释义 |
Irishadj.adv.n.Origin: From a proper name, combined with an English element; perhaps modelled on early Scandinavian lexical items. Etymons: proper name Īrland , Ireland , -ish suffix1. Etymology: < Ir- (in Old English Īrland, early form of the name of Ireland, a north-west European island to the west of Great Britain, and the smaller of the two large islands of the British Isles; compare Old English (rare) Īras , plural, inhabitants of Ireland: see note below) + -ish suffix1, perhaps after early Scandinavian (compare Old Icelandic Írskr , adjective, Old Swedish irsker , adjective (also as noun denoting traded cloth) (Swedish irisk , adjective)). In some Middle English forms influenced by Anglo-Norman yreis, irreis, Anglo-Norman and Old French ireis (Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French irois ; compare also Middle French irlandois (1567; French irlandais )), noun (first half of the 12th cent. denoting a weapon, 12th cent. denoting the inhabitants of Ireland, 1230 or earlier in Anglo-Norman denoting the Irish language) and adjective (c1177). Compare Middle Dutch iersc , iersch , adjective and noun (Dutch iers ; compare also Middle Dutch ierlantsch (Dutch †ierlands )), Middle Low German īrisch , adjective, German irisch , adjective (1777 or earlier; compare also †irländisch , †irländisch , designating the country and its inhabitants (1573 or earlier)). Compare post-classical Latin Irescus (a1034; also Iriscus , Ireschius (mid 13th cent. in a British sources designating a battleaxe); also Irensis (a1098 in a British Source)). Compare Erse adj. and discussion at that entry. Compare Scottish adj. 1. The English name of the island (and later also of any of several political entities on this island) is Ireland (formerly also †Irland ; Old English Īrland , Īraland , Yrrland , Middle English Irland , Yrlonde , Ireland , etc.); compare Middle Dutch īrlant , hierlant (Dutch Ierland ), Middle High German Irlant (German Irland ), Old Icelandic Írland , Old Swedish, Swedish Irland . (In Old English (and occasionally in Middle English) forms of the name Scotland were also used to denote Ireland: see discussion at Scot n.1) Compare Anglo-Norman Irland , Irlonde , Irlaunde , etc. (13th cent.; < Middle English, perhaps with some influence from early Scandinavian). The name Ireland was originally primarily geographical in its connotation, with the island containing a varying number of political entities at different times. In the 16th-cent. Tudor conquest led to the establishment of the Kingdom of Ireland (although at that time the English monarchs had little actual control over most the island); this was later subsumed into the United Kingdom by the Act of Union of 1801. A large part of the island gained independence, initially as the Irish Free State in 1922 (now the Republic of Ireland ; see note at Irish Free State n. at Compounds 3); six counties in Ulster remain part of the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland (compare Six Counties n. at six adj. and n. Compounds 2). The name Ireland is now chiefly used to refer to the independent state; but also to the entire island and both polities on it (compare note at A. 1 on the equivalent uses of the adjective). Compare the following early examples:OE Acct. Voy. Ohthere & Wulfstan in tr. Orosius Hist. (Tiber.) (1980) i. i. 16 On þæt steorbord him bið ærest Iraland.OE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Tiber. B.iv) anno 1052 Sona com Harold eorl of Irlande mid his scipum to Sæfern muðan.c1300 St. Patrick's Purgatory (Laud) l. 2 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 199 Seint paterik..makede ane put in Irlonde Þat seint patrike purgatorie is icleoped. ▸ a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 325 Þat ilond is from Irlond [L. ab Hibernia] and from Bretayne þre dayes seillynge. Although the exact phonological development is uncertain, the element Ir- in the name of Ireland is ultimately < Early Irish Ériu , the name of the island (n -stem; Irish Éire ), cognate with Welsh Iwerddon , of uncertain origin, perhaps ultimately a compound of < the Indo-European base of ancient Greek ἐπι- epi- prefix + the either the Indo-European base of Old Icelandic vari water (with reference to the sea) or the Indo-European base of were v. (with reference to defensible land), or perhaps ultimately < the same Indo-European base as ancient Greek πίειρα (feminine of πίων ) (of land) fat, rich (compare the name of Πιερία : see Pierian adj.), Sanskrit pīvarī fat (feminine of pīvan ; compare pi- , pī- to swell); compare also (from a variant of the same base) Early Irish íriu earth, land. Compare the discussion by G. Isaac in Ériu 59 (2009) 49-55. The Celtic base is reflected in post-classical Latin Hiverion- , Hiverio (3rd cent. in an isolated attestation), Hiberion- , Hiberio (5th cent.). Compare also the Hellenistic Greek ethnonym Ἰουερνoi (Ptolemy), which apparently reflects the Celtic base of Early Irish Érainn , self-designation of the inhabitants of Ireland (in early Irish literature), ultimately < the same base as the place name Ériu . Compare also (apparently < the Celtic base of the ethnonym) classical Latin Iūverna , post-classical Latin Iverne (c400; compare classical Latin Hibernia : see Hibernian adj.), ancient Greek and Hellenistic Greek Ἰέρνη , Hellenistic Greek Ἰουερνία (Ptolemy), all denoting the country. A recent alternative suggestion that the word was originally a place name derived from a word for copper in a Mediterranean Semitic language (compare Akkadian wer’ium , er’ium copper), and perhaps given by Phoenician traders in allusion to the most important commodity bought from Ireland (compare the similar suggestion discussed at Britain n.1; see further T. Vennemann in Sprachwissensch. 23 (1998) 461–9) is unlikely on phonological grounds. The oblique forms corresponding to the modern Irish nominative Éire are Éireann (genitive) and Éirinn (dative; > English Erin , a poetic and literary name for Ireland); compare Scottish Gaelic Èirinn (nominative and dative) Ireland. On the use of Eire as a name in English compare the note at Irish Free State n. at Compounds 3. In Old English the usual word for the inhabitants of Ireland is Scottas (see Scot n.1 and discussion at that entry); the ethnonym Īras (plural) is rare (only one attestation (see quot. OE) other than as a (genitive) element in the compound Īraland , itself a rare variant of the place name: see note above) and is probably < Ir- (in Irland ), perhaps after early Scandinavian (compare Old Icelandic Írar (plural); itself probably < Ír- (in Írland )). Compare also Dutch Ier (17th cent.), German Ire (18th cent. or earlier; compare also †Irländer (1683 or earlier)), Swedish irer (1640, chiefly historical), Danish Irer , †Irrer (17th cent.), apparently representing more recent formations from the place name. Compare:OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) xx. 198 He ferde ða geond eal yrrland, and scotland, bodiende ða ðing þe he geseah... Ferde ða twelf gear swa bodiende, betwux yrum and scottum. Also attested early as a surname: Herueius Yrich (1191), Ric' le Irishe (1255); compare also Ricardus Ireis (1169), although it is unclear whether this is to be interpreted as showing the Anglo-Norman or the Middle English word. With sense B. 5 compare Scot n.1 4. A. adj. (and adv.) 1. the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Europe > the Irish > [adjective] OE (Tiber. B.i) anno 1055 Hig gegaderadan ða mycle fyrde mid ðam yriscan mannan & mid Walkynne. c1275 (?c1250) (Calig.) (1935) l. 322 (MED) Þu chaterest so doþ on irish [a1300 Jesus Oxf. yris] prost. c1300 (?c1225) (Cambr.) (1901) l. 1290 (MED) Horn gan to schupe draȝe Wiþ his yrisse [v.r. yrisshe] felaȝes. c1330 Horn Child 181 in J. Hall (1901) 181 (MED) Þe irise ost was long & brade. c1440 (?a1400) l. 3934 (MED) Þe kynge comly ouerkeste..þe Iresche kynges. ?c1450 (1891) l. 64 Of auncetry In yres kynges mast worthy. a1470 in T. Twiss (1871) I. 470 (MED) Nomaner man gyve no reproche to none other..be he Frenshe, Englissh, Walsh, or Irissh. a1500 ( J. Yonge tr. (Rawl.) (1898) 166 (MED) Consydyr ye that youre yrysshe enemys ne hare auncestres..was trewe to you. 1537 in (1834) II. 449 The pore Englishe erth tillers in the English pale cannot skyll upon penury nor wredchidnes, as the Irishe tenantes doo sustayne. 1552 King Edward VI (1966) (modernized text) 151 One George Paris..who had been a practiser between the Earl of Desmond and other Irish Lords and the French King. a1599 E. Spenser View State Ireland 47 in J. Ware (1633) Other great houses there bee of the old English in Ireland, which..are now growne as Irish, as O-Hanlons breech. a1599 E. Spenser View State Ireland 61 in J. Ware (1633) Benefices..of so small profite in these Irish Countreyes, thorough the ill husbandrie of the Irish people which doe inhabite them. 1612 J. Davies 14 The Irish Lords did onely promise to become Tributaries to King Henry the second. And such as pay onely Tribute..are not properlie Subiects but Soueraignes. 1641 T. Creamor sig. A2 Hee met with one Maggennis an Irish Gentleman. a1687 W. Petty Polit. Anat. Ireland xii, in (1769) 363 The priests are chosen for the most part out of old Irish gentry. 1708 29 Nov. 4/2 (advt.) Ran-away from his Master,..an Irish Lad call'd Darby Ragan, aged about 17 years. 1763 D. Hume Let. 19 Sept. in (1805) 7 A very ingenious Irish gentleman. 1782 E. Burke (title) Letter to a peer of Ireland on the penal laws against Irish Catholics. 1805 J. Sibley Let. 10 Apr. in (1832) I. 727 Both which were introduced by an Irish Pennsylvanian. 1855 T. B. Macaulay xvii Scattered over all Europe were to be found brave Irish generals, dexterous Irish diplomatists, Irish Counts, Irish Barons. 1887 June 280 When he assures us that these Belfast rowdies are the most intelligent of the Irish people, we take leave to exercise our own judgment a little. 1921 6 Sept. 14/1 De Valera spoke..of the possibility of submitting Anglo-Irish agreements to the Irish people as a whole. 1959 K. Tynan 26 June (1994) iv. 243 They stuck six inches of bandaid on the beautiful, hideous Irish lady's scalp. 1987 T. Wolfe ii. 35 An Irish kid from up in Woodlawn. 2001 27 Jan. 71/1 The man in charge of Wales knows the tour will focus the minds of British and Irish players, who want to impress him. the world > the earth > named regions of earth > Europe > British Isles > Scotland > [adjective] > highlands the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Europe > British nation > Scots nation > [adjective] > parts of Scotland c1543 in (1827) I. 10 The names of all the Yrische lordes of Scotland, commonly callit the Reddshanckes. 1548 W. Patten Pref. sig. b.i .iiii. thousande Irishe Archers brought by therle of Arguile. 1597 in J. Grant (1876) 417 [The master of the grammar school of Glasgow to catechise his] Irische scholleris. 1641 R. Baillie 20 Aug. (1841) I. 369 This equalitie Mr. Murdoch urged and refused to preach to the Irish congregation bot day about. 1652 (Sc. Hist. Soc.) 247 The contributione allotted to the Irishe boyes. 1703 in A. Mitchell (1902) 43 He that Catechises the Irish people. 1763 MS Ayr Presbytery Reg. 31 Aug. in (at cited word) Every Minister who sent their Collections for Irish Students. 2. the world > the earth > named regions of earth > Europe > British Isles > Ireland > [adjective] the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Europe > the Irish > [adjective] > relating to c1325 (c1300) (Calig.) l. 3183 (MED) Out of þe dragons mouþe tueye leomes þer stode..Þe oþer adde seue branches..& toward þe yrisse [a1400 Trin. Cambr. hyrische] se westward euene drowe. 1448 (?a1300) Richard Coer de Lyon (Arms) l. 1 in K. Brunner (1913) 134 (MED) A scharpe Irissh knyf. 1530 J. Palsgrave 498/2 Coyle out the dandyprattes and Yrisshe pence. c1571 E. Campion (1963) ii. viii. 111 The Irishe impositions of quinio and lyvery, cartinges, cariages, lodinges. 