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Archive-name: cultures/irish-faq/part10
Last-modified: 2 Nov 98
Posting-Frequency: monthly
URL: http://www.enteract.com/~cpm/irish-faq/
Part ten of ten.
Frequently Asked Questions on soc.culture.irish with answers.
Send corrections, suggestions, additions, and other feedback
to <irish-faq@pobox.com>
Glossary
1) Geography
2) Irish Language
3) Irish Politics
4) NI Politics
5) NI Paramilitaries
6) Government
7) Semi-State Bodies
8) Taxation & Spending
9) Other Bodies
10) Sport
11) Current Affairs
12) NI Current Affairs
13) Dead White Males
14) Other Historical Terms
15) Monuments
16) Irish-America
17) Myth and Folklore
18) General Terms
This is an attempt to explain some of the terms that come
up in soc.culture.irish.
Subject: 1) Geography
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
Subject: 2) Irish Language
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
Subject: 3) Irish Politics
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 Originally an anti-Haughey splinter from Fianna Fáil;
Democrats 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".
Shinner Supporter of Sinn Féin
32CSC "Thirty two County Sovereignty Committee";
Republican committee critical of GFA and
associated peace process
Republican Formed after a 1986 split when Sinn Féin voted
Sinn Féin to take up seats in the Dáil
Green Party like other parties of its kind in Europe, focuses
mainly on environmental issues
Bunreacht na the Irish Constitution; mostly written by de Valera
hÉireann 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
Subject: 4) NI Politics
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 New party that tries to bring NI women's views
Coalition 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
Subject: 5) NI Paramilitaries
IRA Irish Republican Army; also known as the
Provisionals or the Provos; main republican
terrorist group
Army IRA body that (apparently) makes policy and
Council 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 a loyalist terror group; often said to be a
Commandos cover name for the UVF
CLMC Combined Loyalist Military Command;
seems to speak for loyalist terror groups;
apparently they broke up recently
CIRA Continuity IRA; breakaway associated with
Republican Sinn Féin; (Óglaigh na hÉireann
Leanunachas in Irish)
CAC Continuity Army Council;
apparently the CIRA equivalent of the IRA's
Army Council (see above)
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
Subject: 6) Government
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 (in Britain) government minister of cabinet rank;
of State 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 ]
Subject: 7) Semi-State Bodies
Semi-State (in Ireland) Company in which the government has
Body 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
Subject: 8) Taxation & Spending
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
Subject: 9) Other Bodies
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
Subject: 10) Sport
GAA Gaelic Athletic Association, the governing body of
the indigenous sports; also used informally to
refer to Gaelic football or Gaelic games in
general (sometimes pronounced as if it were a
word when used like this)
Hurling Irish game played with sticks, like shinty
Football Can refer to either soccer or Gaelic football
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
Subject: 11) Current Affairs
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 Case of pedophile priest and a delay in his
Affair 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 (now facetious) used to back out on an awkward
Recollection 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 EU funding for projects such as road building
Fund similar to Cohesion Fund and Regional Fund
Indo Irish Independent; largest circulation daily
newspaper in Ireland
Sindo Sunday Independent; largest circulation
(surprise!) Sunday newspaper
Subject: 12) NI Current Affairs
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. Joint Anglo-Irish communiqué issued in November 1995
Declaration which started the policy of parallel "tracks" of
negotiation: one for arms decommisioning and one
for all-party talks
Mitchell Recommendations for democratic and non-violent
Principles 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 Consultative body formed by ROI govt. comprising
Peace and party groups from North and South, formed to
Reconciliation "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
Subject: 13) Dead White Males
Strongbow Norman leader who led invasion of Ireland in 12th
century
Daniel 'The Emancipator'; Irish political leader and MP at
O'Connell 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 Late 19th century politician; first president of
Parnell 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 Most important 20th century Irish nationalist
de Valera politician; only commander not executed after
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 Irish republican leader; fought in Rising; highly
Collins 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
Subject: 14) Other Historical Terms
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.
Subject: 15) Monuments
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
Subject: 16) Irish-America
AOH Ancient Order of Hibernians - a group for Catholic
Irish men; stages marches; c.f. Orange Order
Morrison Named after Irish-American senator; scheme that gave
Visa Irish people seeking residency in the US favourable
treatment during late eighties
Subject: 17) Myth and Folklore
Milesians Descendents of mythical Spanish king Milesius
who supposedly conquered Ireland around 1300 BC;
hence, Irish
Subject: 18) General Terms
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
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End of Irish FAQ part 10
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Regards
Ivan Brookes