Frequently Asked Questions on soc.culture.irish with answers. Send corrections, suggestions, additions, and other feedback to The FAQ maintainer.
This is an attempt to explain some of the terms that come up in soc.culture.irish.
Six Counties | Another name for Northern Ireland |
The North | Another name for Northern Ireland |
NI | Another name for Northern Ireland |
NoI | North of Ireland: frequently preferred to "NI" by nationalists. |
26 Counties | Another name for the Republic of Ireland |
The South | Another name for the Republic of Ireland |
The Republic | Another name for the Republic of Ireland |
ROI | Another name for the Republic of Ireland |
Irish | a Gaelic language, closely related to Scots Gaelic |
Gaeltacht | The areas where Irish is spoken as a first language |
Gaeilge | The Irish for Irish Gaelic |
RnaG | Raidio na Gaeltachta, Irish language radio station |
TnaG | Teilifís na Gaeilge, Irish language TV station |
Fáinne | Pin worn by fluent Irish speakers |
Currach | a small boat made of a frame covered with waterproof material (Irish spelling "curach") |
Curragh | flat, boggy area; the Curragh is a plain in Co. Kildare, notable for its racecourse and the army barracks; also, an alternative spelling of Currach |
Ogham | ancient script arranged along an edge or (later) a line, usually carved onto wood or stone, mainly preserved on stone monuments |
Fianna Fáil | Traditionally largest single party in Ireland; formed by De Valera at the end of the civil war; literally translated "soldiers of destiny" (from some words in the national anthem). Pronounced roughly "Fee-na FOIL". Often abbreviated "FF". |
Fine Gael | The "other" big civil war party and traditional enemy of Fianna Fáil. Pronounced roughly "Finn-nu GALE". Often abbreviated "FG". |
Labour Party | Like British counterpart an evolving socialist party in a post-socialist world |
Progressive Democrats | Originally an anti-Haughey splinter from Fianna Fáil; now their most likely partners in government; right-wing economically, liberal on social issues |
PDs | Abbreviation for Progressive Democrats |
Democratic Left | left-wing party with roots going back to "Official" Sinn Féin in the early seventies |
Sinn Féin | (Today) a party with close ties to the IRA that gets most of its support in Northern Ireland; literally translated "we ourselves". Pronounced roughly "Shin FEIGN". |
32CSC | "Thirty two County Sovereignty Committee"; Republican committee critical of GFA and associated peace process |
Republican Sinn Féin | Split from Sinn Féin in 1986 when latter voted to take up seats in the Dáil |
Green Party | like other parties of its kind in Europe, focuses mainly on environmental issues |
Bunreacht na hÉireann | the Irish Constitution; mostly written by de Valera in 1937; amended several times through referendum; articles two and three claim whole island and are therefore disliked by Unionists |
CJH | Charles J. Haughey; veteran FF politician, Taoiseach many times during the eighties; came back from disgrace being dismissed from cabinet after Arms Trial (built up grassroots support by doing the "rubber chicken" circuit while in exile); always controversial and ruthless in power; retired while going was good but got caught up in corruption scandal and tribunals later |
CCOB | Conor Cruise O'Brien; after career in Irish civil service, including spell at UN became Labour TD, later journalist and writer; famous for outspoken op-ed pieces in Saturday editions of Indo; joined UKUP and stood as a candidate in NI |
UUP | Ulster Unionist Party; traditionally the main Unionist party in Northern Ireland; sometimes known as the "Official" unionists |
SDLP | Social Democratic and Labour Party; main Catholic and nationalist party |
DUP | Democratic Unionist Party; Ian Paisley's party; usually tries to be more radical than the UUP |
Sinn Féin | See definition under Irish Politics above |
Alliance | A non-unionist, non-nationalist party |
UKUP | United Kingdom Unionist Party; mainly Robert McCartney |
PUP,UDP | Two small unionist parties with links to Loyalist terror groups |
Women's Coalition | New party that tries to bring NI women's views to politics |
