Kerry Dairy Ireland has certainly adopted an intriguing new name on foot of its amicable divorce from Kerry Group – Kinisla, pronounced ‘kin-EYE-la’, they explain. As happened with Tirlán, formerly Glanbia Co-op, the divorce settlement included a change of name for the offspring – or should that be the parents, given that both Plc entities originally sprang from their respective co-operative roots? In any case, it has ultimately been a very positive experience for the co-op owners – the farm family members of those southwest and southeast-based co-operatives, both in terms of accumulated financial gain, shares in quite successful international public limited companies, and, most importantly, as processors of their milk output.
Anyway, back to Kinisla, the newly christened Kerry Dairy Ireland. When the Tirlán name was announced a couple of years ago, many of the Irish language purists were in quite a tizzy about the loss of a fada, believing that, translating direct from the Gaelic, the name
should have been Tírlán, with two fadas –
a case of one fada too many for ease of use, especially in an international context. Anyway, that bit of nominal controversy died down quickly and Tirlán is now well accepted, instantly recognisable and retains an element of our rich history as dairy producers in Ireland.
Kinisla, while eschewing any Irish language reference, does reflect on the family farm through the use of 'Kin', as well as the genesis of the Irish as an island nation of food producers. At least that was my interpretation. On first reading the name, as distinct from hearing it, one might have been forgiven for pronouncing the second syllable with a hard S sound. Realising that it refers to island, with the silent S, makes the entire name both comprehensible and appropriate. Clever people, those Kerry natives.
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