Well, you're right:
Eireann is not pronounced like
Erin,
so it would seem like your friend has tacked on a bunch of
confusing letters just to get
Erin. (The first spelling
makes me think of Irish television (RTE and the E stands
for
Eireann, so it's kinda weird). I guess I don't care
for
Aran either because it's a place name and not the same
as the name
Erin at all. (And yes, I have been to the
Aran Islands several times). Similar, yes. I think your
friend is going to get a lot of Air-ann pronunciations;
I certainly wouldn't guess that this is supposed to be
Erin.