Celtic mythology - goddess of whom we have little information. On the arrival in Ireland of the Mileseans, Amhairghin, a son of Mil, when approached by the goddess Eriu, promised that the land would always be known by her name.

Variant of Eire.
The wife of MacGreine and a queen of the Tuatha De Danaan whose name was given to Ireland afterwards, when she allowed Eremon and Amergin to lead the Milesians onto the isle. One moment she would be a wide-eyed beautiful queen, and the next she would be a sharp-beaked, grey-white crow.

She is a triple goddess with her sisters Banbha and Fodhla; unlike her sisters, she was gracious to the invaders, and so the island is said to be named for her. However, the name--Eriu/Eire or Erin/Eirennach--actually is thought to derive from the same root as the name for Iran--Aryan, thought to mean "noble." The story of the goddesses is an afterthought.