Many counties have multiple nicknames – for example, Kildare may be called "the short grass county" or "the thoroughbred county"[3] – while some counties have separate nicknames for the county and people: for example Wexford is often called the Model county,[3] and Wexford people are called "yellowbellies".[3] 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,[2][3]Fermanagh,[4] and Cavan[5] have each been called "the Lake county".
The rich fruit growing country to the north-east of the city of Armagh is known as the "Orchard of Ireland".[2][8] (The local electoral district in that part of Armagh is called "The Orchard".)[9])
Carlow was famous for cock fighting in the early nineteenth century.[12] "The Fighting Cocks" is also a crossroads on the N80 road[13] which names a district between Tullow and Nurney[14] and its GAA club[15]
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"[38]
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]
Leitrim town's name is anglicised from the IrishLiath 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[2]
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:[66]
Full often when our fathers saw the Red above the Green,
They rose in rude but fierce array, with sabre, pike and skian,
And over many a noble town, and many a field of dead,
They proudly set the Irish Green above the English Red
Mediaeval territory of Farney, later the Barony of Farney in south County Monaghan.[2] A 2004 article suggests the nickname dates from the prominence of Farneymen in the early years of Monaghan GAA.[70]
Airgíalla, anglicised Oriel, a medieval kingdom with territory overlapping the modern county; north Monaghan people prefer the nickname "Oriel" to "Farney".[70][71]
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.'[72] Also attributed to Martin O'Neill (Leinster GAA secretary 1927–69)[73] and Bob O'Keeffe (GAA president from 1935–38).[19][74] Possibly because the county is strong in both hurling and gaelic football.[1][19] The motto on the 1983 county coat of arms is Esto Fidelis "Be You Faithful"[75]
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. .[82] Attested from 1864[83] Tipperary has rich prosperous farmland of the Golden Vale.[1] Another is that Tipperary was the seat of Butlers, Earls of Ormond[81]
Tipperary agitators were unusually militant during the Land War of the 1870–90s.[85] 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".[86]
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
In "Tyrone among the bushes", where the Finn and Mourne run
When my heart was gay and merry, recked then not of care or toil
Blithesome as the bells of Derry ringing o’er the sunny Foyle"
But the phrase is found predating Collins in A Legend of Knockmany in William Carleton's Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry (1845).[89]
The Gentle County: a Saga of the Decies People by Nicholas Whittle was published in 1959.[93] He chose the title because "We in Waterford have never been too prone to blow our own trumpet"[94]
From its progressive farming methods and model farms[1][2] The first agricultural school in Ireland was opened in Wexford in the 1850s;[97] however, the nickname "model county" was established by 1847[98] "Exemplar Hiberniae" is the motto chosen for the county arms in 1987.[99]
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.[100] The county colours (yellow with purple shoulders) reflect this pre-existing nickname
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.[117]
^ ab
Davenport, Fionn; Charlotte Beech; Tom Downs; Des Hannigan (2006). "Directory: Activities: Fishing". Ireland. Lonely Planet. p. 677. ISBN9781740599689. Cavan, 'the Lake County', is a favourite with hardcore fishermen
^Murphy, John A. (1993). "Anatomy and Essence". In Patrick O'Hagan & Cornelius G. Buttimer (ed.). Cork History & Society. Dublin: Geography Publications. p. 13. ISBN978-0-906602-22-5.
^ abcde
Archer, Kenny (28 May 2008). "Hitting the Target – Ulster Council decision not to be taken light(ly)". Irish News. p. 58. The footballers are 'the Mournemen' while the hurlers are 'the Ardsmen', even though there are many Down footballers from outside the Kingdom of Mourne and a few decent hurlers on 'the mainland'
^e.g.
"The Championship – Derry hurlers in fine form for title holders". Irish News. 26 July 2008. p. 73. Derry were given little chance of beating the Mournemen but they produced a sparkling performance
Campbell, John (7 June 2007). "Happy days for Down hurler Johnston". Belfast Telegraph. Even before last Sunday's embarrassing mauling by Antrim, the Mournemen were already destined for the Christy Ring Cup
^
Ó Murchú, Donall. "Rúnaí report for 2006"(PDF). Ulster GAA. p. 5. Retrieved 8 March 2009. despite the best efforts of the Ards men, representing Down, it was Antrim who lifted the Senior Hurling Championship
^
"Co. Kildare Cricket Club: Tour in the South". The Irish Times. 14 July 1897. p. 6 col. I. The following players will represent the "short grass" county [etc.]
^ ab
Cassidy, Colman (16 November 1999). "Kildare exploits its 'horsey' image". The Irish Times. p. 16. Kildare has adopted the horse as its official logo by assuming a new identity as the "thoroughbred county". The brand was officially introduced yesterday by the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy [...] Kildare is home to the Irish Turf Club, the Curragh, Punchestown and Naas racecourse, the National Stud, the Irish Equestrian Centre, Weatherbys (keeper of the Stud Book) and Goffs – with more than 120 stud farms and more than 60 training establishments
^Malone, Emmet (10 November 2020). "Limerick's Treaty United to apply to play in League of Ireland First Division". The Irish Times. Retrieved 27 September 2021.; Cunneen, Andrew (21 July 2021). "It's enjoyable watching Treaty United play soccer". Limerick Leader. Retrieved 27 September 2021. The name Treaty United is horrific. The focus of the name is actually on an agreement that would be later reneged upon by the British who initially guaranteed liberty to Catholics in Ireland – post-surrender in the Siege of Limerick in 1691. I am still to this day unsure why a city with so much more interesting history choose to bear the tagline Treaty given the subject matter.
