The earliest written records of Ireland come from classical Greco @-@ Roman geographers . Ptolemy in his Almagest refer to Ireland as Mikra Brettania ( Little Britain ) , in contrast to the larger island , which he called Megale Brettania ( Great Britain ) . In his later work , Geography , Ptolemy refer to Ireland as Iouernia and to Great Britain as Albion . These " new " names was likely to have been the local names for the islands at the time . The earlier names , in contrast , was likely to have been coined before direct contact with local peoples was made .