８月２４日　このあいだ友だちのメッセージのやりとりのなかで
「いまキングダムに来てるから今朝の散歩は行かれないよ」
と出てきて、
「キングダムってどこだろう？イギリスまで行ったのではないのだろうし？？？」
と頭がハテナマークになりました。
　月曜の朝、歩きながら「キングダムってどこ？」と質問して教えてもらいました。

曰く
「アイルランドのカウンティーはそれぞれニックネームがある。キングダムとはカウンティ・ケリーのこと」。
なるほど〜〜
カウンティ・ウイックローが「ガーデンオブアイルランド(アイルランドの庭)」と言われる地域だというのは知っていたのだけどね？

探してみたら、新聞記事に説明の書いてあるのがありました。北アイルランドの県も含んでいるので、行ったことのある県を中心に抜粋してみました。
Co.Clare Co.Galway Co.Donegal Co.Limrick Co.KerryそれからCo WexfordやCo.Waterfordも行ったことがあるし、Co KildareやCo.Offalyなども高速道路で通り抜けているのだけど、やはり友だちと旅行に行ってウオーキングをしたり、バーニーのご先祖様のルーツの地カーリンフォード(Co.Louth) とかは場所の様子が目に浮かびます。Co.Carlowもこのあいだ行ってきました。
　そこで少し写真も入れました。

The other day, I ve found out about Irish counties’”nicknames”, as Pauline was talking about ‘the Kingdum’ and other fitbiddies kindly gave me some explanation… I knew about Co Wicklow as ‘the garden of Ireland’ though.

J’ai encore appris quelque chose de culturel: une de mes amies était partie voyager un peu et elle nous a envoyé un message disant qu’elle était au ‘Kingdum‘. Je me suis demandé dans quel royaume elle était partie. En fait c’est un surnom que les Irlandais donnent au comté de Kerry.
Chaque comté a un surnom, souvent avec référence à des événements historiques ou tout simplement à leurs épiques de sports gaéliques.
Voici un extrait d‘un article de journal, qui cite également des comtés du Nord, mais je n’ai retenu que certains que je connais. Bien sûr que sur la liste en ordre alphabétique, notre comté de Wicklow vient toujours à la fin :

Carlow – The Dolmen County, or the Mount Leinster County

Ireland’s second smallest county gets its names from (a) the Brownshill Dolmen (b) the highest elevation in the county. It might also reasonably be called the Garden County, but that name was already taken (by Wicklow). People from Carlow are often referred to as Barrowsiders — referring to the river, and not the garden vehicle.

Clare — The Banner County

The banner in question is the either that captured by Clare’s Dragoons at the Battle of Ramillies, or the banner of Catholic emancipation raised by Daniel O’Connell’s victory in an 1828 by-election for Co. Clare.

Cork — The Rebel County

The ‘rebel’ comes from Cork city’s support for pretender to the English crown Perkin Warbeck. If Cork people had got their way King Perkin I would have sat on the English throne — but good sense prevailed when everyone realised how silly the name sounds. The ‘rebel’ nickname was further reinforced by Cork’s enthusiasm for fighting against the British in the War of Independence. Corkonians are also called Leesiders, Bottle Stoppers or Donkey Eaters (it’s a long story; particularly the last one)

Donegal — The Forgotten County, the County of the Gaels

Forgotten, as any Donegal person will tell you, by Dublin, Belfast and Glasgow. Those in the north of the county are often referred to as the Herring Gutters. But to be honest, we’ve forgotten why.

Dublin — The Pale, the Smoke, or the Metropolitan County

The inhabitants of the capital are often referred to as ‘The Jacks’, short for jackeen. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a jackeen as “A contemptuous designation for a self-assertive worthless fellow,” citing the earliest documented use from the year 1840. So the jacks have been with us for a good while.

Kerry — The Kingdom County

Another county with a grandiose name. The people of Kerry reckon it’s called a kingdom just because it is, that’s why, boy. More academically, the name may date back as far as the original tribe that occupied this area, under the kingship of Ciar.

Kildare — The Short Grass County, the Thoroughbred County

All  to do with the pastureland and horse-racing. Kildare people are known as Lilywhites — a GAA shirt reference.

Kilkenny — The Marble County, or the Ormond County

The ‘marble’ from which much of the old city is built isn’t marble at all, but carboniferous limestone. But ‘The Carboniferous Limestone City’ doesn’t really cut it as a name. Kilkenny people are often referred to as The Cats — Kilkenny cats are regarded as particularly tenacious.

Limerick — The Treaty County

The name refers to the Treaty of Limerick, 1691 which ended the siege of Limerick. Residents are called the Shannonsiders.

Louth — The Wee County

Ireland’s smallest county, which lies just above the Wee-Ould line. This is the line, akin to the Mason–Dixon line in the US, that divides Ireland. Above the line anything can be ‘wee’ — a wee credit card, a wee cup o’ tea, even a wee cathedral. Below, it’s ‘ould’. “I wouldn’t mind an ould sandwich” (meaning you’d quite like a fresh one). Co. Louth is therefore at a very important linguistic crossroads in Ireland.

Mayo – Maritime County

This is a reference to the county’s westerly position on the shores of the Atlantic. It does tend to get parky alright — there’s a rumour that one day on Achill Island the wind stopped blowing and everybody fell over.

Meath — The Royal County

The name dates back to the glory days of Tara, and the crowning of Ireland’s ancient royalty there. It’s also claimed that Halloween got going here a few thousand years back, so the Halloween County would seem a reasonable name.

Offaly — The Central County, the Middle of Ireland County

Offaly is also known as The County that Beats Banagher (who also, according to the saying, beat the devil). There is, we would have to point out, a town called Banagher in Derry, which also claims the origin of the saying. Offaly has also been referred to as The Faithful county, which must be of comfort to all the married folk.

Waterford — The Crystal County, The Déise

The Gentle County: a Saga of the Decies People by Nicholas Whittle was published in 1959. He chose the title because “We in Waterford have never been too prone to blow our own trumpet.” Folk from Waterford regularly refer to themselves as Decies. The Crystal County comes from Waterford Crystal, which first set up shop here in the 18th century.

Wexford — The Model County

The Model County gets its name from early, progressive farming methods.

Wicklow — The Garden County

Ireland’s youngest county — it’s just over 400 years old — is chock full of botanical and horticultural A-listers, so presumably they thought, sod it, we’ll blooming well call ourselves the Garden of Ireland.