Eriu

Eriu, also spelled Ériu, is a figure in Irish mythology commonly treated as the goddess or personification of Ireland. In medieval Irish literature she is depicted as one of three sister goddesses who embody the land—the others being Banbha and Fódla. Together they symbolize the island and its sovereignty, and in various tales the names Banbha, Ériu, and Fódla are used as poetic or political epithets for Ireland.

The name Éire is derived from Ériu, and it is the native Irish name for the country; Erin is the Anglicized form that appears in English poetry and prose. The figure of Ériu is closely linked with the land’s sovereignty and identity, and she is often presented in relation to the other land personifications in a way that emphasizes Ireland’s unity and distinct character.

In the mythological corpus, Ériu’s role is not that of a single historical figure but a symbolic representation of Ireland itself. Accounts about her vary across sources, reflecting the broader tradition of the Mythological and Cyclic cycles in Irish literature. She functions as a regional and national symbol within these stories, illustrating how the land was imagined and named in ancient and medieval Irish thought.

Today, Éire remains the official Irish name for Ireland, and Ériu is frequently invoked in discussions of Irish myth and cultural heritage. The concept of Erin as a poetic or literary form continues to appear in modern writing as a reference to Ireland.