1581 J. Derricke ii. sig. Eiijv His skirtes be verie shorte, with pleates set thicke about, And Irishe trouzes more to put, their straunge protractours out. a1599 E. Spenser View State Ireland in J. Ware (1633) 49 Guilded leather with which they use to imbroyder their Irish Iackets. 1612 T. Dekker ii. i. 44 Welsh harpes, Irish bag-pipes, Iewes trompes, and french kitts..their dambd catter-wralling, Frighted me away. a1687 W. Petty (1691) 75 The Interest must enflame the price of Irish Commodities, and consequently give to other Nations the means of underselling. 1701 No. 3756/15 Irish Usquebagh..to be sold in full Quart Bottles. 1735–6 27 Dec.–3 Jan. 3/2 Good Irish Beef in barrels and Tierces, Irish Potatoes, pickled Herrings. 1788 V. Knox II. 82 Choleric orators in the British and Irish parliaments. 1839 XIII. 21/1 The Irish round towers are now generally ascribed to an ecclesiastical origin. 1861 I. M. Beeton xxxii. 808 Irish butter sold in London is all salted, but is generally good. 1898 G. B. Rawlings 135 The last Irish coinage took place under George IV, when pennies and halfpennies were struck..1823. 1920 Oct. 549/2 Advocates of Irish independence had expected more from the Democrats, apparently, than from the Republicans. 1944 T. S. C. Dagg viii. 188 Although virtually junior, it represented Ulster in the final rounds of the Irish senior cup, a very fine feat. 1974 D. Seaman vii. 60 Irish politics were beyond him. 2004 July 28/1 Favourites include bacon and cabbage,..and soda bread with Irish butter. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xv. lxxiv. 768 Also venemous beestes fleen Irysshe wolle [1495 de Worde yryssh woll, 1582 Bateman Irish wooll] and skynnes and felles of bestes of Irlonde. a1450–1500 ( (1926) l. 659 Irish wollen and lynyn cloth. a1549 A. Borde (1870) iii. 131 I can make good mantyls, and good Irysh fryce. 1586 Worcs. Inventory in J. West (1962) iv. 111 A blew Irish rugge coverlett. 1612 H. Peacham ii. 136 December must bee..cladde in Irish rugge, or course freeze. 1698 N. Luttrell Diary in (1857) IV. 432 The Flanderkins have laid a duty of 3 guilders upon every £100 of Irish wool that is imported there. 1751 M. Delany (1862) 2nd Ser. III. 34 I have bought for my mourning a dark grey Irish poplin sack. 1786 7 Oct. (advt.) Irish Poplins and Tabbinets, calculated for the most elegant demi-saison and Winter Dresses. 1813 J. Austen 15 Sept. (1995) 219 Very pretty English poplins at 4.3—Irish D° at 6.0. 1851 III. 566 The curtains are embroidered on blue satin and white watered Irish poplin. 1892–3 Fall–Winter 33/1 Boys' Overcoats... In Scotch, English and Irish tweeds. 1909 J. Joyce 17 Nov. (1966) II. 264 Irish tweeds, Donegals and suitings. 1924 A. D. H. Smith ix. 115 Gaudy shirts of calico and round-jackets of Irish frieze. 1969 R. T. Wilcox (1970) 198/1 Loden, a waterproof cloth resembling Irish frieze. 2009 (Nexis) 7 Sept. s1 She wears her white hair long past her shoulders, topped by a flat cap of Irish tweed. 3. the mind > language > languages of the world > Indo-Hittite > [adjective] > Indo-European > Celtic > Irish a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 345 Me seith þat þese [read þis] Gathleus made þe Irische langage [L. Hibernicam linguam composuit] and cleped hit Gathelaf, as it were a langage i-gadered of alle langages and tonges. a1549 A. Borde (1870) 137 In Scotlande they haue two sondry speches. In..the part ioynyng to Ierland, that speche is muche lyke the Iryshe speche. a1599 E. Spenser View State Ireland 24, in J. Ware (1633) I know not whether the wordes bee English or Irish. 1605 R. Verstegan i. 1 The Irish language..is..vtterly vnacquainted with the names of England and of Englishmen. 1683 H. Reilly Let. 10 Jan. in R. Boyle (2001) V. 377 The Translator..was not very well skilld in the Irish Tongue. 1755 S. Johnson Tory. (A cant term, derived, I suppose, from an Irish word signifying a savage.) 1763 in (1805) App. 18 The Irish manuscripts in the duke of Chandos's library. 1816 W. Scott Return to Ulster in VIII. 166 (note) In ancient Irish poetry, the standard of Fion, or Fingal, is called the Sun-burst. 1828 T. C. Croker II. 17 The Irish word Merrow..answers exactly to the English mermaid. 1845 J. O'Donovan 58 Eclipsis in Irish Grammar may be defined the suppression of the sounds of certain radical consonants, by prefixing others of the same organ. 1884 J. Rhŷs App. 283 The Irish word was caill, a wood. 1942 J. Grenfell Let. 11 Oct. in (1989) 372 Tell him I'm enjoying the Irish language enormously. 1959 C. L. Wrenn (1967) 24 It would seem..that the Irish word [cros] came into Old English rather through Scandinavianised Irish settlers than direct. 2005 11 Aug. (South Kerry Plus section) 4/1 A vacancy exists in the Comhchoiste for a Cúntóir Teanga, working on promoting the Irish language among national school children outside the Gaeltacht area. the mind > language > languages of the world > Indo-Hittite > [adjective] > Indo-European > Celtic > Scottish 1554 D. Lindsay Dialog Experience & Courteour i. 628 in (1931) I Had Sanct Ierome bene borne in tyll Argyle, In to Yrische toung his bukis had done compyle. 1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie (1888) I. 86 The rest of the Scottis..vse thair alde Irishe toung. a1639 J. Spottiswood (1655) 9 We oft finde the Scots called Irishes, like as we yet term commonly our Highlandmen, in regard they speak the Irish language. 1683 in J. Wilson (1877) 198 To turn the Doxologie into Irish meetre betwixt it and the next Synod. 1754 E. Burt I. viii. 190 The Irish Tongue was..lately..universal even in many Parts of the Lowlands. 1782 11 May John Fletcher, born in the parish of Glenorchy..speaks the Irish tongue. 1820 9 p. ccxxv To prefer hopeful students from the Highlands, and those who could speak the Irish tongue, to bursaries. a1450–1500 ( (1926) l. 662 (MED) Skynnes of oter, squerel, and Irysh hare. 1553 J. Bale f. 32 For ywys there is yet some moneie to be paied, and an Irish hobby also by promise. 1575 T. Churchyard f. 75 Or Irysh hobby fayre and fat I would not haue beleeued that. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) v. ii. 105 'Tis like the howling of Irish Wolues against the Moone. View more context for this quotation 1631 B. Jonson Staple of Newes 4th Intermean 55 in II The fine Madrigall-man, in rime, to haue runne him o' the Countrey, like an Irish rat. 1732 R. Bradley (ed. 2) 265 A Turk for the Sire, a Scotch Powny, or the Irish Hobby, for Dam. 1794 G. Culley (ed. 2) 166 I shall beg leave to add a few words on the Irish Sheep; a pretty large sample of which I saw at the great fair of Ballinasloe. 1827 2 241 The Irish broom is very remarkable, and seems to be really a different species from Cytisus scoparius. 1861 22 Feb. 219/1 Crossing these hair-bearing ewes with an Irish ram. 1891 26 Nov. 447/1 The chief among all Ivies is the Irish Ivy, which has, and probably now does, clothe more old castles..and roofs and gable ends than any other creeping plant in existence. 1905 J. E. Rogers 106 The Irish juniper, one of the most popular varieties has a tapering habit, very narrow like a miniature Lombardy poplar. 1956 S. H. Bell vi. 98 Some of them are as long dead and departed as the Irish razor-back pig. 1984 F. W. P. Bolger 25/1 Seed potato certification began in 1916, when a few strains of Irish cobbler and Green Mountain were found to be free of viral diseases. 2004 Mar. 25/2 With all of Northern Ireland's leading Irish Hare ecologists against her.., the legal decision is no surprise. 5. c1475 (c1450) P. Idley (Cambr.) (1935) ii. B. l. 27 (MED) The heere..hangeth downe to the browe beforn Like to an hors toppe of the Irisshe facion. 1536–7 Act 28 Hen. VIII in R. Bolton (1621) 130 That also no woman vse or weare any kyrtell, or cote..couched ne layd with vsker, after the Irish fashion. 1589 J. Lyly B iij We would show them an Irish tricke, that when they thinke to winne the game with one man [etc.]. a1604 M. Hanmer Chron. Ireland 57 in J. Ware (1633) Hee went into France, and made them Cabanes, after the Irish manner, in stead of Monasteries. ?1682 H. Care 106 Silly, Servile, yet conceited and Cruel, Creatures altogether of an Irish understanding. 1689 R. Cox 239 A scoffing and ludibrious Answer was returned, with much boasting, after the Irish manner. 1690 T. Brown 34 No Mr. Bays, our understandings are not altogether so Irish, as to be thus impos'd upon. 1720 (new ed.) 117 An Irish Earl (who also had an Irish Understanding) Being at Court, pulled out his Comb to put his Perugue in order. 1725 J. Swift Wood the Iron-monger in (1735) II. 364 They laught at such an Irish Blunder, To take the Noise of Brass for Thunder. 1777 H. L. Thrale Diary June in (1942) I. 81 He did examine..everything in short with an Impudence truly Irish. ?1800 sig. E Daly of Dublin, having lost his dog, ordered it to be advertised as thus, ‘half black, half white, and half liver colour’; so that, according to Irish philosophy, a dog has three halves. 1813 W. Dunlap I. iv. 63 I doubt not that his dinner with the Irish manager was a roaring set-to, a full and convincing proof of what is called Irish hospitality. 1826 15 July 505/2 This duty, I soon observed, was performed consistently with Irish ideas of regularity. 1893 XXXIV. 177/2 His novels will, no doubt, be remembered for their genuine Irish raciness. 1919 18 166 We may assume safely that, with traditional Irish generosity, it was liberal in the extreme. 1958 B. Behan ii. 147 I admire you, for sticking up for your china, Paddy, but don't let that old Irish temper of yours run away in future. 1998 15 Feb. (Real Life section) 2/7 The atmosphere in our house was never completely Irish. 2009 (Nexis) 7 Nov. j5 The Heart & Crown Irish Pubs are all about genuine Irish hospitality. b. slang. humorous (now usually considered offensive). the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular vegetables > [noun] > root vegetables > potato 1785 F. Grose Irish apricots, potatoes; it is a common joke against the Irish vessels to say they are loaded with fruit and timber, that is, potatoes and broomsticks. 1846 ‘Lord Chief Baron’ (new ed.) 122/2 Irish apricots, potatoes. 1847 May 425/2 It is called ‘the root of evil’—‘the Irish plum’, and has been pronounced by those who have written to instruct the nation, as containing ‘little or no nutriment’, and ‘the curse of Ireland’. 1887 12 Mar. 307/2 The homely, modest potato, familiarly known as the ‘Irish lemon’, has discovered a new field for usefulness. 1888 27 Jan. 50/2 She tested nearly all of the Irish apples, and found that they had been cooked to the proper consistency save one. This particular ‘spud’ remained as hard as adamant. 1900 19 226 [Lancs.] Oatmeal he calls ‘porritch powder’. Potatoes are ‘Irish grapes’. 1970 J. P. Spradley ii. 31 Supper: terrific—baby beef, dressing, mashed ‘Irish apples’. 1975 M. McGinn i. 16 Thankful they were to see the last of the tatties. ‘Get them Irish grapes lifted,’ shouted Flafferty. 1885 16 Aug. I won't tell you what Douglass and Jule are doing because it might offend their feelings if I told you they were running an Irish buggy. 1914 2 May 1/1 Our highly esteemed fellow citizen of English birth got between the handles of an Irish buggy and proceeded to the lumber yard for a few bundles of shingles. 1936 Sept. 22/1 Old Bill..is the official driver of those one-wheeled vehicles variously dubbed Georgia Buggies, Irish Go-Carts or wheelbarrows. 1949 J. Chisholm 42 He could put a loaded Irish-man-o'-war, as the miners called a wheelbarrow, on his hard head and walk off with it. 1996 M. W. Seguin 39 We got anyone who can drive an Irish buggy (wheelbarrow) or use an Irish piccolo and banjo (pick and shovel) workin' in shifts. the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > equivocal quality, ambiguity > paradox > [adjective] 1820 H. Brougham Let. 5 Feb. in H. Maxwell (1903) I. 297 Your advice has been followed by anticipation (to speak Irish). 