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Surnames - Irish or not!

(30 Posts)
GinJeannie Wed 03-Mar-21 12:20:13

Yesterday's news that Pontins Holiday Camps had previously discriminated against people booking accommodation who had Irish sounding surnames really is dreadful. It brought back to my mind the coincidence of an office based environment I worked in during the 60's......my surname then was Blizard, but I worked alongside a colleague whose surname was Frost! Two other colleagues in the office had surnames of Sparkes and Cosier! Two cold and two hot! Any other GN with similar story?

Callistemon Thu 04-Mar-21 21:41:59

Carney is one of the names on the list so presumably the former Governor of the Bank of England would not have been allowed to take his family on holiday to Pontins.

www.ft.com/content/b4c4cd3b-1820-48dc-84cf-eb7d8dc5b624

Daisyboots Thu 04-Mar-21 21:00:43

I thought things like the Pontins directive died out many years ago. In the 60s I worked for a company who also owned a car dealership. The MD considered the family to be above everyone else but they weren't very nice people. He didnt want to sell cars on finance to coloured people so used to throw out applications by whether he thought the name was of foreign origin. But most of them had Scottish names which he let through with no problems. They were mostly guys working on the building of the M4 motorway so were earning good money and used to come by every week and pay their instalments. He didn't seem bothered by the many Irish names though. Needless to say I wasn't happy with the situation and soon left.

MiniMoon Thu 04-Mar-21 17:22:28

On a holiday flight to Austria many years ago, the steward made the usual announcements. He introduced himself as Mr Snow, and our pilot, Captain Frost.

MissAdventure Thu 04-Mar-21 17:20:01

I know someone whose vasectomy was done by a Dr. Balls.

Callistemon Thu 04-Mar-21 17:10:52

timetogo2016

I find that hard to believe GinJeannie,Pontins would rent out to a mumified corpse as long as they got the money.

It's true - it must be because it was on the local news!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56246848

grannysyb Thu 04-Mar-21 16:55:37

DH once had a urologist called Mr Dick!

Dee1012 Thu 04-Mar-21 16:37:11

I once attended a job interview in Edinburgh many years ago.
At the beginning on saying hello, the interviewer actually stopped and said to me "you're not Scottish?".
I confirmed that no I wasn't and he then stated that my surname was Scottish, I agreed that it was but that I wasn't...he ended the interview very abruptly and unsurprisingly I wasn't appointed!

BlueBelle Thu 04-Mar-21 16:04:18

I went to school with a Raine and a Gail ( Christian names)

Kate1949 Thu 04-Mar-21 16:01:19

When I worked in an office block, a colleague complained that someone on a floor above kept throwing the remains of their lunch out of the window.
One day the window next to her desk was open and the remains of a piece of fish landed on her desk. She complained to her manager and was given the name of the appropriate person to phone - a Mr Haddock.

welbeck Thu 04-Mar-21 15:38:59

i once worked with a mr freshwater, who had oversight for public lavatories.

Esspee Thu 04-Mar-21 14:42:37

Our paediatrician’s name was Bratt.

grandtanteJE65 Thu 04-Mar-21 14:39:32

My father was once consulted by a lady who was on holiday in our area.

Professional courtesy made him want to write to her own doctor, whose name he asked her for.

To his considerable surprise this man's name was Rough.

Gingster Thu 04-Mar-21 14:29:35

My in laws had a firm of solicitors in Ireland called Argue and Phibbs

Artaylar Thu 04-Mar-21 14:18:47

I was educated in a Catholic primary, secondary and upper school. The children there, particularly the upper school, came from a very wide spectrum of social backgrounds, including travellers and upper middle class.

The list of Pontin's 'barred' names that I saw on TV the other night were the surnames of probably over 70% of the kids I went to school with.

BigBertha1 Thu 04-Mar-21 14:11:48

I worked with 2 Nurse Nightingales and a Dr De'ath.

BlueBelle Thu 04-Mar-21 13:45:10

One of the commonust travellers’ name is Smith so Pontins may have missed a trick there ?
Yes pontins is still around we have one in my town and a really poor name it has too everyone complains it’s dirty, run down, cold and not very welcoming so I am was surprised when I read this online as I wouldn’t think they can afford to turn anyone away

Visgir1 Thu 04-Mar-21 13:35:59

Tbh. I didn't know Pontins was still going, I thought it was a joke, really surprised at that revelations.

Grammaretto Thu 04-Mar-21 12:12:52

Our council official for the environment years ago was a Mr Talltrees

Blondiescot Thu 04-Mar-21 12:02:30

A local doctors' surgery used to have Drs Badger and Hare, and when I was expecting my son, my hospital doctor was a Dr Boddy!

Grammaretto Thu 04-Mar-21 12:01:10

I believe it was true and Pontins apologised. I didn't know they were still on the go.

When I was at college we were an extremely Christian lot.
There was a POPE, a BISHOP, a MONK, a PRIEST and an ABBOT in the same class.

Grannybags Thu 04-Mar-21 11:57:54

Not Irish but I once went out with a butcher called Gammon grin

Kate1949 Thu 04-Mar-21 11:54:23

My Christian and Maiden names are very Irish. I'm quite respectable! When my parents came over from Southern Ireland in the 1930s they experienced unbelievable racism.

FannyCornforth Thu 04-Mar-21 11:53:20

timetogo2016

I find that hard to believe GinJeannie,Pontins would rent out to a mumified corpse as long as they got the money.

Brilliant grin
I quite agree.
I was also sceptical. I think that the 'travellers' that they were concerned about were far more likely to be of Gypsy/Roma heritage, rather than Irish folk.

Grandma70s Thu 04-Mar-21 11:40:48

Mark Carney, former Governor of the Bank of England, would not be welcome at Pontins. Carney is one of the Irish surnames they cite. Luckily I doubt if Pontins is his scene.

Grandma70s Thu 04-Mar-21 11:32:30

When I was at school we had teachers called Frost, Winter, Hale and Snow.

I was once in a choir along with someone whose surname was Screech.