Orange Order | Organisation for Protestant men; stages marches; c.f. AOH |
NICRA | Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association; formed in 1967; later overtaken by sectarian violence and the start of the troubles |
IRA | Irish Republican Army; also known as the Provisionals or the Provos; main republican terrorist group |
Army Council | IRA body that (apparently) makes policy and can only be overruled by an Army Convention (all members or delegated members) |
INLA | Irish National Liberation Army; another republican terrorist group |
IPLO | Irish People's Liberation Organisation; another republican terrorist group, splintered from the INLA; now thought defunct |
UDA | Umbrella group for various loyalist paramilitary and terror groups |
UVF | Ulster Volunteer Force; a loyalist terror group |
UFF | a loyalist terror group; a cover name for the UDA |
Red Hand Commandos | a loyalist terror group; often said to be a cover name for the UVF |
CLMC | Combined Loyalist Military Command; seems to speak for loyalist terror groups; apparently they broke up recently |
CAC | Continuity Army Council; terror group linked to Republican Sinn Féin |
CIRA | Continuity IRA; same as CAC, though this seems to be their preferred name |
RIRA | Real IRA; splinter group that disagreed with IRA's ceasefire and "constitutionalism" |
LVF | Loyalist Volunteer Force; extremist loyalist terror group |
ÓnhÉ | Óglaigh na hÉireann (the Irish Volunteers); often used by republicans to refer to the IRA; lately used by RIRA to refer to themselves |
Chuckies | supporters of the (provisional) IRA and Sinn Féin (from "tiocfaidh ár lá", republican slogan, meaning "our day will come", pronounced roughly "chucky hour law") |
Stickies | supporters of the old "Official" IRA and Sinn Féin (now Workers Party) |
Taig | derogotary term for Catholic and/or Nationalist, derived from Irish name Tadhg |
Hun | derogotary term for "Protestant" and/or Unionist |
Dáil | The lower house of the ROI parliament |
Seanad | The upper house of the ROI parliament |
Leinster House | The building where the Dáil and Seanad sit |
TD | Teachta Dála (Dáil Deputy); an MP in the ROI |
Taoiseach | The prime minister of the ROI |
Tánaiste | The deputy PM of the ROI |
Uachtarán | The Irish word for President |
Stormont | The old parliament building in NI, often refers to the institution itself |
MEP | Member of the European parliament, which sits in Strasbourg |
Secretary of State | (in Britain) government minister of cabinet rank; in Irish context, usually the one responsible for NI |
Garda | Short for Garda Siochána (guardian of the peace), ROI police |
RUC | Royal Ulster Constabulary, NI police |
IDA | Industrial Development Authority - ROI agency which tries to attract foreign investment |
IDB | Industrial Development Board - NI equivalent of IDA |
FEC | Fair Employment Commission - judges cases of religious discrimination in NI |
Westminster | Refers to British parliament and/or government |
Gerrymander | the manipulation of constituency boundaries to affect the outcome of an election or referendum (most effective under the first-past- the-post electoral system) [ named after Elbridge Gerry (1744-1814) U.S. politician and (at the time) Governor of Massachusetts who in 1812 devised a strangely shaped senate district that was caricatured into a salamander ] |
Semi-State Body | (in Ireland) Company in which the government has a controlling stake |
RTÉ | Raidio Teilifís Éireann; Irish state broadcasting company; often accused of harbouring Dublin 4 attitudes |
Aer Lingus | The state-owned airline |
CIÉ | Coras Iompar Éireann, The ROI state bus/rail transport company, comprises Iarnrod Éireann (Irish Rail), Bus Átha Cliath (Dublin Bus) and Bus Éireann (Irish Bus) mainly |
VHI | Voluntary Health Insurance - largest, and semi-state, health insurance company in ROI |
An Post | Post office in ROI |
TÉ | Telecom Éireann; Ireland's "The Phone Company" |
Bord na Móna | Turf |
Bord Gáis | Gas |
VAT | Value Added Tax, a sales tax - 17.5% in NI, 12.5/21% in ROI |
Dole | Unemployment benefit; hence 'government artist': a euphemism for 'drawing the dole' |
