A republic before I intruded (4)
I believe the answer is:
eire
'a republic' is the definition.
(Irish name for Ireland)
'before i intruded' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'i' is within the answer.
'before' could be 'ere' (poetic term) and 'ere' is located in the remaining letters.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for eire that I've seen before include "Northwest European country" , "Look for (something to happen)" , "Southern Ireland" , "Official name of the Irish Republic, 1937-49" , "Land" .)