1838 ‘G. Eliot’ 18 Aug. (1954) I. 6 Isaac and I went alone (that seems rather Irish), and staid only a week. 1857 E. C. Gaskell 7 Dec. (1966) 491 The lecture was not (to me) so very interesting, being a sort of recapitulation of what he was going to say (if that's not Irish). 1926 J. S. Huxley 121 To be Irish, the longer it lives, the sooner it ought to die. 1937 A. Upfield (1938) iii. 28 He doesn't seem to mind me courting his daughter, but he doesn't give me a chance to do any courting. That's Irish, but it's a fact. 1970 R. Hill vi. 192 ‘Marcus wouldn't dare to tell a lie like that unless it was true!’ ‘Irish,’ said Pascoe. 1997 May 94/2 I thought that sounded a bit Irish, but it was exactly right. 6. 1617 F. Moryson iii. ii. ii. 299 Many loose men flocked into that Prouince [sc. Munster] out of the Low-Countries,..being trained there in the Irish Regiment with the Arch-Duke. 1633 W. Watts iv. 150 December the third, was the Armie mustered at Konickswinter: and December the tenth, were the English, Scottish, and Irish Brigade, reduced. 1699 J. Stevens tr. F. Camargo y Salcedo Suppl. 39 in tr. J. de Mariana He was invited to a Supper, and there put to death by the Officers of the Irish Regiments then in the Emperor's Service. 1718 5 He went to France and took service in the Irish Regiment of Foot, commanded by Lieutenant General Dorrington, in the French service. 1820 5 Feb. 3/7 The Irish Legion raised by Gen. D'Evereux, for the service of Venezuela and Granada. 1845 M. J. Barry in 231 (note) The recruits for the Irish Brigade..were entered on the ship's books as ‘wild geese’. 1916 1 84 The Irish Sixty-ninth of New York lost more men in killed and wounded [during the American Civil War] than any other regiment from the state. 1983 C. T. McIntire viii. 202 A small number of English Catholics volunteered [for military service in the Papal States] as well, and were assigned to the Franco-Belgian Tirailleurs or the Irish brigade. 2005 D. H. Akenson (2006) I. 408 Eventually, Napoleon turned the Irish Legion into a small unit..of his European army. The officers still are Irish, but..the ranks are filled with prisoners-of-war, mostly Poles. 1645 8 An Irish Company of Foot of Colonell Willowbies Regiment, all Protestants, and servitours. 1689 E. Bohun 85 A Party of the Prince's men..attacked the Irish Dragoons. 1755 in B. Martin (1759) I. Oct. 173/2 Civil and Military Preferments... Isaac Hamilton, Gent. to be a Lieutenant in the Royal Irish Regiment of Foot. 1783 Nov. 403/2 Royal Irish Regiment of Artillery. John Stratton, to be colonel-commandant. 1872 23 Mar. 396/2 The cavalry included..the Queen's Own Irish Lancers. 1894 Ld. Wolseley II. 177 Some sixty or seventy Irish Dragoons ‘drew out’..and took up a threatening position. 1902 352 (caption) ‘And where may you be going, Mr. Boer?’ asked an Irish Fusilier. 1941 34 45/1 Of our Allied Regiment, the Irish Fusiliers of Canada, we have heard nothing concrete since last May. 1998 (Nexis) 15 Sept. (Features section) 8 I'd chosen the Irish Hussars, which actually were a tank regiment; being Irish, they also didn't do tours of duty in Northern Ireland. B. n. 1. the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Europe > the Irish > [noun] c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon (Calig.) (1978) l. 9011 Þa Irisce weoren nakede. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon (Calig.) (1963) l. 6415 Scottes..Galewaȝes & Irreisce [c1300 Otho Yrisse]. c1325 (c1300) (Calig.) l. 5551 (MED) Þer were of deneys & of scottes aslawe, & al so of yreis [v.r. Irysshe]. a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich (1913) II. l. 13876 (MED) Þere he houed with his compenye To knowen of these jresch more certeinlye. a1500 (Rawl.) (1896) 33 (MED) Herof come..to the Irysh dred and wanhope. 1595 W. Allen et al. ii. v. 121 This violent vnion of nations, that are by nature so disunited and opposite, as are the Inglish, Scotish, Irishe, Danishe, Frenche. 1612 J. Davies 287 There is no Nation..that doth loue equall and indifferent Iustice, better then the Irish. 1641 (single sheet) Further promise and vow to make no difference of dispacity betwixt the meere Irish, & them of the Pale, or betwixt the Irish, and the new Irish. a1687 W. Petty Polit. Anat. Ireland xiii, in (1769) 375 English in Ireland, growing poor and discontented, degenerate into Irish. 1724 J. Swift 17 They look upon Us as a Sort of Savage Irish. 1796 23 July 4/2 Crying Pillilew! after the manner of the Irish at funerals. 1833 H. Martineau v. 107 The Irish betake themselves to rebellion when stopped in their merry-makings. 1866 3rd Ser. 181 690 If the Irish in America..settle there with so strong a hostility to us, they have had their reasons. 1893 Oct. 305 The Irish..who began by laying our water-pipes..now lay a different kind of pipe, and make our city government. 1906 2 June 1/2 (heading) No Irish need apply. 1960 N. Coward 21 Aug. (2000) 446 In fact the Irish behave exactly as they have been portrayed as behaving for years. 1984 xii. 297 The Irish seem to use New Orleans Red veal; blacks use baby beef, and the restaurants use New York white veal. 1996 F. McCourt i. 55 They should be left there to remind the Irish of English perfidy. the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Europe > the Irish > [noun] > native or inhabitant of Ireland 1553 J. Bale f. 47 They can very wittely make of a tame Irishe a wilde Irishe. 1565–6 in J. A. Twemlow (1918) I. 283 Oone Patrick Fyn, an Iresh..takyn..for cuttyng a purse. 1613 G. Wither ii. iv. sig. R6v If but by his Lords hand an Irish swere, To violate that oath he stands in feare. 1650 A. Charters 3 The Lord did over take those bloody Irishes, Papists, and others with his vengeance. a1714 Earl of Cromarty Hist. Family Mackenzie in W. Fraser (1876) II. 506 The children of Harald..came from Irland with a convocation of Irishes and other runegatts. 1828 W. B. Stonehouse p. viii To preach a sermon for the distressed Irishes. 1851 H. Mayhew II. 338/1 The Irishes don't stand up to you like men. They don't fight like Christians, sir; not a bit of it. 1962 R. Cook v. 39 One night this Bri I been on about gets next to an Irish. 1978 K. Bonfiglioli x. 139 The man O'Casey was an Irish and so had a great gift for speech. 2. the mind > language > languages of the world > Indo-Hittite > [noun] > Indo-European > Celtic > Goidelic > Irish a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 87 Hundred and candred is al oon; candred is oo word imade of Walsche and of Irische [L. cantredus Wallice et Hibernice]. a1450 MS Bodl. 779 in (1889) 82 375 (MED) Quaþ þe bysschop [Aidan] an yrischs, ‘Ic wepe for þis king.’ a1549 A. Borde (1870) iii. 133 If there be any man the which wyll lerne some Irysh, Englysh and Irysh dothe folow here togyther. 1577 R. Stanyhurst Treat. Descr. Irelande i. f. 2v/2 in R. Holinshed I If a travailer of the Irish..had..spoken Irishe, the Weisefordians would commaunde hym..to..speake Englishe, or else bring his trouchman with him. 1655 T. Fuller ii. 81 Aidan, who naturally spoke Irish, was not intelligible of his English Congregation. a1687 W. Petty Polit. Anat. Ireland xiii, in (1769) 371 In Ireland the Fingallians speak neither English, Irish, nor Welch. 1751 26 The Natives are Protestants, but very superstitious, of a black Complexion, speak Irish, and believe the Place to have been formerly inhabited by Pigmies. 1791 J. Boswell anno 1772 I. 359 Johnson: If the Highlanders understood Irish, why translate the New Testament into Erse? 1828 C. Anderson v. 154 (table) Carrigaline..English spoken, but Irish most frequently. a1845 T. Davis (1846) 178 Had Ireland used Irish in 1782, would it not have impeded England's re-conquest of us? 1884 J. Rhŷs (ed. 2) vii. 242 The term Scotti was made in Irish into Scuit. 1901 23 May 3/7 It is essential, in the interests of education, that bilingualism, as a system, be introduced into the national schools in districts where Irish is extensively spoken. 1986 C. McGlinchey et al. xiii. 107 Everybody attending Graham's school spoke Irish and knew nothing else. 2001 S. MacGowan in V. M. Clarke & S. MacGowan (2002) 10 Tipperary was a gaeltacht in 1900, and my great-grandad, John Lynch..spoke fluent Irish, and so did my great-grandmother. the mind > language > languages of the world > Indo-Hittite > [noun] > Indo-European > Celtic > Goidelic > Scottish 1508 W. Kennedy Flyting (Chepman & Myllar) in (1998) I. 211 Thou lufis nane Irische..Bot it suld be all trew Scottis mennis lede. 1508 W. Kennedy Flyting (Chepman & Myllar) in (1998) I. 211 Thy forefadder, maid Irisch and Irisch men thin. c1540 J. Bellenden in tr. H. Boece xiii. sig. Aiiii This last Ile is namit Hirtha, quhilk in Irsche is callit ane scheip. 1614 in J. R. N. Macphail (1920) III. 171 Ane man off my awin, quha had guid Irish. 1647 J. Howell 152 The antient langage of Scotland is Irish, which the mountaineers..retain to this day. 1702 in (1772) I. p. cxcii About one half of the ministers in the Highlands..preach only in Irish. 1784 in (1909) 217 Schools useful in learning the young English, and the masters discharge the Scholars to speak Irish. 1817 W. Scott II. ix. 177 What I afterwards understood to be the Irish, Earse, or Gaelic. the mind > language > languages of the world > Indo-Hittite > [noun] > Indo-European > Germanic > English > British English > Irish English 1834 21 348 The Irish of the peasants (which is nothing but English Hibernicised). 3. A product or material manufactured or originating in Ireland. Cf. sense A. 2. the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric made from specific material > made from flax, hemp, or jute > [noun] > linen > types of > fine 1397 (P.R.O.: C 145/266/12) j toga domini de Iryssh linatt. cum nigro..j toga bastard de Irissh furrat. cum gray. 1420 in A. H. Thomas (1943) IV. 74 [4 ½ ells of] rawflemmysh..[12 ¼ ells of] Irissh..[1 ¼ ells of] Flemmysh. ?1740 A. Lambe 11 Four fine large damask table cloths... A piece of Irish. 1784 W. Cowper 21 Mar. (1981) II. 228 Your Mother wishes you to buy for her ten yards and a half of yard-wide Irish from 2s to 2s 6d per yard. 1799 J. Austen 21 May (1995) 38 Mrs Davies frightened him into buying a piece of Irish when we were in Basingstoke. 1834 E. E. Perkins 63 The regard to time and other circumstances which has been recommended in choosing Irishes, should be observed in the purchase of all linens. 1921 F. R. Eldridge App. iii. 369 White Irishes, not over 37-in. by 42 yards. 1934 vii. 148 Among piece goods, items of the heaviest expenses are sheetings, shirtings,..white irishes, imitation twills and venetians, [etc.]. the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > tobacco > snuff > [noun] > types of 1806 J. Beresford I. ii. 35 Venturing upon a pinch of high dried Irish, in the open air. 1824 J. Wright 209 He handed round his high-dried Irish to the ladies and gentlemen liberally. 1881 W. R. Loftus ii. 37 In snuff, the moisture in the high-dried Irish and Welch varied from 2.95 to 5.97. the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > whisky > [noun] > Irish whisky 1876 Jan. 325 Tain't often I drink from choice, But I fancy a drop of Irish warm softens and mellers the voice. 1893 H. Crackanthorpe 125 Two bitters and a small Scotch..and a large Irish. 1914 J. Joyce 114 Weathers said he would take a small Irish and Apollinaris. 1972 ‘P. Ruell’ vi. 58 Irish. I drink Irish. Not this muck. 2004 (Nexis) 24 Dec. (Weekend section) t11 Not quite as strong a list as Wheaton's Royal Mile, which has more than 74 Scottish malts and a handful of Irishes. society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > board game > backgammon > [noun] > varieties of backgammon c1530 (1905) 21 Syr can teache you to play at the dice At the quenes game and at the Iryshe. 1564 W. Bullein f. 77 In this land did I se an Ape playe at ticke tacke, and after at Irishe, with one of that lande: and also a Parate, geue one of their gentle women a checke mate at Chesse. 