Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(US) a wheelbarrow.

1931

(con. 1918) Gallegher Battle of Bolts and Nuts 109: I do not think that since the invention of modern methods to remove dirt, has ever such a gigantic project been undertaken to move as much dirt as was dug with a pick, shoveled with a hand shovel and moved in an Irish ambulance, as moved on that job [HDAS].

(US) a wheelbarrow.

1918		H. Simon ‘Prison Dict.’ in AS VIII:3 (1933) 24/2: BUGGY. Wheelbarrow; an Irish baby-buggy.
1934		Weseen Dict. Amer. Sl.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).
1969		in DARE.
1979		Maledicta III:2 162: Irish baby buggy n [DAS ca 1915] Wheelbarrow; from the stereotype of the Irish laborer.

(US) a wheelbarrow.

1881		Warren Sheaf (Marshall Cty, MN) 29 June 4/1: Mr Augstein has a new (Irish) buggy.
1894		Mohave County Miner (Mineral Park, AZ) 22 Dec. 5/1: Hank McClure is running the Irish buggy.
1900		T.L. Oddie letter 30 July Letters from the Nevada Frontier (1992) 211: Last week [...] I had a comical mishap with the wheelbarrow [...] I supposed I was perfection with my ‘Irish buggy’ but I find I have a thing to learn about it yet.
1910		Spokane Press (WA) 4 July 9/5: John Kane, who has been at the police court several times for stealing wheelbarrows [...]seems to have a passion for ‘Irish buggies’.
1919		Scribner’s Mag. LXV 436/1: Ye fair disgoosted me with the way ye cavorted round with that Irish buggy.
1928		C. Panzram Journal of Murder in Gaddis & Long (2002) 39: My part was [...] to pack my little iron pill and my tools into the Irish buggy and wheel it all back to the prison.
1929		V.W. Saul ‘Vocab. of Bums’ in AS IV:5 341: Irish buggie — A wheelbarrow.
1931		Irwin Amer. Tramp and Und. Sl. 107: Irish Buggy. – A wheelbarrow, another of the many popular references to the Irish worker, always an object of mirth to the public.
1945		Mencken Amer. Lang. Supplement I 604: A wheelbarrow was an Irish chariot or buggy, and there was a stock witticism to the effect that it was the greatest of human inventions, since it had taught the Irish to walk on their hind legs.
1956		F.A. Crampton Deep Enough (1982) 112: There were plenty of offers to help me cart stuff away. it was heavy, and an Irish buggy would have helped.
1960		A. Green ‘Dutchman’ in AS XXXV:4 (Dec.) 270: Phrases in this category that I have heard in actual usage in San Francisco building construction and waterfront employment are: [...] Irish buggy [etc.].
1979		Maledicta III:2 162: Irish buggy n [DAS ca 1915] Wheelbarrow; from the stereotype of the Irish laborer.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 12: Q. What is an Irish buggy? A. A wheelbarrow.
1997		Share Slanguage.

(US) a wheelbarrow.

1945

Mencken Amer. Lang. Supplement I 604: A wheelbarrow was an Irish chariot or buggy, and there was a stock witticism to the effect that it was the greatest of human inventions, since it had taught the Irish to walk on their hind legs.

(US) a wheelbarrow [SAmE local, a local train line].

1979		Maledicta III:2 162: Irish local n [DAS ca 1915] Wheelbarrow; from the stereotype of the Irish laborer.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 212: Irish local. A wheelbarrow (because it makes so many stops).
1997		Share Slanguage.

a spade, a shovel.

1862		O.W. Norton Army Letters (1903) 73: One company just passed armed with ‘Irish spoons,’ going out to work in the trenches [DA].
1898		Salt Lake Herald (UT) 3 Dec. 4/4: he helped construct a branch of the B. & M. from Aurora to Grand Island, playing an ‘Irish banjo’.
1917		U. Chicago Mag. 10 301/2: Tolbert being in the Artillery and acting nurse-maid to a bunch of long-haired horses, while Gleeson held an Irish banjo and dug trenches.
1941		Rotarian July 48/2: ‘Guess we’ll set you to strumming an “Irish banjo”’ [...] They handed me a shovel!
1964		‘Weldon Hill’ One of the Casualities 319: ‘Playin an Irish banjo for the city water department all summer.’ Clay knew that. ‘Wot’s an Irish banjo?’ He grinned. ‘A long-handled shovel, man’ .
1979		Maledicta III:2 162: Irish banjo; Irish spoon n Shovel; from the stereotype of the Irish laborer.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 12: Q. What is an Irish banjo? A. A shovel.

(US) a spade, a shovel.

1922		DN V 181: Irish fan, n. A shovel.
1979		Maledicta III:2 162: Irish fan n Shovel; from the stereotype of the Irish laborer.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 211: Irish fan. A shovel.

a hand-car, propelled by pushing a handle backwards and forwards.

1900

DN II 45: [College lingo] Irish local [...] a hand-car.

a hammer.

1997		Share Slanguage.
2011		G.R. Dupas Values in Conflict 80: The strategy might best equate to an Irish screwdriver used to hang a hook. It will get the job done but not without causing significant damage below the surface.

(US) a pickaxe.

1967

(con. 1920s) J. Thompson South of Heaven (1994) 139: He pointed with the pick handle. ‘Get your ass long-gone or you’ll be digging this Irish toothpick out of it!’.

a cement mixer.

1982

J. Sullivan ‘Ashes to Ashes’ Only Fools and Horses [TV script] Magic ain’t they? The old Irish tumble-dryer!

a potato.

1899		Sumter Minter (OR) 8 Nov. 5/2: Men were busy at the depot handling sacked Irish apples [...] there were [...] fifty tons of these spuds.
1910		Salt Lake Trib. (UT) 7 Apr. 7/1: South America, the native land of the ‘Irish apple’.
1942		Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Sl.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).
1950		WELS.
1958		McCulloch Woods Words 95: Irish apples – Potatoes.
1968		in J.P. Spradley You Owe Yourself a Drunk (1988) 57: Warren came back with a few raw potatoes (Irish apples).
1979		Maledicta III:2 162: Irish apple [...] n Potato.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 210: Synonyms include Irish apple, Irish grape, and Irish lemon.
1997		Share Slanguage.

a potato.

