EIRE AND IRELAND
To the ordinary Irishman the name of his country remains unchanged, although in the Gaelic version of the new Free State Constitution it is "Eire" (pronounced "Airy"). Eire is the Gaelic word for Ireland, but its proposed adoption has led to strong criticism m some quarters. Dublin's Lord Mayor, Mr. Alfred Byrne, led the opposition. As a result, during the Constitution debate in the Dail, the President of the Free State Executive Council, Mr. Eamon de Valera, moved an amendment changing the country's name back to "Ireland" in the English text of the document but leaving it "Eire" in the Irish version. Now at dinners and other functions the Irishman will toast the Free State as "Eire" and sing "Eire" in the old songs and ballads, but when you ask him where he was born he will say "Ireland" just as before.
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Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 60, 8 September 1937, Page 13
Word Count
145EIRE AND IRELAND Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 60, 8 September 1937, Page 13
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