Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic. It is an island to the west of the island of Great Britain. 17% of the island of Ireland is part of the United Kingdom, of Great Britain, and Northern Ireland. But the other 83% of the island of Ireland forms the Republic of Ireland with no political or geographical connection to the island of Great Britain.
So if one island is called Ireland, and the other island is called Britain, how can both islands be called collectively "The British Isles"
Ireland is not, and never was part of the British isles. Ireland is a completely separate island. The Republic of Ireland is a sovereign independent state, a full member of the United Nations, and a full member of the E.U.
Why do so many people from all over the world make the mistake. of thinking that Ireland is part of the United Kingdom, and or part of The British Isles. Austraila, New Zealand, & Canada have for example Queen Elizabeth the 2nd, as there head of state. The head of state of Ireland is The President of Ireland. Michael D Higgins.
By the way the official name of the State of the Republic of Ireland is 'Ireland'
The above is 100% correct.
For people in Great Britain, "the British Isles" is simply a neutral geographical term, but many in Britain don't realise that usage of the term in Ireland, which has a long history of being subjugated and oppressed by forces originating in Britain (from which it relatively recently managed to free itself), is much more controversial.
That said, the history of the term is quite interesting. Ancient Greek sources (the Greeks were the earliest geographers in Europe, and, luckily for us, they liked to write things down) used the term Pretani to refer collectively to Ireland and Britain (and the Isle of Man, etc.), and used the individual terms Iouernia and Albion for Ireland and Britain respectively. So it seems that actually the British have appropriated the term which was originally inclusive (though of course a lot of complicated history happened betweentimes!).
I am English but most of my family are Scottish and Irish. Although I don't get offended if foreigners muddle up terms related to Britain and Ireland, I still correct them. I agree with Dave's points.
I didn't realise until a few years ago that "British Isles" was not a popular term in Ireland but I can see why and now I never use the term.
It seems to me that relations between the UK and the Republic of Ireland have been good in the last few decades but unfortunately, the thrice-accursed Brexit has cast a cloud over them.
The name Pretani seems to be a Celtic word (Proto-Celtic *qriteni-), generally considered to mean "pictured/painted people". The word can be found in modern Welsh as Prydain meaning "Britain" (in the modern sense), and in the Gaelic languages as Cruithne which refers to the Picts in Scotland, but also to a people mentioned in early Mediaeval sources as inhabiting parts of Ireland. Iouernia is a rendering of the Irish name Iweriu (meaning "fat/fertile land", modern Irish Éire, cf. the Welsh word for Ireland, Iwerddon), and of course gives the Latin Hibernia. Albion is still used as a poetical name for Britain in English, and is found in Irish as Albain and Scottish Gaelic as Alba, both meaning "Scotland".
Hi Dave, apart from the spelling mistakes.. :-)
I might just check wiki as well as to "British Isles" which is a geographical not a political term.
The republic of Ireland has two official names... Eire and Ireland (Article 4 of the Irish constitution).
I could go on, but have a great day.
