Irish Republic - Name

Name

In English, the revolutionary state was to be known as the "Irish Republic". Two different Irish-language titles were used: Poblacht na hÉireann and Saorstát Éireann, based on two alternative Irish translations of the word republic. The word "poblacht" was a new word, coined by the writers of the Easter Proclamation in 1916. Saorstát was a compound word based on the Irish words saor ("free") and stát ("state"). Its literal translation was "free state". The term Poblacht na hÉireann is the one used in the Proclamation of 1916, but the Declaration of Independence and other documents adopted in 1919 used Saorstát Éireann.

Saorstát Éireann was adopted as the official Irish title of the Irish Free State when it was established at the end of the Anglo-Irish War (however this Free State was not a republic but a form of constitutional monarchy within the British Empire). Since then, the word saorstát has fallen out of use as a translation of republic. After the Irish state had changed its name to "Ireland", in 1949 the description of the state was declared "Republic of Ireland", while in Irish it was translated as Poblacht na hÉireann.

In The Aftermath, Winston Churchill gives an account of the first meeting of Éamon de Valera with David Lloyd George on 14 July 1921, at which he was present. Lloyd George was a noted Welsh linguist and as such was interested in the literal meaning of 'Saorstát'. De Valera replied that it meant 'Free State'. Lloyd George asked '...what is your Irish word for Republic?' After some delay and no reply, Lloyd George commented: 'Must we not admit that the Celts never were Republicans and have no native word for such an idea?'

However, Lord Longford (though not actually present) gives a different account in Peace by Ordeal: "The only doubt in de Valera's mind, as he explained to Lloyd George, arose from the current dispute among Gaelic purists whether the idea Republic was better conveyed by the broader ‘Saorstát’ or the more abstract ‘Poblacht’."