NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Names of the Irish state

The state whose official name is Ireland (Irish: Éire) and whose political description is the Republic of Ireland (Irish: Poblacht na hÉireann) is and has been known by a number of other names some of which have been controversial. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1064x1484, 288 KB) The cover of Irish electronic Passports as of late 2006 This image is of a book cover, and the copyright for it is most likely owned either by the artist who created the cover or the publisher of... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1064x1484, 288 KB) The cover of Irish electronic Passports as of late 2006 This image is of a book cover, and the copyright for it is most likely owned either by the artist who created the cover or the publisher of... Anthem: The Soldiers Song Republic of Ireland() â€“ on the European continent() â€“ in the European Union() â€” [] Capital (and largest city) Dublin Official languages Irish, English Demonym Irish Government Republic and Parliamentary democracy - President Mary McAleese - Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, TD Independence from the United Kingdom - Declared 24 April 1916 - Ratified 21... This article is about the Irish-language name of the island called Ireland and the state of the same name. ...

Official name

Article 4 of the Irish constitution, adopted in 1937, provides that “[t]he name of the State is Éire, or, in the English language, Ireland”.^[1] Hence, the Irish state has two official names, Éire (in Irish) and Ireland (in English). For all official purposes including in international treaties and other legal documents, where the language of the documents is English, the Irish government uses the name Ireland. The same is true in respect of the name Éire for documents written in Irish. Similarly, the name of the state is reflected in its institutions and public offices. For example, there is a President of Ireland and a Constitution of Ireland. The name Ireland is also used in the state's diplomatic relations with foreign nations. The state is officially known as Ireland at meetings of the United Nations. The Constitution of Ireland (Irish: Bunreacht na hÃ‰ireann)[1] is the founding legal document of the state known today both as Ireland and as the Republic of Ireland. ... Irish (Gaeilge), a Goidelic language spoken in Ireland, Britain, and the USA, is constitutionally recognised as the first official language of the Republic of Ireland. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The President of Ireland (Irish: ) is the head of state of Ireland. ... The Constitution of Ireland (Irish: Bunreacht na hÃ‰ireann)[1] is the founding legal document of the state known today both as Ireland and as the Republic of Ireland. ... UN redirects here. ...

Official description

Since 1949 the Republic of Ireland Act has provided that the Republic of Ireland (or Poblacht na hÉireann in Irish) is the official description for the state.^[2] However, Ireland remains the official name of the state. This distinction between description and name was and remains important because the Act was not a constitutional amendment and did not change the name of the state. If it had purported to do so, it would have been unconstitutional. The distinction between a description and a name has sometimes caused confusion. The Taoiseach, John A. Costello who introduced the legislation explained the difference in the following way:^[3] The Republic of Ireland Act was an enactment of Oireachtas Ã‰ireann passed in 1948, which came into force on April 18, 1949 and which declared that the official description of Ireland was to be the Republic of Ireland. ... The Taoiseach (IPA: , phonetic: TEE-shock â€” plural: Taoisigh ( or ), also referred to as An Taoiseach [1], is the head of government or prime minister of the Republic of Ireland . ... For the member of Seanad Ã‰ireann from 1963â€“65, see John Costelloe John Aloysius Costello (20 June 1891 â€“ 5 January 1976), a successful barrister, was one of the main legal advisors to the government of the Irish Free State after independence, Attorney General of Ireland from 1926â€“1932 and Taoiseach...

Nevertheless the Republic of Ireland is often used as a name for the state in ordinary speech, especially in any context in which it is necessary to distinguish between the state and the island as a whole. So, for example, commonly people speak of there being a border "between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland" rather than between Northern Ireland and Ireland. In addition, the state's national football team, while often referred to (including by itself) as Ireland, officially plays as the Republic of Ireland because Northern Ireland also fields a team in international competitions and in 1954 FIFA was no longer prepared to tolerate two teams called Ireland.^[4] First international Irish Free State 1 - 0 Bulgaria (Stade Olympique, Colombes, France; May 28, 1924) Biggest win Republic of Ireland 8 - 0 Malta (Dalymount Park, Republic of Ireland; 16 November 1983) Biggest defeat Brazil 7 - 0 Republic of Ireland (UberlÃ¢ndia, Brazil; 27 May 1982) World Cup Appearances 3 (First... For the Irish FAs all-Ireland international team, see Ireland national football team (IFA). ... This article is about the international association football organization. ...

European Union

The state joined the European Economic Community (now the European Union) in 1973. Its accession treaty was drawn up in all of the EU’s then official treaty languages (including English and Irish) and, as such, the Irish state joined under both of its names, Éire and Ireland. On 1 January 2007, Irish became an official working language of the EU.^[5] This did not change the name of the Irish state in EU law. However, it has meant for example that at official meetings of the EU Council of Ministers, nameplates for the Irish state now read as Éire - Ireland, whereas previously they would simply have read as Ireland. The European Community (EC), most important of three European Communities, was originally founded on March 25, 1957 by the signing of the Treaty of Rome under the name of European Economic Community. ... is the 1st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ...

