This is a list of nicknames for the traditional counties of Ireland and their inhabitants. The nicknames are mainly used with reference to the county's representative team in gaelic games organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). A few of the names are quite old and well-known; most are recent coinages mainly used by journalists. Some refer specifically to the Gaelic games county colours.
Many counties have multiple nicknames – for example, Kildare may be called "the short grass county" or "the thoroughbred county" – while some counties have separate nicknames for the county and people: for example Wexford is often called the Model county, and Wexford people are called "yellowbellies". A few nicknames are shared: any Connacht county playing a team from elsewhere may be dubbed "the Westerners"; London GAA or New York GAA may be called "the Exiles"; Westmeath, Fermanagh, and Cavan have each been called "the Lake county".
List
| County (GAA link) | Nickname | Origins and notes |
|---|---|---|
| Antrim (GAA) | The Glensmen | From the Glens of Antrim |
| Antrim (GAA) | The Saffrons | From the county colours |
| Armagh (GAA) | The Orchard County | The rich fruit growing country to the north-east of the city of Armagh is known as the "Orchard of Ireland". (The local electoral district in that part of Armagh is called "The Orchard".)) |
| Armagh (GAA) | The Cathedral County | The Primates of All Ireland's seats (both Church of Ireland and Roman Catholic) are in the city of Armagh |
| Carlow (GAA) | The Dolmen County | Brownshill Dolmen is near Carlow town |
| Carlow (GAA) | The Barrowsiders | River Barrow |
| Carlow (GAA) | The Fighting Cocks | Carlow was famous for cock fighting in the early nineteenth century. "The Fighting Cocks" is also a crossroads on the N80 road which names a district between Tullow and Nurney and its GAA club |
| Carlow (GAA) | The Scallion Eaters | In the early nineteenth century, most of the onions sold in Leinster were grown near Carlow town |
| Cavan (GAA) | The Breffni | Mediaeval Kingdom of Breifne, centred on Cavan |
| Cavan (GAA) | The Lake County | Lakes include Loughs Gowna, Oughter, Ramor, and Sheelin |
| Clare (GAA) | The Banner County | Either the banners captured by Clare's Dragoons at the Battle of Ramillies; or the banner of "Catholic emancipation" raised by Daniel O'Connell's victory in an 1828 by-election for County Clare that led to the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829. |
| Cork (GAA) | The Rebel County | Originally from Cork city's support for pretender Perkin Warbeck in 1495; reinforced by Cork's prominence in the Irish War of Independence (1919–21) and the Irish Civil War (1922–23) In 2011, Cork GAA's youth development section was rebranded as "Rebel Óg" (Irish óg = "young"). |
| Cork (GAA) | The Leesiders | River Lee |
| Cork (GAA) | The Donkey Aters (Eaters) | Applied in particular to the vicinity of Skibbereen in west Cork, where people resorted to eating donkeys during the Great Famine |
| Donegal (GAA) | The Hills | The Derryveagh Mountains and Bluestack Mountains are called The Hills of Donegal in many folk songs |
| Donegal (GAA) | Tír Chonaill or Tyrconnell | Mediaeval kingdom, often used in place of the official Dún na nGall as the Irish name for the county |
| Donegal (GAA) | The O'Donnell County | Mediaeval lords |
| Donegal (GAA) | The Herring Gutters | The fishing industry is important, especially in Killybegs |
| Donegal (GAA) | The Forgotten County | Donegal is almost cut off from the rest of the Republic of Ireland by Northern Ireland |
| Down (GAA) | The Mourne County; The Mournemen | Mourne Mountains. In GAA contexts, "Mournemen" is often applied specifically to the football rather than the hurling team; though not always |
| Down (GAA) | The Ardsmen | Applied specifically to the hurling team. From the Ards peninsula, stronghold of hurling in the county |
| Dublin (GAA) | The Dubs | Clipped form of "Dubliners" |
| Dublin (GAA) | The Liffeysiders | River Liffey |
| Dublin (GAA) | The Jackeens | Pejorative term for Dubliners; contrasted with culchies |
| Dublin (GAA) | The Jacks | Reclaimed version of Jackeen |
| Dublin (GAA) | The Metropolitans | Dublin city is the metropolis, i.e. the capital city |