^O'Hart, J. (1876:280). Irish Pedigrees: Or, The Origin and Stem of the Irish Nation. Ireland: McGlashan & Gill.
^Böll, Heinrich (1998) [1957]. "Ch.4: Mayo – God help us". Irish Journal [Irisches Tagebuch]. translated by Leila Vennewitz. Northwestern University Press. p. 25. ISBN978-0-8101-6062-0. Now the Irish have a strange custom: whenever the name of County Mayo is spoken (whether in praise, blame or noncommittally), as soon as the mere word Mayo is spoken, the Irish add: "God help us!"
^Davis, Thomas Osborne (1845). "The Green above the Red". The Spirit of the Nation: Ballads and Songs by the Writers of "The Nation". Dublin: James Duffy. pp. 264–5.
^
Croke, Andy (14 June 1953). "Fate was unkind to Offaly". Sunday Independent. p. 10.
^"History". Offaly GAA. Retrieved 22 February 2018. the prophetic words of the then Leinster Council Secretary Martin O'Neill over 60 years ago when he proclaimed Offaly "The Faithful County"; "GAA/LEN/01 : Leinster Provincial Council Minute Books, 1915–1980". crokepark.ie/. GAA. p. iii. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
^
"The "International Boxing Match"". The Nation. 8 October 1864. pp. 110, col.2. it redounds infinitely to the credit of this force that such a debasing and inhuman spectacle of English customs and English sport was prevented from being enacted in this country, especially in Tipperary, the premier county of Ireland;
Morris, William (August 1883). "Irish Local Government". Macmillan's Magazine. 48 (286). Cambridge: 286–292 : 287. Tipperary ("the premier county")
^Meagher, Thomas Francis (1853). "Irish Confederation—National Union". Speeches on the Legislative Independence of Ireland. New York City: Redfield. pp. 95–7. 14 January 1847, a meeting of Irish Peers, Commoners, and landed proprictors, of all creeds and partics, convened by the requisition alluded to, took place in the Rotunda, Dublin. [...] Mr. Charles A. Walker, D.L, Co. Wexford, regretted to state, that Wexford, "which hitherto had been the 'model county' of Ireland, was in similar destitution [...]"
^Wexford County Council (5 October 1987). "Report of General Purposes Committee Meeting"(PDF). Wexford county archives. Archived from the original(PDF) on 12 September 2014. and Creedon, William P. (1999). Exemplar Hiberniae: 100 Years of Local Government in County Wexford. Institute of Public Administration. ISBN9781902448138.
^Hall, Samuel Carter; Anna Maria Hall (1846). "Wexford". Ireland: its scenery, character, &c. London: Jeremiah Howe. p. Vol II, p.151, footnote. Out of compliment to William, the Irish were provided with yellow sashes, or handkerchiefs, for their waists, from which circumstance Wexford men are still often called "yellow bellies."
^Coyne, J. Stirling; N.P. Willis; et al. (c. 1841). "Vol. I, Chap. VII". The Scenery and Antiquities of Ireland. The county of Wicklow has justly been termed "The Garden of Ireland," for nowhere else is to be found assembled such a variety of natural beauties, heightened and improved by the hand of art
^
Somerville, Alexander (1852). "Letters from Ireland during the Famine of 1847: No III: Kilkenny, 27 January". The Whistler at the Plough ... with Letters from Ireland. Manchester: James Ainsworth. p. 443. The country around this town [sc. Carlow] is called the garden of Ireland: it well deserves the name. There are about 500 acres of onions and parsnips grown annually [...]
^Lewis, Samuel (1837). "Westmeath (County of)". A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland. London: S. Lewis & Co. Retrieved 26 February 2008. Throughout the eastern part of the county the soil is a heavy loam from seven to twelve inches (305 mm) deep, resting on a yellow till: the land here is chiefly under pasture and feeds the fattest bullocks; from its great fertility it has been called the "garden of Ireland;"
^The Earl of Derby, speaking in the House of Lords in opposition to the Irish Church Act 1869; quoted in Saintsbury, George (1892). The Earl of Derby. The Prime Ministers of Queen Victoria. ed. Stuart J. Reid. New York: Harper & Brothers. p. 192. These are the men who, united by you to settle in Ireland, converted Ulster from a barren waste into a thriving province; and who, by their energy, their industry, and their steady conduct, have made the province of Ulster not merely the 'garden of Ireland' but the most gratifying and wonderful contrast to those parts of Ireland in which the Protestant religion does not prevail
^
"Gearing up for the championship". Wicklow People. 27 March 2008. I knew a man once who used to say the [sic] Dublin would win nothing without a Wicklow man on the team, a bit of an exaggeration perhaps but if you look through the record books you will find quite a few 'goat-suckers' on Dublin teams in the past
^ ab
Cummiskey, Gavin (17 May 2007). "Down, Dublin teams to compete in Rackard". The Irish Times. p. Sport, p.24. The GAA confirmed yesterday that second teams from Down and Dublin would compete in the Nicky Rackard Cup in 2008 [...] non-Ards (Down) and Fingal (Dublin) sides will be entered "on a basis determined by the Central Competitions Control Committee"
