The Iverni (, ') were a people of early Ireland, first mentioned in Ptolemy's 2nd century Geography as living in the far south-west of the island. He also names a "city" called Ivernis (, ') in their territory, and observes that this settlement has the same name as the island as a whole, Ivernia (, '). These Iverni are identified with the ÃÂrainn (ÃÂrnai, ÃÂrna), a people attested in Munster and elsewhere in the early Middle Ages. They included the Corcu LoÃÂgde, Corcu Duibne, Corcu Baiscind, Múscraige and Déisi, as well as the Dál Fiatach and Dál Riata. Their royal dynasties are sometimes referred to as the Dáirine.
The name has been derived from Archaic Irish *êwernë meaning "folk of *êwerià « " (the island of Ireland). This is in turn derived from Proto-Celtic *æëwerjon- and further from Proto-Indo-European *piHwerjon- (the full, fat, fertile land) â cognate with the Ancient Greek pÃÂeira and Sanskrit pëvara, which refer to fertile land.
John T. Koch says it was probably once the name given to all the peoples of Ireland, but by the early 1st millennium AD had a more restricted usage.
Pomponius Mela and Juvenal, writing in the 1st century AD, call Ireland . In his 2nd century Geographia (), Ptolemy called the island Iouernia or Iwernia (; ou represented /w/) and named a tribal group called the Iouernoi or Iwernoi () in the southwest.
The people of Ireland are called the in the 3rd century Panegyric on Constantius Caesar, written in 297 AD.
In the Ora Maritima, Roman writer Avienius says that Ireland is inhabited by the (the Hierni people, or the Irish). Though the text dates to the 4th century AD, he was using much older sources, and this part is widely agreed to be based on the Massaliote Periplus from the 4thâÂÂ6th century BC.
In the 5thâÂÂ6th century AD, Saint Patrick referred to the Irish as the , (genitive plural ).
The Iverni are identified with the early medieval ÃÂrainn. In early Irish genealogical tracts, the ÃÂrainn are regarded as an ethnic group, distinct from the Laigin and Cruthin. In Munster, population groups classed as ÃÂrainn include the Corcu LoÃÂgde in southwest County Cork, the Múscraige in Counties Cork and Tipperary, the Corcu Duibne in County Kerry, and the Corcu Baiscinn in west County Clare. In Ulster, the Dál Riata and Dál Fiatach (or Ulaid) in Ulster are classed as ÃÂrainn. The Déisi Muman (of Munster), and the Déisi Temro (of Tara) or Déisi Breg (of Brega), are also claimed to be ÃÂrainn.
The ÃÂrainn appear to have been a powerful group in the proto-historic period, but in early historical times were largely reduced to politically marginal status, with the notable exception of the enigmatic Osraige.The most important of the Munster ÃÂrainn, the Corcu LoÃÂgde, retained some measure of prestige even after they had become marginalised by the Eóganachta in the 7th or 8th century. It is likely that the sometimes powerful UàLiatháin and their close kin the UàFidgenti originally belonged to the ÃÂrainn/Dáirine as well, but were later counted among the Eóganachta for political reasons. Another prominent ÃÂrainn people of early Munster are believed to have been the Mairtine, who by the early historical period have vanished from the Irish landscape, although they may be in part ancestral to the later Déisi Tuisceart and Dál gCais.
The historical sept of the UàMaicc Iair ("grandsons of the son of Iar") and the <small>MAQI IARI</small> of ogham inscriptions also appear to be related. The personal name Iar is simply another variant of the root present in Iverni and ÃÂrainn. Finally, the name ÃÂth, given in the genealogies as the ultimate ancestor of the Corcu LoÃÂgde (Dáirine) also preserves the same root as Iverni/ÃÂrainn, thus completing a basic picture of the Iverni/ÃÂrainn and their kindred in later historical Ireland.
It seems likely the Iverni/ÃÂrainn were related to Ptolemy's Darini of eastern Ulster, later called the Dáirine. The name "Dáirine" implies descent from an ancestor called Dáire (*DÃÂrios), as claimed by several historical peoples identified as ÃÂrainn, including the Dál Riata and Dál Fiatach in eastern Ulster as well as the ÃÂrainn of Munster. An early name for Dundrum, County Down, is recorded as Dún Droma Dáirine, and the name Dáirine was applied to the Corcu LoÃÂgde, further suggesting a relationship between the Dáirine and the ÃÂrainn.
The genealogies trace the ÃÂrainn from two eponymous ancestors, Ailill ÃÂrann and ÃÂar mac Dedad. Legendary relatives of the latter include the Cland Dedad (offspring of Deda mac Sin), a Munster people who appear in the Ulster Cycle, led by Cú RoÃÂ, son of Dáire mac Dedad, and the legendary High King Conaire Mór, grandson of Iar and ancestor of the SÃÂl Conairi.
T. F. O'Rahilly proposed in the 1930s that the Iverni/ÃÂrainn were Brittonic Celts who settled in Ireland around 500 BC, and were conquered by invading Gaels around 100 BC. He pointed to myths and certain loanwords in Irish. O'Rahilly believed that the term iarmbélra or iarnbélra ('archaic speech') actually meant "Ivernic/ÃÂrainn language", and that this unattested language was spoken until the 7th century AD.
His theory has been rejected by later linguists, archaeologists and historians. There is no archaeological or genetic evidence of large migrations to Ireland after the Bronze Age. Evidence shows that the Iverni and the ÃÂrainn were Gaelic-speaking from the beginning of recorded history. The oldest surviving examples of Gaelic are ogham inscriptions in Archaic Irish â most of these are in ÃÂrainn territory in the southwest. The Déisi, who were classed as ÃÂrainn, brought this ogham Irish to south Wales.