1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: Irish apricots, potatoes; it is a common joke against the Irish vessels to say they are loaded with fruit and timber, that is, potatoes and broomsticks.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum [as cit. 1785].
1812		Spirit of Irish Wit 119: These pills go by various names [...] Munster plumbs [...] Irish apricots.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1827		Exeter & Plymouth Gaz. 23 June 3/2: The Hibernian lay with his [...] mouth open, as if he had wanted an Irish apricot to fill his potato-trap.
1830		Mirror of Lit. XVI 242/1: The ‘darlings’ were now stimulated to a decisive measure, by aiming an Irish apricot at his nodding plume, and shouting out,—‘Devil burn ye, Paddy Barret! will ye lave off speaking to that lady, and listen?’ The potato triumphed.
1838		R.S. Surtees Jorrocks Jaunts (1874) 147: His cargo [was] ‘timber and fruit,’ as he described it, that is to say, broomsticks and potatoes.
1848		Flash Dict. in Sinks of London Laid Open.
1860		Huddersfield Chron. 16 June 3/5: Aiming an Irish apricot at his nodding plume, and shouting out, ‘Divil burn ye, Paddy Barret!’.
1874		Newcastle Courant 10 Apr. 3/6: ‘Irish apricots’ [...] are potatoes.
1891		Maitland Amer. Sl. Dict. 150: Irish apricots [...] potatoes.
1897		N. Platte Semi-wkly Trib. (NE) 14 May 3/3: ‘Irish apricots’ [...] meaning potatoes.
1900		Reno (NV) Eve. Gazette 28 Apr. 2/2: The potato is an ‘Irish apricot’.
1919		Free Trader-Jrnl (Ottowa, IL) 8 Dec. 7/3: Gastronomic Animals [...] Irish apricots or Munster plums are potatoes.
1921		Warren Sheaf (MN) 2 Feb. 2/2: The potato is such an important crop in Ireland that they are jocularly called ‘Irish apricots’.
1935		A.J. Pollock Und. Speaks.
1947		Exeter & Plymouth Gaz. 24 Dec. 4/2: Potatoes defined as ‘Irish apricots’.
1979		Maledicta III:2 162: Irish apricot n Potato.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 12: Q. What are Irish apricots? A. Potatoes.
1997		Share Slanguage.

(US) a potato.

1972

D. Smith Report from Engine Company 82 17: Yessir, men, Mrs. O’Mann is cooking Irish footballs tonight.

a potato.

1771		Bridges Adventures of a Bank-note III 157: A belly-full is a belly-ful, though it be only of that [...] Irish wall fruit call’d potatoes.
1841		Sun. Flash (NY) 19 Sept. n.p.: The Irish have a dish they call ‘potatoes and point,’ because the bogtrotters eat the fruit and point at the bacon.
1851		Bell’s Life in Sydney 16 Aug. 3/2: This highly interesting bit of evidence cooked Mr Baker’s Irish fruit.
1906		Sun. Times (Perth) 13 May 1/1: A well-known city man is a whale on potato culture [...] he hopes thereby to acquire a supply of Irishman’s fruit for the winter.
1912		El Paso Herald (TX) 4 Oct. 16/2: Spuds are cheaper. This good Irish fruit has come to the rescue of the common people.

(US) a potato.

1944		P. Kendall Dict. Service Sl. n.p.: Irish grapes . . . potatoes.
1979		Maledicta III:2 162: Irish grape n Potato.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 210: Synonyms include Irish apple, Irish grape, and Irish lemon.
1997		Share Slanguage.

1. a potato.

1885		W. Kansas World (Wakeeney, KS) 23 Oct. 1/4: T. Courtney and E. Arnold started [...] to Phillips county, to get each a load of Irish lemons.
1891		Maitland Amer. Sl. Dict. 150: Irish lemons, potatoes.
1895		Salt Lake Herald (UT) 16 Sept. 3/4: The Americans are not such great lovers of the Irish lemons.
1897		L.A. Times 9 Apr. 5: ‘Wake up,’ he cried, ‘one brown stone front, side of a funeral; two Irish lemons with all clothes on; plate of punk; an easy smear of axle grease and draw one in the dark, cap it all off with a farmer’s alliance.’.
1900		Red Cloud Chief (Webster Co., NE) 23 Nov. 8/4: Woe unto us that we should see ‘our peerless leader’ [...] for the second time passed up, knocked out, dropped like a red hot Irish lemon.
1912		El Paso Herald (TX) 4 Oct. 16/2: Spuds are cheaper. [...] They were five cents per pound, those Irish lemons.
1967		in DARE.
1979		Maledicta III:2 162: Irish lemon n Potato.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 210: Synonyms include Irish apple, Irish grape, and Irish lemon.
1997		Share Slanguage.

2. an onion.

1919

Princeton Union (MN) 17 July 3/3: Andrew Umbehocker has two or three acres of onions [...] There is money in raising Irish lemons.

a potato.

1835		Western Times 4 Apr. 3/1: For all those cruel billious [sic] pains [...] were caused by eating semi-cooked The Irish Root.
1845		Morn. Chron. (London) 17 Nov. 5/5: The wheat looks queer, the murphies ill [...] the ‘accursed Irish root’.
1853		Sunbury Ameclurican (PA) 17 Sept. 1/2: Now hunger makes ‘his bowels yearn,’ / For ‘yams’ or ‘Irish roots’.
1881		Manchester Eve. News 17 June 2/4: If [...] ‘potato whisky’ is useful [...] we might as well patronise the produce of the Irish root, as go to Bremen for it.

(US) a carrot.

1936		H.W. Bentley ‘Linguistic Concoctions of the Soda Jerker’ in AS XI:1 43: IRISH CHERRIES. Carrots.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 211: Irish cherry. A carrot.

(US) a drink containing a substance that causes unconsciousness.

1980

J. Ciardi Browser’s Dict. 248: Mickey Finn...Irish cocktail.

(US) cooked codfish.

1866

Night Side of N.Y. 79: ‘Irish goose’ is codfish, baked or boiled.

tough, undercooked salt beef.

