A village in the southwest of Ireland won its battle to get its ancient "harlot" back on Thursday when a government order officially changed its name in the Irish language.

For centuries, the village in County Limerick, known as Doon in English, had been known in Gaelic as Dun Bleisce, or Fort of the Harlot, but the name was changed in 2003.

The village's Gaelic name was changed to An Dun, or The Fort in Gaelic, on the advice of the country's Placenames Commission, the official arbiter of names in Irish.

The unpopular move resulted in about 1,000 locals signing a petition seeking to have "harlot" added back to the name. They were backed by local politicians.

The community argued that, although the literal translation of the word is harlot, the woman who the village was named after in ancient times may not have been a harlot in the sense of the term today.

"It could have meant a powerful woman, a feminist," local councillor Mary Jackman told AFP. "Woman were very strong back then -- there is also a goddess in the history of the area."

Welcoming the return of the old name, she added: "People will be delighted. Love of their own comes first, regardless of what she was."

Faced with the campaign, Irish Language Minister Eamon O Cuiv asked the commission to reconsider their advice and it ruled in the villagers' favour.

"As there is historical evidence to support both versions of the Irish name, I am open to accede to their request and it is legally permissible within the existing legislation for me to do so," O Cuiv said.

Gaelic was Ireland's predominant language but was overwhelmed following colonisation when English became the sole language of government.

O Cuiv, grandson of Eamon de Valera, one of the Republic of Ireland's founding fathers, has been making thousands of orders reversing mainly anglicised placenames laid down by a mapping programme that started in 1824 when Britain ruled Ireland.