the sow that eats its farrow



the sow that eats its farrow

Ireland. The phrase comes from James Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: “Do you know what Ireland is? asked Stephen with cold violence. Ireland is the old sow that eats her farrow.” A “farrow” is a litter of newborn piglets, and the reference is Joyce's belief that Ireland had a history of destroying its writers, admirable political figures, and indeed everything that should be saved and nurtured.
See also: eats, sow

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
Davison['deivisn]
Elizabeth[i'lizəbəθ]
KĘStutis-Lithuanian
JuliaJOO-lee-ə (English), YOO-lee-ah (German, Swedish, Danish, Finnish), HOO-lyah (Spanish), YUWL-yah (Polish), YOO-lee-yah (Russian), YOO:-lee-ah (Ancient Roman)English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Spanish, Polish, Finnish, Russian, Ukrainian, An
Selig-Yiddish
JaapYAH:PDutch