1748		Smollett Roderick Random (1979) 185: Our provision consisted of putrid salt beef, to which the sailors gave the name of Irish horse.
1979		Maledicta III:2 162: Irish horse n Salt beef or tough corned beef.
1997		Share Slanguage.

(UK und.) ? butter.

1840

Flash Mirror 4: The Bug Walk [...] This house is a pannum supply; where can be had [...] a small starver and Irish jewels for a win.

(US) fried potato wedges and (refried) beans.

2002

ADS-L 28 Feb. 🌐 IRISH NACHOS — ‘wedges & beans,’ according to one menu. These were a regular feature at the Scott, Foresman corporate cafeteria in Glenview, Illinois for at least the years 1995–2000. They were wedge fries covered with refried beans, cheese, and salsa. I was always too frightened of the way they looked under the presentation glass dome to try them, and besides, I thought I should fight against the stereotype of the Irish as inveterate potato-eaters.

whisky.

c.1670

Purgatorium Hibernicum 38: A Constant whifler and a Smoker / He was I and as true a Soaker / [...] / And many a Coge of Irish Nectar / God knows they tops together .

(US) corned (UK: salt) beef and cabbage.

1863		‘Rafferty’s Party’ in Donnybrook-Fair Comic Songster 51: Upon the table was laid a grand supper – / Real Irish turkey, caught in the sea; / Corned beef and cabbage, skellians and butter.
1885		Daily Honolulu Press (HI) 11 Dec. 3/2: ‘Irish Turkey’ [...] formed one of the items of the buill of fare at a Nuuanu Street retaurant yesterday noon. An Irish gentleman [...] said he would ‘try some of the turkey.’ He was promptly served with a fine plate of California cabbage and several neatly sliced pieces of corned beef.
1904		C. Connors in Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 23 July 3: I’d been better off if I’d let it go at dat an’ stuck ter de Irish turkey – ah, corned beef, ain’t yer on? – wot Her Nobs hands out reg’lar.
1907		N.Y. Times 24 Mar. SM2: ‘If corned beef is Irish turkey, what is macaroni?’ ‘Ginney-hen.’.
1914		‘High Jinks, Jr’ Choice Sl. 86: New York Bowery Slang...Irish turkey — Corned beef .
1926		N. Klein ‘Hobo Lingo’ in AS I:12 651: Irish turkey — corned beef and cabbage.
1927		T.A. Dorgan in Zwilling TAD Lex. (1993) 49: I’m gonna play the old C.B. and C. I can eat Irish turkey 4 times a day.
1927		Wash. Post 2 Apr. C6: Alas and alack for all the hymns to ‘red mike and violets’ and ‘Irish turkey,’ corned beef and cabbage is not now and never was an Irish dish. Its origins are as American as apple pie and as Yankee as the clambake.
1935		S. Walker Mrs Astor’s Horse 134: Strong men [. . .] will continue to [...] hie to their favorite plain restaurant and order the usual steak and potatoes, lamb chops, broiled chicken or corned beef and cabbage (‘Irish turkey’).
1944		O. Ferguson ‘Vocabulary for Lakes, [etc.]’ AS XIX:2 106: Irish turkey is stew.
1962		Ragen & Finston World’s Toughest Prison 805: irish turkey – Corned beef.
1979		Maledicta III:2 163: Irish turkey n [DAS ca 1935] Corned beef and cabbage, any hash.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 212: Irish turkey. Corned beef and cabbage (tramp talk); hash (Army talk).
1997		Share Slanguage.

(US short order) beef stew.

1899

Ft Wayne News (IN) 2 Feb. 7/1: Bowery Eating House Lingo [...] beef stew, ‘mixed Irish’.

1. a shillelagh, thus the penis.

1748

Spy on Mother Midnight I 28: I know most Ladies, who all now wear Sticks, are fond of a three-corner’d Irish Cane; but, take my Word on't, the knowing Ones are better pleas'd with a Yorkshire Hunter of a middle Size, which I take to be seven, or at most, eight Inches.

2. (US gay) a sophisticated, expensive brothel.

1972		R.A. Wilson Playboy’s Book of Forbidden Words.
1986–7		Maledicta IX 57: Irish clubhouse n [L] Refined house of prostitution.
1997		Share Slanguage.

3. see also general compounds below.

1. semen spilled outside the vagina (through coitus interruptus practised by pious Catholics).

1986–7		Maledicta IX 57: Irish confetti n [L] Semen spilled extravaginally.
1997		Share Slanguage.

2. see also violence compounds below.

3. see also general compounds below.

(gay) sexual intercourse.

1972		R.A. Wilson Playboy’s Book of Forbidden Words.
1986–7		Maledicta IX 57: Irish dip n [L] 1: ‘Cure for bashfulness with the girls’ 2: Sexual intercourse.
1997		Share Slanguage.

the state of having a small penis.

1999

N. Cohn Yes We Have No 82: I bet you’ve got Irish disease, you Micks are all the same.

the vagina.

1890–1904		Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues IV 14/1: Irish-Fortune, subs. (old). – A cunt and pattens.
1997		Share Slanguage.

(gay) an impotent penis.

1986–7		Maledicta IX 57: Irish horse n [L] Impotent penis.
1997		Share Slanguage.

(US) the erect penis.

1981		H. Gould Fort Apache, The Bronx 35: He goes and hangs around the Catholic school. Gets those twelve year olds with big tits. [...] ‘I wanna find out what they eat to make their tits grow so I can feed it to my wife.’ ‘They eat the Irish inch.’.
2013		B.B. Kelly Irish Smuggler [ebook] ‘Your race is known for small penises, the Irish inch, are you not?’ Jan giggled.

a lengthy session of sexual intercourse.

1972		R.A. Wilson Playboy’s Book of Forbidden Words.
1986–7		Maledicta IX 57: Irish marathon n [L] Extended session of lovemaking.
1997		Share Slanguage.

(W.I.) a young man who is ‘kept’ by an older woman.

1995

Francis-Jackson Official Dancehall Dict. 26: Irish potato the term given to the young men dated by older women, a ‘kept’ young man.

(gay) masturbation.

1986–7

Maledicta IX 57: Irish promotion n [L] Masturbation.

sexual detumescence.

