Glossary: K

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Kerry: County in the south-west of Ireland that figures highly on the average Dubliner's hate-list. The Kerrymen are vocal proponents of the `rural is best' philosophy; therefore, they are all obviously muck savages and gombeen men of the deepest dye. Most Irish jokes told abroad are told in Ireland about Kerrymen.
Knacker: Originally, a person who deals in horses, particularly those in the horse trade responsible for converting old horses into fertiliser and adhesives. Nowadays, the term has lost all descriptive meaning and has become a generic term of abuse for anyone the speaker a) has a problem with and b) considers a good few rungs down the social ladder from themselves, e.g. Northside scumbags and Our Friends In The Travelling Community.
Knacker Drinking: Illegal open-air drinking, usually by underaged kids, in public parks, waste ground, along rivers and canals, etc.
Knights, the: The Knights of St. Columbanus, a right-wing sectarian Catholic organisation. Basically a club for self-important Roman Catholics with fascist tendancies to play at being Freemasons without actually committing the mortal sin of joining that organisation. Many Irish politicians, judges, and senior civil servants down the years have been Knights, though with the increasing secularisation of Irish society, their power is doubtless on the wane.