| Dublin (GAA) | The Pale | The Pale was the region around Dublin subject to English control in the 14th and 15th centuries |
| Dublin (GAA) | The Big Smoke | A reference to severe smog problems that endured until the late 1980s |
| Fermanagh (GAA) | The Maguire County | Mediaeval lords (cf. Baron Maguire from the 17th century) |
| Fermanagh (GAA) | The Lakeland County; the Lake County | Lough Erne dominates the topography |
| Fermanagh (GAA) | The Erne County; the Ernesiders | River Erne and Lough Erne |
| Galway (GAA) | The Tribesmen | Galway city is "the city of the tribes", those being fourteen historically prominent families |
| Galway (GAA) | The Herring Chokers | The fishing industry |
| Kerry (GAA) | The Kingdom | John Philpot Curran, MP, magistrate, and wit, said in the Irish House of Commons on 23 January 1787: "The low and contemptible state of your magistracy is the cause of much evil, particularly in the Kingdom of Kerry. I say Kingdom, for it seems absolutely not a part of the same country" |
| Kildare (GAA) | The Lilywhites | From the county colours |
| Kildare (GAA) | The Short Grass County | The open pastureland of the Curragh. Attested from at least 1897 |
| Kildare (GAA) | The Thoroughbred County | Centre for breeding and training of racehorses. A marketing slogan, introduced in November 1999 |
| Kilkenny (GAA) | The Cats | Kilkenny cats are proverbially tenacious fighters |
| Kilkenny (GAA) | The Marble County | Kilkenny city was "the Marble City" because of the nearby quarry of Kilkenny marble (actually limestone) featured in its buildings and pavements. |
| Kilkenny (GAA) | The Noresiders | River Nore |
| Kilkenny (GAA) | Wet-the-guns | Dates back to the 1798 Rebellion: rebels from Castlecomer, County Kilkenny, were mocked for allowing their gunpowder to get wet (and thus useless) prior to the Battle of Kilcumney.[citation needed] |
| Laois (GAA) | The O'Moore County | Mediaeval lords (cf. Rory O'Moore in the 17th century) |
| Laois (GAA) | "Poor and proud" | Disused. |
| Leitrim (GAA) | "Lovely Leitrim" | From the song "Lovely Leitrim", written in by Phil Fitzpatrick, an NYPD member from Mohill killed in 1947. It was a 1966 Number One single for Larry Cunningham. Another "Lovely Leitrim" was written in Chicago in 1956 by Jim Donnelly of Cloone and Tom Masterson of Carrigallen |
| Leitrim (GAA) | The Ridge County | Leitrim town's name is anglicised from the Irish Liath Druim, "grey ridge"; Carrick-on-Shannon is Cora Droma Ruisc – "the weir of the marshy ridge". The method of growing potatoes in ridges separated by ditches was especially common in Leitrim |
| Leitrim (GAA) | The Wild Rose County | The Wild Rose of Lough Gill, an 1883 historical romance by Patrick G. Smyth set largely in North Leitrim. Wild roses grow profusely in northwest Leitrim |
| Leitrim (GAA) | The O'Rourke County | Mediaeval lords of western Breifne |
| Limerick (GAA) | The Shannonsiders | The River Shannon, Limerick is the principal city on the longest river in Ireland |
| Limerick (GAA) | The Treaty County | Limerick city is "the Treaty city" after the Treaty of Limerick in 1691. Treaty United F.C. was founded in the city in 2020. |
| Limerick (GAA) | buttermilks | |
| Londonderry (Derry GAA) | The Oak-leaf County | From the leaf on the crest of Derry GAA; Derry is an anglicisation of Irish language Doire "oak-grove" |
| Longford (GAA) | Annaly, Land of Annaly | The county is roughly coterminous with the ancient kingdom of Annaly (Anghaile). |
| Longford (GAA) | The Slashers | Longford Slashers is a GAA club in Longford town. "Slasher" in the sense "man of valour" comes from Myles 'the Slasher' O'Reilly, killed defending the bridge of Finnea in 1646 during the Irish Confederate Wars. "Slasher" became a pejorative for Longford people, notably former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds, with a sense akin to culchie. Still more recently it has been reclaimed by the locals |
| Longford (GAA) | The O'Farrell County | Medieval O'Farrell family |
| Louth (GAA) | The Wee County | The smallest county in Ireland |
| Mayo (GAA) | The Yew County | The name Mayo is anglicised from the Irish Maigh Eo, "plain of the yew", the site of a mediaeval abbey |
