500-year old Dublin candle making company founded before Columbus landed in America

Seanreagan, that's funny, they call Bythebay "mother" also. But like that mother bythebay your claims about Irish pronunciation are garbage. You really have some nerve peddling your pomposity on something you know nothing about. I'll spell it out for you, since you obviously know nothing about the topic. "Mum" and more recently "mom" are non-Irish variants that have come into Irish English. There were several words for mother as used by children in Irish English. One was traditionally spelled "Ma", but with a very long vowel. You're probably too ignorant of Ireland to recognize the old song "I'll tell me ma when I get home". Ma was common in Dublin. In rural areas, "Mammy" was common, as Hybernia correctly points out below. There was also "Ma'am", again I would think rural rather than urban. And this word most certainly was not pronounced like "Mom", contrary to yor absurd claim, have you ever even heard Irish English being spoken? The only possible concession I would make to an attested existence of "mum" in Irish English would be in the speech of the Dublin bourgeoisie--I simply don't know if this was the case or not; social class is obviously a factor in vocabulary choice. Your nonsense about sight pronunciation is especially irrelevant, since we are talking about the speech of children. Are you telling us that children learn the familiar words for mother and father from reading rather than from listening? What drivel. What kind of a linguist do you claim to be, anyway? A true linguist--not a fraud like you--would look for data before making any claims about distribution of particular words. So you can "venture" any nonsense you like, it's still ignorant nonsense.

EphrainKibbey, the snakes we have in Ireland are two legged ones.

seanreagan, I'm well aware of language in Ireland. You no doubt live in the US, most of you are constantly pontificating about Ireland which you actually know nothing about.

GeorgeDillon, you've never lived in Ireland and know nothing of Ireland. You carry such bigotry you won't accept truths about Ireland. Mum has been said in Ireland for centuries, it's not some British plant to offend the likes of you in the US.

For GeorgeDillon and Bythebay: as a linguist I would point out that the pronunciation of 'mum', 'mom', and 'mam' varies considerably depending on the local dialect. Across dialects they may sound the same or very different. Their origins in early development of speech in babies are quite clear, and the universality of similar phonemic structures throughout the Indo-European languages is remarkable. Differences in pronunciation tend to be accentuated by the phenomenon of 'sight pronunciation', the tendency to pronounce words as they are written as opposed to the continuance of traditional speech patterns, e.g., the now common pronunciation of 'waistcoat' as written versus 'weskot'. As with many things it is a mistake to assume that the pronunciations familiar from family or childhood are standard or universal or even prevalent within a geographic area. I would venture that Bythebay is entirely correct that 'mum' as pronounced somewhat like North American 'mom' and English 'mum' and Irish 'mam', i.e., with a less emphasized vowel sound, has been used in Ireland for a very long time. There are, of course, other variants, such as 'ma' or 'mammy'. In my family we were admittedly a bit more formal; we called her 'Mother'.

Lucky for Ireland their snakes went to England and turned into building contractors! In the US today, our snakes are trying to undo and destroy the underpinning of our social, political and religious institutions. For any US citizen to come on here and state we are not blessed, does not know nor has not lived life in this great Nation. Need anyone be reminded, the US engaged themselves in a war instigated by Europeans against Europeans and gave their blood and treasure to insure they too, could enjoy the same concept of freedom we have cherished. Afterwards, these same American people fed a starving and hopelessly, impoverished people and kept the Russian bear off their doorstep. Yes, how soon many forget!

Bythebay: "Mum has been used in Ireland for centuries. It's not of recent vintage at all.". You show your ignorance. Or maybe just your age. Are you under 20? Or are you the poster ciaradexy in a new guise?

Thank you all for your kind comments on my Dad.

@Bythebay - I'm glad for Ireland on both counts. Sadly, America is not so blessed. We have snakes too! I'm sure that Ireland has many women and men who still rise to the occasion when the people around them are in need.

IrelandNorth, people all over the world struggled. Parts of Europe were flattened. You may not have heard of WWII.

cillowen, anglo success story? Such blatant bigotry is offensive.

EphraimKibbey, the story is about Ireland. There aren't tornados in Ireland fortunately nor food pantries.

GeorgeDillon, Mum has been used in Ireland for centuries. It's not of recent vintage at all.

hybernia! Touched by your story like others. But also not a little angry that your Dad, like others of his generation, had to struggle so hard. Undoubtedy, frugality is character building, which explains why his beautiful generation are an endangered species in Celtic Tiger economy Ireland. Maybe we'll relearn such wholesomeness in our financial tribulations. And hybernia! Not all knoweldge is certifiable. I expect that your Daddy and Mammy were PhD material in folkloric wisdom.

@GeorgeDillon, You are correct, to us her children she was 'Mammy'. It's only listening to the grandchildren that Mammy's became 'Mums. To continue his story, he lived to the ripe old age of 87years and died in his little house with his wife and children by his bedside. 'Mammy' lived to 90 years,but never got over Dad's passing.(Would not even allow us to take away his clothes) They both saw their first grandson receive a Ph.D. In chemistry at the University of Liverpool. This grandson is now Research Director of a multinational company with their head office in the USA. He travels first class all over North America and Asia,lives in a Connecticut in a million dollar home with his wife also a Dr. of Chemistry who works in Cancer Research and their four year old son. Only in his dreams could that young man with no education who boarded the boat in Ireland, to go to work in the coal mines in England imagine the life his grandchild would be living.