Éire (Irish: [ˈeːɾʲə] (listen)) is Irish for "Ireland", the name of both an island in the North Atlantic and the sovereign state of the Republic of Ireland which governs 84% of the island's landmass. The latter is distinct from Northern Ireland, which covers the remainder of the northeast of the island. The same name is also sometimes used in English (English: /ˈɛərə/ AIR-ə).
The modern Irish Éire evolved from the Old Irish word Ériu, which was the name of Ireland and of a Gaelic goddess. Ériu...