The Inter Institutional Style Guide of The Office for Official Publications of the European Communities sets out how the names of the Member states of the European Union must always be written and abbreviated in EU publications. Concerning Ireland, it states that its official names are Éire and Ireland; its official name in English is Ireland; its country code is IE; and its former abbreviation was IRL. It also adds the following guidance: “NB: Do not use ‘Republic of Ireland’ nor ‘Irish Republic’.” ^[6]

Name dispute with the UK

This section concerns the dispute, which now appears to have been resolved, between the Irish and British governments over the official names of their respective states: Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

"Eire" v Ireland

When the Irish constitution was enacted in 1937, Articles 2-4 expressed a claim to the "whole island of Ireland" and thus an irredentist claim to the territory of Northern Ireland. For many Unionists in Northern Ireland and for people in Britain, the decision in Article 4 to give the state the names Ireland (the name of the island in English) and Éire (its name in Irish) was viewed as another attempt to lay claim to the whole of the island of Ireland.^[7] In response to the new constitution, the British government published a communiqué on 30 December 1937, the day after the constitution took effect. In the communiqué, the British government explicitly recognised the two names Ireland and Eire and, implicitly, their identical meaning, by declaring:^[8]^[9] The Constitution of Ireland (Irish: Bunreacht na hÃ‰ireann)[1] is the founding legal document of the state known today both as Ireland and as the Republic of Ireland. ... Irredentism is claiming a right to territories belonging to another state on the grounds of common ethnicity and/or prior historical possession, actual or alleged. ... Northern Ireland (Irish: , Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a constituent country of the United Kingdom lying in the northeast of the island of Ireland, covering 5,459 square miles (14,139 kmÂ², about a sixth of the islands total area). ... Unionism, in Ireland, is a belief in the desirability of a full constitutional and institutional relationship between Ireland and Great Britain based on the terms and order of government of the Act of Union 1800 which had merged both countries in 1801 to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain... is the 364th day of the year (365th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Despite this initial response, the British government quickly decided to refer to the state only as "Eire" and not Ireland. The British government finessed Article 4 and ignored Articles 2 and 3: if the Irish constitution said the name of the state in the national language was Éire, then that (written as "Eire") was what the British government would call it.^[10] By doing so, it avoided any need to call the Irish state, in the English language, Ireland.^[11] The change of name effected by the 1937 constitution (but not the other constitutional changes), was given effect in United Kingdom law in the Eire (Confirmation of Agreements) Act 1938. Under Section 1 of that Act, it was declared that (for the purposes of United Kingdom legislation) the territory "which was ... known as Irish Free State shall be styled as...Eire".^[12]

The British approach of calling the state Eire, even in the English language was greatly assisted by the general preference of de Valera, the leader of the Irish government at the time, that the state be known as Éire, even in English. However, the Irish government, even when led by de Valera appreciated the significance of the name Ireland and insisted on that name in some fora. For example, in 1938 Irish representatives in the Commonwealth countries gave their official titles as High Commissioner for Ireland and the League of Nations was informed that Ireland was the correct English name for the country as was the Commonwealth.^[8] The practice in other Commonwealth countries varied: At the outset at least, it appears South Africa and Canada used the name Ireland while New Zealand favoured Eire.^[13] In 1947, the United Kingdom Home Office went further by issuing instructions to United Kingdom government departments to use Eire.^[8] Eamon de Valera (born Edward George de Valera, sometimes Gaelicised Ã‰amon de BhailÃ©ara; October 14, 1882 â€“ August 29, 1975), was an Irish politician, best known as a leader of Irelands struggle for independence from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in the early 20th century, and... 1939â€“1941 semi-official emblem Anachronous world map in 1920â€“1945, showing the League of Nations and the world Capital Not applicableÂ¹ Language(s) English, French and Spanish Political structure International organization Secretary-general - 1920â€“1933 Sir James Eric Drummond - 1933â€“1940 Joseph Avenol - 1940â€“1946 SeÃ¡n Lester Historical... For other uses, see Commonwealth (disambiguation). ... The modern concept of Small Office and Home Office or SoHo , or Small or Home Office deals with the category of business which can be from 1 to 10 workers. ...

Republic of Ireland v Ireland

However in 1948, with the passing of the Republic of Ireland Act (discussed above), the name Éire generally fell out of usage by both the Irish government (except in the Irish language) and internationally. The British government considered how to respond. The following note of what Prime Minister Clement Attlee said at a British Cabinet meeting on 12 January 1949 illustrates some of the considerations involved:^[14] The Republic of Ireland Act was an enactment of Oireachtas Ã‰ireann passed in 1948, which came into force on April 18, 1949 and which declared that the official description of Ireland was to be the Republic of Ireland. ... Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC (3 January 1883 â€“ 8 October 1967) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951. ... is the 12th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Ultimately, the British responded by passing the Ireland Act 1949 which provided that "that part of Ireland heretofore known as Eire...may [be referred to] as the Republic of Ireland.”^[15] The Ireland Act 1949 is a UK Act of Parliament which was intended to deal with the consequences of the then recently passed Republic of Ireland Act 1948 as passed by the Irish parliament (Oireachtas). ...

