True-colour satellite image of Ireland, known in Irish as Éire.

Éire (ⁱ/ˈɛərə/; Irish: [ˈeːɾʲə] ( listen)) is the Irish name for the island of Ireland and the sovereign state of the same name.

Etymology[link]

The modern Irish Éire evolved from the Old Irish word Ériu, which was the name of a Gaelic goddess. Ériu is generally believed to have been the matron goddess of Ireland, a goddess of sovereignty, or simply a goddess of the land. The origin of Ériu has been traced to the Proto-Celtic reconstruction *Φīwerjon- (nominative singular Φīwerjū < Pre-Proto-Celtic -jō).^[1] This suggests a descent from the Proto-Indo-European reconstruction *piHwerjon-, likely related to the adjectival stem *piHwer- (cf. Sanskrit pīvan, pīvarī and pīvara meaning "fat, full, abounding"). This would suggest a meaning of "abundant land".

This Proto-Celtic form became Īweriū or Īveriū in Proto-Goidelic.^[2] It is highly likely that explorers borrowed and modified this term. During his exploration of northwest Europe (circa 320 BCE), Pytheas of Massilia called the island Ierne (written Ἰέρνη). In his book Geographia (circa 150 CE), Claudius Ptolemaeus called the island Iouernia (written Ἰουερνία). Based on these historical accounts, the Roman Empire called the island Hibernia.

Thus, the evolution of the word would follow as such:

• Proto-Celtic *Φīwerjon- (nominative singular *Φīwerjū)
  • Proto-Goidelic *Īweriū or *Īveriū
    • Old Irish Ériu
      • Modern Irish Éire

Another etymology is from the Gaelic:

• ì (island) + thairr (west) + fónn (land), which together give ì-iar-fhónn, or "westland isle"^[3]

This is similar in meaning to the Norse name for Irish people, "west men", which subsequently gave its name to the Icelandic island of Vestmannaeyjar.

[edit] Difference between Éire and Erin

While Éire is simply the name for Ireland in the Irish language, and sometimes used in English, 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, the case that (in the modern Gaelic languages) 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 of a sentence. Erin derives from Éirinn (pronounced [ˈeːɾʲɪɲ] ( listen)), the Irish dative case of Éire, which has replaced the nominative case in Déise Irish (and some non-standard sub-dialects elsewhere), in Scottish Gaelic (where the usual word for Ireland is Èirinn) and Manx (a form of Gaelic), where the word is spelled Nerin, with the initial n- is probably in origin a fossilisation of the preposition in/an "in" (cf. Irish in Éirinn, Scottish an Èirinn/ann an Èirinn "in Ireland"). The genitive case Éireann is used in the Gaelic forms of the titles of companies and institutions in Ireland e.g. Iarnród Éireann (Irish Rail), Dáil Éireann (Irish Parliament) or Poblacht na hÉireann (The Republic of Ireland).

Éire as a state name[link]

Article 4 of the Irish constitution adopted in 1937 states that Éire is the name of the state, except in the English language, where it is Ireland.^[4] The Constitution's English-language preamble also described 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;^[5] 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. Before the 1937 Constitution, "Saorstát Éireann" (the Irish name of the Irish Free State) was generally used.

Irish Oak torpedoed mid-Atlantic, oil by Kenneth King, showing "EIRE" prominently

During the Emergency (as World War II was known), Irish ships had "EIRE" (and the Irish tricolour) painted large on their sides and deck, to identify them as neutrals.

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",^[6] 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".^[7] "EIR" is also shown in other legislation such as the car insurance statutory instrument no. 383 of 1952 and no. 82 of 1958.^[8][9]

Under the 1947 Convention Irish-registered aircraft have carried a registration mark starting "EI" for Éire.

From January 2007, the Irish government nameplates at meetings of the European Union have borne both Éire and Ireland, following the adoption of Irish as a working language of the European Union.

Use of Eire in Britain and the USA[link]

In 1938 the British government provided in the Eire (Confirmation of Agreements) Act 1938 that British legislation could henceforth refer to the Irish Free State as "Eire" (but not as "Éire"). The 1938 Act was repealed in 1981, and the term is now rarely used in modern British English.^[10] It is still seen on some airport signage in 2011: Liverpool John Lennon Airport has an arrivals area for "Eire and Channel Islands".

