Culchie
This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2008) |
Culchie is a term in
Possible derivations
The term is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as "one who lives in, or comes from, a rural area; a (simple) countryman (or woman), a provincial, a rustic". It is sometimes said to be a word derived from the remote town of Kiltimagh, County Mayo.[1] A further explanation is that the word derives from the word "agriculture", highlighting the agricultural/industrial divide between rural and urban populations.[2]
It may be derived from an
The word culchie may instead be derived from the Irish word coillte, 'woods, forests'. It was used by townspeople, mainly in the western counties of Mayo and Galway, as a condescending or pejorative reference to people from rural areas. In the mid-1960s it was adopted as a common term in Dublin, as a counter to the country people's use of the word jackeen for a Dublin person. The culchie spelling is common in the English-language media, based on their understanding of phonetics and the word's derivation. It is also sometime spelled cultchie, indicative of its more likely derivation from cúl an tí.[citation needed]
Culchie is also an Irish term for a simple, impromptu bed, chiefly consisting of planks, hastily slung between the tapered end of an inglenook fireplace and the nearest wall of a farmhouse kitchen. A culchie might be offered to anyone who asked for a bed for the night, who was not known to the family (rather like letting someone sleep in the barn). So, this could have become a derogatory term for traveling rural labourers and hence just country folk. However, originally it was just an example of common hospitality as often formerly offered to travellers and those in need.[citation needed]
Popular culture
Some
The comedian Pat Shortt has made a successful living out of a culchie-themed act. He has his own television series, Killinaskully, based on a theme of a culchie in a village in rural Munster.
Television presenter Dáithí Ó Sé has been said by humourist George Byrne of The Herald to have a style interpreted as anywhere from "edgy" to "a big lump of culchie cliché".[3]
Culch.ie is an Irish pop-culture blog with a name derived from the term (.ie is the country code top-level domain name for Ireland). The site still exists but is no longer active.
Dundalk folk-punk singer Jinx Lennon included a song on his 2020 album "Border Schizo FFFolk Songs For The Fuc**d" named "Be Proud" in which he lists reasons for people to be proud of their hometown, including the lyrics "Be proud of your big, thick country accent - it's an addition not a subtraction".[4]
Culchie Festival
The Culchie Festival started in 1989 in Clonbur, County Galway and ran until 2012. The festival took place in many towns and villages throughout Ireland in its search to find an exemplary culchie or "village character" – a local (perhaps even parochial) personality with the ability to entertain at will and excel at various stereotypically rural tasks.
The festival was held in late October each year after regional heats held throughout Ireland and overseas Irish communities to select contestants. The final consists of various challenges, such as tractor racing, nappy changing, sandwich making, potato picking, knitting, and karaoke.[5] The 2008 winner was Adrian McCabe from Ballyjamesduff, County Cavan, where the next Culchie Festival was hosted, 23–25 October 2009.
References
Definitions found at Irish Slang
- ^ "culchie". Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1993.
- ^ ISBN 9780717140398.
- ^ Byrne, George (10 December 2011). "Smell". The Herald. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
- ^ Clayton-Lea, Tony (2020-04-03). "Jinx Lennon: Border Schizo Fffolk Songs for the Fuc**d review – Best work yet from a contrary artist". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2022-09-20.
- ^ "Culchie Festival bids to break motorbike record". BreakingNews.ie. Retrieved 2008-12-10.