Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. an argument, a dispute.

1984

Partridge DSUE (8th edn) 51/1: C.19–20.

2. (Irish) a cantankerous, argumentative woman.

1903		Sun (N.Y.) 12 Apr. sect. 3 3/6: In last Sunday’s issue a Mr. Ross invited attention to the term ‘barge’; in response I will say it carries a more odious and detestable meaning than either gabby or garrulous. Its nearest English equivalent is ‘scold’ — a clamorous, foulmouthed woman. A known ‘barge’ in Ireland is as little esteemed as a known strumpet [...] I think it is an Anglicized form of the Irish word bairsheach (pronounced, nearly, bar shay), meaning a brawler, a shrew, a scold.
1991		F. Mac Anna Last of the High Kings 53: Shut your face, barge.