1986–7		Maledicta IX 57: Irish rise n [L] Sexual detumescence.
1997		Share Slanguage.

the penis.

1890–1904		Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 212: Irish root. The penis.
1997		Share Slanguage.

1. an erection.

1883		‘Three Chums’ in Boudoir I 2: The sight of this pretty Fanny [...] makes me feel quite so-so. In fact that girl has given me the Irish toothache.
1890–1904		Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 212: Irish toothache. Depending on context: (1) A persistent erection; (2) Pregnancy.
1997		Share Slanguage.
1997		Roger’s Profanisaurus in Viz 87 Dec. n.p.: Irish toothache n. An erection; bone. As in: ‘Is that a gun in your pocket, or have you just got Irish toothache?’.
2005		Roger’s Profanisaurus in Viz Apr. 47: dutch salute n. An Irish toothache.

2. pregnancy.

1909		J. Ware Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era 156/2: I. T. A. (Peoples’). Euphemism for Irish toothache. [Ibid.] 158/1: Irish toothache (Peoples’). Enceinte.
1972		R.A. Wilson Playboy’s Book of Forbidden Words.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 212: Irish toothache. Depending on context: (1) A persistent erection; (2) Pregnancy.
1997		Share Slanguage.

(US gay) the erect penis.

1986–7		Maledicta IX 57: Irish toothpick n [L] Erect penis of a sodomite.
1997		Share Slanguage.

(US) one who is a virgin and is likely to remain one.

1979

Maledicta III:2 163: Irish virgin n One likely to remain a virgin.

heterosexual anal intercourse.

1978		Maledicta II:1+2 (Summer/Winter) 161: The Irish Way Heterosexual anal intercourse [...] to prevent pregnancy.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 212: Irish way, the. Anal intercourse between man and woman (a form of birth control).
1997		Share Slanguage.

(gay) masturbation.

1986–7

Maledicta IX 57: Irish wedding n [L] Masturbation.

sexual intercourse.

1672		J. Phillips Maronides (1678) V Epistle: If they should see Virgil himself now playing at the serious game of Irish.
1890–1904		Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues IV 14/2: Irish-Whist, (where the Jack takes the Ace), [...] (venery). – Copulation.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 212: Irish whist. Copulation.
1997		Share Slanguage.

see under dance v.

of a woman, to have sexual intercourse.

1890–1904		Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.
1896		Farmer Vocabula Amatoria (1966) 76: Consoler. To copulate; ‘to give a hot poultice for the Irish toothache’.

of a man, homosexual.

1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular.
1979		Maledicta III:2 253: Catchphrases [...] Irish by birth, Greek by injection.
1986–7		Maledicta IX 194: [as prev.] .
1997		Share Slanguage.

to have sexual intercourse.

1890–1904		Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.
1896		Farmer Vocabula Amatoria (1966) 75: Connaitre. To copulate; ‘to play at Irish whist (where the Jack takes the ace)’.
1980		Maledicta IV:2 (Winter) 189: To play Irish whist is when the Jack takes the Ace.

1. a blow.

1831

Leicester Jrnl 12 Aug. 3/1: The complainant on going to see the fun, received an Irish compliment on his pate, which knocked him down.

2. a back-handed compliment.

1900		Bristol Mercury 30 Apr. 5/4: Lord Rosebery [...] evoked from the Lord Chief Justice the ingenious Irish compliment that in the number of duties he performed he resembled the Boer in his versatility.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 211: Irish compliment. A backhanded one.

the obituary columns in a newspaper.

1971		C. Seaburg Boston Observed 246: The obituary columns of local newspapers have long been known as the ‘Irish funnies’ .
1979		in DARE III 455/1: In the Boston area, Irish funnies means the obituary columns in the newspapers.
1982		Pensacola News Jrnl (FL) 29 Aug. 3/1: My uncle used to call the obituaries the ‘Irish funnies’.
1983		Star trib. (Minneapolis, MN) 9 Aug. 25/1: Panegyrics, threnodies, [...] obituaries or the Irish funny papers [...] write-ups of the dead remain constant.
1985		Chronicle-Telegram (Elyria, OH) 22 Mar. E8/5: If, like me, you are a regular reader of the obituary pages (the Irish sports pages, as the Irish call them), you will find, I think, that if you want to live a long life the best things to be are, in order, rich, a symphony orchestra conductor or a world-class politician.
2002		Pensacola News Jrnl (FL) 5 Oct. 19: [headline] For those aware of their age, the ‘Irish funnies’ are no laughing matter.

(US) a very broad hint.

1769		B. Whiting Early Amer. Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases (1977) 234: I believe there will not be the least danger of my getting an Irish hint as they call it.
1830		F.P. Kenrick letter 14 June in Meline & McSween Story of the Mountain (1948) 150: I could find many things to say on this subject were I present tete-a-tete, but for the present I shall content myself with having dropped an Irish hint.
1834		H.J. Nott Novellettes I 8: Various young men, [...] intimated, in what might be called Irish hints that they had espied the worthy Mr. Hunt [DAE].
1843		Boon’s Lick Times (Fayette, MO) 17 Nov. The Clique gave him the Irish hint! Not heard all of this!:
1877		Anderson Intelligencer (SC) 4 Oct. 1/7: It would take regular Irish hints to encourage a farmer to do anything .
1883		Salt Lake Herald (UT) 22 Mar. 4/1: Thesr rumors look very much like Irish hints, which Mr Folger ought to take in that light.
1893		Morn. Call (San Francisco) 17 Nov. 3/4: The following letter was written November 6, 1891 [...] Dear Charlie: It can’t be possible that you are throwing me an ‘Irish hint’.
1900		Times (Richmond, VA) 8 Nov. 4/2: Chairman Jones’ refusal to give up the fight may be altered by an Irish hint from his party to retire.
1979		Maledicta III:2 162: Irish hint n [DA 1834] Very broad hint; from the stereotype of Irish ignorance.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 211: Irish hint. A broad one.
2004		www.eleven-a-side.com 8 Apr. 🌐 Nolan drops Irish hint. Bolton Wanderers midfielder Kevin Nolan [...] has dropped the biggest hint yet that he may be persuaded to change allegiance and declare for the Republic of Ireland.

a demotion, a cut in one’s pay.