Hence, the Ireland Act formally provided for use of the Republic of Ireland as an alternative to the use of the name Eire in British law. Later the name Eire was abolished entirely in British law under the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1981.^[16] This has meant that the Republic of Ireland is the only name for the Irish state officially recognised in domestic UK law. Notwithstanding the Ireland Act, as suggested by Prime Minister Atlee, the British government would often continue to refer to the Irish state by other names such as the Irish Republic or Southern Ireland.^[17] The name Irish Republic has even sometimes been used in domestic UK legislation.^[18] The British press continue to regularly use Eire and Irish Republic to this day.

However, even with the Ireland Act and its acceptance of the Republic of Ireland as a name, a dispute over the names of their respective states was to rumble on between the UK and Irish governments. For the Irish, the Republic of Ireland was still not the name of the state, merely its description. The Irish government continued to insist that the name of the Irish state was Ireland. A report in The Times on 8 August 1949 (just a few months after the Republic of Ireland Act took effect), makes this clear, reporting that:^[19] is the 220th day of the year (221st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Indeed, with the passing of the Republic of Ireland Act, the Irish government gradually became more consistent in its practice. Rather than styling the state alternatively as Éire, the Republic of Ireland or Ireland, it began to consistently refer to the state as simply Ireland and itself as the Government of Ireland. The Irish state joined the United Nations in 1955 as Ireland over protests concerning its name by the United Kingdom.^[20] Similarly, the United Kingdom protested when the Irish state was admitted to the European Economic Community in 1973 as Ireland.^[21]

For its part, the Irish government also disputed the right of the British state to call itself the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. To the Irish government and many Irish people, the words "and Northern Ireland" in the name of the British state were offensive as they were perceived as enshrining the partition of the island of Ireland in the name of the British state. The name also ran against the Irish state’s territorial claim to Northern Ireland. The dispute over the names of their respective states was most apparent when the two states concluded bilateral treaties. For example, when the Anglo Irish Agreement was made in 1984 between the two states, the British text of the agreement gave it the formal title "Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Republic of Ireland" whereas the Irish government’s text of the very same agreement gave it the formal title ”Agreement between the Government of Ireland and the Government of the United Kingdom”.^[22] Northern Ireland (Irish: , Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a constituent country of the United Kingdom lying in the northeast of the island of Ireland, covering 5,459 square miles (14,139 kmÂ², about a sixth of the islands total area). ... The Anglo-Irish Agreement was an agreement between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland which aimed to bring an end to the Troubles in Northern Ireland. ...

Judicial ruling over names

The dispute over names was also apparent in the judicial arena. In the 1989 Irish Supreme Court case of Ellis v O’Dea, the Supreme Court unanimously condemned what they regarded as the “conscious and deliberate practice” of British courts in referring to the Irish state in extradition warrants as the Republic of Ireland and not Ireland (when issuing warrants in English). The court elaborated that while foreign courts were at liberty to issue such warrants in a foreign language, if they used the English language they had to refer to the state as Ireland. The court indicated that not to do so was to refuse to recognise the Irish constitution and that by virtue of the duty of the courts and of the Gardaí to uphold the Constitution such warrants should be returned for rectification.^[23] The following is an extract from the judgment:^[24]: A member of the motorcycle unit of the Garda SÃochÃ¡na. ...

Resolution

The dispute over the names of their respective states now appears to have been resolved. This resolution took place when the Belfast Agreement (or Good Friday Agreement) was concluded in 1998. That Agreement concerned a wide range of constitutional and other matters regarding Northern Ireland. Notably, as part of it, the Irish state dropped its legal claim to the territory of Northern Ireland. In the title of the Agreement, the two governments used their respective domestic law names, the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of Ireland. Some Unionist members of the British parliament objected strenuously to the use of the term the Government of Ireland. They proposed that the practice of referring to the Irish government as the Government of the Republic of Ireland should be continued. Their objections were not accepted. Responding for the British government in the House of Lords, Lord Dubs explained that the new practice of referring to the Irish state by the name Ireland:^[25] The Belfast Agreement (Irish: ), although more commonly known as the Good Friday Agreement (Irish: ), and occasionally as the Stormont Agreement was a major political development in the Northern Ireland peace process. ... This article is about the British House of Lords. ... Alfred Dubs, Baron Dubs of Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth is a United Kingdom politician. ...

