Home Nations is a collective term with one of two meanings depending on the context. Politically, it means the nations of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales). In sport, if a sport is governed by a council representing the island of Ireland, such as the Irish Rugby Football Union, the term can refer to the nations of the constituent countries on the island of Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) and the collective Irish nation. This dual meaning has persisted in existence despite the partition of Ireland in 1922 as historically the term included all of Ireland, which between 1800 and 1922 was wholly a part of the United Kingdom. The term home countries (not to be confused with the "home counties") is also sometimes used, and is synonymous.[1]
The term is also used by British Cycling to refer to the seven representative teams of the United Kingdom and the Crown Dependencies (the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey) that participate in the Commonwealth Games.[1] The Crown Dependencies are not part of the United Kingdom.[2]
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In association football, the Home Nations originally referred to the then four national teams of the United Kingdom. These teams, England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales were referred to as the Home Nations. Today, the Football Association of Ireland organizes the Republic of Ireland national football team while the Irish Football Association organizes the Northern Ireland national football team.
Since 2005, a debate has taken place among the football associations that govern the sport in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, over whether they will allow their members to participate in the 2012 Summer Olympics as a single UK team. The English Football Association and the news media have used the term Home Nations as a short hand to describe the parties to the debate.[3][4]
In 1883, the first Home Nations Championship was played between England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. At this point in Ireland's history, the country was still under British rule and therefore these teams were referred to as the Home Nations.[5] In 1910, France officially joined the competition and it was renamed the Five Nations Championship. Despite the partition of Ireland into Northern Ireland and Irish Free State (including subsequent political developments leading to the Republic of Ireland), Ireland continues to have a single team representing the entire island and is therefore sometimes still referred to as a Home Nation - despite not being a Home Nation of the United Kingdom. When France was expelled from the international championship in 1932, the tournament reverted back to being known simply as the Home Nations tournament until the readmission of France immediately after the 1939 tournament, just before World War II caused its suspension until 1947. Since the admission of Italy in 2000, the tournament has been known by its current name, the Six Nations Championship.
Victory by any Home Nation over the other three Home Nations is a Triple Crown. The Home Nations also contribute players to a unified team known as the British and Irish Lions. Southern Hemisphere teams who beat all four home nations in one tour are said to have a Grand Slam Tour.[6]