Máire (Irish: [ˈmˠaːɾʲə]) is the Irish language form of the Latin Maria, which was in turn a Latin form of the Greek names Μαριαμ, or Mariam, and Μαρια, or Maria, found in the New Testament. Both New Testament names were forms of the Hebrew name מִרְיָם or Miryam English language name Mary. It was and still is a popular name in Ireland, and is sometimes spelt in its Anglicised forms Maura and Moira. While the diminutive form - Máirín has inspired the anglicised Maureen. Historically, Maol Muire (devotee of Mary) was the reverential form used by the Irish, just as Giolla Phádraig (servant of Pádraig) was the reverential usage for what subsequently became Pádraig. Following the Norman Invasion of Ireland, Máire gradually replaced Maol Muire as a given name, as Pádraig gradually replaced Giolla Phádraig. Its overwhelming popularity was due to the Irish devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, but in recent times Irish religious devotion has waned and fewer girls are being named Máire or Mary.
Completely unrelated to this, Maire is also a female first name in Finland and Estonia.
Religious exception
Due to a very strong devotion of Irish Catholics to the Virgin Mary, a special exception is made for her name. In Irish, she is known as Muire and no one else may take that name similar to the way the name "Jesus" is not used in most languages. A possible exception is the name Máel Muire, used by both men and women, which denotes "Servant of Mary."
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
See also
- Máiréad, the Irish language form of Margaret (Mairead in Scottish Gaelic)
