Dè ur beachdan-sa?
Ann an Alba (no article) BUT Pàrlamaid na h-Alba (with article)
'Alba' is a bit of an anomaly. This is what I understand and have deduced from observation over time.
In its nominative/accusative and dative forms today it has no article and remains 'Alba'; only the genitive changes in certain contexts.
In its historical form, it had a genitive case 'na h-Albann' and a Dative case (ann an) 'Albainn'.
You still see these occasionally, even in relatively modern documents, though I think they are probably non-GOC.
The 'na h-Alba' leftover which you see today is used a lot in titles and fixed official expressions, but less so elsewhere.
Banca na h-Alba, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba, Riaghaltas na h-Alba
but
Sgioba Alba
An sgioba Albannach
You do of course see crossovers like
An sgioba nàiseanta criogaid na h-Alba (a higher register official name again).
This does work similarly in English.
The Bank/Church of England/Scotland, but the England /Scotland football team, or English/Scottish.
