EIRE: Airy

In the House of Commons last week, Malcolm MacDonald, Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs, gravely announced that in State papers His Majesty’s Government would henceforth refer to the ex-Irish Free State as “Airy.” One or two parliamentary eyebrows rose but no M. P. questioned his statement. In Dublin, however, Eamon de Valera looked down his long nose with annoyance. The correct pronunciation of Eire, he firmly announced, was “Air’ah.”