So far there has been no domestic British legislation explicitly providing that Ireland may be used as a name for the Irish state for the purposes of domestic British law. While the UK's Ireland Act provides for use of the name Republic of Ireland in domestic British law, that legislation is permissive rather than mandatory so it does not mean Ireland cannot be used instead. However, some legal commentators have speculated that it may be necessary for the British government to introduce legislation to also explicitly provide for use of the name Ireland for the Irish state because under domestic British law the name Ireland might be interpreted as referring to the whole island of Ireland. There is no requirement to amend domestic Irish legislation.^[26] The Ireland Act 1949 is a UK Act of Parliament which was intended to deal with the consequences of the then recently passed Republic of Ireland Act 1948 as passed by the Irish parliament (Oireachtas). ...

Historical names

The Romans referred to Ireland as Hibernia. Following the Norman invasion, this became the Dominus Hiberniae, the Lordship of Ireland from 1171 to 1541, and the Kingdom of Ireland from 1541 to 1800. From 1801 to 1922 it was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, one of the Home Nations of the British Empire. True colour image of Ireland, captured by a NASA satellite on 4 January 2003. ... Coat of arms1 Capital Dublin Language(s) Norman French, Irish, Welsh, English Government Monarchy Lord of Ireland - 1171-1189 Henry II - 1509-1541 Henry VIII Lord Lieutenant - 1528-1529 Piers Butler - 1540â€“1548 Anthony St Leger Legislature Parliament of Ireland - Upper house Irish House of Lords - Lower house Irish House... This article is about the Irish kingdom existing from 1541 to 1800. ... This article is about the historical state called the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801â€“1927). ... Home Nations (often written as the common noun home nations) is a term used to refer to the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom â€” England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland â€” collectively but as separate entities, distinct from the United Kingdom as a state. ... For a comprehensive list of the territories that formed the British Empire, see Evolution of the British Empire. ...

Irish Republic (1919–1922)

In English, the revolutionary state proclaimed in 1916 and ratified in 1919 was known as the Irish Republic or, occasionally, the Republic of Ireland. Two different Irish language names were used: Poblacht na hÉireann and Saorstát Éireann, based on two competing Irish translations of the word republic: Poblacht and Saorstát. Poblacht was a foreign loan word, a simple Gaelicisation of republic. Saorstát, on the other hand, was a compound word based on two already existing Irish words: saor (meaning "free") and stát ("state"). Its direct, literal translation was "free state". Image File history File links Cropped_Easter_Proclamation. ... The Proclamation of the Republic, also known as the 1916 Proclamation or Easter Proclamation, was a document issued by the Irish Volunteers and Irish Citizen Army during the Easter Rising in Ireland, which began on 24 April 1916. ... Look up republic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

In his memoires, Thomas Jones, Prime Minister Lloyd George’s deputy cabinet secretary recalls an exchange on 14 July 1921 between the President of Dáil Éireann, de Valera and Prime Minister Lloyd George concerning the name of the Irish Republic in Irish:^[27] David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd George of Dwyfor, OM (January 17, 1863–March 26, 1945) was a British statesman and the last Liberal to be Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. ... The head of government under the DÃ¡il Constitution adopted by the First DÃ¡il of the Irish Republic in January 1919. ... A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. ...

The term Poblacht na hÉireann is the one used in the Easter Proclamation of 1916. However the Declaration of Independence and other documents adopted in 1919 eschew this title in favour of Saorstát Éireann. A slight variant of this title, Saorstát na hÉireann, was also sometimes used in later days as was the Latin Respublica Hibernica. The Easter Proclamation, officially referred to as the Proclamation of the Republic, was a document issued by the Irish Volunteers and Irish Citizen Army during the Easter Rising in Ireland, which began on 24 April 1916. ... The Declaration of Independence was a document adopted by DÃ¡il Ã‰ireann, the revolutionary parliament of the self-proclaimed Irish Republic, at its first meeting in the Mansion House, Dublin, on 21st January, 1919. ... For other uses, see Latins and Latin (disambiguation). ...

(For an explanation continuing usage of the term Irish Republic in the United Kingdom, see above. Some republicans also continue to use the term because they refuse to recognise the Anglo-Irish Treaty – see below). Irish republicanism is an ideology based on the Irish nationalist belief that all of Ireland should be a single independent republic, whether as a unitary state, a federal state or as a confederal arrangement. ... Signature page of the Anglo-Irish Treaty The Anglo-Irish Treaty, officially called the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was a treaty between the Government of the United Kingdom and representatives of the extra-judicial Irish Republic that concluded the Irish War of Independence. ...

Southern Ireland (1921–1922)

Southern Ireland was the name of the twenty-six county autonomous region of the United Kingdom established under the Government of Ireland Act 1920. It had a brief existence, being established in 1921 and superseeded the following year. The name Southern Ireland does not have any official status today but some people in Northern Ireland and Great Britain use the term. Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Capital Dublin Head of State King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Head of Government Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Chairman of the Provisional Government from Jan 1922. ... A county is generally a sub-unit of regional self-government within a sovereign jurisdiction. ... An Act to Provide for the Better Government of Ireland, more usually the Government of Ireland Act, 1920 (this is its official short title; the formal citation is 10 & 11 Geo. ...