PAYE | Pay As You Earn - taxation system where tax is deducted from your pay packet before you receive it; most important source of government revenue |
PRSI | Pay Related Social Insurance |
ICTU | The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (an all-Ireland body) |
IFA | Irish Farmers Association, main ROI farmers group |
SIPTU | The largest trade union |
IBEC | Irish Business and Employers Confederation, the largest group of employers in the ROI |
SPUC | Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child - large anti-abortion group |
GAA | Gaelic Athletic Association, the governing body of the indigenous sports |
Hurling | Irish game played with sticks, like shinty |
Football | Can refer to either soccer or gaelic football or even (shock, horror!) rugby |
Camogie | The female version of hurling |
Croke Park | The main GAA stadium, in Dublin; known in Irish as Páirc Uí Chrocaigh |
Hill 16 | Stand at Croke Park |
Rule 21 | The GAA rule that denies membership to people in British armed forces and RUC |
FAI | The governing body of soccer in the South |
IFA | The governing body of soccer in the North |
Landsdowne Rd. | The stadium in Dublin where the all-Ireland rugby team and ROI soccer team play internationals |
Windsor Park | Stadium in Belfast where NI soccer team plays internationals |
IRFU | Irish Rugby Football Union - all Ireland rugby body |
EU | European Union - economic and political alliance of 15 European countries |
X Case | Infamous abortion rights case which resulted in a referendum in 1992 to 'clear up' the issue |
Extradition | Sending someone who is wanted in another country on criminal charges to that other country; has often been an emotive issue in Ireland |
Brendan Smyth Affair | Case of pedophile priest and a delay in his extradition from ROI to NI that led to a government falling |
Beef Tribunal | Judicial enquiry in 1994(?) into irregularities of beef processing industry that revealed little and cost a lot; since then, several other tribunals have investigated other (suspected) political scandals with more or less success |
On Mature Recollection | (now facetious) used to back out on an awkward statement after being found out; first used by Brian Lenihan, FF candidate in the 1990 presidential election, to admit on live television that he did phone President Hillary in 1982 to ask him to refuse dissolution of the Dáil after the FG Taoiseach lost a vote of confidence; by not disolving the Dáil, Hillary would have allowed FF to try to form an alternative government by canvassing independent TDs; Lenihan's admission after repeated denials damaged his credibility lost him the presidency |
GUBU | (facetious) coined by CCOB after CJH (Taoiseach at the time) described the discovery of a killer in the flat of the Attorney General as "grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre and unprecedented"; came to be used as a popular shorthand for all scandals involving CJH |
CAP | Common Agricultural Policy - EU system of farm subsidies; largest portion of EU spending |
Veronica Guerin | Dublin crime journalist who exposed organised crime activities and was murdered in 1996 triggering public outcry and referendum on stricter bail laws |
EU Structural Fund | EU funding for projects such as road building similar to Cohesion Fund and Regional Fund |
Indo | Irish Independent; largest circulation daily newspaper in Ireland |
Sindo | Sunday Independent; largest circulation (surprise!) Sunday newspaper |
GFA | Good Friday Agreement; the Northern Ireland settlement to end the troubles negotiated up until the early morning of the 10th of April, 1998, supported by majorities in NI and RoI in two simultaneous referenda in May; also referred variously to as the Belfast Agreement, the Stormont Agreement and the the British-Irish Agreement |
Downing St. Declaration | Joint Anglo-Irish communiqué issued in November 1995 which started the policy of parallel "tracks" of negotiation: one for arms decommisioning and one for all-party talks |
