Saturday Word: Donnybrook

[theidolhands.livejournal.com]

donn·y·brook [ˈdɒnɪbrʊk]:
origin: (1852) Domhnach Broc = "The Church of Saint Broc"

noun
This word is inspired by med_cat's word yesterday Taradiddle, except this one was a place in Ireland (now a suburb of Dublin).

Where, in the 12th century, a fair was held, which by the 18th century had devolved into a fifteen day extravaganza for boozy shenanigans. Visitors were warned that the people would sooner fight than eat! In 1855, Dublin Corporation bought up the rights and stopped the fair, but the reputation still holds to describe a brawl that fits any (likely all) of these adjectives: loud, crowded, public, chaotic, violent, and drunken.

See also: fights in sporting arenas

Comments

[med_cat]

A very interesting word; thank you for sharing :)

[kryptyd.livejournal.com]

Irish people don't use this word in the fight sense. The place name is too familiar. When I hear it, I just think "send you answers on a postcard to blah blah in Donnybrook, Dublin 4!" because that's where the tv station in Ireland is.

This would be a really good name for a band in the style of the Dropkick Murphies. I wonder has it been done...

[theidolhands.livejournal.com]

Well, at least it still makes a darn fine jig:

[temperance14.livejournal.com]

I just discovered the 'broadside ballad' in Hoagland's collection "1000 years of Irish Poetry".

Seamus O'Rourke reciting/singing "Humours of Donnybrook Fair".