"The UK and Ireland"

[spitfire]

Nope. ‘Rep. of Ireland’ for me.

Same, I've never used Éire for some reason. Mostly seems to be used by British people, to me Éire is the name of the whole island, ROI is the 26.

(And yes I know it's on the stamps.)

 

[kabbes]

To me, it’s just the Irish word for Ireland.

 

[Idaho]

Nope. ‘Rep. of Ireland’ for me.

Longer to write!

 

[Bus Honeygun]

Longer to write!

Same here. 'Eire.' That's that Christmas card done.

I also get annoyed by anyone who uses 'Devonshire', which I'm convinced is some kind of Rest of England Posh People attempt to emasculate us into their macro-colonial shire system.

Or maybe I'm being oversensitive.

 

[spitfire]

Even as an Irish republican myself and sensitive to the use of terms such as "mainland" and the like can't say "UK and Ireland" ever bothered me.

 

[Numbers]

Longer to write!

Quick to type even with the fada.

 

[Elpenor]

I also get annoyed by anyone who uses 'Devonshire', which I'm convinced is some kind of Rest of England Posh People attempt to emasculate us into their macro-colonial shire system.

Or maybe I'm being oversensitive.

With you on this! Apparently some pub in London is called The Devonshire which unfortunately makes me think of 2nd home owning English types

 

[Idaho]

With you on this! Apparently some pub in London is called The Devonshire which unfortunately makes me think of 2nd home owning English types

London used to have staging inns where you could get a coach to the various regions. They would usually be run and staffed by natives of the particular destination.

 

[Aladdin]

I was under the impression that there is a hangover of using Eire in the UK mainly because for a long time the British state refused to use 'Ireland' because of some spiteful reaction to independence / sensitivity to the hurt feelings of unionists.

Not sure about that.
Éire is a very old name .
From Éiriú an Irish Goddess.
Definitely covers the whole island.

Interestingly...
Inis na Fidbadh,” which means “Isle of the Woods.” was what the Vikings called Eire.

 

[Numbers]

With you on this! Apparently some pub in London is called The Devonshire which unfortunately makes me think of 2nd home owning English types

Worse than that mate, they claim to have the best pint of Guinness in London - me feckin arse do they.

I actually prefer, as a pub, the Queens Head opposite.

 

[Elpenor]

London used to have staging inns where you could get a coach to the various regions. They would usually be run and staffed by natives of the particular destination.

That’s interesting, presumably you could pick up messages, get a taste of
home etc at these places too

But I think the pub I mention is quite new

 

[moochedit]

Same here. 'Eire.' That's that Christmas card done.

I also get annoyed by anyone who uses 'Devonshire', which I'm convinced is some kind of Rest of England Posh People attempt to emasculate us into their macro-colonial shire system.

Or maybe I'm being oversensitive.

Never heard Devon with shire on the end before.

 

[lazythursday]

Not sure about that.
Éire is a very old name .
From Éiriú an Irish Goddess.
Definitely covers the whole island.

Interestingly...
Inis na Fidbadh,” which means “Isle of the Woods.” was what the Vikings called Eire.

Yes I know it's an old name and in the Irish constitution etc but there definitely was a refusal by the British government to use 'Ireland' hence Eire was used a lot in the media in the UK for many years and stuck with an older generation, mostly now dead I guess. My xenophobic old dad for instance.

 

[Aladdin]

Yes I know it's an old name and in the Irish constitution etc but there definitely was a refusal by the British government to use 'Ireland' hence Eire was used a lot in the media in the UK for many years and stuck with an older generation, mostly now dead I guess. My xenophobic old dad for instance.

Brief history.

How Ireland Got Its Name

Mention the name “Ireland” on any corner of the globe and most will think of green fields, pints of Guinness, live traditional music, great craic, storytelling, centuries of history, culture and more! That being said, it’s always interesting to explore the origins of a name as important as that of…

emerald-heritage.com

"The modern titles of “Éire” or “Ireland” have been in official use since the passing of the Irish Constitution by Eamon de Valera in 1937. Since then Éire has featured on everything from money, including Irish Euros, to postage stamps, passport seals and the seal of the President of Ireland."

People can use either Ireland or Éire. But the Irish for Ireland is Éire / Éireann. And many use this because it is in the Irish language and for some because it's part of the constitution.

 

[spitfire]

Yes I know it's an old name and in the Irish constitution etc but there definitely was a refusal by the British government to use 'Ireland' hence Eire was used a lot in the media in the UK for many years and stuck with an older generation, mostly now dead I guess. My xenophobic old dad for instance.

That's always the vibe I got from people using it as well, hence my hesitancy.

I have literally never heard anyone in Dublin say Éire, always Ireland. Not saying Aladdin is wrong, we lived in very different parts of Ireland.

 

[Aladdin]

That's always the vibe I got from people using it as well, hence my hesitancy.

I have literally never heard anyone in Dublin say Éire, always Ireland. Not saying Aladdin is wrong, we lived in very different parts of Ireland.