1590 21 Hir husband that loued Irish well, thought it no ill tricke at tables to beare a man too many. 1601 W. Cornwallis II. l. sig. Nn6v Like an after game at Irish, that is wonne and lost diuers times in an instant. 1647 J. Howell 216 Though you have learnt to play at Baggammon, you must not forget Irish, which is a more serious and solid game. 1664 G. Etherege v. ii. 80 Here's a turn with all my heart, Like an after-game at Irish. 1798 J. M. Mason 42 There is a passage in Howel's Letters which induces me to think that Irish and Backgammon were two distinct games. 1920 E. L. Guilford 45 Tick-Tack and Irish are varieties of backgammon. 1995 J. L. Singman vii. 165 Irish was one of the commonest ‘games at tables’ (i.e., games played on a backgammon board). the mind > emotion > anger > [noun] > angry temper 1834 D. Crockett iv. 30 Her Irish was up too high to do any thing with her. 1860 J. R. Bartlett (ed. 3) 217 My friends say that my Irish is getting up, meaning, I am getting angry. 1872 H. W. Bigler (1962) 25 This raised Colonel Smith's Irish a little. 1877 F. Ross et al. 80/1 Iry; Irish, E. and N., passion; anger; rage; fury. 1936 M. Mitchell ix. 195 A delicately nurtured Southern belle with her Irish up. 1949 R. Harvey vii. 73 But George's Irish was up. 1972 23 June 1/4 ‘I got my Irish up,’ he said, ‘and here's a man that's going to fight back.’ 1997 Sept. 39/1 If someone tries to corral me to do something I don't want to do, it gets my Irish up. Phrases1904 5 77 It is alive with anecdotes of the luck of the Irish. 1913 H. Gordon 20 I wouldn't go out in a rowboat for a dozen fish suppers, but you seem to have the luck of the Irish on such occasions, so get to going! 1975 M. P. Motley iii. 165 That man had the luck of the Irish..! We came smack up against a mine field... John Long got out of his lead tank and walked ahead and guided us safely through that field. 1999 M. Lucashenko 221 It was the luck of the Irish, wasn't it, the way things happened to fuck you up. 2009 (Nexis) 29 Sept. 48 [Aston] Villa must have the luck of the Irish... They only had to put the ball in the area and it would bounce off someone into the net. Compounds C1. Compounds of the adjective. 1829 in (Brit. Mus.) (1954) XI. 104 An attempt to choke John Bull with Irish-made dishes. 1830 13 Nov. The descent of an Irish-looking man. 1857 J. G. Swan xviii. 311 I believe that there are more Irish-sounding words in the Chehalis language than there are Hebrew. 1888 25 May 2/2 Large quantities of Irish-made lace, embroidery, sprigging, &c., are regularly sent to the Continent. 1913 June 199 These rugs are Irish designed, Irish dyed, Irish made and Irish finished, and they challenge the world. 1925 31 Jan. 10/2 There was not one of the more Irish-sounding passages. 1988 A. M. Greeley (1989) xxxv. 320 These three bigots did not believe it possible that someone as Irish-seeming as I am..could possibly be a distinguished scientist. 1994 May–June 11 ‘What was that,’ I ask, turning to John, my Irish-looking Belizean guide. b. 1774 J. Weatherby 2 180 His Majesty's 100gs for Irish bred horses. 1898 55 186 One of the Irish jobbers who every autumn bring over Irish bred geese for sale to the farmers to fatten on their stubbles against Christmas. 2002 June 41/3 Once upon a time hobby was a generic name for an Irish-bred horse. 1782 J. Beresford 44 This law was made therefore to protect Irish grown Tobacco on its carriage. 1850 S. G. Osborne 250 Irish-grown flax. 1994 T. C. Gillmer (ed. 2) iii. 121 (caption) She is built of African iroko and Irish-grown oak. C2. Compounds of the adjective, in the names of plants and animals (sense A. 4). 1880 J. Britten & R. Holland Irish Daisy. Leodonton Taraxacum, L.—Yks. 1936 N. L. Britton & A. Brown (ed. 2) III. 315 Leontodon Taraxacum L. Dandelion... Called also lion's-tooth,..Irish daisy, monk's-head, priest's-crown. 2005 A. Phaneuf 92/1 It [sc. the dandelion] has also variously been called blowball, lion's tooth, Irish daisy, and wild endive. But the name I like best is fairy clock. the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > types of deer > [noun] > extinct types 1697 T. Molyneux in (Royal Soc.) 19 505 We shall not have the least Reason to question but these vastly large Irish Deer and the American Moose, were certainly one and the same sort of Animal. 1811 J. Bigland & J. Morse (1812) II. 107 It has..been demonstrated, that the enormous Irish deer in question must have been nearly twelve feet high. 1844 238 Mr. Parkinson refers the beams of two antlers found in the till at Walton in Essex, on account of their large size, to the great Irish Deer. a1933 J. A. Thomson (1934) I. xxi. 733 Its remains have been found so abundantly in the peat-bogs of Ireland that it is always called the Irish deer. 1992 A. Goudie (ed. 3) iv. 140 The Giant Irish Deer (Megaceros giganteus) attained an antler span of up to 3.4m. 1839 J. Graham 314 Two hundred and fifty Irish draught horses were sent to hasten up the train of artillery. 1911 11 Jan. 6/2 A new scheme for encouraging the breeding of Irish Draught horses has been prepared by the Department [of Agriculture in Ireland]. 2001 J. Lambert in M. Hickey (2004) 266 I love the Irish draught horse. The brains of the Irish draught. There's a bit of Connemara in them. the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > types of deer > [noun] > extinct types 1792 R. Kerr 296 Irish Elk—C. Alces fossilis. The horns have long beams, are palmated, and are furnished with flatted brow antlers. 1844 237 The most remarkable of the unquestionably extinct species of the Cervine family is that which is commonly called the Irish Elk. 1933 A. S. Romer xviii. 356 Among the more interesting forms was the gigantic ‘Irish elk’, Megaceros, with the largest antlers of any known deer. 1964 G. K. Whitehead xxx. 435 The giant deer—variously called great fallow deer and, quite erroneously, the Irish elk—was undoubtedly the finest deer that has ever inhabited Great Britain. 2000 25 Mar. 37/2 Yet the Irish elk's antlers were almost a third heavier than those of the modern moose. the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > hound > [noun] > wolf-hound 1590 Sir P. Sidney iii. xxviii. f. 359 The Irish greyhound, against the English mastiffe; the sword-fish, against the whale;..might be..models of this combat. 1763 R. Brookes I. 226 The Irish greyhound is, as Ray affirms, the highest Dog he had ever seen, he being much taller than a Mastiff Dog, but more like a Greyhound in shape. 1838 W. Scrope xii. 260 The deerhound is known under the names of Irish wolfhound, Irish greyhound, Highland deerhound, and Scotch greyhound. ?1785 Earl of Bute II. 388 Irish Heath. E[rica] daboecii. 1867 31 Aug. 226/2 Patches of purple heather, or tufts by the roadside of that large-belled Irish heath which is only found on the western coast. 1908 G. Jekyll 20 There is a fine patch at the joining of the two little grassy paths of the white form of the Irish Heath (Menziesia polifolia). 1996 R. Mabey 161/2 Darley Dale heath, E. x darleyensis, is a cross between Irish heath (E. erigena) and the central European spring heath (E. carnea or herbacea). the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > vegetables > seaweed > [noun] the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular vegetables > [noun] > edible seaweeds 1830 M. Donovan II. vii. 323 Carrageen..commonly called Irish moss, introduced from Ireland as an article of food within the last ten years. 1903 22 7/2 If the Irish moss could be obtained in sufficient quantity and a clear solution of it easily prepared, it might be much more used than it is. 1943 M. L. Fernald & A. C. Kinsey iv. 405 Green, purple or black Irish Moss is looked upon with suspicion, so used are we to cooking only the old, dead and pallid fragments. 2008 S. W. Shumway 45/1 Irish Moss (Chondrus crispus), a red seaweed, is the dominant species in the low intertidal of protected shores. 1882 5 423 Gerres olisthotoma... Mr. R. E. Earll..obtained at Indian River six specimens... They are known as the ‘Irish pompano’. 1950 44 105 The stomachs of specimens..contained hog fish, silversides, Irish pompano, [etc.]. 2002 (Nexis) 18 Mar. 1 Irish pompano: Because of its silver color, this species is also commonly referred to as a silver perch. the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > vegetables > root vegetable > [noun] > potato the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > vegetables > root vegetable > [noun] > potato > types of the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular vegetables > [noun] > root vegetables > potato > potato plant 1664 J. Forster 2 The fourth sort..are the Irish Potatoes, being little different from those of Virginia, save only in the Colour of the Flower and time of flowering. 1786 G. Washington 25 Oct. (1979) V. 57 The 4 rows of Irish Potatoes had been dugged. 1817 W. Darby (ed. 2) 222 All the solanums (Irish potatoe, peppers, and egg-fruit,) whose leaves are easily killed by the slightest degree of freezing. 1884 25 May 9/6 Potatoes always mean sweet potatoes, the other kind being distinguished from them as Irish potatoes. 1905 Apr. 293/2 Irish potatoes require for their successful growth light loam soil full of vegetable matter and fertility. 1994 L. Poisson & G. V. Poisson x. 220/2 Irish potatoes are a main crop for most people who grow them. 1713 J. Petiver Irish Rush Cress. 1821 S. F. Gray II. 696 Subularia aquatica... Irish rush-cress. Alpine lakes on gravel; annual. 1852 R. Dowden xvi. 227 The Irish rush-cress—an admirably adapted name, constructed from its rush-like leaves and its cress-like blossom. 1812 W. B. Daniel III. 342 Mr. Thornhill describes the Irish Setter (termed English Spaniels) as bringing very high prices when of peculiar Breeds. The Colours of these choice sorts are deep Chesnut and White, or all Red. 1865 4 Dec. 6/3 If you are well up in your Field, you will understand the great point of colour in the Irish setter,—the coat being deep blood-red and rich chestnut or mahogany. 1939 W. L. Phelps lxxxviii. 816 I should have liked to take home with me a beautiful Irish setter, Rex, a member of the Galsworthy household. 2002 J. Cunliffe (new ed.) 194/2 The Irish setter is generally thought to have descended from land spaniels used for taking game with the net. 1985 2 Feb. 55/3 Eddie Macken has added the Irish sport horse (half bred) stallion Kilkenny Flight to his showjumping team. 2007 Oct. 157 (caption) Irish Sport Horse yearling gelding. 1676 E. Coles at Mackenboy, Makimboy An Irish Spurge, which purgeth one much, only by being born about one. 1756 C. Smith xiv. 382 Irish spurge, called Makinboy, or knotty rooted spurge, common on the mountains of this county. c1859 C. A. Johns (ed. 3) 544 The Irish Spurge is extensively used by the peasants of Kerry for poisoning, or rather stupefying, fish. 1950 R. Ll. Praeger ii. 51 Euphorbia hiberna, Irish Spurge... A handsome species, forming in spring bold golden-green tufts in rough pastures and copses; especially abundant in Kerry and Cork. 2006 H. Willetts 95 I believe that E. hyberna, the Irish spurge, must be short-lived; possibly my conditions curtail it still further—two to three years being the maximum. the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > terrier > [noun] > other types of 1798 J. O'Keeffe Life's Vagaries (new ed.) v. iii, in I. 98 Now Monsieur Thomas and dat villain Irish terrier may hunt her for deir own recreation. 1833 Apr. 443/2 Brutus was got by an English bull dog out of a small Irish terrier. 1897 Earl of Suffolk et al. I. 323/1 It is just twenty years since the Irish terrier first obtained recognition in the Kennel Club Stud Book. 1947 J. Stevenson-Hamilton viii. 68 A plucky Irish terrier diverted the pig's attention by attacking it from behind. 2002 J. Cunliffe (new ed.) 245/2 The Irish terrier was shown in Ireland in 1875 and the Irish Terrier Club was formed in 1879. the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > hound > [noun] > wolf-hound 1669 H. Oldenburg Let. 1 Mar. in (1968) V. 423 Certainly the best Irish Wolfdog is a Gallant Animal. 