Irish Free State (1922–1937)

During the negotiations on secession leading to the Anglo-Irish Treaty, Irish politicians wanted the state to be a republic, and its name to be the Republic of Ireland or the Irish Republic. However the British government refused to contemplate a republic because this would have entailed the Irish state severing the link with the British crown and ceasing to be a part of the British Empire. Instead, the parties agreed the state would be a self-governing Dominion within the British Commonwealth of Nations. This article is about the prior state. ... Signature page of the Anglo-Irish Treaty The Anglo-Irish Treaty, officially called the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was a treaty between the Government of the United Kingdom and representatives of the extra-judicial Irish Republic that concluded the Irish War of Independence. ... The United Kingdom is a unitary state and a democratic constitutional monarchy. ... For a comprehensive list of the territories that formed the British Empire, see Evolution of the British Empire. ... This article is about Dominions of the British Empire and of the Commonwealth of Nations. ... The Commonwealth of Nations as of 2008. ...

Because the Irish Republic had been known in Irish as Saorstát Éireann it was from this name that the name of the new state was derived. Saorstát Éireann was made the official Irish title of the new state, but its English title was not Irish Republic but the most direct, literal translation of its Irish name: Irish Free State. After the establishment of the Free State the Irish government often used the name Saorstát Éireann in documents in English as well as Irish. Despite the official title of the state, stamps of the period used the name Éire, a practice that is continued today.

Because the Irish Free State was not a republic, since 1922 the word saorstát has fallen out of use in Irish as a translation of republic. When the official description of the state was declared to be the Republic of Ireland in 1949 its official Irish description became not Saorstát Éireann but Poblacht na hÉireann.

Éire (1937–1949)

As mentioned above, Article 4 of the constitution of Ireland, gives the state its two official names, Éire in Irish and Ireland in English. These were also the names of the state during the preiod 1937-1949 but that period may be distinguished as the period during which it was common practice to refer to the state, even in the English language, as Éire. This Section concerns why this was so. This article is about the Irish-language name of the island called Ireland and the state of the same name. ... Image File history File links Cropped_euro_coin. ... Irish euro coins all share the same design by the hand of Jarlath Hayes, that of the harp, a traditional symbol for Ireland since the Middle Ages, based on that of the Brian Boru Harp, housed in Trinity College, Dublin, and said to have once been owned by ancient High... The Constitution of Ireland (Irish: Bunreacht na hÃ‰ireann)[1] is the founding legal document of the state known today both as Ireland and as the Republic of Ireland. ...

In May 1937, when President Éamon de Valera presented the first draft of the Constitution to the parliamentary committee on the Constitution, Article 4 simply provided: ”The name of the State is Éire”. There was no reference to Ireland at all. Opposition politicians immediately proposed that the word Ireland be substituted for the word Éire throughout the English text. They argued that Ireland was the name known by every European country; that the name should not be surrendered; that the name Ireland might instead be adopted by Northern Ireland; and that the choice of Éire might damage the status of the state internationally by drawing a “distinction between the state...and what has been known for centuries as Ireland”.^[28] Responding, President de Valera stressed that the Irish text of the constitution was to be the foundation text. In light of this, he said the name Éire was more logical and that it would mean an Irish name would become accepted even in the English language.^[29] However, he said he had "no strong views" and he agreed "that in the English translation the name of the state [would be] Ireland".^[28] The President of the Executive Council (Irish: UachtarÃ¡in na hArd-Chomhairle) was the head of government or prime minister of the 1922-1937 Irish Free State, and the leader of the Executive Council (cabinet). ... Northern Ireland (Irish: , Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a constituent country of the United Kingdom lying in the northeast of the island of Ireland, covering 5,459 square miles (14,139 kmÂ², about a sixth of the islands total area). ...

When President de Valera subsequently tabled an amendment to give effect to this concession, he proposed Article 4’s current wording: “The name of the State is Éire, or, in the English language, Ireland.” In doing so, he remarked that as “the Irish text is the fundamental text [it is as well] that Éire is used here and there.” With almost no debate, the wording was agreed to and subsequently became the law of the land.^[30] The Constitution of Ireland (Irish: Bunreacht na hÃ‰ireann)[1] is the founding legal document of the state known today both as Ireland and as the Republic of Ireland. ...

