Oireland: Difference between revisions
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* More sheep than the [[Land Down Under]], even though most Irish farms were arable until the late 19th century, when a lot switched to cattle. Sheep farming only really happens on the bad land in the West (in the British Isles themselves this is much more of a [[Land of My Fathers and Their Sheep|Welsh stereotype]]). |
* More sheep than the [[Land Down Under]], even though most Irish farms were arable until the late 19th century, when a lot switched to cattle. Sheep farming only really happens on the bad land in the West (in the British Isles themselves this is much more of a [[Land of My Fathers and Their Sheep|Welsh stereotype]]). |
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* Overwhelmingly Catholic: you'd be hard pressed to find a reference to Ireland's sizable Protestant population in Oireland unless the story is explicitly ''about'' religion or [[The Troubles]], still less the admittedly small Irish Jewish population, non-religious groups, or [[The New Irish|newer groups like the Irish Muslims]]. (This one is [[Truth in Television]], somewhat.) |
* Overwhelmingly Catholic: you'd be hard pressed to find a reference to Ireland's sizable Protestant population in Oireland unless the story is explicitly ''about'' religion or [[The Troubles]], still less the admittedly small Irish Jewish population, non-religious groups, or [[The New Irish|newer groups like the Irish Muslims]]. (This one is [[Truth in Television]], somewhat.) |
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* The substitution of me for my, such as "This is me house." |
* The substitution of "me" for "my", such as "This is me house." |
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* Everybody's name starts with "Mac", "Mc", or "O'". In reality, the most common surname in Ireland is "Murphy", which appears pretty frequently in fiction. The second most common is "Kelly", which doesn't. |
* Everybody's name starts with "Mac", "Mc", or "O'". In reality, the most common surname in Ireland is "Murphy", which appears pretty frequently in fiction. The second most common is "Kelly", which doesn't. |
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** The insistence that "Mc is Irish and Mac is Scottish". This is utter hogwash. Both prefixes are used in both countries ''and have been since written records of surnames began''. It's not unusual when going through an Irish genealogy to find the spellings alternating in succeeding generations, interspersed with the occasional "M'" and "Mag". The proliferation of both |
** The insistence that "Mc is Irish and Mac is Scottish". This is utter hogwash. Both prefixes are used in both countries ''and have been since written records of surnames began''. It's not unusual when going through an Irish genealogy to find the spellings alternating in succeeding generations, interspersed with the occasional "M'" and "Mag". The proliferation of both prefixes in both Ireland and Scotland might have something to do with the Scots having some early medieval Irish tribes among their ethnic ancestry. |
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* Wrinkly auld farmers greet |
* Wrinkly auld farmers greet travelers with a hearty, "Top o' the moornin' to ye." While some stereotypes have some merit, this has absolutely none. No Irish person ever says "top o' the mornin'". ''Ever''. |
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* Nobody says yes. Instead, expect to hear, "Ah, to be shoor, to be shoor and begorrah". |
* Nobody says yes. Instead, expect to hear, "Ah, to be shoor, to be shoor and begorrah". |
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** It's reasonably common though to express agreement by restating, rather than with "Yes": "Did you see the film?" "I did." "Is it good?" "It is." This originated as a feature of the native Gaeilge language, in which restating the verb of the question in the positive or negative tense is the ''only'' way to say yes or no. Also, you are more likely to hear someone say "Sure" or "Aye" for "yes" if they do answer in such a way. |
** It's reasonably common though to express agreement by restating, rather than with "Yes": "Did you see the film?" "I did." "Is it good?" "It is." This originated as a feature of the native Gaeilge language, in which restating the verb of the question in the positive or negative tense is the ''only'' way to say yes or no. Also, you are more likely to hear someone say "Sure" or "Aye" for "yes" if they do answer in such a way. |
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