Crubeens (from Irish 'crúibín', meaning "pig's trotter") are an Irish dish made of boiled pigs' feet. They are traditionally eaten by hand (like corn on the cob) and enjoyed with mustard or vinegar. Crubeens can include the pigs' calves, and can be consumed fried, broiled, baked, or otherwise prepared.

youtu.be/O0Y4U8zq6J4

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Hiberno-English word/phrase of the day:

Crubeen

(Also: 'croobeen', crúibín')

I'm including 'crubeen' because it's mentioned in the song, "The Galway Races".

"And it's there you'll see confectioners
With sugarsticks and dainties
The lozenges and oranges
The lemonade and raisins
Gingerbread and spices
To accommodate the ladies
And a big crubeen for three-pence
To be suckin' while they're able
To me whack fol the do fol the diddlely idle day"

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INSIDE AND OUTSIDE. The inside of a **** and the outside of a gaol.

A selection from Francis Grose’s “Dictionary Of The Vulgar Tongue” (1785)

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GOOSE. A taylor's goose; a smoothing iron used to press down the seams, for which purpose it must be heated: hence it is a jocular saying, that a taylor, be he ever so poor, is always sure to have a goose at his fire.

A selection from Francis Grose’s “Dictionary Of The Vulgar Tongue” (1785)

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The ears and eyes of the neighbours being thus alarmed, they flock to the house of the deceased, and by their vociferous sympathy excite and at the same time sooth the sorrows of the family...burning the straw upon which the sick man lay became a simple preservative against infection."

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In her glossary to "The Absentee (1895 ed.), Maria Edgeworth tells much the same story: "When an Irish man or woman of the lower order dies, the straw which composed the bed, whether it has been contained in a bag to form a mattress, or simply spread upon the earthen floor, is immediately taken out of the house, and burned before the cabin door, the family at the same time setting up the death howl.

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Sometimes they'd take them out before they were dead at all, it was terrible. I suppose they had a reason for it. I never saw it done" (as explained by Annie Meagh of Coogue Co. Mayo, in recent times).

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"They wouldn't let an old person die in the bed, they'd take them out on a "crochán", they called it. They used make a bad of straw beside the bed and they'd take them down and leave them beside the bed to die so they wouldn't have to take them out of the bed. They washed them in the crochán, and then burned it...

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Hiberno-English word/phrase of the day:

Crochán

(This is not a word I've hear used but I found it interesting all the same.)

'Crochán' is the straw, bier or mattress on which a person was laid to die.

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GIFT OF THE GAB. A facility of speech.

A selection from Francis Grose’s “Dictionary Of The Vulgar Tongue” (1785)

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WALL. To walk or crawl up the wall; to be scored up at a public-house. Wall-eyed, having an eye with little or no sight, all white like a plaistered wall.

A selection from Francis Grose’s “Dictionary Of The Vulgar Tongue” (1785)

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The second meaning is an intoxicating liquor, especially whiskey. It's used in the song "Finnegan's Wake": "He'd a drop o' the craythur every morn".
The application to alcohol, possibly, arose as a colloquial metonymy: referring to whiskey as a comforting, elemental companion or a staple "creature comfort" of life.

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Hiberno-English word/phrase of the day:

Craythur

(Also: 'crayture', 'créatúr')

The first meaning of the word 'craythur' is a person or any created thing. Now there is a world of difference between calling someone a “creature” and calling someone a “craythur”. A craythur deserves some kind of sympathy or empathy, and the word is usually preceded by “poor”: "The poor craythur fell into the ditch, but she’ll be grand."

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CAKE, or CAKEY. A foolish fellow.

A selection from Francis Grose’s “Dictionary Of The Vulgar Tongue” (1785)

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JOLLY DOG. A merry facetious fellow; a BON VIVANT, who never flinches from his glass, nor cries to go home to bed.

A selection from Francis Grose’s “Dictionary Of The Vulgar Tongue” (1785)

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CRUSTY BEAU. One that uses paint and cosmetics, to obtain a fine complexion.

A selection from Francis Grose’s “Dictionary Of The Vulgar Tongue” (1785)

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Just to note: Traditionally, 'móidín' describes a deeply pious person or religious devotee. Contemporary speakers use it to mean a fan or enthusiast of a franchise, band, or show (e.g., asking “An móidín Doctor Who thú?” to mean "Are you a Doctor Who fan?")

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A synonym of 'crawthumper' would be 'voteen' (also: 'votcheen', 'vokeen'). Possibly derived from 'devotee' + '-een' ('-een' is used to form the diminutives of nouns in Hiberno-English: 'man' + '-een' → 'maneen' [“little man”]).
Or it could come from the Irish word 'móidín' (with lenition changing the sound to v).

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Hiberno-English word/phrase of the day:

Crawthumper

An ostentatiously pious person. Coming from 'craw' (an old word for stomach [in birds], neck, throat [humans]) plus 'thumper' ('thump': a blow that produces a muffled sound), suggesting a person who is always beating their chest, a gesture of piety and submission.
"The crawthumper always sits up in the front seat"

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