NICKNAMES HAVE ALWAYS been a fun way to describe many sports teams around the world. From ‘The Red Devils’ to ‘The Hoops’ to ‘The Blues’ nicknames allow us to have some fun with our favourite teams.
GAA is no exception to that. Here are 13 of the stranger nicknames that we’ve come across.
1. The Donkey Eaters (Cork)
A nickname that comes from a particular part of Skibbereen where people during the Famine resorted to eating donkeys to survive. Poor Donkey.
2. The Scallion Eaters (Carlow)
Apparently people from Carlow just adore their onions. During the 19th century most of Leinster’s onions were grown in Carlow hence the name. They can also make you cry if they shove you hard enough.
3. The Herring Chokers (Galway)
The fishing industry was a big part of Galway and gave us this rather odd and underused nickname. It’s the herring that I feel sorry for in this situation.
4. The Wee County (Louth)
This is not a nickname because the Louth GAA team piss themselves. It’s actually much simpler. The name comes because Louth is the smallest county in Ireland which doesn’t sound condescending at all.
5. The Zebras (Sligo)
Zebras aren’t something you see in Ireland unless you’re in Dublin Zoo. Sligo decided that we needed more Zebra representation in the West. The name comes from the colours of Sligo which of course are black and white.
6. The Stone Throwers (Tipperary)
Apparently this name comes from particularly angsty Tipperary militants during the Land War in the late 1800s. As well as that there’s a park called Stone Throwers Park in Tipperary Hill in New York which commemorates a 1930s incident when Irish Americans threw stones at a traffic light that was upside down. The more you know.
7. The Goat Suckers (Wicklow)
All the explanation that I can find on this nickname is that ‘feral goats roam the Wicklow mountains’. How the sucking part came along is something I’d rather not think about. I would also like to see a feral goat.
8. The Gentle County (Waterford)
Named after a book written by Nicholas Whittle in 1959. Apparently he called it the Gentle County because people in Waterford ‘have never been prone to blow their own trumpet’. Clearly he never saw Waterford play hurling.
9. The Faithful County (Offaly)
This name makes Offaly sound like it’ll never leave you or text you at 2am going ‘You up?’. Offaly just sounds like a nice person who wants to look after you. You go Offaly.
10. The Sheepstealers (Roscommon)
If you were caught stealing sheep back in the day you were sent to Australia as a punishment which happened a fair bit in Roscommon apparently. It’s definitely one way to get out anyway.
11. The Forgotten County (Donegal)
Poor old Donegal are constantly forgotten about despite being a massive county. There’s no trains and it’s huge meaning it can be very isolating too. Poor Donegal can’t catch a break.
12. The Slashers (Longford)
The name comes from a ‘man of valour’ called Myles ‘The Slasher’ O’Reilly (seriously) who was killed defending a bridge in the 1640s. Apparently Longford people are called ‘Slashers’ which only sounds vaguely threatening.
13. The Short Grass County (Kildare)
Keeping in tone which Kildare’s inability to be in any way interesting, the short grass county comes from the fact that grass at the Curragh is very short. Come on Kildare, try a bit harder.