"Eire" is generally deplored by Irish language speakers, partly because it is a misspelling and partly because "eire" can also mean a burden, load or encumbrance, giving a slightly pejorative nuance to the name of the island and/or the state.^[11]

Founded in 1937, the Eire Society of Boston is an influential Irish-American group.^[12]

Other uses[link]

Éire has also been incorporated into the names of Irish commercial and social entities, such as Eircom Group plc (formerly "Telecom Éireann") and its former mobile phone network, Eircell.^[13] 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.^[14] According to the Dublin Companies Registration Office in 2008, over 500 company names incorporate the word Éire in some form.^[15]

Sometimes the incorporation is humorous or ironic, such as the pop group named "ScaryÉire",^[16] or Cormac Ó Gráda's "Éirvana" paper in 2007 on the Celtic Tiger economy.^[17]

Footnotes[link]

Bibliography[link]

Look up Éire in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• 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) ISBN 1-901362-17-5
• Alan J. Ward, The Irish Constitutional Tradition: Responsible Government and Modern Ireland 1782–1992 (Irish Academic Press, 1994) ISBN 0-7165-2528-3

Saint Anne
Greek icon of Saint Anne and Mary, by Angelos Akotantos
Mother of the Virgin, Mystic, Maternal Heroine, Woman of Amram
Born	c. 1st century B.C.E.
Honored in	Christianity Islam Aglipayan Church
Feast	July 26 (Western calendar) and July 25 (Eastern calendar)
Attributes	Book, door, with Mary, Jesus or Joachim
Patronage	carpenters; childless people; equestrians; grandparents; homemakers/housewives; lace makers; lost articles; Fasnia(Tenerife); Mainar; Detroit; miners; mothers; moving house; old-clothes dealers; poverty; pregnancy; seamstresses; stablemen; sterility

Saint Anne (also Ann or Anna, from Hebrew Hannah חַנָּה, meaning "favor" or "grace") of David's house and line, was the mother of the Virgin Mary and grandmother of Jesus Christ according to Christian and Islamic tradition. English Anne is derived from Greek rendering of her Hebrew name Hannah. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels or the Qur'an, and her name and that of her husband Joachim come only from New Testament apocrypha, of which the Protoevangelium of James, written perhaps around 150, seems to be the earliest that mentions them.

Church tradition[link]

The story bears a similarity to that of the birth of Samuel, whose mother Hannah had also been childless. Although Hanna receives little attention in the Western church prior to the late 12th century,^[1] dedications to Hanna in the Eastern church occur as early as the 6th century.^[2] In the Eastern Orthodox Churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, she is revered as Hanna. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, Hanna, is ascribed the title Forbear of God, and both the Birth of Mary and the Dedication of Mary to the Temple are celebrated as two of the Twelve Great Feasts. The Dormition of Hanna is also a minor feast in the Eastern Church. In Protestant tradition it is held that Martin Luther chose to enter religious life as a monk after receiving heavenly aid from St. Anne.

Islamic view of Anne[link]

Anne (Arabic: Hannah) is also a revered woman in Islam and is recognized as a highly spiritual woman as well as the mother of Mary. The daughter of Faqud, Hannah was childless until her old age. She saw a bird feeding its young while sitting in the shade of a tree, which awakened her desire to have children of her own. She prayed for a child and eventually conceived. Her husband, known as Imran in the Qur'an, died before the child was born. Expecting the child to be male, Hannah vowed to dedicate him to isolation and the service in the Temple.^{[N 1][3][4]} However, Hannah bore a daughter instead, and she named her Mary. Her words ^{[N 2]} after the birth of Mary reflect her status as a great mystic. Hannah wanted a son, but she realized that the daughter was God's gift to her.^[3][4]

Legends[link]

Varying theologians have believed either that Joachim was Anne's only husband or that she was married thrice. Ancient belief, attested to by a sermon of St John Damascene, was that Anne married once. In late medieval times, legend held that Anne was married three times, first to Joachim, then to Clopas and finally to a man named Solomas and that each marriage produced one daughter: Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary of Clopas, and Mary Salomae, respectively.^[5] The sister of Saint Hanna was Sobe who was the mother of Saint Elizabeth.

Similarly, in the 4th century and then much later in the 15th century, a belief arose that Mary was born of Anne by virgin birth.^[6] Those believers included the 16th century Lutheran mystic Valentine Weigel who claimed Anne conceived Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. This belief was condemned as an error by the Catholic Church in 1677. Instead, the Church teaches that Mary was conceived in the normal fashion, but that she was miraculously preserved from original sin in order to make her fit to bear Christ. The conception of Mary free from original sin is termed the Immaculate Conception—which is frequently confused with the Virgin Birth or Incarnation of Christ.

In the fifteenth century, the Catholic cleric Johann Eck related in a sermon that St Anne's parents were named Stollanus and Emerentia. The Catholic Encyclopedia (1907) regards this genealogy as spurious.^[7]

Anne in art[link]

Fresco of Saint Anne in Serbian Orthodox church.

