"Is aoibhinn liom an brat."
Translation:I love the flag.
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That will be Pól, the psycopathic president of Ireland - patriotism goes down well with the voters.
I don't know why people are voting you down; I live in the USA, and I never say that, but it's a fact that a lot of people do.
breá on it's own means "fine" or "excellent" (lá brae - "a fine day"), but we often use "love" in English to mean "really like", or "lovely" to mean "really nice".
Here are some helpful examples of brea from potafocal.ie:
tugadh sochraid mhór bhreá do - "he was given a fine big funeral"
Réitigh mé go breá leo - "I got on fine with them"
tá rithim an tsaoil breá mall - "the rhythm of life is nice and slow"
breá soiléir - "very clear" (or "nice and clear")
Some examples where we'd use "love" in English are:
Is duine é ar breá linn fuath a bheith againn do - "He is a person that we love to hate"
córas breá nua - "the lovely new system"
gur bhreá léi canadh liom - "that she would love to sing with me"
is breá dul ar ais abhaile - "it's lovely to go back home"
is breá liom and is aoibhinn liom are often translated as "I love", but they are really just more intense versions of "I like", and they don't imply emotional or romantic love.
Ba bhrea liom cupán tae! - "I'd love a cup of tea!"
Couldn't this also mean (and perhaps more likely?) "I love the cloak"? (Brat Naoimh Bhríde, mar shampla). Isn't "bratach" more common for flag? A Google search reports about 8.5 times as many results for "Bratach na hÉireann" as for "Brat na hÉireann".
Brat has multiple meanings, and “flag” is one of them. Flagwise, the traditional difference was that brat meant “banner” and bratach meant “standard” or “ensign”; the Irish constitution uses bratach in Article 7.
