When Ireland’s first air service was still two years away, it was given its now-famous name. Aer Lingus Teoranta was officially founded on 15 April 1936, to little fanfare. It is common to read (Wikipedia et al) that the unusual name, not found in Dineeen or indeed any Irish language dictionary, was proposed by Cork county surveyor Richard F O’Connor (1875-1940), a man whose best known legacy to the county of Cork, and to the wild Atlantic way, is the scenic Healy pass tourist road. Richard O’Connor’s pet scheme did not succeed. he wanted a Cork airport to be built at Little Island, and this was to prove his entrée into the debate about Ireland’s national airline.
This is partly true. As the “fixer” appointed by Sean Lemass to bring cohesion to the rival aviation proposals and personalities, O’Connor took the key decision that the name of his new company should be in the Irish language. He was not a fluent Irish speaker, so the name he brought to the table was one of a number that had been suggested by another Corkman, Mícheál Ó Cuil (1888-1955)l from Cúil Aodha., Ó Cuil was an acknowledged expert and go-to man for the soon-to-be designated first national language, as Timire Gaeilge/irish organiser of the Vocational Education Committee in Cork, a confidante of the lead scholars in the city at a time that Gaelainn na Mumhan was widely regarded as the dominant form of the language. The caighdeán oifigiuil of Irish was not inaugurated until 1958, with the introduction of the latinised spelling and alphabet, a point when Gaeilge Chonnacht became more prominent.
Ó Cuill forwarded his list of eight suggestions to O’Connor in May 1934,: Aer Bhóithre Éireann (air-roads); Aerdacht Éireann (air-vessels); Aereamhlacht Éireann (steal away by air), Aer Loingeas Teoranta (air fleet), Aer Raoin Teoranta (airways); Aer Roda Teoranta (air routes); Aer Raid Éireann (despatches by air) or Aer Réim Éireann (realm of the air). Ó Cuill also suggested the names of other people who might be able to help should none of these prove acceptable.
We do not know whether it was O’Connor or Sean O Huadhaigh, who WAS a fluent Irish speaker, that changed the spelling of the word loingeas to the more immediately accessible lingus. The word is not found in the Irish dictionary (the closest is lingeach, springy). Whatever the motives, the newly invented name, Aer Lingus Éireann Teoranta, was confirmed at a meeting on 6 June, 1934.
Like many Irish words, Loinges has ancient origins, meaning migration, exile or journey with a mission as well as fleet of ships, as in the title of the ninth century saga about Deirdre of the Sorrows, Longes mac nUislenn (The Exile of the Sons of Uisliu), preserved in three sources, The Book of Leinster, The Yellow Book of Lecan and The Glenmasan Manuscript. The exile of Fergus form the same period is known was Tochomlad Loingsi Fergusa. It is also the root of the surname Loinsigh/Lynch, often translated as the mariner.
The name was the exact equivalent of Аэрофло́т Росси́йские авиали́нии/Aeroflot Russian Airlines, derived from Aer, air and loingeas, a fleet, in turn derived from long, the word in Irish for ship from at least the 800s that evolved from the from the Latin navis longa. The spelling was an anomaly, an annoying anglisation, as scholar Dennis King describes it, echoing the frustration of many in the Irish speaking community.
The name proved fortuitous in the era of online sales. Lingus does not have any other meaning other than a Dublin-based airline. The brand is among the most valuable in the IAG portfolio, and ranked as such in the annual balance sheet. Its hundreds of mentions in popular culture include the TV shows the Simpsons and West Wing.
