Donnybrook

Mike from Cadillac, Michigan, asked about the origin of the word donnybrook. Donnybrook refers to a brawl or free-for-all. By extension, it can mean a public confrontation or dispute without fisticuffs.

Originally, it was the name of a village outside of Dublin, Ireland. From the 13^th century onwards it was the site of a famous annual fair. By the 19^th century, it had acquired a reputation for attracting rowdy, drunken, brawling visitors.

Walter Bagehot’s The English Constitution summed it up this way: “The only principle recognized ... was akin to that recommended to the traditional Irishman on his visit to Donnybrook Fair, ‘Wherever you see a head, hit it’.”

The weapon of choice would have been the shillelagh, a club made of blackthorn. It was named after a village in County Wicklow, Ireland.

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