The Home Nations is a name to collectively describe the four nations of the United Kingdom: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The term collectively refers to the nations, as distinct from the country of the United Kingdom. The term is rarely used outside the UK.
Sometimes the term is used to include all the self-governing nations of the British Isles (thus including the Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, or grouping Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland simply as Ireland), but this usage is technically incorrect.
The term Home Nations is often used when refering to sporting events in which each of Home Nations compete separately (such as the now defunct British Home Championship).
WikiUser 20:51, 17 Sep 2004 (UTC) - I can't remember hearing this used (I'm British). Are there any actual examples you can point us to, where it's been used? WikiUser 20:51, 17 Sep 2004 (UTC)