Erin go Bragh ( /ˌɛrɪn ɡə ˈbrɑː/), sometimes Erin go Braugh, is the anglicisation of a Gaelic phrase, and is used to express allegiance to Ireland. It is most often translated as "Ireland Forever."[1]
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Erin go Bragh is an anglicisation of the Irish phrase Éirinn go Brách (pronounced [ˈeːɾʲɪn̠ʲ ɡə ˈbˠɾˠɑːx]), in which Éirinn is the dative of Éire (meaning "Ireland"). In standard modern Irish the phrase is Éire go Brách (pronounced [ˈeːɾʲə ɡə ˈbˠɾˠɑːx]). 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 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.[2] 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 [Tá] Éire go breá ("Ireland is (doing) fine/great/excellent").
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.
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.[3] 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.[4] 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. adopted 'Erin Go Bragh' as their motto[5] and it adorned 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. The flag can still be seen at a lot of Hibernian matches to this day.
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.
The phrase was paraphrased by a punning New York Times headline Erin go broke, written by economist Paul Krugman, referring to the 2008–2009 Irish financial crisis.[6] In the 2009 film The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day Norman Reedus's character Murphy MacManus phrases it as: "It's Irish for, 'you're fucked.'"[7] A Scottish song from the 19th century entitled "Erin-go-Bragh" tells the story of a Highland Scot who is mistaken for an Irishman. The first two verses[8] are:
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—19th Century Scottish song, [9] |
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A version of the song opens Dick Gaughan's 1981 album Handful of Earth.[10]