have borne both ''Éire'' and ''Ireland'', following the adoption of Irish as a
working language of the European Union.
Spelling ''Eire'' rather than ''Éire''
In 1938 the British government provided in the
Eire (Confirmation of Agreements) Act 1938
The Eire (Confirmation of Agreements) Act 1938 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed on 17 May 1938. It was the British implementing measure for the 1938 Anglo-Irish Agreements which were signed at London on 25 April 1938 b ...
that British legislation would henceforth refer to the
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between ...
as "Eire" (but not as "Ireland"). This was altered by the
Ireland Act 1949, where the English-law name of the state was changed to "Republic of Ireland". The 1938 Act was repealed in 1981, and in 1996 a British journalist described ''Eire'' as "now an oddity rarely used, an out-of-date reference".
Within Ireland however, the spelling "Eire" was incorrect. When
Irish language
Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...
texts were printed in
Gaelic type, both capital and lower-case letters were printed with
diacritics (written accents). From the later 1940s, in conjunction with other reforms, printing switched to the same "
Roman type" used for most other
Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet or Roman alphabet is the collection of letters originally used by the ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered with the exception of extensions (such as diacritics), it used to write English and the ...
languages. There was some uncertainty about whether the ''
síneadh fada'' (acute accent) should be written on upper-case letters. While it was preserved in all-Irish texts, it was often omitted when short fragments of Irish appeared alone or in English texts.
Noel Davern
Noel Davern (24 December 1945 – 27 October 2013) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Minister of State from 1997 to 2002 and Minister for Education from 1991 to 1992. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Tipperary South c ...
asked in the
Dáil in 1974 why Irish stamps had ''EIRE'' rather than ''ÉIRE''. The reply from the
Minister for Posts and Telegraphs was:
Davern considered ''EIRE'' to be worse than a misspelling, because ''eire'' is a word in its own right, meaning "a burden, load or encumbrance".
The minister stated, "The word on the stamp ... does not mean 'eire' and it is not understood to mean 'eire' by anybody except Davern."
Stamps later used a Gaelic type with the accent preserved.
English rarely uses
diacritics for English words, and often omits them from written
loanword
A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because ...
s from any source language; the
acute accent is often omitted when ''ÉIRE'' is written in English—in that context, the omission or expression is regarded by English speakers who do not speak Irish as a negligible variation, reflecting two accepted spellings without further implication, in the same way as Mexico and México are seen as being the same. But for an Irish-speaker the diacritic
changes the pronunciation.
Other uses
''Éire'' has been incorporated into the names of Irish commercial and social entities, such as
Eir
In Norse mythology, Eir (Old Norse: , "protection, help, mercy"Orchard (1997:36).) is a goddess or valkyrie associated with medical skill. Eir is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources; the ...
(formerly Eircom and Telecom Éireann) and its former mobile phone network,
Eircell
Eircell was an Irish mobile cellular network provider which was established in 1984, with operations commencing in 1986. Its access code was 088 for the original analogue TACS system and 087 for the later GSM system. Following the abolition of ...
. Ireland's postal code system is known as
Eircode. In 2006 the Irish electricity network was devolved to
EirGrid. The company "BetEire Flow" (
eFlow), named as a
pun on "better", is a French consortium running the electronic tolling system at the
West-Link bridge west of Dublin. According to the Dublin
Companies Registration Office in 2008, over 500 company names incorporate the word Éire in some form.
Footnotes
Bibliography
* Noel Browne, ''Against the Tide''
* Constitution of Ireland (1937)
* Stephen Collins, ''The Cosgrave Legacy''
* Tim Pat Coogan, ''De Valera'' (Hutchinson, 1993)
* Brian Farrell, ''De Valera's Constitution and Ours''
* F.S.L. Lyons, ''Ireland since the Famine''
* David Gwynn Morgan, ''Constitutional Law of Ireland''
* Tim Murphy and Patrick Twomey (eds.) ''Ireland's Evolving Constitution: 1937–1997 Collected Essays'' (Hart, 1998)
* Alan J. Ward, ''The Irish Constitutional Tradition: Responsible Government and Modern Ireland 1782–1992'' (Irish Academic Press, 1994)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eire
History of the Republic of Ireland
Irish words and phrases
Terminology of the British Isles
Names for Ireland