Editing Irish Republic (section)

== Name ==
{{further|Names of the Irish state}}

In English, the revolutionary state was to be known as the "Irish Republic". Two different [[Irish language]] titles were used: {{lang|ga|Poblacht na hÉireann}} and {{lang|ga|Saorstát Éireann}}, based on two alternative Irish translations of the word "republic". The word {{lang|ga|poblacht}} was newly coined by the writers of the [[Proclamation of the Irish Republic|Easter Proclamation]] in 1916.<ref>Liam de Paor. ''On the Easter Proclamation: And Other Declarations'' (1997) {{ISBN|1-85182-322-0 }}</ref> {{lang|ga|Saorstát}} was a compound word, based on the Irish words {{lang|ga|saor}} ("free") and {{lang|ga|stát}} ("state"). Its literal translation was "free state". The term {{lang|ga|Poblacht na hÉireann}} is the one used in the Proclamation of 1916, but the [[Declaration of Independence (Ireland)|Declaration of Independence]] and other documents adopted in 1919 used {{lang|ga|Saorstát Éireann}}.

{{lang|ga|Saorstát Éireann}} was adopted as the official Irish title of the [[Irish Free State]] when it was established at the end of the [[Irish War of Independence]], although this Free State was not a republic but a form of [[constitutional monarchy]] within the [[British Empire]]. Since then, the word {{lang|ga|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 {{lang|ga|Poblacht na hÉireann}}.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1948/act/22/enacted/ga/print.html |title=An tAcht Phoblacht na hÉireann, 1948 |access-date=12 May 2023 |archive-date=12 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230512101528/https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1948/act/22/enacted/ga/print.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In [[The World Crisis#Volume IV: The Aftermath 1918–1922 (published 1929)|his memoir]], [[Winston Churchill]] gives an account of the first meeting of [[Éamon de Valera]] (then the [[President of Dáil Éireann]]) with [[David Lloyd George]] (then the [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]]) on 14 July 1921, at which Churchill was present. Lloyd George was a native speaker of [[Welsh language|Welsh]] and a noted Welsh linguist, and as such was interested in the literal meaning of {{lang|ga|Saorstát}}. De Valera replied that it meant 'Free State'. Lloyd George asked, "What is your Irish word for Republic?" After what Churchill characterized as some delay and no reply from de Valera, Lloyd George commented: "Must we not admit that the Celts never were Republicans and have no native word for such an idea?"<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=BsnHAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Celts+never+were+Republicans%22 ''The World Crisis: The Aftermath''], Volume 4, Winston Churchill, Thornton, 1929, page 298</ref>

[[Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford|Lord Longford]] 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'."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=-8qfAAAAMAAJ&q=%22the+more+abstract+Poblacht%27%22 ''Peace by Ordeal: : An Account, from First-hand Sources, of the Negotiation and Signature of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, 1921''], Frank Pakenham Earl of Longford, New English Library, 1967, page 73</ref>