Erin Go Bragh (sometimes Erin Go Braugh) is the Anglicisation of a Gaelic phrase used to express allegiance to Ireland. It is most often translated as "Ireland Forever"[1] and pronounced /ˌɛrɪn ɡə ˈbrɔː/.
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Origin
Speakers of the Irish language assume that the phrase is a corruption of the Irish Éire go Brách or Éireann go Brách, which would be pronounced [ˈeːrʲə ɡə brɑːx]. The term brách is equivalent to "eternity" or "end of time", meaning the phrase may be translated literally as "Ireland until eternity" or "Ireland until the end (of time)". The form Éireann go Bráth or Éire go Bráth is also used in Irish and means the same thing.
It should be noted that the Scottish Gaelic phrase Èirinn gu Bràth (which means the same as the Irish phrase) is pronounced almost the same as the Anglicized phrase. It may seem surprising that a phrase which has come to so strongly represent Ireland could have come not from Irish (Gaeilge) but instead from Scottish (Gàidhlig). However, a Scottish song from the 19th century entitled "Erin-go-Bragh" may have had something to do with this unusual progression. It tells the story of a Highland Scot who is mistaken for an Irishman. The first two verses[2] are:
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The standardized spelling in modern Irish is Éire go Brách; however, Éirinn (which survives as the dative form in the modern standard) is the form historically used by native speakers and is the source of the Anglicized Erin. This linguistic shift (dative forms replacing nominative) was common among Irish nouns of the fifth declension.[4]
Other recent derivative spellings include Érin go Brea. This is sometimes translated as "Ireland the beautiful" - based on a loose translation of "go breá" as "is beautiful". However, this derivation and translation are not supported in the phrase's use as a war cry, nor in the language (in Irish, the "go" preposition, meaning "until" when following a dative OR nominative noun, does not readily lend itself to this translation).
Usage
Anglo-Irish usage
From the emergence of the Irish Patriot Party and its chequered success after 1780, a number of groups such as the Irish Whigs used phrases and slogans like "Erin go bragh" to proclaim an Irish identity, even though the users may not have been Irish speakers. By the time of the 1798 rebellion, the famous London cartoonist James Gillray cruelly portrayed the Patriot leader Henry Grattan as a rebel leader shouting "No Union" (no union with Britain) and "Erin go Brach". Grattan was not a rebel in 1798 but suffered in the aftermath for his liberal views.
Emigrant nationalism
In time, the phrase became Anglicized. By 1847, it was already in use as "Erin Go Bragh". That year, a group of Irish volunteers, including U.S. Army deserters, joined the Mexican side in the U.S.–Mexican War. These soldiers, known as Los San Patricios, or Saint Patrick's Battalion, flew as their standard a green flag with a harp on it, with the motto "Erin Go Bragh" underneath[5]. Variations on this flag design have been used at different times to express Irish nationalism.
By 1862, there was an emigrant ship operated by the Black Ball Line called the Erin go Bragh, which had the dubious honour of making the longest voyage up to that time, sailing from Britain to Moreton Bay, Australia, a 196-day journey.[6] She suffered many dead on the voyage, according to an unpublished contemporary account and, coincidentally, arrived in the same week that Black Ball's Young Australia completed the fastest crossing.
In the late 19th century, the Edinburgh Football club, Hibernian F.C. also had 'Erin Go Bragh' adorning their shirts. Founded in 1875 by Edinburgh Irishmen and the local Catholic Church, St Patrick's, the club's shirts included a gold harp set on a green background.
Sport
In 1887 a gaelic games club was set up in Clonsilla, Dublin under the name Erin go Bragh GAA. There is also an "Erin go Bragh GAA" club in Warwickshire, England.
Other uses
In modern times, the phrase is used more by Irish-Americans than in Ireland itself[citation needed] - as in the punning New York Times headline Erin go broke by economist Paul Krugman on the 2008–2009 Irish financial crisis.[7]
See also
References
- ^ "Encarta MSN Dictionary - "An expression (interjection) meaning Ireland forever"". Archived from the original on 2009-10-31. http://www.webcitation.org/5kwbrFM3c.
- ^ "Erin-go-Bragh" (19th century Scottish song)
- ^ Cran, Angela; Robertson, James (1996). Dictionary of Scottish Quotations. Mainstream. pp. 336. ISBN 1851588124.
- ^ what is this in Gaelic?
- ^ "Original Flag" of Batallón de San Patricio The "San-Patricios", "Los Colorados", San Patricio Company
- ^ Stray ships to Australia
- ^ Krugman article, April 2009
External links
- What does 'Erin go braugh' mean? (FAQ Farm)
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