1853		A.W. McClure Translators Revived 89: When Archbishop Whitgift wished the new Master ‘joy of his place,’ the latter replied that it was ‘terminus diminuens;’ which is Latin for ‘an Irish promotion,’ or a ‘hoist down hill’.
1876		Chamber’s Jrnl 53 282/1: Bye, bye, boys; I am going before the stick, and have got Irish promotion. But I ’ve not done yet; so some of you look out.
1886		Salt Lake Herald (UT) 24 Oct. 8/2: It is understood that the brakeman has received an Irish promotion.
1891		McCook Trib. (NE) 13 Feb. 1/3: The commotion, arising from a reduction in forces and several Irish promotions, has about subsided.
1897		Indep. (Honolulu) 27 Apr. 2/1: Such an ‘rish promotion’ has taken place [...] that Colonel Iaukea has been transmogrified into Major Iaukea.
1900		Indep. (Honolulu) 26 June 2/2: We hope they will set the apparent discourtesy of our Executive down to the fact that he [...] has recently got an Irish promotion.
1910		Eve. Bulletin (Honolulu) 21 July 6/3: The change has been in the nature of an Irish promotion.
1917		NY Tribune 30 Oct. 8/7: He got what is known on the other side as an Irish promotion.
1932		Exeter & Plymouth Gaz. 4 Mar. 8/4: This is a mixture of Devon economy and Irish promotion that can hardly be swallowed.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 212: Irish promotion (or raise). A demotion or pay cut.

a cut in one’s pay.

1890–1904		Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.
1900–10		Stephens & O’Brien Materials for a Dict. of Aus. Sl. [unpub. ms.] 86: IRISH RISE: a rise in wages in an inverse manner, i.e. a reduction.
1939		V. Davis Gentlemen of the Broad Arrows 222: Irishman’s rise [...] What has Lofty been up to to get a probationer’s job.
1979		Maledicta III:2 163: Irish raise n No raise at all.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 212: Irish promotion (or raise). A demotion or pay cut.
1997		Share Slanguage.

the act of defecation.

1927		‘Jargon of the Und.’ in DN V 451: Irish shave, The act of defecation.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn) 114: have an Irish shave To go to the toilet.
1979		Maledicta III:2 163: Irish shave n Defecation.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 212: Irish shave. A defecation.
1997		Share Slanguage.
1997		Roger’s Profanisaurus in Viz 87 Dec. n.p.: Irish shave n. A dump.

see Irish funnies

(US) the turning or reversing of a garment or other object to hide rather than actually remove the dirt.

1966–70

in DARE.

thick legs.

1785		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: Irish legs, thick legs, jocularly stiled the Irish arms.
1790		‘Bumper Allnight, Esquire’ Honest Fellow 4: Another [inn] sign [...] The Irish Arms; a large pair of lusty legs.
1821		‘A Real Paddy’ Real Life in Ireland 291: She showed a pair of Irish, heavy to sight, but quick in running, and bolted into the other room.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 210: Irish arms. Legs, especially thick ones.
1997		Share Slanguage.

the throat.

1908

K. McGaffey Sorrows of a Show Girl Ch. x vi: Well, here’s down the Irish channel. Varlet, fill up the flagons again.

drooping female breasts.

1972		R.A. Wilson Playboy’s Book of Forbidden Words.
1986–7		Maledicta IX 57: Irish draperies n [L] Pendulous breasts.
1997		Share Slanguage.

heavy female legs.

1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: Irish legs, thick legs, jocularly stiled the Irish arms. It is said of the Irish women, that they have a dispensation from the pope, to wear the thick end of their legs downwards.
1809		G. Andrewes Dict. Sl. and Cant.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum [as cit. 1785].
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue [as cit. 1785].
1835		G. Kent Modern Flash Dict.
1848		Flash Dict. in Sinks of London Laid Open.
1883		Exeter & Plymouth Gaz. 21 Sept. 3/1: [of either gender] The steepness of the ascent [...] appears to have been contructed ‘to bidf defiance to all things in this world, save a broad-wheeled wagon or a p[air of Irish legs’.
1986–7		Maledicta IX 57: Irish legs n [L] Heavy female legs.
1997		Share Slanguage.

(UK Und.) thick, clumsy legs.

c.1850

Duncombe New and Improved Flash Dict.

(US) a red face.

2007		P.J. O’Rourke All the Trouble in the World 286: At the radio station Christmas party, every skin shade possible was represented from sable to much lighter than my purple Irish sunburn.
2013		T. Robinson Hard Bounce [ebook] Junior stomped across the parking lot, his temper giving him an Irish sunburn.

a woman with a pair of black eyes.

1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue (3rd edn).
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1862		E. de la Bédollière Londres et les Anglais 315/2: irish beauty, jeune fille aux yeux noirs.
1890–1904		Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.
1986–7		Maledicta IX 56: Irish beauty n [D] Woman with black eyes.
1997		Share Slanguage.

(US) any form of projectile, usu. a stone or brick.

1972

R.A. Wilson Playboy’s Book of Forbidden Words 16: A stone or rock or any other implement suitable for cracking skulls...Irish bouquet.

see Irishman’s coat of arms under Irishman’s adj.

1. (also confetti) bricks, esp. as thrown during riots; cite 1932 refers to a piece of iron.