Mitchell Principles | Recommendations for democratic and non-violent negotiations, written by the International Body on Arms Decommisioning, headed by Senator Mitchell; principles state that "to take the gun out of Irish politics", all parties to negotiations should commit themselves "a. To democratic and exclusively peaceful means of resolving political issues; b. To the total disarmament of all paramilitary organisations; c. To agree that such disarmament must be verifiable to the satisfaction of an independent commission; d. To renounce for themselves, and to oppose any effort by others, to use force, or threaten to use force, to influence the course or the outcome of all-party negotiations; e. To agree to abide by the terms of any agreement reached in all-party negotiations and to resort to democratic and exclusively peaceful methods in trying to alter any aspect of that outcome with which they may disagree; and, f. To urge that "punishment" killings and beatings stop and to take effective steps to prevent such actions." |
Forum for Peace and Reconciliation | Consultative body formed by ROI govt. comprising party groups from North and South, formed to "assist in identifying and clarifying issues which could most contribute to creating a new era of trust and co-operation on the island" of Ireland |
Strongbow | Norman leader who led invasion of Ireland in 12th century |
Daniel O'Connell | 'The Emancipator'; Irish political leader and MP at Westminster in early 19th century; campaigned against anti-Catholic laws and later for repeal of Act of Union to Britain; died in 1847; thought greatest leader of 19th century by many; portrait and credo is on 20 pound note |
Charles Stewart Parnell | Late 19th century politician; first president of Land League; later, MP and leader of Home Rule Party; effective parliamentarian; demise followed scandalous affair with Kitty O'Shea; died after her divorce and their marriage in 1891 |
Éamonn de Valera | Most important 20th century Irish nationalist politician; only commander to survive Easter Rising; president of first Dáil; opposed Treaty but survived; founder of Fianna Fáil; President of Executive Council/ Taoiseach '32-'48, '51-'54, '57-'59; President of Republic '59-'73; died in 1975 |
Michael Collins | Irish republican leader; fought in Rising; highly successful head of intelligence during War of Independence; member of Treaty delegation; shot dead in 1922 during Civil War while Commander-in-Chief of pro-treaty forces |
Edward Carson | Barrister and Unionist politician; MP at Westminster; leader of Irish Unionist Party until 1921; proposed exclusion of Ulster from Home Rule and supported Ulster Volunteer Force in 1913; extremely successful legal and political career |
King Billy | William of Orange; Dutch Protestant who won British throne from Catholic tyrant James II, the latter having made his last stand in Ireland; King Billy is fondly remembered by NI Protestants |
Wild Geese | Originally, supporters of James II who left Ireland after the Treaty of Limerick in 1691 to form the 'Irish Brigade' in Louis XIV's army. Also used to refer to refer to all those who left Ireland in the 17th century, and sometimes (loosely) all Irish emigrants. |
Flight of Earls | In 1607, the Earl of Tyrone, Hugh O'Neill, last leader of Gaelic Ireland, went into exile, bringing many Irish lords with him. |
Giants Causeway | Structure of hexagonal basalt columns off NE coast |
Newgrange | Stone-age passage grave; illuminated on winter solstice |
Blarney Stone | Stone on castle wall which gives gift of the gab to those who kiss it, supposedly |
Knock | Marian shrine in Co. Mayo; a place of pilgrimage |
AOH | Ancient Order of Hibernians - a group for Catholic Irish men; stages marches; c.f. Orange Order |
Morrison Visa | Named after Irish-American senator; scheme that gave Irish people seeking residency in the US favourable treatment during late eighties |
Milesians | Descendents of mythical Spanish king Milesius who supposedly conquered Ireland around 1300 BC; hence, Irish |
Craic | Fun, good time |
Ceol | Music |
Poteen | Poitín; illicitly distilled whiskey, i.e. moonshine |
Culchie | Dublin term for someone from the country |
Jackeen | The opposite of culchie |
Dublin 4 | Postal code of supposedly wealthiest part of Dublin; thus used to describe posh accents and attitudes; D4 is also supposedly a den of wishy-washy liberals |