Irish Polite Insults

EejitAll Ireland +13

A foolish or silly person.

Jaysus he's an awful eejit

HarmlessTyrone

Gentle and incapable of causing trouble.

Is he a good fella, yer new man?" "Ah, he's harmless.

He's a bit of a characterAll Ireland

Polite Irish for: he is very odd and you should keep an eye on him. Also: he's an interesting lad.

Yer man next door? Ah he's a bit of a character alright. He hoovers de lawn.

He means wellAll Ireland

Irish for: he is a disaster, but a sincere one.

He painted de kitchen orange while we were away. Ah, he means well.

With all due respectAll Ireland

Said right before an insult, making sure the person is due none.

Wit all due respect, Father, ya couldn't referee a game of Snap.

God love himAll Ireland

Pity and a put down in one breath. Like the American 'bless his heart', only with more rosary beads.

He tried to fix de boiler himself, God love him. De fire brigade were very nice about it.

DopeDublin +3

A foolish, simple-minded, or gullible person who frequently makes a show of themselves.

Will you look at yer man droppin' his keys down the drain, what an absolute dope!

Some tulipMonaghan +2

A derogatory term for a person, implying foolishness or peculiarity.

She's some tulip.

StookLaois +1

A fool or idiot.

Would ya shut up ya stook

ComplisultAll Ireland

A compliment and an insult in the one breath. An Irish mammy speciality.

'Dat dinner was lovely, I'd never have thought ya could cook,' she says. A complisult if ever I heard one.

SpannerDublin +4

A fool or idiot.

Ya bleedin spanner ya.

AmadánKerry +8

A fool or idiot.

Look what you did, you friggin' amadán!

Did you do that yourself?All Ireland

An innocent question that is not a compliment. Asked with a smile about a haircut or a home job.

Lovely shelf. Did ye do dat yerself?

GeniusCork

A fool and an oddball combined.

Who's the genius standing in the middle of the road?

CrathurWaterford +8

Creature. Poor crathur is a sympathetic term for a pitiable person.

Will you leave the poor crathur alone

NumptyCork +3

A harmlessly foolish or blundering person.

Look at you dropping the tray, you're some numpty boy altogether.

SpalpeenLimerick +1

An old Irish term for a wandering landless labourer, now used in good-humoured ridicule.

Go way out a that you spalpeen you.

Gas manLimerick +3

An exclamation of amused disbelief at someone's foolish or surprising actions.

Ah you're a gas man

BeautCork +3

One who's unbelievable in a bad way. eg, one who's left the side down on purpose or without thinking.

What, you missed the penalty on purpose? Jaysus, you're a pure beaut, boy!

GobsheenWaterford +2

A foolish or ignorant person, a milder form of gobshite.

Don't listen to yer man, he's a right gobsheen

Mad yokeWaterford

A crazy or eccentric person. Generally deployed admiringly when somebody does something wildly unorthodox but one cannot help but admire their audacity.

Go on ya mad yoke!

Guuud laaadSligo

A sarcastic exclamation of "good lad" used to severely annoy someone, carrying the true meaning of "you absolute fool".

Guuud laaad padraic

Ur guuudMayo

A sarcastic reply to someone boasting or talking nonsense, usually delivered with a mocking laugh.

Ur guuuuuud!

GomLimerick +2

A fool or someone acting foolishly.

A goway and don't be acting the Gom

Gobdaw!All Ireland +6

A foolish person.

If you don't understand what a gobdaw is you aer 1!

SunshineDublin

A sarcastic form of address, similar to "sunshine".

Listen sunshine why don't you do it!

Oh yur toughKerry

Sarcastic response used to mock someone's bravado or threats.

I'll kill you

KwlerSligo

Used in a sarcastic tone when refering to an uncool person.

I just got a new book second person aw sucha kwler lawdz

Seen a brave few summers in his/her dayDonegal

A polite or indirect way of suggesting someone is getting on in years.

John: "Is th'on wan aul?"