| Mayo (GAA) | The Heather County | Heather is common in western Mayo |
| Mayo (GAA) | The Maritime County | The longest Atlantic coastline |
| Mayo (GAA) | "Mayo, God help us!" | Mayo was the county worst affected by the Great Famine |
| Mayo (GAA) | "The Green above the Red" | From the county colours (green shoulders, red breast); themselves inspired by "The Green Above The Red", a rebel song to the tune of "Irish Molly O" with lyrics by Thomas Osborne Davis: Full often when our fathers saw the Red above the Green, |
| Meath (GAA) | The Royal county | The Hill of Tara, seat of the legendary High Kings of Ireland, is in Meath |
| Monaghan (GAA) | The Farney | Mediaeval territory of Farney, later the Barony of Farney in south County Monaghan. A 2004 article suggests the nickname dates from the prominence of Farneymen in the early years of Monaghan GAA. |
| Monaghan (GAA) | The Oriel County | Airgíalla, anglicised Oriel, a medieval kingdom with territory overlapping the modern county; north Monaghan people prefer the nickname "Oriel" to "Farney". |
| Monaghan (GAA) | The Drumlin County | Drumlin fields dominate the local topography |
| Offaly (GAA) | The Faithful County | In 1953, Andy Croke wrote, 'If ever Offaly earns a name like "Rebel" Cork or "Premier" Tipperary, I believe it will be the "Faithful" County, for nowhere else are hurlers and football more intent on sticking to their colours, which incidentally are green, white and gold.' Also attributed to Martin O'Neill (Leinster GAA secretary 1927–69) and Bob O'Keeffe (GAA president from 1935–38). Possibly because the county is strong in both hurling and gaelic football. The motto on the 1983 county coat of arms is Esto Fidelis "Be You Faithful" |
| Offaly (GAA) | The Biffos | Acronym for "Big ignorant fucker from Offaly". |
| Roscommon (GAA) | The Rossies | |
| Roscommon (GAA) | The Sheepstealers | A common cause of transportation to Australia, the crime was common in Roscommon as it was easy to cross the River Shannon to raid Westmeath and Longford |
| Roscommon (GAA) | The Cattle Rustlers | Queen Medb the Queen of going to war to steal cattle was born here |
| Sligo (GAA) | The Yeats County | Childhood and spiritual home of William Butler Yeats |
| Sligo (GAA) | The Herring Pickers | The fishing industry |
| Sligo (GAA) | Land of Heart's Desire | Tourist branding from Yeats's 1894 play The Land of Heart's Desire, set in the barony of Kilmacowen. |
| Sligo (GAA) | The Zebras | From the county colours (black and white) |
| Sligo (GAA) | The Magpies | From the county colours (black and white) |
| Tipperary (GAA) | The Premier County | In the 1840s editor of the Nation newspaper stated that "Where Tipperary leads Ireland follows" due to the nationalistic feeling in Tipperary. The title of The Premier county was further strengthened by the foundation of the GAA and starting the war for Irish independence within County Tipperary. . Attested from 1864 Tipperary has rich prosperous farmland of the Golden Vale. Another is that Tipperary was the seat of Butlers, Earls of Ormond |
| Tipperary (GAA) | The Stone Throwers | Tipperary agitators were unusually militant during the Land War of the 1870–90s. Stone Throwers Park in Tipperary Hill, Syracuse, New York commemorates an incident in the 1930s when a group of Irish Americans threw stones to prevent an upside-down traffic light being set with the "red above the green". |
| Tipperary (GAA) | Tipp | Clipping of Tipperary. |
| Tipperary (GAA) | The Home of Hurling | Referring to Tipperary's success in winning the first All Ireland senior hurling title, and winning most "firsts" in hurling. |
| Tyrone (GAA) | The O'Neill County | Mediaeval lords |
| Tyrone (GAA) | The Red Hand County, the Red Hands | The Red Hand of Ulster on the county's GAA crest, also on the arms of the O'Neills |
| Tyrone (GAA) | "Tyrone among the bushes" | Of unknown origin. Possibly popularised in a poem A Sigh for Old Times by Strabane poet William Collins who took part in the Fenian raids into Canada: "O God be with the good old times when I was twenty-one But the phrase is found predating Collins in A Legend of Knockmany in William Carleton's Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry (1845). |