1788 G. Washington Let. 5 Feb. in (1997) Confederation Ser. VI. 87 He communicates your wish to obtain a breed of the true Irish Wolf dog. 1811 J. Bigland & J. Morse (1812) II. 106 The race of Irish wolf dogs is nearly extinct. 1910 R. Leighton xv. 90 The main point at issue was whether the dog then imperfectly known as the Irish Wolfdog was a true descendant of the ancient Canis graius Hibernicus. 2005 A. Kane 13/1 It is said that Richardson's writings about the Irish Wolfdog greatly influenced Captain G. A. Graham, to whom the modern Wolfhound owes its survival. the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > hound > [noun] > wolf-hound 1835 W. G. Simms II. iv. 43 This dog is a peculiar breed, and resembled in some leading respects the Irish wolf-hound. 1880 G. A. Graham in H. Dalziel i. iii. 34 The Irish wolfhound, being used for both the capture and despatch of the wolf, it would necessarily have been of greyhound conformation, besides being of enormous power. 1908 A. J. Dawson vi. 59 Finn had won two special prizes; one, a medal offered by the Irish Wolfhound Club..and another..for the biggest Irish Wolfhound in the Show. 1969 E. H. Hart 313 The Irish Wolfhound is remarkable in combining power and swiftness with keen sight. 2006 July 18/1 The Irish Wolfhound was all but lost to us in the latter half of the 19th century. 1813 T. Faulkner 21 Amongst the most rare and curious we have noticed, in particular, the following:..Taxus Hibernæ; Irish Yew-tree. 1879 Nov. 38/1 Close by are arranged erect, pyramidal dark green, Irish yews. 1933 L. H. Bailey viii. 255 The Irish yew, Taxus baccata var. fastigiata, is the most outstanding of the upright growing forms. 1996 R. Mabey 35/2 Most yew plantings these days are..of the tidier but blander fastigiate variety, or Irish yew, whose branches all sweep evenly upwards, as if they had been bound into a bundle. C3. Compounds of the adjective. With some slang and colloquial uses cf. senses A. 5b, A. 5c, Irishman n. Compounds; some are likely to be offensive.1572 I. B. sig. D.iv An Irish Acre, which is two English Acres and a half quarter. 1647 H. Jones i. 3 It doth containe about halfe an Irish acre and eleven perches. 1764 Feb. 64/1 Ireland..contains 10000000 of Irish acres (which may be near 17000000 English acres). 1873 2nd Ser. 9 412 The rent is 25s. an Irish acre, or 15s. 5d. an imperial acre. 1983 29 Dec. b9/2 She lives in Ireland on a small estate (one-third of an Irish acre, which is a bit larger than an American acre). 2001 L. A. Clarkson & E. M. Crawford (2005) viii. 181 According to him [sc. 19th-cent. Times journalist Thomas Campbell Foster] a farmer could grow 5 tons of potatoes a year on a rood of land (a quarter of an acre). This is an extravagant estimate, even if Foster had Irish acres in mind. society > faith > aspects of faith > creed > kinds of creed > [noun] > other 1646 G. Gillespie To Rdr. sig. a4 (margin) Irish Articles of Religion Art. 61, 62. 1707 J. Edwards I. ii. viii. 525 Those Irish Articles..remain a lasting Explication of the Sense and Meaning of the Church of England in her Articles. 1877 P. Schaff I. 664 The Irish Articles are one hundred and four in number. 1990 C. Russell iii. 79 The Irish Articles of 1615 upheld this rejection of will-worship, contradicting the English Articles in the process. 1795 W. Marshall Rev. Ess. i. ix, in 153 Snuffing high-dried Irish blackguard. 1837 J. Richardson (ed. 2) i. 34 His dress was a coarse Irish-blackguard-snuff colored frock coat. 1854 May 824/1 [It] rivals that sort of snuff called Irish blackguard in its capacity for making you sneeze. 1906 S. R. Crockett xxv. 337 And if you could reconcile it wi' your conscience to bring me in a twist o' tobacco, Kinahan's Irish Blackguard for choice, I wad caa the maitter square! 1981 P. Haines xxvii. 204 Then there was Uncle Alexander's snuff in the big yellow box he kept in his waistcoat—it made me sneeze so. Yellow Irish Blackguard I think they called it. 1749 3 Sheetings wrought up of high whitened Yarn, cannot be so good, nor produced in so great Quantity,..as those made of well purged flaxen Yarn, commonly called Irish Bleach. 1854 J. Sproule 290 But though the skilful application of chemistry has..effected wonderful improvements, the snowy purity of the Irish bleach is mainly to be referred to the humidity of our climate, its alternate showers and sunshine. 1903 R. L. Patterson in H. Cox 61 Owing to the admitted superiority of the Irish bleach, a considerable quantity of linen is sent from Belgium, France, and Germany to be bleached here. 1955 3 Dec. 8/1 (advt.) Linen damask... Beautiful cloths and napkins..in crystal color snow white Irish bleach. 1682 R. Westcot in tr. J. Selden Notes 114 But Scotus or Scot, is the name of his Countrey, he being a Scotch-man, and for that reason called also Erigena, that is, Irish born, to wit, a Highlander. 1813 M. O'Conor 243 This sentence of perpetual banishment deeply affected the Irish-born officers and soldiers of the brigade. 1829 26 May 4/5 He and his wife were Irish born. 1902 May 398 I have heard some Irish-born priests express the same conviction in language much more emphatic and rather less flattering to Ireland. 1993 Aug. 62/2 The Irish-born physicist William Hamilton and the German mathematician Karl Jacobi. 1977 2 Apr. 2/6 Mr. Donegan, Minister of Fisheries, said yesterday the new regulations covered ‘the Irish box’. 1996 (Nexis) 1 May 30 Since January 1996, a further 40 Spanish-registered vessels have been permitted to fish legally within the Irish Box. 2006 (Nexis) 8 Apr. 8 ‘Super-sized’ Spanish deepwater freezer vessels..have temporary permits for EU fishery area VII, including the reduced Irish Box, off the west coast. 2009 S. J. Holt 26 The Irish Box was replaced by a much smaller ‘Irish Conservation Box’ to the south and west of Ireland. 1806 J. Carr 148 An Irish breakfast is always a very bountiful one, and contains, exclusive of cold meats, most excellent eggs and honey. 1914 Apr. 78/1 A class of tea commonly known here [sc. the United States] as ‘English breakfast’ or ‘Irish breakfast’, is totally unknown by those names in any part of the British states. 1933 12 Mar. 11/8 (heading) Irish Breakfast. Fry 6 slices Irish bacon until crisp. Poach 6 eggs [etc.]. 1990 A. Gordon 15 I went and poured another cup of tea, my own blend of Irish Breakfast and Earl Grey. 2002 15 Mar. (Friday Review section) 7/6 Start the whole occasion off with a traditional Irish breakfast. Make sure you have plenty of bacon, white pudding and sausages in store and then fry the whole lot up. 1958 16 Mar. 7 Twinings Irish Breakfast Tea. The traditional Irish blend of Assam and Ceylon teas. A pungent dark amber brew. 2000 M. Hughes 148 Irish blends taste nothing like the namby pamby versions of Irish breakfast tea you'll find outside the country. society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > street > [noun] > gutter in a street > drain across a road or street 1866 D. Forbes (ed. 2) i. 473/1 Salāmī, a pavement across the bed of a watercourse; an Irish bridge. 1891 35 Constructing an Irish bridge on the Barnes Road..R 122 3 3. 1960 T. Zinkin viii. 124 Crossing the Irish bridge felt like driving through an ordinary puddle of water. 1969 ‘M. Innes’ xv. 167 You cross the river by an Irish bridge... It's just a bridge, but built under the water instead of over it... It's really a reliable sort of ford. 2003 R. A. Gabriel iv. 129 Although often fabricated of concrete, an Irish bridge can easily be constructed of stone. 1734 M. Barber 187 To the Right Honourable the Earl of Thormond, at Bath; who charg'd the Author with making an Irish Bull. 1763 (title page) Smart repartees, witty quibbles, Irish bulls, &c. 1841 14 Sept. That kind of sham Reformer, who, to use an Irish Bull, is at bottom, no Reformer at all. 1914 C. L. Graves in J. Dunn & P. J. Lennox 300 There is no better known form of Irish humor than that commonly called the ‘Irish bull’, which is too often set down to lax thinking and faulty logic. But it is the rarest thing to encounter a genuine Irish ‘bull’ which is not picturesque and at the same time highly suggestive. 1985 July 33/3 The Irish bull is an ancestor of the present-day Irish joke (usually cracked elsewhere, but often self-imposed). a1650 G. Boate (1652) xix. 153 The load of an Irish-car, drawn by one Garron. 1780 A. Young i. 186 Proof of the great excellency of the irish car. 1826 W. Hone (1827) II. 240 The common Irish Car..is used throughout the province of Leinster... The Irish ‘jaunting car’ [etc.] are wholly distinct and superior vehicles. 1908 L. Woolf 25 Nov. (1990) 142 I got into an absurd Irish car..& drove straight off. 1962 J. G. Jenkins ii. 25 In many ways the so-called ‘Irish’ car (Car Gwyddelig) is a close relative of the truckle cart, and like the truckle it was mainly used in south Wales. the mind > language > languages of the world > Indo-Hittite > [adjective] > Indo-European > Celtic > Irish the mind > language > languages of the world > Indo-Hittite > [noun] > Indo-European > Celtic > Goidelic > Irish 1759 E. Aram Ess. towards Lexicon in 56 That almost identity of languages is sometimes found in places at a great distance from each other, and hence that agreement in many vocables between the Greek, and the Cambrian, and Irish Celtic. 1768 J. O'Brien 163/2 Amhuin is an other Irish celtic word for a river. 1861 Oct. 445/2 An Icelandic saga, a chronicle in Saxon, in Irish Celtic, or even in old Norman. 1894 Sept. 436 The first book that was printed in Gaelic is a translation of John Knox's Liturgy by Bishop Carsewell... Irish Celtic scholars saw the necessity of getting the book reprinted. 1992 M. Ó Murchú in G. Price iii. 37 The dominance of Irish Celtic, or Gaelic, was not destined to last for long in Scotland. 1999 A. Ó Maolfabhail in G. Jarvie xi. 154 Ireland became less and less Celtic-speaking so that by 1922..the restoration of the not-quite-extinct Irish Celtic language was adopted as a fundamental aim of the new state. the world > food and drink > drink > coffee > [noun] > coffee with spirits 1875 May 196/1 Mr. O'Rafferty took from the depths of his coat-pocket a quart-bottle filled..with that villainous compound known as ‘Irish coffee,’ and placed it on the table. 1934 2 Aug. 7/7 Lunch menu..Fruit Medley, Irish Coffee. 1950 Dec. 57/1 I am..drinking Irish coffee, which..is a mixture of very, very good Power's whiskey and very, very bad coffee. I am deciding that my next drink will be an Irish coffee without the coffee. 1997 S. Coogan et al. (2003) 240/2 They may have very nice Tudorette-style housing but can they order an Irish coffee at 3 a.m. in the morning and get it delivered to their room? society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > [noun] > stone as missile society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > stone or rock > [noun] > piece of stone > stones society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > clay compositions > baked clay > brick > [noun] > a brick > collectively 1908 July 5 Who is lacking in proper respect for a good brick, whether it shelters us from the blasts of winter or comes to us in the form of ‘Irish confetti’, as Pat termed the brickbat. 1939 G. Kersh xii. 161 I learned the use of Irish Confetti, or Brickbats, at a tender age. 1966 19 June 40/1 An American friend in Amsterdam, describing last week's riots there, said: ‘There's just a lot of Irish confetti around.’ 1966 F. Shaw et al. 57 A cargo uv Irish confetti, a cargo of stone chippings. 1988 P. J. O'Rourke (2000) 53 The ‘Irish confetti’ was dancing off upraised shields and bouncing and ricocheting all around in the courtyard. 1979 13 Mar. 14/5 Guests will..sip an after-dinner drink called an Irish cream. 1982 (Nexis) 2 Jan. (Late City Final ed.) 15 A shortage of Irish cream liqueurs is likely in the near future because of severe winter weather in Ireland that has prevented cattle from feeding normally. 