It is sometimes said that President de Valera wished to reserve the names Republic of Ireland or Irish Republic for the day when a united Ireland might be achieved. These names were not discussed in the parliamentary debates on the Constitution. However, the reason which President de Valera gave in the debates for omitting any reference to the word republic throughout the constitution was that he thought the constitution would gain broader support if it did not refer to a republic.^[31]

After the adoption of the Constitution, de Valera’s government generally encouraged use of the name Éire (rather than Ireland) but not always. His government also appreciated the significance of the name Ireland. So for example, when the Irish ambassador in Berlin, Charles Bewley sought instructions concerning the new name of the State, he was advised by Joseph P. Walshe, for decades the top civil servant in the Irish Department of External Affairs that:^[32] This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Joseph (Joe) Walshe was an Irish civil servant. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... The Department of Foreign Affairs (An Roinn GnÃ³thaÃ Eachtracha) is the government department of the Irish government that is responsible for promoting the interests of Ireland in the European Union and the wider world. ...

Indeed, while on the one hand encouraging the use of the name Éire, de Valera’s government sometimes insisted on the use of the name Ireland. This is considered further above. De Valera’s decision to generally use the name Éire was sometimes severely criticised as a poor choice of name. Some argued that it was confusing.^[33] Others said the name Éire might strengthen the claim of the government of Northern Ireland to the ancient name of Ulster for their state.^[34] However, the name Éire (generally misspelt as Eire) quickly became widely accepted in English. Neverheless, this only fuelled more criticism of the name, as once free in the English language, it evolved leading to what opposition politicians stated were "sneering titles such as Eirish".^[35] These criticisms were aired at length in the Oireachtas when the Republic of Ireland Act was being debated. De Valera’s use of the name Éire as well as the wording of Article 4 were sharply criticised. The Taoiseach of the day, John A. Costello said “that tremendous confusion ha[d] been caused by the use of that word Éire in Article 4. By a misuse by malicious people of that word, Éire, they have identified it with the Twenty-Six Counties and not with the State that was set up under this Constitution of 1937.”^[36] Despite these criticisms, de Valera initially called for the proposed Irish description of the state, Poblacht na h-Éireann to also be inserted into the English text of the Act in the same way both the Irish and English names of the state are used in Article 4.^[37] However, de Valera subsequently retreated from this position and in what may be seen as an implicit acceptance of the criticisms made of the wording of Article 4 itself, de Valera accepted that it was better not to also use the Irish description in the English text.^[38] Despite not changing the name, when the Republic of Ireland Act was passed, the name Éire quickly fell into disuse (except in the Irish language). However the name continues to linger on, particularly in the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland (Irish: , Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a constituent country of the United Kingdom lying in the northeast of the island of Ireland, covering 5,459 square miles (14,139 kmÂ², about a sixth of the islands total area). ... The Oireachtas is the National Parliament of the Republic of Ireland. ... The Republic of Ireland Act was an enactment of Oireachtas Ã‰ireann passed in 1948, which came into force on April 18, 1949 and which declared that the official description of Ireland was to be the Republic of Ireland. ... The Taoiseach (IPA: , phonetic: TEE-shock â€” plural: Taoisigh ( or ), also referred to as An Taoiseach [1], is the head of government or prime minister of the Republic of Ireland . ... For the member of Seanad Ã‰ireann from 1963â€“65, see John Costelloe John Aloysius Costello (20 June 1891 â€“ 5 January 1976), a successful barrister, was one of the main legal advisors to the government of the Irish Free State after independence, Attorney General of Ireland from 1926â€“1932 and Taoiseach... The Constitution of Ireland (Irish: Bunreacht na hÃ‰ireann)[1] is the founding legal document of the state known today both as Ireland and as the Republic of Ireland. ... The Constitution of Ireland (Irish: Bunreacht na hÃ‰ireann)[1] is the founding legal document of the state known today both as Ireland and as the Republic of Ireland. ...

Éire is also the only name of the Irish state to feature on a range of national symbols including the Official Seal of the President of Ireland, Irish stamps and Irish euro coins. However, when used in the English language, it is considered by many Irish people to be illiterate. A selection of Hong Kong postage stamps A postage stamp is evidence of pre-paying a fee for postal services. ... The Official Seal of the President of Ireland (Irish: Séala Oifigeamhail Uachtarán na hÉireann) was presented to the first President of Ireland, Douglas Hyde and every subsiquent president to be affixed to every ...order, commission, warrant, or other instrument. ... Irish euro coins all share the same design by the hand of Jarlath Hayes, that of the harp, a traditional symbol for Ireland since the Middle Ages, based on that of the Brian Boru Harp, housed in Trinity College, Dublin, and said to have once been owned by ancient High...

Colloquial names used in the state

The above discussion refers to the formal title of the independent Irish state. However, in informal speech and writing, its citizens refer to it colloquially as the Republic of Ireland, the Republic, or the South, generally, in order to distinguish it from Northern Ireland (itself known familiarly as the North.) This is common because the name Ireland can be ambiguous, referring equally to the island of Ireland and to the part of it which is the independent Irish state.

The name Éire is normally used by locals only when speaking Irish. Use of it when speaking English marks the speaker as having been brought up outside the state.