1908		Gainesville Dly Sun (FL) 1 Aug. 4/1: Who is lacking [...] a good brick, whether it shelters us from the blast of wintrer or comes to us in the form of Irish confettiw .
1913		T.M. Osborne Prison Walls 312: I am personally acquainted with a party who could throw a piece of Irish confetti up in the air, and who, if he didn’t duck, would get it on his conk and be reminded of old times.
1918		in A.E. Kauffman Lost Squadron 68: Kindly check all cabbages, Irish confetti, and decayed henfruit at the door.
1922		Eve. World (NY) 3 Oct. 18/7: On the hudson River yesterday I saw a large flat barge loaded with Irish confetti.
1926		Wood & Goddard Dict. Amer. Sl.
1932		Hull Dly Mail 10 Aug. 6/3: A piece of iron was produced [...] a woman who said she was of irish descent said she had been struck on the head with it [...] A piece of Irish confetti.
1936		K. Mackenzie Living Rough 255: It was a real battle – brass-knuckles, blackjacks, lead pipes, studded clubs, Irish confetti.
1945		L. Saxon et al. Gumbo Ya-Ya 50: There will be those who agree and those who will not, and, even at this late date, Irish confetti may fly [DARE].
1950		N.Y. Times 3 Sept. 30: Saskatchewan Confetti [headline] The Saskatchewan Government is building a new brick plant [W&F].
1960		A. Green ‘Dutchman’ in AS XXXV:4 (Dec.) 270: Phrases in this category that I have heard in actual usage in San Francisco building construction and waterfront employment are: [...] Irish confetti.
1966		Observer (London) 19 June 40/1: An American friend in Amsterdam, describing last week’s riots there, said: ‘There’s just a lot of Irish confetti around.’ .
1972		R.A. Wilson Playboy’s Book of Forbidden Words.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 211: Irish confetti. Bricks.
1993		I.L. Allen City in Sl. (1995) 46: The [racial] slur continued with Irish confetti, popular term for paving stones [...] These brickbats were pried loose and thrown as weapons in the mid-nineteenth century street riots of Irish gangs.
1997		Share Slanguage.
2006		F.X. Toole Pound for Pound 15: Irish confetti – the old mick term for bricks.

2. see also sex compounds above.

3. see also general compounds below.

a kick in the behind.

1843		Yale Literary Mag. VIII 363: Ephraim [...] projected him from the extremity of his indignant foot, through a curved line, which has received the technical appellation, ‘Irish hoist’ [DA].
1979		Maledicta III:2 162: Irish hoist n [DA ca 1800] Kick in the backside; also, an awkward fall; from the stereotype of the crude, brawling Irishman.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 212: Irish hoist. A kick in the pants.
1997		Share Slanguage.

a challenge to a duel.

1794

Sporting Mag. May IV 119/2: [He] gave him what he terms an Irish invitation to breakfast [...] bread, butter, tea, eggs, and pistols for two.

(Aus.) the use of a shotgun.

1993

M.B. ‘Chopper’ Read How to Shoot Friends 79: I am the holder of the black belt in Irish karate, skilled in the ancient Irish art of letting go with the sawn-off double-barrelled shotgun through the dunny door, then running like hell.

a heated argument.

1947

R.O. Boyer Dark Ship 151: When exchanges become too warm between members of the staff Joe sometimes says, ‘Let’s not have an Irish parliament here!’.

(US) a stone, for throwing.

1930

(con. 1910s) L. Nason A Corporal Once 240: ‘Here’s an Irish Rose for ye, ye blagyard!’ muttered Dugan, and hurled a stone at the shadowy form.

1. (US) shooting a victim through the knees, hands and shoulders [? IRA punishment shootings].

2014

S.A. Cosby ‘The Rat & the Cobra’ in ThugLit Mar. [ebook] ‘I’m going to shoot the boy here in his knees. Then I’m going to shoot him in his hands. Then I’m going to shoot him in shoulders. He going to get the Irish six-pack’.

2. (US) a six-pack of beer, taken to a party, but from which one can has already been drunk .

2018

Urban Dict. 13 June 🌐 Irish Six-Pack The act of bringing a six-pack of beer to a party with only five beers left in it, because you drank one before you got there.

any boisterous occasion and not necessarily a wake.

1838		T. Haliburton Clockmaker II 75: A kind of Irish wake [...] a rael, right down, genuine hysteric frolic, near about as much cryin’ as laughin’.
1979		Maledicta III:2 163: Irish wake n 1: Festive funeral procession 2: Any boisterous affair.
1997		Share Slanguage.

a brawl, ‘where black eyes are given instead of favours’ (Grose 1796).

c.1786		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue ms. additions n.p.: You have been at an Irish wedding, where black eyes are given (instead of) or for favors; saying to one who has a black eye.
1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue (2nd, 3rd edn) n.p.:
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		‘Jon Bee’ Dict. of the Turf, the Ring, the Chase, etc. 106: One with a black eye is said to have been ‘at an Irish wedding, where they give black eyes for bride-favours.’.
1859		Holmes Co. republican (Millersburg, OH) 22 Sept. 2/6: At the late Syracuse Convention [...] ‘Irish weddings’ were plenty [...] blows were struck, the wildest excitement prevailed.
[1874		Edinburgh Eve. News 15 Oct. 4/4: An Irish wedding without a broken head was a very extraordinary thing].
1885		Semi-Wkly Interior Jrnl (Stanford, KY) 23 Jan. 3/2: Looking very much as if her had been to an Irish wedding [...] the horses [...] became frightened [...] and ran off, throwing him out and cutting his head and face.
1890–1904		Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues IV 14/2: To have danced at an Irish wedding [...] To have got two black eyes.
1901		Lexington Gaz. (VA) 20 Feb. 3/5: Tonight he has a ‘bunged eye’ which reminds one of a souvenir of an Irish wedding.
1908		Jackson Herald (MO) 31 Dec. 1/3: Two of our citizens decided to have a little fun by having an ‘rish wedding’, which caused one to get his eye blackened.

(US) a supposed disease in which the sufferer forgets everything but their grudges.

2000		N.Y. Post 19 Feb. n.p.: More than four decades of knowing [Richard Harris] — it’s a shock to find out he is suffering from Irish Alzheimer’s disease, where you forget everything except your grudges.
2008		Urban Dict. 15 July 🌐 irish amnesia forgive, but don’t forget.
2014		N.Y. Times 15 Mar. n.p.: Irish Alzheimer’s, goes the joke, is to forget everything but the grudges.
2017		D. Winslow The Force [ebook] ‘Do you know about Irish Alzheimer’s?’ Malone asks. [...] ‘You forget everything but the grudges’.
2020		Twitter 6 Nov. 🌐 ‘He certainly has Irish Alzheimer’s. He forgets everything except the grudges. He definitely remembers all the grudges.’ <-- outdated cultural slur.

boldness, shamelessness.

1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: Irish assurance; a bold forward behaviour.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum [as cit. 1785].
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1890–1904		Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.
1997		Share Slanguage.

any form of exchange where one side gains disproportionately more than the other; thus no bargain .