1990 D. Stevens iv. 57 I've got some Irish Cream... Well—Jeff and I don't drink a lot of it. 2008 M. McFadden 71 My mother would be shocked at me,..tipsy so early in the day. I've been told she only ever had an Irish cream on holidays. the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > [noun] > consisting of loops or looped stitches > lace > resembling crochet 1853 26 Mar. 4/3 (advt.) There will be a large Assortment of Irish Crochet. 1868 13 Aug. A light green parasol covered with superb Irish crochet lace. 1876 30 Aug. 2/4 There are exquisite samples of..Irish crochet point, Queen's point, Spanish point, [etc.]. 1914 29 June 13/5 (advt.) Real Irish Crochet Point set of collar and cuffs. 1965 14 Apr. 8/3 Linen..covers her drawing room walls (held down by strips of Irish crochet). 1981 A. Stearns xviii. 125 Irish crochet lace, and its influence is seen in many countries. 1998 G. O'Hara Callan 69/1 She specialized in adapting traditional textiles—such as Irish crochet and linens, Carrickmacross lace and Donegal tweeds—to fashion garments. society > communication > indication > insignia > heraldic devices collective > charge: device on shield > cross > [noun] > other types of cross 1832 T. Cromwell Notes 141 All the very curious, and often elegant, Irish Crosses. 1857 W. R. Wilde 107 The ancient Irish cross, carved in relief, the arms of which are enclosed within a circle. 1858 E. Davenport 84 ‘Will you help me to make the flag, mama?’ ‘Yes, my dear boy; the Irish cross should be transposed so as to show more of St. Andrew's cross.’ 1955 1 ii. 108 The general components of an Irish cross are the base, or pedestal, the shaft with a transom and..a ring. 1965 C. Pama v. 44 The two saltires of St. Andrew and St. Patrick... The Scottish cross became one tenth of the breadth of the flag and the Irish cross only one fifteenth. 2002 G. F. Snyder 15 This interest in the sun continued into the culture of the insular Celts to the point that the distinguishing mark of an Irish cross is the circle (sun) around the crossbars or spokes. a1627 T. Middleton Women beware Women iii. iii, in (1657) 164 Her heels keep together so, as if she were beginning an Irish dance. 1778 T. Tyrwhitt Note on Winter's Tale in S. Johnson & G. Steevens (rev. ed.) IV. 384 Fadings:..An Irish dance of this name is mentioned by B. and Jonson, in The Irish Masque at Court. 1861 28 It occurred to us that the Irish dance (the jig, or moneen) requiring so little room must have been a consequence of the smallness generally of the accommodation. 1919 June 382/1 Irish Dance (Jig)... Hands on hips. 1. Set left heel at side, same time hop on right foot—1. Hop on right foot, same time touch left toe at side. 1982 17 Sept. ii. 12/2 (advt.) Free adult Irish dance lessons. Great exercise and fun. 2006 J. Butler in A. H. Wyndham 141 Something interesting happened that would change the face of Irish dance forever. That something was Riverdance. 1914 15 Apr. 13/3 Mr O'Connor's skill and grace as an Irish dancer is known throughout the bay section. 1976 13 Mar. iii. 3/1 Most dancers start at an early age..and a good Irish dancer has usually spent at least three years in lessons. 2003 D. Cole 214 The couple started tapping their shoes against the tile floor, their bodies motionless, like Irish dancers, just the feet moving. 1843 14 264 I..can tolerate dancing, even Irish dancing, sir, now and then. 1894 17 Mar. 16/3 (title) Irish dancing. Interesting talk concerning the Reel, jig and hornpipe. 1914 T. Kinney & M. W. Kinney viii. 175 Irish dancing... That no incident may distract attention from the foot-work, the body is held almost undeviatingly erect, and the arms passive at the sides. 1977 28 Sept. b1/3 Irish dancing has two remarkably different facts. The first is traditional group folk dancing, which resembles many of the folk or country dances of other nations... The other aspect of Irish dancing is the more widely-known solo or step dancing. 2010 440/1 Before Riverdance, Irish dancing was something schoolchildren performed chiefly for competitions, and sometimes on civic occasions, with their arms held rigidly by their sides. society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > gem or precious stone > rock crystal > [noun] the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > silicates > tectosilicate > [noun] > quartz > crystalline quartzes > rock crystal 1774 Mrs. J. Harris Let. 13 Nov. in 1st Earl of Malmesbury (1870) I. 283 She is very fine in a purple Spanish dress, all the buttons Irish diamonds. 1796 R. Kirwan (ed. 2) II. 257 The Marcasite found near Dublin, called Irish Diamond. 1839 M. Gardiner 49 ‘I believe,’ said Mrs. Williamson, ‘that Irish diamonds are not paste.’ 1884 F. J. Britten (new ed.) 215 Rock crystal,..also known as..‘Irish’ diamond, is also much used by watch jewellers. 1971 27 May 1321/3 Carved devotional chairs of bog-wood..enriched with ‘Irish diamonds’, rock crystals from Donegal. 1682 8 There was an Oath..about to have been made by a Right Irish Evidence, That one Mr. Nevill had wounded his Lordships Horses. But just then hearing that the Gentleman was above Fifty Miles distant from the place, he held his blow, and we have unluckily miss'd that able Testimony. ?1708 T. Baker ii. i. 16 His Bosom Friends are Ministers, Owlers, Pettifoggers, Nonjurors that won't swear to the Government, and Irish Evidences that will swear to any thing. 1831 W. Orme I. xii. 309 The dissenters were tried by mercenary judges, before packed juries, on Irish evidence. 1996 W. H. A. Williams 59 The Victorian era when ‘Irish evidence’ was false testimony. 1843 S. Smith Let. 18 Dec. in (1855) II. 522 I hope the Irish fossils have reached you by this time, and that they are approved of. 1855 Lady Holland I. 376 You always detect a little of the Irish fossil, the potato, peeping out in an Irishman. the world > the earth > named regions of earth > Europe > British Isles > Ireland > [noun] > Republic 1921 6 Oct. President Cosgrave of the Irish Free State appeared before the Dail Eireann. 1921 7 Dec. 10/1 The intention in setting up the Irish Free State is to follow the Parliamentary procedure adopted in 1800 for carrying the Union. 1922 c. 2 An Act to make such provisions as are consequential on or incidental to the establishment of the Irish Free State. 1937 V. Bartlett x. 144 When the Irish Free State was admitted [to the League of Nations]..President Cosgrave made his opening speech in Gaelic. 1991 Spring 157 Lee is mindful of the achievements of the Irish Free State and Eire since 1922 in establishing and stabilizing a liberal democratic state. 1771 J. Macpherson 39 The Scottish and Irish Gaël have brought down the name of Alba or Albin to the present age. 1814 307 The appellation of Scoti was applied to a certain portion of the inhabitants of Ireland..; and such of the Irish Gael as led a life similar to the mountaineers of Scotland, got,..the same appellation. 1902 15 Mar. 12/3 A religious celebration of St. Patrick's Day for Irish Gaels in London will take place..to-morrow... The vernacular used on the occasion will be Irish exclusively. 2010 (World & Its People) 31/1 The Irish Gaels, who called themselves Scots, founded a separate kingdom called Alba alongside the Pictish kingdom. the mind > language > languages of the world > Indo-Hittite > [noun] > Indo-European > Celtic > Goidelic > Irish 1778 W. Shaw Introd. p. xviii The Scots and Irish Galic, though not radically different, are two separate dialects of the same language. 1878 72 This is a form of the plural rather rare in Irish Gaelic, but frequent in Welsh. 1988 N. C. Dorian in C. B. Paulston vi. 110 No generally valid statement can be made about the mutual intelligibility of Irish Gaelic and Scottish Gaelic. 2009 (Nexis) 28 Nov. b1 Scripture readings will be read in Irish Gaelic by center members.., and the ‘Our Father’ will be recited in Irish. society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > board game > backgammon > [noun] > varieties of backgammon 1509 A. Barclay (Pynson) f. xiiii Thoughe one knowe but the yresshe game yet wolde he haue a gentyllmannys name. 1575 G. Turberville sig. B.ij Both Ticktacke and the Irish game, are sportes but made to spende. 1640 J. Shirley Epil. sig. I4 How e're the Dyce run Gentlemen, I am The last man borne, still at the Irish game. the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > rock > metamorphic rock > [noun] > marble > others 1850 G. Godwin 11/2 Irish green marble is extensively used in the floor, as a decoration. 1865 Apr. 297 The best way of getting a sight of the structure..is to dissolve small flakes of the ‘Irish Green’ (as the stone-masons' men called the Galway and Connemara marble) in very weak dilute acid. 1914 16 July 11/4 A massive chimneypiece, white marble inlaid with Irish green, 41 guineas. 2003 P. Rogers 65 The green marble of Connemara is an ophicalcite... It is known as Connemara green or Irish green. 1850 16 Aug. Tablecloths, embroidery, Irish guipure, Limerick lace, [etc.]. 1900 May 453/2 At the bust line there is a rich bertha trimmed with white Irish guipure. 1971 E. Boyle iv. 84 Appliqué shawls, baby robes and Irish guipure shown by firms like Lambert and Bury and Forrest & Sons. society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > stringed instruments > harp or lyre > [noun] > Celtic harp 1599 E. Wright in R. Hakluyt (new ed.) II. 165 The Irish harpe sounded sweetely in our eares. a1684 J. Evelyn anno 1654 (1955) III. 92 My old acquaintance & most incomparable player on the Irish-Harp, Mr. Clarke. 1797 VIII. 326/1 There are among us two sorts of this instrument, viz. the Welch harp..and the Irish harp. 1879 G. Grove I. 686/1 The beautiful form of the more modern Irish harp is well known from its representation in the royal coat of arms. 1973 29 Mar. 861/3 Small Irish harps..can be bought for £130. They serve as a sort of apprenticeship for would be serious harp players. 1984 II. 138/2 Irish harps were strung to the left side of the neck, but tuning was done from the right; the left hand played the treble, the right hand the bass. 1769 J. Madison Let. 10 Aug. in (1962) I. 43 I believe there will not be the least danger of my getting an Irish hint, as they call it. 1854 3 513/1 Give them an Irish hint, can't you?—kick them down stairs. 1856 6 Nov. He shows a whole white plume, Until he gets an Irish hint, a kick, to leave the room. 1874 15 Aug. 201/1 Maybe he got the well-known Irish hint which keeps any man from going as a guest anywhere, and which consists in the said man not being invited. 1989 in (1996) III. (at cited word) A teacher, having stumped a student with a question, rephrased it in such a way as to make the answer obvious, adding, ‘An Irish hint.’ the world > food and drink > food > animals for food > preserved meat > [noun] > salted meat 1748 T. Smollett I. xxxiii. 291 Our provision consisted of putrid salt beef, to which the sailors gave the name of Irish horse. 1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher 404 Irish horse, old salt beef. 1906 H. Strang vi. 60 At sea 'tis all rope's end and salt pork, with Irish horse for a tit-bit. 2005 P. H. Spectre 193 Salt beef that was tougher than usual—which was tough indeed—was known to sailors as ‘Irish horse.’ 1686 H. Higden 27 The funerals of our Friends with State, And Mourning Pomp, we celebrate, Condoling their Deceased Souls, With Bellowings loud, as Irish howls. 1789 20 Six Irish Regency Giants..singing the Irish howl—‘pullalaloo—pullalaloo—Oh—Oh she was our darling!’ 1815 C. A. Eaton et al. (ed. 2) p. xxxvi The Irish howl set up by the Enniskillen Dragoons, and other Irish Regiments, is reported to have carried almost as much dismay into the ranks of the enemy, as their swords. 1840 R. Allan I. 260 The first impression made on the mind by the Irish howl is really a painful one. The tone of the lamentation, so prolonged and loud, conveys the feeling of a sudden and irremediable grief. 