screw (British slang) salary.
screwed (slang) drunk.
secular priests Roman Catholic clergymen with parish duties; as opposed to those priests who live apart from society in a monastery or house.
sent to the devil (slang) told to go to hell.
seven days without the option of a fine a week in jail.
sha (Irish) yes.
Shannon a river in west-central Ireland, flowing southwestward into the Atlantic.
She believed steadily in the Sacred Heart Mrs. Kernan displays an image of the sacred heart of Jesus in her home and takes communion on the first Friday of each month.
sheriff's man a revenue and debt collector.
shoeboy a boot licker or insincere flatterer.
shoneens (Irish) Irish who imitate English customs and behavior.
short twelve noon mass.
Sidney Parade a train station on Sidney Parade Avenue, in the village of Merion, southeast of Dublin.
"Silent O Moyle" an Irish patriotic song.
simoniac a person guilty of simony.
simony the buying or selling of sacred or spiritual things, as sacraments or benefices. Roman Catholic teaching defines simony as an infringement of natural law.
Sir John Gray's statue a statue of a Protestant patriot located in north-central Dublin.
sit (slang) situation.
Skerries . . . Howth . . . Greystones seaside resorts near Dublin. "Eveline" included a reference to Howth.
slavey (British informal) a female domestic servant, especially one who does hard, menial work.
slept in their coffins Trappist monks were mistakenly believed to sleep in their coffins.
smahan a smattering; a smidgin.
small hot specials whiskey mixed with water and sugar.
Smoothing Iron a bathing place on Dublin Bay's north side.
snug a small private room or booth in a public house.
sore head and a fur on my tongue hung over.
speck of red light the sanctuary lamp within a Catholic church.
spondulics (slang) money.
Stephen's Green a large public park in a fashionable south-central Dublin neighborhood.
stirabout porridge.
stock a former type of large, wide, stiff cravat.
stood . . . a half-one bought a half measure of alcohol.
stood to bought for.
Stores the shop where Eveline works.
students' balls dances in Parisian cafes, especially those on the Left Bank, the location of the University of Paris.
sure to get the ring likely to come upon the ring baked into the barmbrack, signifying that she will marry within a year.
surplice a loose, white, wide-sleeved outer ecclesiastical vestment for some services, ranging from hip length to knee length.
Swaddlers! Swaddlers! Dublin slang for Protestants.
tabinet a poplin-like fabric made of silk and wool.
take the pledge take an oath not to consume alcoholic beverages.
tea-cosy a knitted or padded cover placed over a teapot to keep the contents hot.
The Arab's Farewell to His Steed a poem by Irish poet Caroline Norton (1808–77).
the area of a house a space providing light and air to the basement of a house.
the Bank the Bank of Ireland; originally the Irish Parliament Building.
The Bohemian Girl a popular nineteenth-century light opera composed by Dublin musician Michael William Balfe. Characters throughout Dubliners refer to songs from this opera.
the buff Mail the Dublin Evening Mail, which was printed on buff (brownish-yellow) paper.
the canal Dublin's Royal Canal.
the chains chains that used to separate paths around Stephen's Green from the streets beyond.
the Chief a nickname for Parnell.
the club the Kildare Street Club, a Protestant and Anglo-Irish gentleman's club.
the dart the solution.
the dear knows lord knows.
the Dublin By Lamplight laundry a Protestant-run business, the mission of which was to rescue prostitutes and drunken women; Maria merely works there, in the kitchen.
the eclogues short pastoral poems, often in the form of a dialogue between two shepherds; the most famous are by the Latin poet Virgil.
the famous Mrs. Cassidy, who is reported to have said "Now, Mary Grimes, if I don't take it, make me take it, for I feel I want it." apparently the punch line to a popular joke of the day.
the Freeman man a reporter for the daily newspaper The Freeman's Journal.
the Gaiety a theater in south-central Dublin.
the gaunt spectral mansions in which the old nobility of Dublin had roistered buildings originally constructed to house the wealthy had deteriorated and were occupied by poor people early in the twentieth century.
the Herald the Dublin Evening Herald.
the holy alls of it (slang) the long and the short of it.
the house was filled with paper the theater was occupied for the most part by patrons admitted at no charge.
the Mansion House the official residence of Dublin's Lord Mayor.
the mask of a capital though Dublin was a provincial capital, it had wielded no actual power over Ireland since the Act of Union was passed in 1801.
The old one never went to see these wild Irish Queen Victoria never visited Ireland (not, in fact, the case).
the other persuasion Protestant.
the palace of the Four Courts a building in north-central Dublin; the location of Ireland's central courts.
the park Phoenix Park, prominently featured in "A Painful Case."
the Pillar Nelson's Pillar; a memorial in north-central Dublin to Horatio Viscount Nelson (1758–1805), an English admiral. A comical anecdote told by Stephen Dedalus in Ulysses takes place atop the Pillar.
the pope to turn out the women out of the choirs Pius X, pope at the time this story is set, excluded women from singing in church choirs.
the prayers Secret prayers in the Roman Catholic mass between the Offertory and the Preface, read silently or quietly by the priest.
the real cheese (slang) the real thing.
the Rotunda a group of buildings on Rutland Square, one of which is a concert hall.
the statue a statue of the Irish patriot Daniel O'Connell, known as "The Liberator."
the troubles a euphemism for Irish civil unrest.
the tube a machine for communicating within a building.
the two murdered princes in the Tower the two sons of England's King Edward IV, put to death in the Tower of London by their uncle, most likely, who would become Richard III.
the University question the issue of Irish higher education. At the time the story is set, the country's main university, Trinity College, was Protestant affiliated, while the vast majority of the population was Roman Catholic.
their friends, the French the Irish identified with the French, traditionally rivals of the English, if not their enemies.
they don't believe in the Pope and in the mother of God a simplification of the ways in which the beliefs of Protestants differ from those of Roman Catholics.
Three Graces the three sister goddesses who have control over pleasure, charm, and beauty in human life and in nature.
tincture a trace; a smattering.
tinker (Chiefly Irish and Scottish) gypsy.
to have some gas with (slang) to have fun with.
To take a pick itself to have a bite to eat.
to take advantage of her daughter's name Ireland is sometimes personified as a woman named Kathleen ni Houlihan.
toilet-table dressing table.
too Irish (slang) exceedingly generous.
totties (slang) girlfriends.
tracts on the walls religious texts posted for the edification of readers.
trap a light, two-wheeled carriage with springs.
True bill a bill of indictment endorsed by a grand jury as supported by evidence sufficient to warrant a trial.
tulle a thin, fine netting of silk used for veils, scarves, and so forth.
ulster a long, loose, heavy overcoat, especially one with a belt, originally made of Irish frieze.
up here to Dublin from the countryside.
up to the dodge (slang) capable of avoiding pregnancy.
up to the knocker up to snuff; passable.
'usha (Irish-English) the contraction of musha.
usurious practicing usury; the act or practice of lending money at a rate of interest that is excessive or unlawfully high. Usury was forbidden for centuries by the Roman Catholic Church.