In writing, and occasionally in speech, the abbreviation ROI (that is, Republic of Ireland) is recognised as a short name for the state.

Irish republicans, and other supporters of reunification, often refer to the state as the Twenty-Six Counties or the Free State (a reference to the state's official name prior to 1937 - see above.) These names are pejorative and are intended to call into question the legitimacy of the state. The sensitivity of the naming issue meant that no name was used in the body of the text of the 1998 Belfast Agreement to describe the Irish state as opposed to its government or citizens. However, in the title to the Belfast Agreement, the official names of both the British and Irish states were used. Irish republicanism is an ideology based on the Irish nationalist belief that all of Ireland should be a single independent republic, whether as a unitary state, a federal state or as a confederal arrangement. ... The Irish Civil War (June 28, 1922 â€“ May 24, 1923) was a conflict between supporters and opponents of the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 6, 1921, which established the Irish Free State, precursor of todays Republic of Ireland. ... The Belfast Agreement (Irish: ), although more commonly known as the Good Friday Agreement (Irish: ), and occasionally as the Stormont Agreement was a major political development in the Northern Ireland peace process. ...

As noted already, the British press frequently uses misnomers for the state: Éire (incorrectly written as Eire) when writing in English, as well as Irish Republic and Southern Ireland (both obsolete since 1922). However, note that terms such as Irish Republic are often used colloquially in the state itself, although formally incorrect.

See also

Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Capital Dublin Head of State King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Head of Government Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Chairman of the Provisional Government from Jan 1922. ... There are a number of alternative names used for the region of the island of Ireland which remained part of the United Kingdom following the secession of the twenty-six counties which formed the Irish Free State in 1922 (now the Republic of Ireland). ... True colour image of Ireland, captured by a NASA satellite on 4 January 2003. ... In Irish mythology, Ã‰riu (), daughter of Ernmas of the Tuatha DÃ© Danann, was the eponymous patron goddess of Ireland. ...

