Ireland
Éire
The vast majority of placenames in Ireland are anglicisations, or phonetic renderings, of Irish language names. However, some names come directly from the English language. When the Irish Free State gained independence from the United Kingdom, some placenames were reverted to their Irish or anglicised forms. This includes:
- Bagenalstown, which became Muine Bheag
- Charleville, which became Ráth Luirc
- Kingstown, which became Dún Laoghaire
- King's County, which became County Offaly
- Philipstown, which became Daingean
- Queenstown, which became Cobh
- Queen's County, which became County Laois
- Maryborough, which became Port Laoise
Read more about this topic: English Exonyms
Famous quotes containing the word ireland:
“No people can more exactly interpret the inmost meaning of the present situation in Ireland than the American Negro. The scheme is simple. You knock a man down and then have him arrested for assault. You kill a man and then hang the corpse.”
—W.E.B. (William Edward Burghardt)
“It is often said that in Ireland there is an excess of genius unsustained by talent; but there is talent in the tongues.”
—V.S. (Victor Sawdon)
“They call them the haunted shores, these stretches of Devonshire and Cornwall and Ireland which rear up against the westward ocean. Mists gather here, and sea fog, and eerie stories. That’s not because there are more ghosts here than in other places, mind you. It’s just that people who live hereabouts are strangely aware of them.”
—Dodie Smith, and Lewis Allen. Roderick Fitzgerald (Ray Milland)