What is a hooley? Where does the word come from?
hooley
noun
hoo·ley
ˈhülē
plural -s
Everything about the word hooley is disputed, including the spelling.
Is it Hoolie or hooley? Or even Huly? This was how it first appeared in Bartlett's Dictionary of American English in 1877.
Etymology
an Irish party usually with music: Merriam Webster
Neither the OED or the Merriam Webster can confirm the origin.
Both Ireland and Scotland have claims. America's leading dictionary puts all its chips on Team Ireland. This reflects contemporary usuage of hoolie as a generic term for a raucous party.
The word is most commonly used in Ireland, and many assume it originated there. But the OED suggest that modern usage traces more clearly to the Orkney Scots word hoolan (a strong gale).
Hoolan traces back via Norn/Old Norse from the Old Icelandic ýlung, meaning "howling" or "wailing"
In Scots, hooley means a strong wind or gale. This sense remains in the Irish idiom, blowing up a hooley.
