the middle
Is sean-ainmfhocal é mide a chiallaigh ‘middle, centre’ agus a d’imigh as feidhm go luath. Tá an focal caomhnaithe in ainm an chúige stairiúil agus in ainm an chontae ina dhiaidh sin. Chiallaigh midech mar ainmfhocal firinscneach ‘a man of Meath’ agus mar ainmfhocal bainscineach ‘a woman of Meath’. Rinneadh sloinne de ina dhiaidh sin agus tá foirmeacha ar nós de Midia, Miadh, srl., le fáil i gcáipéisí Laidine nó Béarla.
Scríobh an t-údar F.J. Byrne an cuntas seo a leanas faoi chúigí bunaidh na tíre: ‘The original Fifths were in all probability Ulaid, Laigin, Mumu, Connachta and Mide. The last-named possibly included Tara, although Mide proper (the name simply means ‘the middle’) comprised Westmeath, Longford and part of Offaly, whereas the modern county of Meath with the adjoining portions of Louth and north Dublin was known in the Old Irish period as Brega (‘the heights’).’—Irish Kings and High Kings
Maireann an t-ainm Breagha > Breá fós ar na cnoic ar a dtugtar Sliabh Breá i dtuaisceart na Mí.