What Do You Call Someone From Ireland? (Answered!)

Someone from Ireland is called Irish. This is the case whether they come from Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland, though they are not strictly the same legal nationality. Ireland is comprised of a few different ethnic groups today, though white Irish is by far the largest. A considerable Irish diaspora also complicates the question somewhat.

So, the simplest answer is that if someone is from Ireland in any sense then they are Irish, whether that’s the ROI or Northern Ireland.

On the other hand, Ireland is not an ethnic monolith, and so large parts of the population may feel something else to be true of whom they are.

Let’s find out more.

In This Article

What is someone from Ireland called?

Someone from Ireland is called Irish.

This is the simplest and most straightforward way of looking at it, and most people of Irish heritage will consider themselves to be Irish.

The question is a little more complicated than that overall, but Ireland comparatively is quite simple in this regard compared with other nations.

Most of the Irish population are ethnically Irish, though there are certainly a few subgroups within that classification.

Someone may consider themselves Irish because they live in the country or because they are descended from people who do.

The largest ethnic group in Ireland are the white Irish, who comprise around 82% of the population, or about 3.8 million people.

These are the people who would most closely be associated with “pure” Irish identity, though this is not to exclude others from such a classification.

These people would perhaps feel themselves most closely associated with Irish identity.

Other white backgrounds then make up around 10% of the population, and Asians not from China making up a further 1.7%.

Other and mixed backgrounds are then around 1.5%.

Importantly, Irish travellers represent a distinct ethnic group today.

Though they are ultimately descended from the same general Irish population, they are considered a distinct group today.

They represent around 0.7% of the Irish population, though importantly there’s also a fairly wide traveller diaspora around the world.

Around 15,000 are estimated to live in Britain.

Of course, there is also a widespread Irish diaspora too, but we’ll look at that shortly.

The overall point is that national identity isn’t always as simple as we might think.

We understand this today largely in terms of one’s association with a nation state, and their legal citizenship; but this is a more recent invention and the picture of an individual’s identity may be more complex.

Where does the name “Ireland” come from?

Importantly, there is a distinction between what Ireland is called in the native Irish language and what it’s called in English, but we’ll look at that shortly.

The name “Ireland” itself is generally accepted to have originated in the 12^th Century, in Anglo-Norman, as a Celtic and Germanic hybrid word. “Land”, naturally, derives from Old English; the “Ire” part derives from “Ériu,” a goddess of Irish mythology who is attested as far back as the 9^th Century.

The precise etymology of this name is not widely agreed on, though it may derive from a Proto-Indo-European wording relating to flowing water.

In any case, these words are where the name Ireland comes from.

What about the Irish name for Ireland, then?

What do Irish people call Ireland?

While Irish Gaelic has seen a huge renaissance in use in recent years in Ireland, it’s worth clarifying that the majority of people in Ireland still speak English.

So, naturally, most Irish people just call the country Ireland, and don’t use a different name.

With that said, there of course is a Gaelic Irish name for the country which Gaelic speakers will prefer to use.

The Irish name for Ireland is Éire; this is the name both for the island itself as a whole and the sovereign nation of Ireland.

There is, then, an important distinction between Northern Ireland and the ROI in this sense.

Some people might only say Éire when talking about the Republic of Ireland, whereas others just use it for the whole island.

Of course, this latter is the more common way that it’s used, as though Northern Ireland is distinct in a legal sense, many still see Ireland as at the very least being culturally unified.

This, though, is a far more complex question than we have time to tackle!

Where do Irish people live?

The other important point to keep in mind is that there is a huge Irish diaspora around the world that can influence people’s sense of Irish identity.

There is an estimated 70-80 million Irish people worldwide, with around 7 million spread through Northern Ireland and the ROI.

Around 36 million live in the United States, and excluding Northern Ireland there are around 14 million living in the U.K.

A further 7 million live in Australia.

All of these people may consider themselves to be Irish, or they may feel more kin with the country they have moved to—it’s often a highly individual question.

So, again, the short answer is that someone from Ireland is Irish.

On the other hand, many people of Irish nationality may feel some other part of their ethnic or cultural identity is more important to who they are.

Our modern notion of the nation state is the simplest way of interpreting this question as outsiders, but on the other hand this may not always be the best term for an Irish person.

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Founder - @PollyWebster

Polly Webster is the founder of Foreign Lingo and a seasoned traveler with a decade of exploration under her belt.

Over the past 10 years, she has journeyed to numerous countries around the globe, immersing herself in diverse cultures, traditions, and languages.

Drawing from her rich experiences, Polly now writes insightful articles about travel, languages, traditions, and cultures, sharing her unique perspectives and invaluable tips with her readers.

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