1788		J. O’Keeffe Farmer 49: ’Pon my Honour, here’s a fine Irish Bargain; all Borrowers but no Lenders.
1826		J. Coad Angling Excursions 93: The tranquillizing expedient of an Irish bargain, that of ‘splitting the difference’.
1833		Hansard 11 Feb. 505/2: That would be like Sir Boyle Roche’s description of an Irish bargain, where all the mutuality was on one side.

1. (US) a police station [plays on SE club, association/club to hit, i.e. police violence].

1897		Times (Wash., DC) 22 Aug. 15/6: I meets a boy in blue. I told him how it wuz, and got a wallop with the bat. He drove me over to the Irish clubhouse.
1904		‘Number 1500’ Life In Sing Sing 260: His rod to my nut turned me into the Irish Club House.
1910		J. Sullivan ‘Criminal Sl.’ in Amer. Law Rev. LII (1918) 891: An ‘Irish clubhouse’ is the police station.
1925		G.H. Mullin Adventures of a Scholar Tramp 20: A bull comes round [...] and escorts you to the hoosegow – or Irish Club-house if you prefer a chummy word.
1935		A.J. Pollock Und. Speaks.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 211: Irish clubhouse. A police station.

2. see also sex compounds above.

1. (N.Z.) gravel, stones.

1986		R. Fitzgerald Pushed from the Wings (1989) 107: I’ll shower your thick head with Irish confetti.
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl.

2. see also sex compounds above.

3. see also violence compounds above.

insincerity, crocodile tears (cf. weep Irish v.).

1710

S. Centlivre Bickerstaff’s Burying n.p.: What the devil can be the matter? Why all this noise? here’s none but friends; I don’t apprehend that anybody can overhear you; this is something like the Irish cry [F&H].

(Aus./US) cobwebs.

1919		Truth (Brisbane) 28 Sept. 2/3: Where’s ‘Long ’Un’ got to? Has he got tangled up in those Irish curtains?
1968–70		in DARE.
1982		N. Keesing Lily on the Dustbin 22: You’ll have rooms ‘all over the place like a madwoman’s breakfast’ and windows festooned with ‘Irish curtains’ (cobwebs).
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl.

cobwebs.

1893		Times (Philadelphia, PA) 1 Oct. 23/3: [The house] was twined and festooned with Irish draperies [...] We lost no time in christening our new boudoir ‘Cobweb Hall’.
1909		J. Ware Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era.
1910		Chicago Trib. 20 Feb. 8/2: It is a surprise [...] to a visitor from Ireland in this country to hear cobwebs alluded to as ‘Irish draperies’ or tatters as Irish fringe.
1975		in J. Gould Maine Lingo.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 211: Irish draperies. Cobwebs.
1997		Share Slanguage.

a perjuring witness; perjury.

1717		Proc. Old Bailey 1 May 8/2: The Prisoner deny’d the Fact and brought a Tatterdemallion, who like Irish evidence, swore the prisoner was not the Woman came in with the Boy.
1726		Proc. Old Bailey 25 Apr. 7/1: Several Irish Evidence appear'd in the Prisoner’s behalf, but the Jury found him Guilty.
1745		Proc. Old Bailey 27 Feb. 95/1: You are an Irish evidence.
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1835		G. Kent Modern Flash Dict.
1848		Flash Dict. in Sinks of London Laid Open.
c.1850		Duncombe New and Improved Flash Dict.
1890–1904		Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.
1972		R.A. Wilson Playboy’s Book of Forbidden Words.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 211: Irish evidence. Perjury.
1997		Share Slanguage.

(US) a diaper, a nappy.

1967

in DARE.

a halfpenny.

1690		‘Teague’ Teagueland Jests I 97: He had lain ina Bawdy-house [...] and spent his estate of four Irish Half-Crowns there.
1690		‘Teague’ Teagueland Jests I 101: Patrick was in great Fumigation, because none would take up his Bet of Half-penny-half-Crowns.

a spider’s web.

1950		WELS Suppl.
1968–70		in DARE.
1979		Maledicta III:2 162: Irish lace n Spider web.
1997		Share Slanguage.

(N.Z.) a wild pig.

2003

McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl.

(US und.) a crooked gambling game that guarantees that the dealer wins; ? a version of three-card monte n. (1)

1905

F. Hutchison Philosophy of Johnny the Gent 53: I'm goin' to deal a little Irish monte right there an’ then an’ collect the price of a fresh set of scenery.

1. (US) a rope.

1890

United Service Apr. 442: I should have known what is meant by an ‘Irish dividend’ or an ‘Irish necktie’ if I had never been aboard a vessel of war [HDAS].

2. (US) a bearded running along and below the neckline (cf. Newgate collar under Newgate n.

1893		Phila. Inquirer (PA) 19 Sept. 1/3: His upper lip was shaven, but a short gray beard fringed his under jaw in the fashion known as ‘an Irish necktie’.
1934		(ref. to late 19C) Plainfield Courier-News (NJ) 2 June sect. 2 13: [headline] Do You Remember When? You Wore an ‘Irish necktie’?

(US) a bullfrog.

1901		DN II 142: Irish nightingale, n. Bull frog.
1942		Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Sl.
1976		(ref. to 1850s) S.B. Flexner America Talking 136: In the 1850s [...] humorous terms mocking the Irish began to multiply, as [...] Irish nightingale, a bullfrog (based on the Swedish nightingale Jenny Lind, who made a highly publicized concert tour of America 1850–52).

(US) a fainting fit, esp. a pretended one.

1927		‘Jargon of the Und.’ in DN V 451: Irish pasture, A state of coma. ‘I socked that dick into the Irish pasture’.
1931		Irwin Amer. Tramp and Und. Sl. 107: Irish Pasture. – A faint or coma.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).
1979		Maledicta III:2 162: Irish pasture n Faint, especially a pretended one.

a small toothcomb.

1890–1904		Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.
1997		Share Slanguage.

(US) political hypocrisy.

1979		Maledicta III:2 163: Irish shift; Irish switch n [Cray 1960] Political hypocrisy; pretense.
1997		Share Slanguage.

a route that appears longer but is supposedly really quicker.

