Sir: Reluctant though I am ever to disagree with John
Simpson, and even sadder to do so after his brilliant and sympathetic piece about my country, I fear he is wrong on one point. The word `culchee', a pejorative term used by Dubliners particularly to describe country or rural dwellers in Ireland, does not derive as Simpson suggests (plausibly enough it must be said) from the word 'agriculture'. It comes from a real place: the town of Kiltimagh in Co. Mayo. The town's population over the years have shortened the name to `Kilchee' (full phonetic pro- nunciation would be: kill-chee-mock. By simple extension a resident becomes a 'Kill- chee' and it is not hard to see, as the name crosses from west to east it becomes, sim- ply, `Cul-Chee'. I know this to be true. I was brought up in the Midlands and West of Ireland and since Simpson's report last week many — even Mayo people — have confirmed it to me.
Besides isn't it much nicer and more romantic to know that `culchees' come from a real place and are not given their special identity merely because of what they may or may not do for a living?!
Henry Kelly
West Cottage, Sandy Road, Hampstead, London
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