Erin Go Bragh - Origin

Origin

Erin go Bragh is an anglicisation of the Irish phrase Éirinn go Brách (pronounced ), in which Éirinn is the dative of Éire (meaning "Ireland"). In standard modern Irish the phrase is Éire go Brách (pronounced ). It is probable that the English version was taken from what was a "dative" context, such as Go bhfanad in Éirinn go brách ("May I stay in Ireland for ever") or Go bhfillead go hÉirinn go brách ("May I go back to Ireland for ever").

Alternatively, given that in a few local dialects (particularly in Waterford Irish and South Connacht Irish) Éirinn has replaced Éire as the ordinary name for Ireland, it could be that the phrase was taken from a speaker of such a dialect. This replacement of the nominative by the dative is common among Irish feminine and some masculine nouns of the second and fifth declensions, and is most widespread in the two dialect areas mentioned. The word brách is an adjective/nominal which is equivalent to "for ever", "eternal", "always", "still", and conveys the global semantics of "unchanging"—such as in the phrases Fan go brách ("Just wait - don't move - be patient and wait a bit more") or fuair sé an litir agus as go brách leis go dtí an sagart chun í a thaispeáint dó ("he got the letter and without waiting off with him to the priest to show him it").

A phrase confused with Erin go Bragh is Érin go Breá. This is actually Éire go breá ("Ireland is (doing) fine/great/excellent").

Read more about this topic:  Erin Go Bragh

Famous quotes containing the word origin:

    Each structure and institution here was so primitive that you could at once refer it to its source; but our buildings commonly suggest neither their origin nor their purpose.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    Our theism is the purification of the human mind. Man can paint, or make, or think nothing but man. He believes that the great material elements had their origin from his thought.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed,—a, to me, equally mysterious origin for it.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)