Donnybrook

Posted by Shae on March 25, 2005

In Reply to: Pier six brawl posted by Chris on March 24, 2005

: anyone know the origin and meaning of both a Pier 6 brawl and a donnybrook? Where do these sayings come from?

: Thanks

I don't know about Pier 6 brawl. Could it be something to do with the battles at Brighton between the Mods and Rockers in the 1970s?

As for Donnybrook, I lived there for several years. Domhnach Broc = St. Broc's Church. It has now been subsumed into Dublin city, and property there is very expensive. In earlier times, it was a village on the outskirts of the city. The village was famous/notorious for its fairs. Activities at the fairs included horse races, gambling, drinking and general debauchery. After several pints, rival clans used to confront each other and have a set to. While not a full-scale riot, the disturbance was violent enough to cause deaths sometimes and serious injury on most occasions.