Máire

Máire (מִרְיָם‎ (Miryam).^[1]

Its meaning has been variously translated with around 70 possibilities,^[2] including "sea of ", "star of the sea", "drop of the sea", "rebelliousness", "exalted one", "beloved", and "wished for child".^[1] Patrick Woulfe (1923) thought that the meaning related to bitterness, related to grief, sorrow, affliction, possibly associated with childbirth, was most likely.^[2]

Máire was and still is a popular name in Ireland, and is sometimes spelt in its anglicised forms Maire, (without diacritics) Maura and Moira.^[1] The diminutive form Máirín has inspired the Anglicised Maureen.

Completely unrelated to this, Maire (pron. MIE-reh) is a feminine given name in Finland, said to derive from the Finnish word mairea, meaning "gushing" or "sugary".^[1]

Religious exception

In Ireland, the variant spelling Muire is used exclusively for the Blessed Virgin Mary mother of Jesus Christ.^[2] The name Máel Muire, used by both men and women, denotes "Servant of Mary".^{[citation needed]}

People with the given name

Maire Aunaste (born 1953), an Estonian journalist
Máire Breathnach, an Irish actress
Máire Breatnach, an Irish fiddle player
Máire Comerford (1892–1982), an Irish republican
Máire Drumm (1919–1976), the vice president of Sinn Féin and a commander in Cumann na mBan
Máire Geoghegan-Quinn (born 1950), an Irish politician
Máire Gill (1891–1977), a political activist
Maire Gullichsen (1907–1990), Finnish art collector and patronage
Máire Hendron, Northern Irish politician
Máire Herbert, Irish historian
Máire Hoctor (born 1963), a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician
Máire Lynch (fl. 1547), a member of the Tribes of Galway
Máire MacNeill (1904–1987), an Irish journalist, folklorist and translator
Máire McDonnell-Garvey (1927–2009), traditional Irish musician and writer
Máire Mhac an tSaoi (born 1922–2021), an Irish language scholar, poet, writer and academic
Máire Mullarney (1921–2008), an Irish environmentalist, educationalist and Esperanto advocate
Máire Nic an Bhaird (born 1982), a secondary school teacher and Irish language activist
Máire Ní Bhraonáin or Moya Brennan, an Irish singer
Máire Ní Chathasaigh (born 1956), an Irish harpist and singer
Máire Ní Chinnéide (1879–1967), an Irish language activist, playwright and first President of the Camogie Association
Máire Ní Ghuairim (1896–1964), an Irish teacher, author and Sean-nós singer
Máire O'Neill (1885–1952), an Irish actress of stage and film
Máire O'Neill (academic) (born 1978), an Irish data encryption academic
Máire Uí Dhroigneáin, an Irish actress
Máire Whelan, an Irish barrister and senior counsel

Other uses

Máire was the pen name of the Irish author Séamus Ó Grianna

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Singh, N. Pravenchandra (18 January 2024). "Maire". MomJunction. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Woulfe, Patrick (1923). "Muire". Irish Names and Surnames. Retrieved 21 January 2024.