2011

J.J. Connolly Viva La Madness 147: The taxi driver tells him he’s gonna take an Irish short cut — it’s longer but it’s quicker.

(US) substituting deodorant or similar body spray for a wash with soap and water.

2003		Urban Dict. 2 Oct. 🌐 Irish Shower The use of deoderant [sic] and/or cologne to cover up lack of proper showering. ‘Woke up late for work so I had to go the Irish shower route’.
2013		T. Robinson Hard Bounce [ebook] I still reeked. Junior kept a pint of cheap cologne in his drawer, and I tried to cover up the rest with an Irish shower.

(US) the tattered edge of a garment or piece of fabric.

1910

Chicago Trib. 20 Feb. 8/2: It is a surprise [...] to a visitor from Ireland in this country to hear cobwebs alluded to as ‘Irish draperies’ or tatters as Irish fringe.

(US) two siblings born within a 12-month period (note cite 2021 for ext. uses).

1852		Louisville Dly Courier (KY) 4 June 2/2: [used fig. of combining a job with childcare] We find ourselves quite unequal to the task of managing our Irish twins. So long as the Visitor [a newspaper] was our only baby we did not find the nursing and tending of it [...] a very difficult matter [...] but since baby Nettie has come [etc].
1887		Leavenworth Times (KS) 5 June 7/3: Queen Victoria sends £5 o every English mother on the occasion of her first twins. Doubtless she does not feel that it is incumbent upon her to offer a dollar premium for Irish twins.
1911		C.V. Tevis Hist. of the Fighting Fourteenth 223: There were about ten children, Irish twins, i. e., about one year difference in their ages, and they were allowed to run wild, as dirty as pigs.
1965		L.A. Times 25 Apr. C13/4: These mental gymnastics are humanized by her activities as the mother of seven children, including ‘Irish twins,’ born less than a year apart.
1976		Wash. Post 18 Nov. D1/3: My sons are so-called ‘Irish twins,’ two days less than a year apart, but physically and emotionally they are opposites.
1985		A.M. Greeley Happy Meek 194: Margaret and Wolfe Junior were Irish twins, born eleven months apart [DARE].
1989		Pennsylvania Intelligencer (Boylestown, PA) 23 Oct. C1/6: Having two children as close as 10 to 18 months is comparable to having unequal twins, and they are even called ‘Irish twins’.
2016		Barer et al. Betrayal in Blue 138: We go next door, and two young teen boys, brothers, Irish twins, like nine months apart.
2021		Betoota-isms 68: Irish Twins [...] 1. Male siblings born less than twelve months apart 2. Local scallywags, often suspended or caught skipping school 3. Rhyming names e.g. Cayden & Jaiden, Daxton & Ashton.
2024		J. Meades Empty Wigs (t/s) 595: Two of Valentine’s nephews and nieces were older than he was, such was the age difference between the four sisters, ‘Irish twins’, and the benjamin, their ‘baby brother’.

the emptying of a cesspool.

1823		‘Jon Bee’ Dict. of the Turf, the Ring, the Chase, etc. 106: Irish wedding — a necessary emptying of a bog-house, derived from the similarity of fogo at such celebrations.
1890–1904		Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.
1989		H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 212: Irish wedding. Emptying a cesspool.
1997		Share Slanguage.

keening.

c.1663

‘Iter Hibernicum’ in Carpenter Verse in English from Tudor & Stuart Eng. (2003) 387: And what to make of’t could not tell / When first they heard the Irish Yell.

quintessentially Irish.

1895		Topeka Dly Capital (KS) 24 Nov. 12/5: [advert] Table Napkins. All as Irish as Paddy’s pig, but a little more white, every thread pure linen.
1901		Eve. Transcript (San Bernadino, CA) 9 Nov. 2/5: Byrne and Chambers, while not quite as Irish as Paddy’s pig, still have a warm feeling for ‘Ould Ireland’.
1907		L.A. Times 17 Apr. 20/1: English your grandmother! She is as Irish as Paddy Murphy’s pig.
1911		Newton Enterprise (NC) 4 May 4/3: The clan O’Hara, as sturdy stock as ever sprang from the ‘ould sod’and ‘as Irish as Paddy’s pig’.
1918		Harrisburg Teleg. (PA) 8 July 24/1: ‘I am as Irish as Paddy Murphy’s pig and I want to get back among the Irish’.
1926		D. Runyon Runyon Says [synd. col.] Mr John ‘Beans’ Reardon, slim, dapper, and as Irish as Paddy’s pig.
1935		St Cloud Times (MN) 6 Feb. 4/3: In the senate there are at least 17 names as unmistakeably Irish as Paddy’s pig. [...] Guffey, Donahey, Lonergan, [etc].
1944		Morn. News (Wilmington, DE) 10 Mar. 16/6: The celebration of St Patrick’s day isn’t limited to those who are ‘as Irish as Paddy’s pig’.
1944		Hartford Courant (CT) 21 Jan. 18/1: Concerning the nationalities of last night’s cast [...] They may be as Irish as Paddy Murphy’s pig [but] they fail to ring the bell.
1955		Hartford Courant (CT) 11 June 6/9: James Ahern as [...] the timid suitor, is as Irish as Paddy Murphy’s pig.
1957		Miami News (FL) 28 Apr. 2C/2: The Jewish Lord Mayor of Dublin, who as the saying goes, is as Irish as Paddy’s pig.
1963		Pesacola News Jrnl (FL) 27 June 39/1: The name O’Reilly is as Irish as Paddy Murphy’s pig.
1968		Morn. Call (Allentown, PA) 8 Mar. 29/7: Here’s something as Irish as ‘Paddy’s pig.’ Mulligan Stew.
1970		N. Beagley Up and Down Under 38: Our respective bosses [...] were as Irish as Paddy’s pig.
1984		Partridge DSUE (8th edn) 600/1: from ca. 1890.
1998		Christian Science Monitor 27 Feb. 🌐 So there was a young man who lived in South Boston, Mass., and he was as Irish as Paddy Murphy’s pig.
2012		(con. 1954) ‘Jack Tunney’ Tomato Can Comeback [ebook] I was able to get Father Tim Brophy on the line. He sounded Irish as Paddy’s pig.