Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(orig. Irish) a blow, a beating, esp. given by a parent to a child.

1870		T. Brierley Nonsense and Tomfoolery 9: ‘Does mean me?’ returned Owd Jamie, rising up to give Amos a clatter i’ th’ chops.
1910		Dublin Eve. Teleg. 28 June 3/7: ‘Graham came towards me in fighting attitude [...] so I gave him a few ‘clatters’ to ‘soften his cough’.
1969		P. Boyle All Looks Yellow to the Jaundiced Eye 55: With the clatter he got, he must be just about half-conscious.
1981		P. Crosbie Your Dinner’s Poured Out! 136: A wrong move earned a clatter on the ear.
1990		R. Doyle Snapper 119: Veronica Rabbitte’s after givin’ poor Doris an awful clatter [...] In the nose.
1995		P. Boland Tales from a City Farmyard 169: The Ma gave me a few clatters for being so cheeky.
1996		(con. 1970) G. Moxley Danti-Dan in McGuinness Dazzling Dark (1996) I iii: Daddy gave her an awful clatter.
2001		G. Coughlan Everyday Eng. and Sl. 🌐 Clatter (n): slap.
2015		L. McInerney Glorious Heresies 182: ‘What is it with assholes trying to hide behind their offspring when they think they’re getting a clatter?’.
2019		A. Killilea Boyo-wulf at https://boyowulf.home.blog 14 Apr. 🌐 [T]he Lord himself had had it up to here with these bloody relatives of Cain [...] after he gave Abel one too many clatters across the head.