1887 T. D. Ingram iii. 64 The Bill was received with an Irish howl. 1997 K. Trumpener 302 The 1892 edition appends John Wesley's even more cynical reading of the ‘Irish howl’ in his Journal of 1750. 1676 J. Golborne Upon Much Lamented Death in J. Wilson sig. B3 The Irish howlers, or the formal Mum Of Solemn Statues would but ill become this sadness, such are Hirelings. 1691 J. Dunton I. iii. 40 Could I get all the Irish Howlers between Carickfergus and t'other side of Dublin to hoot and hollow over her grave, they'd never bring her to life again. 1838 May 578 Crush with scorn that cackling goose, And strike these Irish howlers dumb! 1869 C. Dickens 24 Oct. (2002) XII. 430 This feeling is very strong among the noisiest Irish howlers. 1881 31 Jan. 7/3 He would soon put down that Irish mutiny in the House of Commons. he'd ropes-end the Irish howlers one and all. 1555 W. Waterman tr. J. Boemus i. vi. 103 Thei [sc. Ichthiophagi of Afrike] flocke together to go drincke..shouting as they go with an yrishe whobub. 1581 J. Bell tr. W. Haddon & J. Foxe 326 b Mightier is the force of the Veritie..then that it can be dasht out of countenaunce with Irishe hooboobbes. 1634 J. Ford (1968) ii. iii. 168 There have been Irish hubbubs, when I have [danced] too. 1861 12 June 4/5 The Irish hubbub about the Ministerial repudiation of the Galway contract still continues. 1886 17 July 28/1 To-day I wished, out of pure weariness of the spirit, to look into this Irish hubbub. 2000 M. Neill xiii. 346 The Babylonical confusion known as the Irish hubbub. the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wind > [noun] > complete absence of wind a1835 D. Price (1839) xvi. 516 We were again accommodated with that abhorrence of sailors, a calm; by our naval wits, denominated an Irish hurricane. 1889 27 July 2/3 Not a boat completed the circuit of the buoys in Saturday's regatta, owing to the ‘Irish hurricane’. 1929 F. C. Bowen 72 Irish hurricane, a flat calm with drizzling rain. 2002 J. McGeary tr. G. Bernardin xii. 120 West-northwesterly winds, squalls, lightning, thunder, followed by another ‘Irish hurricane’ and, to top it off, we were becalmed for nearly 24 hours. 1901 14 Dec. That feature, which has been so long used to ridicule Irishmen, was very cleverly utilised to illustrate a phase of the Irish Ireland movement. 1904 W. B. Yeats in 18 Mar. 3/4 I went..to tell the Irish of America of what we call the Irish Ireland movement. 1916 P. Colum in M. Joy iii. 41 How could they be obtained without impairing the sanction of the Irish Ireland ideology? 1996 T. E. Hachey in T. E. Hachey et al. (rev. ed.) xii. 184 Although the Irish people have continued to resist using the Irish language, a majority of them still piously pay lip service to the Irish-Ireland ideal. 2000 43 748 The turn of the century debate between the Irish-Ireland movement and the Anglo-Irish literati. society > leisure > dancing > types of dance or dancing > dances of other countries > [noun] > Ireland 1684 T. D'Urfey 14 (title) A Scotch Song made to the Irish Jigg. 1780 A. Young ii. xvii. 75 The irish jig, which they can dance with a most luxuriant expression. 1843 C. J. Lever (1878) xvii. 124 The whole party would take hands and dance round the table to the measure of an Irish jig. 1865 3 June (1993) 447/1 Dancing an Irish jig on the cellar-flap outside the beer-shop. 1929 E. Bowen 64 Grizelda and Doris were best in the Irish Jig; so saucy. 1991 Oct. 75/3 The album contains Irish jigs and reels, Romanian horas, and a waltz. 1919 26 Feb. 166/2 I've fox-trotted in Stranraer, Irish-jigged in Mullingar. 2003 T. Hayden 163 Now he Irish jigged on the playground. 1812 J. Ferriar (ed. 2) I. iii. 79 Most of the stories, commonly quoted as such [sc. Irish bulls], are either of Greek, or French origin. The Αζεíα of Hierocles contain many of those blunders, which are reckoned standard Irish jokes. 1845 Feb. 111/2 Both gentleman laughed loudly at the Irish joke. 1940 E. O. Harbin xvii. 652 Every member of the family is asked to tell the Irish joke he has brought to the party. 1975 19 Dec. 6/1 Until recently Irish jokes tended to fall into several distinct categories... Irishmen themselves told many of them... One favourite kind was what has become known as ‘Irish bull’. 2009 (Nexis) 24 Feb. 27 30 BT staff suspended for emailing Irish joke... The round-robin message passed on by workers involved a ‘harmless’ quip about three Irishmen leaping off a cliff. the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > [noun] > consisting of loops or looped stitches > lace > resembling crochet 1757 3 Nov. 68 The Means of bringing a Discredit on the Irish Lace. 1821 5 Nov. 4/4 (advt.) Fine Irish lace. 1854 C. M. Yonge I. xiv. 336 She was..prettily dressed with some Irish lace. 1880 L. Higgin v. 51 Tambour work..is now almost confined to the manufacture of what is known as Irish or Limerick lace..made as net..with a tambour or crochet hook. 1881 C. C. Harrison i. 94 Irish lace, made of flax-thread with a ground-work of crochet. 1907 E. Wharton ii. ix. 139 Let me lend you my dress with the Irish lace. a1929 L. Troubridge (1966) iii. 16 We all had new poplin dresses with Irish lace collars. 1997 J. L. Gwynne 67/1 Designs of all Irish laces..were much improved from 1880 onwards by the encouragement given to the industry by the patronage of Queen Victoria and others. 2008 (Nexis) 4 Nov. c5 Irish lace also was made in France, Italy, Germany and Japan. 1739 25 July (advt.) Table-Linen, Irish Linen, Dowlass, and printed Linen, &c. 1785 J. Wedgwood Let. 3 Oct. in (1965) 285 Irish linens in the British market. 1851 III. 516/1 Dowlas is a strong kind of Irish linen, for shirting. 1879 M. E. Braddon III. 319 She wore Irish poplin, and Irish lace, Irish stockings, and Irish linen. 1968 J. Ironside 233 Irish linen, a very fine light-weight linen woven of Irish flax. 1973 P. Geddes viii. 102 In a department store on the Mall she stood and fingered Irish linens. 2005 C. Mendelson iii. xx. 315 Some Irish linen is still whitened by bleaching in the sunlight, a process called ‘grass bleaching’. the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > horse-gear > [noun] > rings or loops 1874 M. H. Hayes vi. 50 Nearly the full effect of a martingale for keeping a horse's head straight, may be obtained by simply passing the reins through two rings, attached together by a strap or even through one ring itself. This arrangement is sometimes called an Irish martingale. 1904 N. Taylor in F. G. Aflalo iii. 356 It is undoubtedly much more pleasant to hunt a horse without a martingale, but it cannot always be done. The only inoffensive form is the ‘Irish martingale’. 1986 E. F. Prince & G. M. Collier iv. 78 Accessories include leather rein stops (which keep the running martingale in place when added to the reins) and the Irish martingale. 2004 (Nexis) 6 Apr. 10 The reins, kept together by the Irish martingale (or ‘rings’), were still round Mandarin's neck. 1577 R. Stanyhurst Treat. Descr. Irelande i. f. 1v/2 in R. Holinshed I Eight dayes iourney, rating of long Irish myles, 40. miles to the day. a1687 W. Petty (1691) 112 Eleven Irish Miles make 14 English. 1854 R. S. Mackenzie in R. L. Shell II. 181 Stephen's Green is a square in Dublin, an Irish mile in circumference. 1910 C. Healy ii. 22 The men had never seen the like of it before, for they could have sworn that there wasn't a rabbit within an Irish mile of them. 1912 W. S. Blunt ix. 339 Twenty weariful Irish miles. 1980 G. Seymour vii. 82 ‘How tight is our group?’ ‘How long is an Irish mile?’ 1801 Let. 4 Sept. in Sept. 792/2 He..is now under-secretary at the Irish office, London. 1812 Let. 4 Sept. in C. C. F. Greville (1856) I. 403 [Sir Robert] Peel..announced his succession to the Secretaryship, by going down to the Irish Office, with his clerks, and taking possession of it. 1897 1 Oct. 508 The responsibility of the Home Secretary for the peace of the realm in general would not at present be deemed to warrant his over-ruling any decision of the Irish Office with respect to administrative policy in Ireland. 1917 17 May 8/7 I communicated at once with the Irish Office, and they have been in telephonic communication with him. 2009 F. Campbell ii. 60 Given that the majority of the population of Ireland was Catholic, it is clear that the Irish office, which was governed by British and Irish Protestants, was not representative of the population over which it ruled. society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > ropes or chains other than rigging or cable > [noun] > rope hanging loose 1837 F. Chamier III. ii. 41 Every sail was properly set—not a yarn hung like an Irish pendant from any of the ropes. 1840 R. H. Dana xxii. 221 There was no rust, no dirt, no rigging hanging slack, no fag ends of ropes and ‘Irish pendants’ aloft. 1906 F. T. Bullen iv. 67 Beyond occasionally repairing the bending of a sail or securing some of the ‘Irish pendants’..aloft, there was little to do. 1985 T. Jones xxv. 218 Her sides was old and her sails were rotten... Irish pendants in her rigging. society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > ropes or chains other than rigging or cable > [noun] > rope hanging loose 1829 W. N. Glascock I. xii. 201 Not removing an ‘Irish pennant,’ or straggling rope-yarn from the rigging, were, in the first lieutenant's opinion, punishable offences of considerable enormity. 1892 29 Oct. 6/6 Running gear..swung with the rolling of the little brig like Irish pennants. 1910 D. W. Bone i. 14 ‘Irish pennants’ fluttering wildly on spar and rigging tell of scamped work of those whose names are not on our ‘Articles’. 1996 P. O'Brian (1997) iv. 99 I think that even you will be startled by the number of Irish pennants everywhere to be seen. the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > [noun] > consisting of loops or looped stitches > lace > needle or point > types of 1851 (new ed.) II. 560/2 Chalice cover of Irish point. 1882 S. F. A. Caulfeild & B. C. Saward 272/1 Irish Point can be worked entirely as old Brussels needle point. 2007 C. A. Leslie 137 Irish point..was patronized by British Royalty during the nineteenth century lace revival. 1843 xxxviii. 419 The result was a court-martial's conferring on him an Irish promotion, from his second to a third rate boatswain's warrant. 1889 D. C. Murray & H. Murray x. 159 Now maybe, White, you may think it's Irish promotion to be put on to sneaking after the Fielding record. 1932 F. W. Ward vi. 86 He has been made the recipient of an ‘Irish’ promotion. That is, a reduction in grade from lieutenant colonel down to that of major. 2005 5 Apr. (G2 section) 8/1 Being a priest, he was released without charge, but one day he expects an ‘Irish promotion’. 1881 1 Apr. 98/1 We need honest, practical, and sustained work in favour of the Irish revival. When we can behold..Irish fathers and mothers insisting upon their children learning their native language,..we will begin to feel conscious that a spirit walks the land that can never be again emasculated. 1894 31 Mar. 1190 ‘Connacht Love-Songs’ is one of the most notable books of the Irish revival. 1904 J. McCarthy et al. IV. 1426 During the last few years Lady Gregory has been closely identified with the new Irish literary movement, and has contributed much to the press in support of the Irish revival generally. 1994 J. Edwards (1995) iv. 108 In the heyday of the Irish revival movement,..most of the leaders were Dublin-born upper-middle-class intellectuals, for whom Irish was an acquired competence rather than a maternal one. 2015 A. Roche i. 22 These plays by Yeats and Synge are more than a literal translation of Ibsen; they inform and have been translated into the deep structure of the drama of the Irish Revival. 1869 17 Mar. 4/1 Blueskin received an ‘Irish rise’, as he went back in double quick time to 33 to 1. 