The iconographic subject of Joachim and Anne The Meeting at the Golden Gate fitted both views, and was a regular component of artistic cycles of the Life of the Virgin. The couple meet at the "Golden Gate" of Jerusalem and embrace. They are aware of Anne's pregnancy, of which they have been separately informed by an archangel. For those believing in the virgin birth of Mary, this moment stood for her conception, and the feast was celebrated on the same day as the Immaculate Conception. Art works representing the Golden Gate and the events leading up to it were influenced by the narrative in the widely read Golden Legend of Jacobus de Voragine. The Birth of Mary, the Presentation of Mary and the Marriage of the Virgin were usual components of cycles of the Life of the Virgin in which Anne is normally shown.

Anne is never shown as present at the Nativity of Christ, but is frequently shown with the infant Christ in various subjects. She is sometimes believed to be depicted in scenes of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple and the Circumcision of Christ but in the former case this likely reflects a misidentification through confusion with Anna the Prophetess. Anna is described in Luke's Gospel as a holy widow who recognizes Jesus as the Messiah at his Presentation, along with Simeon the Righteous and both frequently appear in artistic depictions of the story. There was a tradition that Anne went (separately) to Egypt and rejoined the Holy Family after their Flight to Egypt. Anne is not seen with the adult Christ, so was regarded as having died during the youth of Jesus.^[8] Anne is also shown as the matriarch of the Holy Kinship, the extended family of Jesus, a popular subject in late medieval Germany, some versions of these pictorial and sculptural depictions include Emerentia who was reputed in the 15th Century to be Anne's mother. In modern devotions, Anne and her husband are invoked for protection for the unborn.

Another typical subject has Anne teaching the Virgin Mary how to read (see gallery below).

Patronage[link]

Ann is the patron saint of the following places:^{[citation needed]} Detroit, Michigan;^[9] Brittany, France; Castelbuono, Sicily, Italy; Quebec and the Mi'kmaq peoples of Canada; Fasnia; Adjuntas, Puerto Rico; Norwich, Connecticut; Santa Ana Pueblo; Santa Ana, El Salvador; Jucuarán, El Salvador; Seama, New Mexico; Taos, New Mexico; Chiclana de la Frontera, Spain; Marsaskala; Tudela, Navarre; Philippines, where the National Shine of St. Anne is in the poblacion of Hagonoy, Bulacan,Santa Ana, Taguig City; Santana, São Paulo, Brazil; Saint Anne, Illinois; and places in Malaysia and South Vietnam. She is also the patron saint of horseback riders, housewives, grandmothers, cabinet makers, unmarried women, women in labor and miners.

Düren has been the main place of pilgrimage for Anne since 1506, when Pope Julius II decreed that her relics should be kept there.

Cities[link]

The city of Santa Ana, California was named in her honour. Many schools and places of worship are named after St Anne, the most famous being a parish church and primary school in Caversham, Reading.

Gallery[link]

• 

  Coptic, 8th century

• 

  German, 15th century. Anne holds Mary and Christ

• 

  German, 15th century, Legends of St Anne

• 

  Presentation of Mary at the Temple

• 

  German, 16th century. Relief of the St. Annes Head, Annakirche Dueren

• 

  Annunciation to Anne mosaic, 12th century, Chora Church, Istanbul

• 

  An Anna Selbdritt in the Cathedral Museum of the Church of Santiago Compostela

• 

  A Belgian Anna Selbdritt (labeled Ste Anne Trinitaire by the museum)

• 

  A Spanish Anna Selbdritt influenced ultimately by Greek "Hodegetria" icons

• AnnaSelbdrittMexico.jpg

  An Anna Selbdritt from Oaxaca, Mexico

• AnneGiuLungara.jpg

  St. Anne Teaching the Virgin to Read, Church of San Giuseppe alla Lungara, Rome

• 

  St. Anne Teaching the Virgin to Read, Church of St Andrew by the Wardrobe, London

• 

  St. Anne Teaching the Virgin to Read, Parish church of St.Ulrich in Ulrichsberg, 1722

See also[link]

• Anna (Bible)

Notes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Saint Anne

• Saint Anne at Patron Saints Index

Wikisource has the text of the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia article St. Anne.

• Brief American Catholic article on "Sts. Joachim and Ann"
• "Anna, Grandmother of Jesus" by Claire Heartsong
• St. Anne page at Christian Iconography
• "Here Followeth the Nativity of Our Blessed Lady" from the Caxton translation of the Golden Legend
• The Protevangelium of James
• The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew