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Sprong, fork or grape?

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  • 21-09-2013 11:50pm
    #1
    road_high
    Registered Users Posts: 19,386 ✭✭✭✭


    Just curious as to what people call a sprong ie a fork in different parts of the country. I live in kilkenny and a sprong was always a sprong! Meeting people from up the country, they call it a grape or greap? Any other variations?
    Googling this I see sprong originated from the yola language in south Wexford. Which makes sense as to why we call them sprongs!


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    #2
    Rho b
    Closed Accounts Posts: 412 ✭✭Rho b


    Grape is what I call it although I learned that from my Longford grandparents. However around here its called a dung fork.


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    #3
    quadboy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 472 ✭✭quadboy


    you mean a pike


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    #4
    Rho b
    Closed Accounts Posts: 412 ✭✭Rho b


    quadboy wrote: »
    you mean a pike
    I understand a Pike to be a Pitchfork - two pronged fork for pitching hay/straw as opposed to a grape which has 4 curved prongs.


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    #5
    fredweena
    Closed Accounts Posts: 144 ✭✭fredweena


    We call that a four-pronged pike. Also down at the home place they call a cock of hay a wine.


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    #6
    johnpawl
    Closed Accounts Posts: 595 ✭✭✭johnpawl


    Dung fork here


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    #7
    Rho b
    Closed Accounts Posts: 412 ✭✭Rho b


    fredweena wrote: »
    We call that a four-pronged pike. Also down at the home place they call a cock of hay a wine.
    Never heard that expression before and I am from the era when cocking hay was normal.
    Can I ask what part of the country are you from.


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    #8
    Bizzum
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,034 ✭✭✭Bizzum


    4 grain fork or dungfork (has 4 grains)
    A two grain fork or pitchfork (has 2 grains)
    The five grain fork is what ya eat your dinner with (if ya don't have a dinner fork!). :-)

    On the subject of hay, we had grass cocks, field cocks, pikes and reeks. Depending on the size/shape.


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    #9
    yellow50HX
    Registered Users Posts: 1,828 ✭✭✭yellow50HX


    fredweena wrote: »
    We call that a four-pronged pike. Also down at the home place they call a cock of hay a wine.

    Yeah it's the 4 prong pike, the 3 prong pike (turf pike), and the 2 prong pike ( bale pike)


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    #10
    Rho b
    Closed Accounts Posts: 412 ✭✭Rho b


    Bizzum wrote: »
    4 grain fork or dungfork (has 4 grains)
    A two grain fork or pitchfork (has 2 grains)
    The five grain fork is what ya eat your dinner with (if ya don't have a dinner fork!). :-)
    Actually I understood that a five grained fork was for spuds/turnips and turf, although they have little knobbly bits at the end of the tines. Stand corrected though :rolleyes:


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    #11
    Bizzum
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,034 ✭✭✭Bizzum


    Rho b wrote: »
    Actually I understood that a five grained fork was for spuds/turnips and turf, although they have little knobbly bits at the end of the tines. Stand corrected though :rolleyes:

    The 5 grain fork I was on about is your hand :-)

    The turf fork is called a bead fork and has 6 grains with a bead on the tip of each.
    There was a stone fork with 9 or 10 grains, close together.
    There was an old 3 pronged fork with shortish, flat and rounded grains for digging out spuds.


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    #12
    fredweena
    Closed Accounts Posts: 144 ✭✭fredweena


    I'm from Kerry. They were always called wines. My father is from Galway and said that he'd never heard it before he moved down either.


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    #13
    Rho b
    Closed Accounts Posts: 412 ✭✭Rho b


    fredweena wrote: »
    I'm from Kerry. They were always called wines. My father is from Galway and said that he'd never heard it before he moved down either.
    Its surprising to me that for such a small country we have some many different expressions for the same implement etc.
    My mam is from Longford and they used a Loy in years gone by for planting/setting potatoes. I understand that the Loy was used extensively in that part of the country but from what I can gather was not used in Dublin for the same purpose :confused:


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    #14
    Muckit
    Registered Users Posts: 11,174 ✭✭✭✭Muckit


    Grape = 4 sprongs
    fork = 2 sprongs
    Beet grape = the one with the balls on the end


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    #15
    freedominacup
    Registered Users Posts: 7,920 ✭✭✭freedominacup


    Sprongs and pikes all the way down here. I remember starting in Multy back in the day and hearing grape/greap for the first time. Had to figure out what it was from context.


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    #16
    Markcheese
    Registered Users Posts: 8,428 ✭✭✭Markcheese


    Rho b wrote: »
    Its surprising to me that for such a small country we have some many different expressions for the same implement etc.
    My mam is from Longford and they used a Loy in years gone by for planting/setting potatoes. I understand that the Loy was used extensively in that part of the country but from what I can gather was not used in Dublin for the
    same purpose :confused:

    A loy is a kind of a hand Plow, they did demos with it at the ploughing a fee years back,I'd never heard of it down in cork either...

    Slava ukraini 🇺🇦



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    #17
    Rovi
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,570 ✭✭✭Rovi


    4 tines = sprang
    2 tines = fork
    6 tines with balls = beet fork
    9 tines with balls = potato fork


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    #18
    who the fug
    Registered Users Posts: 4,041 ✭✭✭who the fug


    4 prongs = pike
    2 prongs = fork

    3 prongs =?


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    #19
    FT7
    Registered Users Posts: 38 ✭FT7


    pitch fork (2)

    dung fork (4)

    hay in ascending order ... depending on the weather :(.. grasscocks, meadow cocks, trams.


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    #20
    moy83
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,701 ✭✭✭moy83


    Hay fork = 2 prongs
    Pitch fork = 4 prongs
    Beet fork / turf fork = 8 beaded prongs


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    #21
    iverjohnston
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,242 ✭✭✭iverjohnston


    Graipe here in Cavan, if they have 4 tines. Fork if it has 2 tines. Co-Op stores selling continental made 3 tine yokes, don't know what you call then. Even rarer , a lad who would work one!


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    #22
    delaval
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,949 ✭✭✭delaval


    All hardship but fork 2 grain good for sorting cattle all other work is hydraulic!!!


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    #23
    Dampintheattic
    Closed Accounts Posts: 839 ✭✭✭Dampintheattic


    delaval wrote: »
    All hardship but fork 2 grain good for sorting cattle all other work is hydraulic!!!

    Hydraulic isn't able to replace mandraulic in all cases! -;)


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    #24
    TheBody
    Registered Users Posts: 5,619 ✭✭✭TheBody


    In North Longford:

    2 prongs= a fork
    4 prongs= a grape

    A turf grape is one with the nobbily bits on the end of the tines.


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    #25
    Juniorhurler
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,363 ✭✭✭Juniorhurler


    Sprong here in north Wexford. Pitch fork for two grains.


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    #26
    Sharpshooter82
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,825 ✭✭✭Sharpshooter82


    2 prongs= a fork
    4 prongs= a grape

    A turf fork is one with the nobbily bits on the end of the tines


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    #27
    MFdaveIreland
    Registered Users Posts: 588 ✭✭✭MFdaveIreland


    Grape, county down


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    #28
    bogman_bass
    Registered Users Posts: 5,057 ✭✭✭bogman_bass


    2 prongs is a pitch fork because its used to "pitch" bales of hay onto a trailer

    4 prong is a grape round this part of meath


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    #29
    red bull
    Registered Users Posts: 1,371 ✭✭✭red bull


    2 prongs hay fork
    3 prongs silage for
    4prongs dung fork

    hay, tram cocks and kildares


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    #30
    Mulumpy
    Registered Users Posts: 815 ✭✭✭Mulumpy


    Four grain fork ere. Never heard grape before


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    #31
    vincenzolorenzo
    Registered Users Posts: 1,228 ✭✭✭vincenzolorenzo


    We always called it a 4 grain fork as well. Often wondered where the term 'grain' started from in relation to forks?!


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