| Waterford (GAA) | The Déise, Decies | Mediaeval kingdom of the Déisi |
| Waterford (GAA) | The Suirsiders | River Suir |
| Waterford (GAA) | The Gentle County | The Gentle County: a Saga of the Decies People by Nicholas Whittle was published in 1959. He chose the title because "We in Waterford have never been too prone to blow our own trumpet" |
| Waterford (GAA) | The Crystal County | Waterford Crystal |
| Westmeath (GAA) | The Lake County | Site of many lakes, including Loughs Derravaragh, Ennell, Lene, Owel and Ree |
| Wexford (GAA) | The Model County | From its progressive farming methods and model farms The first agricultural school in Ireland was opened in Wexford in the 1850s; however, the nickname "model county" was established by 1847 "Exemplar Hiberniae" is the motto chosen for the county arms in 1987. |
| Wexford (GAA) | The Yellowbellies | Said to have been first applied to a Wexford hurling team raised by Sir Caesar Colclough, which won a challenge match in Cornwall in the reign of William III of England while wearing yellow sashes in tribute to William as Prince of Orange. The county colours (yellow with purple shoulders) reflect this pre-existing nickname |
| Wexford (GAA) | The Slaneysiders | River Slaney |
| Wexford (GAA) | The Strawberry Pickers | Due to its relatively warm dry climate, it grows more strawberries than most of Ireland |
| Wexford (GAA) | An Contae Riabhach "The Streaked/Grey County" | Former Irish-language name used by Seosamh Laoide |
| Wicklow (GAA) | The Garden of Ireland the Garden county | Possibly from the planted estates of estates such as Powerscourt House; or from the county's scenery; or serving as a garden for the adjacent city of Dublin. Formerly "the garden of Ireland" has been applied to: the Blackwater valley between Mallow and Fermoy; Carlow town; Killough Hill near Cashel; eastern County Westmeath; and the province of Ulster |
| Wicklow (GAA) | The Goat Suckers | Feral goats roam the Wicklow Mountains. |
| Wicklow (GAA) | The Last County | Wicklow was the last part of Ireland to be formed into a county by English administrators (in 1606), due to the rebellious O'Byrne and O'Toole clans. |
Other inter-county GAA teams
Outside Ireland, the GAA is organised into regional bodies which have the same status as Irish counties, some of which compete in the same inter-county competitions.
In 2008, the main Dublin and Down hurling teams were supplemented with second teams competing in the Nicky Rackard Cup, respectively called Fingal and South Down.
| County | Nickname | Origins and notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fingal (GAA) | The Ravens | Ravens appear on the crest of Fingal. |
| Fingal (GAA) | The Northsiders | Fingal is north of the River Liffey (although "Northsider" often refers to part of Dublin city rather than rural Fingal). |
| Hertfordshire (GAA) | Herts | Clipping of Hertfordshire |
| Lancashire (GAA) | Lancs | Clipping of Lancashire |
| Lancashire (GAA) | Red Rose County | Red Rose of Lancaster, badge of Henry IV of England and symbol of the county of Lancashire |
| London GAA | The men from the county Hell | "Boys from the County Hell", 1984 song by the Pogues |
| London GAA | The Exiles | Recruited from Irish emigrants "exiled" in Britain. The nickname is also used for New York GAA and London Irish rugby union club |
| New York GAA | The Exiles | Recruited from Irish emigrants "exiled" in New York. The nickname is also used for London GAA |
| South Down GAA | The non-Ardsmen | Players are selected from outside the Ards peninsula, the stronghold of Down hurling |
| Warwickshire (GAA) | Warks | Clipping of Warwickshire |
See also
- Lists of nicknames – nickname list articles on Wikipedia
Footnotes
- See Derry/Londonderry name dispute; the GAA uses "Derry".
Sources
- Dolan, Terence Patrick (2006). A Dictionary of Hiberno-English. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-7171-4039-8.
- Douglas, W. (1900). "Nick-Names of Places". All Ireland Review. 1 (32): 7. doi:10.2307/20544878. ISSN 2009-2415. JSTOR 20544878.
- Share, Bernard (2001). Naming Names: Who, what, where in Irish nomenclature. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-7171-3125-9.
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