# Irish: Lough Erin



## Faethin

There was a song (actually, an instrumental piece) by the Irish pop band the Corrs called _Erin Shores_, from their debut album _Forgiven, not Forgotten;_ it was rerecorded some years later for their _Unplugged_ album, but the tittle was altered to _Lough Erin Shores_. Now, I understand that _Erin_ is the Irish word (in the dative case) for Ireland, so the original title could be anglicised to _Ireland Shores_, in the sense of "the shores of Ireland".

But what could the second title mean? Isn't _Lough Erin_ translated as "Lake Ireland"? Therefore, what could "the shores of Lake Ireland" be reffering to?

Am I blatantly showing that I've no idea how the Irish language works?


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## Setwale_Charm

Faethin said:


> There was a song (actually, an instrumental piece) by the Irish pop band the Corrs called _Erin Shores_, from their debut album _Forgiven, not Forgotten;_ it was rerecorded some years later for their _Unplugged_ album, but the tittle was altered to _Lough Erin Shores_. Now, I understand that _Erin_ is the Irish word (in the dative case) for Ireland, so the original title could be anglicised to _Ireland Shores_, in the sense of "the shores of Ireland".
> 
> But what could the second title mean? Isn't _Lough Erin_ translated as "Lake Ireland"? Therefore, what could "the shores of Lake Ireland" be reffering to?
> 
> Am I blatantly showing that I've no idea how the Irish language works?


 

even if you are , you will be in a good club as there are very few who have a good clear idea of that.


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## CatStar

Hey there, 

You're spot on with your translation of Lough Erin, it would be Lake Ireland in English.

However as far as I'm aware there is no such lake in Ireland. There is a Lough Erne in Fermanagh in the north and perhaps that could be spelt as Erin sometimes. Sorry can't be of more help but I'm really not that sure!

Cat


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## ronanpoirier

Couldn't it be related to a legend or something? Some kind of an old Celtic story about Lake Ireland...  



PS.: That's song is really great  I love playing it on the violin but I thought it was by Fleetwood Mac (Ronan going totally off-topic) although the versions i know are by The Corrs.


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## Setwale_Charm

Maybe it is used figuratively: just a lake in Ireland or Ireland as a lake etc...?


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## ronanpoirier

Would that instrumental song have some kind of lyrics which no one knows? That could make things brighter to us somehow.


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## Faethin

Thanks for the replies!

No, as far as I know there are no lyrics for the song. I actually find quite interesting the fact about Lough Erne: it's almost as if they had actually mistaken Erin for Erne!


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## CatStar

Faethin said:


> Thanks for the replies!
> 
> No, as far as I know there are no lyrics for the song. I actually find quite interesting the fact about Lough Erne: it's almost as if they had actually mistaken Erin for Erne!


 

Well I've never actually seen _Lough Erne_ spelt as _Erin_ but you never know with Old Irish it could have been.That's an entirely different ball game.  

Do you know if The Corrs composed the tune themselves? Because they have borrowed tunes in the past and reworked them so if that's the case then it could be a very old tune from who knows what era of the Irish language. Ok I'm waffling here...night!

Cat


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## Faethin

As a matter of fact, my mum recalls having heard that same song a long time ago (She's 46 and she remembers having heard it many years ago), so my guess would be that the piece is indeed borrowed from some other source.


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