Hiberno Scottish Mission Puns

They went at night to make sure it wouldn't be too hot

I just listened to John McCormack's version of Star of the County Down and I noticed that he refers to Rosie McCann as a "brown (=brown-haired?) cailín". I also have read that the name Ciarán/Kieran literally means "black" but I've heard it explained to mean "dark-haired person".

Does one refer to someone directly by their hair colour in Irish (e.g. "he is brown" = "he has brown hair")? Did Irish people in John McCormack's import that structure into English? Or am I just seeing a pattern where none exists at all?

Hi everyone, I hope it's ok to post this here.

As a first thing: I'm not a native English speaker but I achieved a decent fluency by studying it on my own.

After studying the standard version I got interested into the local variations and, to some extent, accents.

I know Hiberno English has some substantial differences from standard English, and I'd be interested in reading some examples of it.

I also know the roots of such differences are in the Irish language and I have a very basic knowledge of the grammar rules (I couldn't carry on a conversation in Irish, but I know how it works) so any clarification of how a specific sentence relates to the Irish language would be really appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Fellow newcomers. We've all been confused by a word or phrase used within this fine land at some point, but which really screwed you up?

My personal favourites are:

• Yer man/wan to describe any person, living or dead;

• up above/down below to describe two places within an undefined time, i.e. "I was down below in Fenit...";

• the craic is mighty/ninety;

• "would you not..." as the introduction to a question where there asker is actually suggesting, possibly without the possibility of disputing it, an alternative option;

• to insult someone by calling them a "headtheball"

If you've any more I'd love to hear them, also I'd love to know if any natives have explanations behind some of this brilliant terms!

Hey everyone! Hope you’re all alright, so I’ve decided to post 3 words per week ( ideally every Sunday ), which are used in my dialects of English ( Hiberno-English, and ulster-scots ), in the hopes that you’ll start using them, or even comment a few from your own dialect!

So, to start this week off.

Brí: means 'hill'.

Dull: means 'the loop on a rope' or a 'noose'.

Mála: means 'bag'

So, I hope you’ve found some of this interesting, and if you’ve any other questions, just pop down to the comments!

Hello all,

Coming from Ireland, I generally call tea 'tea', as most English speakers do, but there is a phrase that I assume is fossilized, 'cup of cha'.

I don't referr to tea as cha, when talking about the plant, leaves or tea bags, but if I'm asking some one what they want, I usually say 'cup of cha?'. Generally it comes out as /kʌp.pæ tʃæ↗️/.

I'm familiar with the two origins of a language referring to the drink as tea or cha, depending where they got it from, but I've noticed that I use both, albeit with one seemingly fossilized. Cha is not used in the Irish language, it's /te/. And it's not just me, it's pretty much every Irish person I know. Can any other's here back me up? Is it just Munster?

So, does anybody know why this is? Also, does anybody else use both, even if it's dialectical or only in a fossilized phrase?

Hi All,

I'm looking to buy saxon, viking or hiberno-norse (irish viking) silver in any grade. budget isn't an issue so if you have a coin to sell id love to see it regardless of price.

He was so excited he could use his Neo-sporran.

Having recently moved from Ireland to the US, I’ve had a number of people comment on the way I pronounce my T in certain contexts, usually at the end of words like ‘cat’ and ‘flat’. Some people are really confused and need me to repeat myself. They say that it sounds like I’m saying ‘cash’ or ‘flash’.

I’ve come to realize we do draw out that sound in Irish English. Whereas T should be a plosive sound, Hiberno-English seems to pronounce it as a fricative.

Would love to know if anyone has any more information on this sound, if it is unique to Hiberno-English, or how it developed as such!

The baker responds: "Naw, ye are right it's a doughnut."