I got it from my grandfather* to be fair. He was very much an Irishian.
Spoke Irish
And said it was our country's name. He wasn't into the anglicised name
* Old IRA man.
We were reared that way. Irish language schools too
But I wasn't odd in doing it. Many people I know would write the same...and yes..in Dublin you'd hear and write "Ireland" more so than Éire. Kind of a kick back to the Pale.

 

[petee]

Nope. ‘Rep. of Ireland’ for me.

that's what my father used to write. he was anti-treaty and would not address a letter to ireland becuase there was no "ireland".

 

[Aladdin]

that's what my father used to write. he was anti-treaty and would not address a letter to ireland becuase there was no "ireland".

Funny how people were.
My grandad fought the Brits.. IRA and never used Republic of Ireland because he felt we had not achieved it fully. He only ever used Éire
he pretty much never accepted partition

 

[spitfire]

I got it from my grandfather* to be fair. He was very much an Irishian.
Spoke Irish
And said it was our country's name. He wasn't into the anglicised name
* Old IRA man.
We were reared that way. Irish language schools too
But I wasn't odd in doing it. Many people I know would write the same...and yes..in Dublin you'd hear and write "Ireland" more so than Éire. Kind of a kick back to the Pale.

Definitely not implying you are odd!

It's a funny one, we had basically no Gaeilge in our house, (although I did a month in Mayo when I was 14 which I fucking hated. Not the area, the whole gaeltacht school thing), so it would have been odd for us all to switch from Ireland to Éire. (My dad also active in republicanism). I think you're probably right about the Pale thing.

 

[spitfire]

that's what my father used to write. he was anti-treaty and would not address a letter to ireland becuase there was no "ireland".

As I referred to earlier, the name Éire to me means the whole island, not just the 26. One of the things that makes me (generally) not use it as well.

But I am not hugely bothered either way. and certainly wouldn't judge anyone else for using it. (Apart from the people lazythursday mentioned!)

 

[Aladdin]

Definitely not implying you are odd!

It's a funny one, we had basically no Gaeilge in our house, (although I did a month in Mayo when I was 14 which I fucking hated. Not the area, the whole gaeltacht school thing), so it would have been odd for us all to switch from Ireland to Éire. (My dad also active in republicanism). I think you're probably right about the Pale thing.

Of course.

And those Irish colleges were something else! They deserve a thread of their own!! Lol..
Trátaí Agus Leitís for tea. Every day

 

[spitfire]

Of course.

And those Irish colleges were something else! They deserve a thread of their own!! Lol..
Trátaí Agus Leitís for tea. Every day

I cashed in my years of living in England the following term to get out of doing Irish forever.

 

[Aladdin]

I just asked my mum who is 85. She uses Éire sometimes and Ireland other times. Never used ROI.
BUT I often see ROI as drop down options online. So I have used that..
My dad ..also mid 80s..said he writes Ireland. And then said "don't be thinking too much".

 

[skyscraper101]

I kick it old school and call it Hibernia

 

[xenon]

I use republic of Island to refer to, well the nation. but just Ireland when for example asking my northern Irish Mate when he’s coming back from visiting family. obviously he’s not an Ulster loyalist type.

 

[Aladdin]

I kick it old school and call it Hibernia

Nice one

 

[xenon]

Obviously that was supposed to say Republic of Ireland.

 

[A380]

Same, I've never used Éire for some reason. Mostly seems to be used by British people, to me Éire is the name of the whole island, ROI is the 26.

(And yes I know it's on the stamps.)

I can't imagine the Royal Mail would have any problem working out where to send a letter addressed as Dublin, Ireland or Cork Ireland (i,e to An Post) or indeed Belfast Ireland. In fact I bet a letter with the right postage posted in GB with just the street address and Dublin, Cork etc would get there. I don't know but I'd guess if you stuck a letter in an An Post box with just Glasgow or Cardiff after the street adress it would get there.

 

[A380]

In the UK Civil Service our house style was to use 'Ireland' for the Republic of Ireland and 'Northern Ireland' (or NI) for the six counties and 'Island of Ireland' for things delivered by bodies across the whole island (which was basically everything in our area of business). Not sure if that was just the Department I was in or a pan HMG thing.

 

[kebabking]

In the UK Civil Service our house style was to use 'Ireland' for the Republic of Ireland and 'Northern Ireland' (or NI) for the six counties and 'Island of Ireland' for things delivered by bodies across the whole island (which was basically everything in our area of business). Not sure if that was just the Department I was in or a pan HMG thing.

Same at MOD - Ireland is the geographic entity, NI/NI Government and RoI/Irish Government are the political entities.

The Irish government had a phase in the 2010's when it decided that the military organs of the RoI would be called by their Gaelic names - so we updated all our software, put the reminders in the briefing notes, and stopped referring to the 'Irish Army's, or 'Naval Service', and used the Irish/Gaelic terms instead, both in public facing and internal media.

Amusingly, we kept it up far longer than they did. Within a month or so, while the headline stuff was all still Óglaigh na hÉireann or An tAerchór the terms Defence Forces, or Air Corps was slipping back into use. After about 2 years, we amended the briefing notes and vocab guidelines - we still use Óglaigh na hÉireann as the headline in the more formal stuff, but after than it goes to Defence Forces, Air Corps etc..