1870 5 Mar. 4/5 [It] will be found to be an Irish rise to the tune of 10½d of a loss in the week. 1892 C. H. Fretwell 94 I had what sailors call ‘an Irish rise’, becoming second officer after being for a time commanding officer. 1916 W. McFee xiii. 69 They've sold the place to an American firm and I've had an Irish rise. c1325 (c1300) (Calig.) l. 3183 (MED) Out of þe dragons mouþe tueye leomes þer stode..Þe oþer adde seue branches..& toward þe yrisse [a1400 Trin. Cambr. hyrische] se westward euene drowe. 1543 ( (1812) 67 Then came fro the Yrishe sea A bestyous fyshe. 1599 R. Hakluyt tr. in (new ed.) II. i. 63 There stand certaine trees vpon the shore of the Irish sea, bearing fruit like unto a gourd. 1652 P. Heylyn i. sig. Dd3 Anglesey, is an Iland situate in the Irish Sea, over against Carnarvonshire in North-Wales. 1788 77 Devonshire..is bounded by the Irish sea on the North. 1850 25 June 8/2 Communication between Holyhead and Dublin.—A new mode of expediting the passage across the Irish sea has lately been proposed. 1936 H. A. L. Fisher 181 By their control of the Western Isles and the Irish Sea a barrier was interposed between Ireland and Scotland. 2005 22 Aug. 5/3 Six fin whales were spotted last week by a group of conservationists in the Irish Sea, about 10 miles off the coast of Pembrokeshire. the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medical preparations of specific origin > mineral medicine > [noun] > slate used medicinally the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines of specific form > powder > [noun] > specific powders > prepared from minerals 1633 S. Bradwell xii. 82 Twentie graines of Irish-Slate in powder in a draught of Posset-Ale made with white Wine. 1700 T. Brown ix. 96 You must give him Irish Slate quantum sufficit. 1736 i. i. 21 Take of Irish Slate, Sperma Ceti, of each half a Dram. 1867 8 400 A strong protest against the messes poor people and poor people's children take, such as Godfrey's Cordial, Irish slate, and the like. society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > governing or legislative body of a nation or community > other national governing or legislative bodies > [noun] > specifically in Northern Ireland 1613 in (1916) 163 After all which done information was given by the Governor and Assistants of the Irish Society, that all the monies formerly levied towards that charge is altogether issued. 1775 J. Burns i. 174 The Irish society for plantings of Ulster erected in London. 1846 T. MacNevin vii. 214 The Irish Society is a type and symbolical representation of English rule in Ireland from the beginning. 1877 VI. 224/2 The separate estates are still held to be under the paramount jurisdiction of the Irish Society. 2006 (Nexis) 23 May 8 It's nice to see that The Honourable the Irish Society has linked up with Coleraine's traders in a three-year drive to try to help the Co Londonderry area economically. 1894 13 Nov. 2/6 Mr O'Toole gave an Irish step dance. 1988 25 July b2/4 The most stringently codified folk genres—such as Irish step dance, marked by straight arms held close to the sides, a motionless upper body, and intricate toe taps, kicks, and foreleg swivels. 2007 W. W. Johnstone & J. A. Johnstone x. 95 Andrew and Rosanna performed an Irish step dance, their feet tapping rapidly from the stage floor while they were practically motionless from their waists up. 1872 21 May 3/5 The son, Robert, who is an Irish step dancer. 1913 Oct. 440 Men and their writings are often as..strange to each other as the limbs and faces of Irish step-dancers, whose feet spring from the ground in an uncontrollable gaiety and whose faces are set in immovable gloom. 2006 R. D. Ginsburg et al. 67 Deidre has been an Irish step dancer since the first grade. 1885 7 Nov. 717/1 (heading) Irish step-dancing. 1902 7 Sept. ii. 22/4 Ten years ago Irish step dancing in San Francisco was practically unknown. 1988 (Nexis) 10 Mar. e9 A wedding dance from the Transcarpathian region had links to Irish step dancing, in both the rigid carriage of the torso and the rhythmic intricacy of the footwork. 2003 S. M. DeBroff 569 Irish step dancing. Some call this unusual, graceful style of dance ‘ice of the body and fire of the feet’ because of the rigid upper-body position and the fast moving feet. the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > meat dishes > [noun] > mutton dishes 1799 in (Brit. Mus.) (1942) VII. 534 Irish stew a favourite dish for French palates. 1800 J. Boucher 5 An Irish-stew, or a Scot's hodge-podge, both of them excellent in their kind. 1891 14 Nov. 669/2 A recipe for Irish stew. 1906 H. H. Peerless Diary 5 June in (2003) 95 In we rush, and are soon partaking of Irish stew, roast beef and diplomacy pudding, washed down with Suisse bier. 1996 J. Lanchester (1997) 23 As for the preference expressed by some people for boned lamb in an Irish stew, I can only say that Mary-Theresa used to insist on the osseous variation. the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > sewn or ornamented textile fabric > [noun] > embroidery or ornamental sewing > other types of embroidery 1560–1 in J. Arnold (1988) viii. 207/2 Stitched in le Toppes et clocks cum vid irishe stitche et lined in le toppes cum Taffata. 1624 in 48 144 A long cushion of Irish stitch. 1738 C. Fiennes (1947) 364 A ‘seatee of Irish stitch’... ‘8 Irish stitch coushons.’ 1844 Aug. 57/2 Small, square pin-cushions, displaying flowers, worked in Irish stitch. 1932 D. C. Minter 10/1 Intergradating one stitch and colour with another, as is possible with Irish stitch. 2001 L. Ulrich iv. 148 She and her pupil were using Irish stitch. society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > betting > [noun] > Irish sweepstake 1930 26 July 15/4 The new Irish sweep, which is to be drawn on the November handicap. 1933 W. S. Maugham i. 12 Did you have a ticket for the Irish Sweep? 1937 G. Greene (1969) iv. 425 The great muted chromium shadows wait..the novelist's Irish sweep: money for no thought, for the banal situation and the inhuman romance. 1965 N. Gulbenkian viii. 152 Although I was not a gambler, I did buy a ticket in the first Irish Sweep. 2008 H. Newhard ix. 119 We got lucky again. I should have played the Irish Sweeps. 1930 16 Oct. 9/2 (headline) Big Irish sweepstake—£36,000 for the hospitals. 1963 ‘G. Bagby’ (1964) vi. 52 When you people come around, it's never been to tell one of my roomers that he's won the Irish Sweepstakes. 1974 A. Ross 48 A wad of Irish Sweepstake tickets. 2009 (Nexis) 6 Sept. 7 While the sale of tickets for the Irish sweepstake was illegal in Britain, there was a black market. the mind > possession > poverty > mendicancy > [noun] > beggar > other types of beggar 1575 J. Awdely (new ed.) sig. A2v An Irishe toyle is he that carieth his ware in hys wallet, as laces, pins, poyntes, and such like. 1620 T. Dekker (new ed.) sig. D3 An Irish Toyle is a sturdy vagabond. 1673 R. Head 82 These Irish Toyls, or Swig-men, being much alike, I joyn..together, who carry pins, points and laces, and such like wares about. 1785 F. Grose Irish Toyles, thieves who pretend to carry about pins, laces, and other pedlars wares. 1834 W. H. Ainsworth II. iii. v. 339 Rogue or rascal, frater, maunderer,..Irish Toyle, or other wanderer. 1942 T. B. Costain i. iv. 47 Sir Bartlemy and his friends can't open a shop in Cheapside to dispose of them or hawk them around the country like Irish toyles. 1763 Sept. 461/2 The widow of a gentleman farmer..in Surry, was robb'd in her own house in the middle of the day by some Irish travellers. 1916 9 142 By other travellers all the family are regarded rather as Irish travellers than as Gypsies. 2017 May 21/2 The DNA evidence tells us that Irish Travellers are descended from the earliest settlers in Ireland (c. 8,000 years ago), but that they separated from the main settled Irish community c. 500 years ago. society > leisure > dancing > types of dance or dancing > other dances > [noun] 1651 J. Playford 45 Irish Trot. Longwayes for as many as will. 1652 7 The Scottish Jigg, the Irish Trot. 1714 J. Gay vi. 116 He sung of Taffey-Welch, and Sawney Scot, Lilly-bullero, and the Irish Trot. 1806 Aug. 377 Who at the advanced age of eighty-five danced a jig, called the Irish Trot, on the stage in Lincoln's Inn Fields. 1991 P. O'Brian (1993) iv. 106 He undertook to show his mates how to dance the Irish trot poised on the fore-jeer bitts. 1966 in III. (at cited word) Irish twins—two children born within or in less than one year of each other in a family. 1970 L. Auchincloss 69 His wife, it seemed, was having a second child, who would be an ‘Irish twin’ of the first. 2003 K. Kuitenbrouwer i. 16 Pauline was exactly ten months younger than me, so that, for two months every year, we were peers, barely one gestation apart, Irish twins. the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > whisky > [noun] > Irish whisky ?1745 in (1891) 5 41/1 Provisions taken from the Ship..Water-Gruel made of Scotch oatmeal, Irish Whisky, [etc.]. 1798 C. Mordaunt Let. July in E. Hamilton (1965) x. 243 I hope our conduct may gain us credit for discipline, but am terribly afraid of the cheap Irish whiskey. 1855 J. F. W. Johnston I. xiv. 337 While malt liquors give our Scotch and Irish whiskies. 1966 Mrs. L. B. Johnson 17 Mar. (1970) 373 Irish whiskey for St. Patrick's Day, the first time it's been served in the White House, I'll bet, and not a soul wanted tea! 1996 C. Bateman xvii. 133 He perched himself on a stool beside me and ordered an Irish whiskey. 2004 Mar. 46 Irish whiskey has been largely overlooked in the cocktail revolution. 1851 23 Aug. 219/1 The case of Miss Mary Kettlewell..contains also some very good specimens of Irish work, comprehending articles in knitting, crochet, embroidery, and pillow-lace. 1882 S. F. A. Caulfeild & B. C. Saward 467/1 Swiss Embroidery. This Embroidery is the same as is known as Broderie Anglaise, Irish Work, and Madeira Work. 1915 L. Harmuth 82/1 Irish work, white embroidery on white ground mostly on handkerchiefs. 1993 P. Earnshaw i. 3/1 In 1822 she..revived satin stitch embroidery, sometimes known as ‘Irish work’. C4. Objective compounds of the noun (in sense B. 2a). 1844 1 275 There is a crying want of Irish-reading and Irish-speaking Ministers of the Established Church. 1899 T. O. Russell in Pref. 5 To give all of them [sc. the melodies] that have been translated into Irish..would be to make this book so large that it could not be sold at a price that would enable the Irish-reading public in general to buy it. 1967 36 218/2 Eoin MacNeill and other Irish-reading scholars. 2002 K. E. Nilsen in O. García & J. A. Fishman 65 An Gaodhal was a bilingual monthly which provided the Irish-reading public in the United States with a fair variety of reading material in Irish. 1807 Mar. 202/2 In Ulster, there is a great proportion of Irish speakers. 1899 P. O'Leary 4 The very first page of any of these books..is enough to frighten even a fluent Irish speaker from any further effort at becoming an Irish reader. 1956 B. Inglis iv. 232 The number of Irish speakers in the country had continued to shrink, and the ‘Gaeltacht’ areas..were losing their Irish speakers fast. 2004 28 Sept. 15/4 Irish is the most widely spoken of all the surviving Celtic languages with Irish speakers throughout the English-speaking world. 1829 Nov. 381 The Society for Education of the Poor of Ireland, who do nothing for the Irish speaking people. 1893 W. O'Brien 66 The shamefully-treated youth of the Irish-speaking seaboard, who are deliberately prevented from learning either Gaelic or English effectively for fear they would prefer Gaelic. 1934 21 Feb. 10/4 The Claddagh folk were Irish-speaking. 1977 A. T. Q. Stewart i. i. 28 The people now living in the Irish-speaking areas of the south and west. 2001 N. Scheper-Hughes ii.130 The Cumann na Sagart, union of Irish-speaking priests, has been a most vigorous organizing force behind the Irish movement in the rural west. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2011; most recently modified version published online June 2022). < adj.adv.n.OE |