Erin

Erin

Erin is a Hiberno-English derivative of the Irish word "Éirinn". "Éirinn" is the dative case of the Irish word for Ireland - "Éire", genitive "Éireann", the dative being used in prepositional phrases such as "go hÉirinn" "to Ireland", "in Éirinn" "in Ireland", "ó Éirinn" "from Ireland". The dative has replaced the nominative in a few regional Irish dialects (particularly Galway-Connamara and Waterford). Poets and nineteenth-century Irish nationalists used Erin in English as a romantic name for Ireland. Often, "Erin's Isle" was used. In this context, along with Hibernia, Erin is the name given to the female personification of Ireland, but the name was rarely used as a given name, probably because no saints, queens, or literary figures were ever called Erin.According to Irish mythology and folklore, the name was originally given to the island by the Milesians after the goddess Ériu. Erin go bragh ("Éire go brách" in standard orthography, dative "in Éirinn go brách" "in Ireland for ever"), a slogan dating from the 1798 revolution, is often translated as "Ireland forever". The etymology of the word as it drifted throughout the Gaelic region gave rise to its use by the early Scots to both mean Ireland and "west" - as Ireland lies to the west of Scotland.

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