References

^ The wording of Article 4 has been criticised. Early criticisms are discussed above More recently, in its report, the Constitution Review Groupin 1996 stated that that Article 4 was unnecessarily complicated and should be amended to read ”The name of the State is Ireland” with an equivalent change in the Irish text.
^ The Republic of Ireland Act, 1948 (Commencement) Order, 1949 (S.I. No. 27/1949) appointed 18 April 1949 (Easter Monday, the thirty third anniversary of the Irish Easter Rising) as the day the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 would come into force.
^ Seanad Éireann - Volume 36 - 15 December, 1948, The Republic of Ireland Bill, 1948—Committee and Final Stages.
^ See Football Association of Ireland and Irish Football Association.
^ See: Council Regulation (EC) No 920/2005. Until then, Irish was a treaty language, official to the extent that the EU’s founding treaties were (in addition to the other languages of the EU) drawn up in Irish and equally authentic in that language. Irish had not been an official EU working language.
^ Clause 7.1.1 of the Inter Institutional Style Guide[1].
^ Undoubtedly, the Irish government's desire to unite the territory of the island influenced its choice of the name Ireland for the state. A letter as early as 12 March 1932 from Joe Walshe to President de Valera is indicative of this. In it Walshe states: "I believe that you can achieve the Unity of this country within seven years and that we can have our complete independence without calling this country by any particular const[itutional] name. "Ireland" shall be our name, and our international position will let the world know that we are independent" in Ferriter, Diarmaid, Judging Dev, Royal Irish Academy 2007
^ ^a ^b ^c Circular dated 1 April 1949 from the Canadian Secretary of State for External Affairs to Heads of Post Abroad (Circular Document No.B38, 836. DEA/7545‑B‑40)
^ Manchester Guardian, 30 December 1937 Britain accepts new name for the Free State. Full text of British Government's communiqué cited in Clifford, Angela, The Constitutional History of Eire/Ireland, Athol Books, Belfast, 1985, p153.
^ Note: Under the Eire (Confirmation of Agreements) Act 1938 the name Eire, without the correct síne fada (accent) over the first E, was used. This practice of omitting the síne fada over the E was consistently adopted by the UK government and some Commonwealth countries.
^ Iain McLean and Alistair McMillan, State of the Union: Unionism and the Alternatives in the United Kingdom, 2001: 173, 181.
^ Oliver, JDB, Whats in a Name, in Tiley, John, Studies in the History of Tax Law, The Chartered Institute of Taxation, 2003.
^ A consideration given by the Canadians was “that any Canadian Government communication would normally be in English rather than in Gaelic, and that the use of the Gaelic word "Eire" in such a communication might therefore be inappropriate (just as it would scarcely be considered appropriate, in a communication written in English which mentioned the Government of Egypt, to speak of it as the Government of Misr, unless the Egyptian Government specially requested that the Egyptian form of the country's name should be used)”: Circular dated 1 April 1949 from the Canadian Secretary of State for External Affairs to Heads of Post Abroad (Circular Document No.B38, 836. DEA/7545‑B‑40)
^ C.M. 1(49) - Meeting held on 12 January 1949. C.M. 1(49).
^ Ireland Act 1949.
^ Austen Morgan, The Belfast Agreement, 2000, p99.
^ Immigration and Nationality Directorate, UK Government Website, EEA Nationals [2].
^ For example: The Irish Republic (Termination of 1927 Agreement) Order 1987.
^ John Davies, The Correct Name for Ireland[3]. Interestingly, the text of the 1949 treaty establishing the Council of Europe (registered by the British government with the UN) refers not to Ireland or the Republic of Ireland but to the Irish Republic. It is not known to the author whether the Irish government's text used the same terminology.
^ Austen Morgan, The Belfast Agreement, 2000, p99.
^ Austen Morgan, The Belfast Agreement, 2000, p99.
^ It is standard practice in the titles of international agreements between two contracting states for each state to put itself first in its own version (held by the other contracting state).
^ Ellis v. O'Dea 1989 IR 530 (per Walsh J.) and David Langwallner on Griffith College website
^ Extract from the judgment of Mr Justice Walsh in Ellis v. O'Dea 1989 IR 530
^ Hansard, House of Lords, 19 October 1998
^ For a detailed analysis and historical overview, see: Oliver, JDB, Whats in a Name, in Tiley, John, Studies in the History of Tax Law, The Chartered Institute of Taxation, 2003.
^ Jones, Thomas, Whitehall Diary, Vol. 3, 1947, p89
^ ^a ^b Dáil Éireann - Volume 67 - 25 May 1937, Bunreacht na hÉireann (Dréacht)—Coiste
^ On a later occasion de Valera was also to say that the name Éire would have helped to avoid confusion between the names of the island and the state. Although, clearly, where the Irish language was the medium of communication, the position would be the same (as Éire is both the name of the state and the island in the Irish language).
^ Dáil Éireann - Volume 68 - 9 June 1937 Committee on Finance. – Recommittal. To the proposed wording, an opposition politician had responded that it was ”rather a cumbersome name for the State”. To this, the President replied, that “it was a very short name. There is the equivalent in the English language.” There was no further debate. The name Ireland was substituted for Éire in a number of places throughout the English text of the Constitution although the name Éire remained in the highly rhetorical preamble but nowhere else in the English text. The latter reference was probably also motivated by President de Valera’s wish to emphasise the preeminence of the Irish text.
^ Seanad Éireann - Volume 36 - 15 December 1948, The Republic of Ireland Bill, 1948—Committee and Final Stages. It is highly likely that practical considerations such as the possible rammifications of automatic exclusion from the British Commonwealth were also among his considerations.
^ Catriona Crowe; Ronan Fanning; Dermot Keogh; Eunan O'Halpin; and Michael Kennedy: Documents on Irish Foreign Policy: 1937-1939 Vol. 5
^ Dáil Éireann - Volume 96 - 11 April 1945 - Ceisteanna—Questions
^ Senator Michael Hayes, Seanad Éireann Debates- Volume 25 - 14 May 1941. Indeed shortly before the Second World War, the Northern Ireland government considered adopting the name Ulster.
^ Dáil Éireann - Volume 96 - 11 April 1945 -Ceisteanna—Questions
^ Dáil Éireann - Volume 113 - 24 November 1948 The Republic of Ireland Bill, 1948—Second Stage. Costello also added that in “documents of a legal character, such as, for instance, policies of insurance, there is always difficulty in putting in what word one wants to describe the State referred to. [The new description of the State, the Republic of Ireland will provide] a solution for these difficulties, and those malicious newspapers who want to refer in derogatory tones to this country as Éire and who have coined these contemptuous adjectives about it, such as “Eireannish” and “Eirish”, and all the rest of it.” In a similar vein Costello also remarked that those ”who may be disposed to jeer at our State, as they have done before in connection with the word “Éire”, will look at this [Republic of Ireland Act] and see that in the English text—which is the only one they can understand—... the description of the State is “the Republic of Ireland”...I want to stop any further nonsense.” Costello also criticised de Valera for using the term the “Éire Republic..., a term of decision and scorn”.
^ Dáil Éireann - Volume 113 - 26 November 1948 The Republic of Ireland Bill (Resumed).
^ In the same Dáil debate, de Valera explained that a reason to use the Irish language description in the English text “would be if one wanted to bring in the use of the name Poblacht na hÉireann into ordinary speech, as the words “Taoiseach”, “Oireachtas”, “Dáil Éireann” have been brought into ordinary speech. Although I would like to see as many Irish words as possible come into the institutions of our State, I came to the conclusion that the Taoiseach is taking a better view. I think it is better for us in this case not to bring the Irish word into the English text; it is better to keep the English appellation, the English description, in the English text for some of the reasons the Taoiseach has mentioned."

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