Irish History Nerd

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree, And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made; Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee, And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow, Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings; There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow, And evening full of the linnet’s wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore; While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey, I hear it in the deep heart’s core.

Géibhinn

Ainmhí mé ainmhí allta as na teochreasa a bhfuil cliú agus cáil ar mo scéimh chroithfinn crainnte na coille tráth le mo gháir ach anois luím síos agus breathnaím trí leathshúil ar an gcrann aonraic sin thall tagann na céadta daoine chuile lá a dhéanfadh rud ar bith dom ach mé a ligean amach.

Where dips the rocky highland Of Sleuth Wood in the lake, There lies a leafy island Where flapping herons wake The drowsy water rats; There we've hid our faery vats, Full of berrys And of reddest stolen cherries. Come away, O human child! To the waters and the wild With a faery, hand in hand, For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.

Where the wave of moonlight glosses The dim gray sands with light, Far off by furthest Rosses We foot it all the night, Weaving olden dances Mingling hands and mingling glances Till the moon has taken flight; To and fro we leap And chase the frothy bubbles, While the world is full of troubles And anxious in its sleep. Come away, O human child! To the waters and the wild With a faery, hand in hand, For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.

Where the wandering water gushes From the hills above Glen-Car, In pools among the rushes That scarce could bathe a star, We seek for slumbering trout And whispering in their ears Give them unquiet dreams; Leaning softly out From ferns that drop their tears Over the young streams. Come away, O human child! To the waters and the wild With a faery, hand in hand, For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.

Away with us he's going, The solemn-eyed: He'll hear no more the lowing Of the calves on the warm hillside Or the kettle on the hob Sing peace into his breast, Or see the brown mice bob Round and round the oatmeal chest. For he comes, the human child, To the waters and the wild With a faery, hand in hand, For the world's more full of weeping than he can understand.

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree, And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made; Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee, And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow, Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings; There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow, And evening full of the linnet’s wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore; While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey, I hear it in the deep heart’s core.

Alone

The noon's greygolden meshes make All night a veil, The shorelamps in the sleeping lake Laburnum tendrils trail.

The sly reeds whisper to the night A name— her name- And all my soul is a delight, A swoon of shame.

I Have Not Garnered Gold

I have not garnered gold; The fame I found hath perished; In love I got but grief That withered my life. Of riches or of store I shall not leave behind me (Yet I deem it, O God, sufficient) But my name in the heart of a child.

Welcome to my inaugural post here at @irishhistorynerd.

I thought, what better place to start this blog than with Ireland herself, and all of her other names. So indulge me as I show you all the etymology and meaning behind the wonderful names of Ireland.

Starting with the most known,

Ireland: Ireland is made of two parts, 'ire' and 'land.' Ire doesn't come from the english word ire, meaning anger, but the Irish name for the country being Éire (Air-ah). The last three letters were taken and land was added to the end, making Ireland.

But where does Éire come from? Well that'd be from the Old Irish word Ériu, the matron goddess of the land of Ireland.

Éirinn and Éireann are both grammatical forms of Éire.

Erin originates from Éirinn and is notable for being a common poetic way to refer to Ireland. They personified Ireland as a beautiful woman named Erin in their poetry and songs.

Hibernia is another name used for personifying Ireland. The name is the Latin word for Ireland. It comes from the Roman Historians's Tacitus' book 'Agricola.' While Hibernia isn't much used as a name for Ireland anymore, its compound form is more commonly used to mean Ireland or Irish, e.g. Hiberno-English means the Irish dialect of english.

The Emerlad Isle, a common epithet for Ireland, first shows up in print in the 1795 poem by William Drennan, 'When Erin First Rose.' It references the beautiful green fields of the Irish countryside.

The Land of Saints and Scholars is another common epithet. Which goes to show the magnitude of influence the catholic church had on ireland. One of the most famous saints in the world, Saint Patrick, is the patron saint of ireland and is mythologically responsible for converting a large nu,ber of people to catholicism and driving evil (the snakes) away from the land. Our scholars date back to the dark ages, where monks would work tirelessly to transcribe copies of text in an age where literacy was at a shocking low. Our tradition of scholars continued on for centuries, with the monks being replaced by great writers and poets such as Padraig Pearse, W. B. Yeats, and James Joyce.

So there we go! the most common names for Éire and her land. I hope you enjoyed! Feel free to follow for more fun Irish knowledge.