Pic. Amy Shamblen on Unsplash.
A poll has attempted to settle the ongoing nationwide debate: What do most Irish people call their mothers.
With today, Sunday March 19th being Mother’s Day Paddy Power Bingo revealed after polling 1,100 Irish people across all 32 counties, in conjunction with pollsters Bounce Insights, that “Mum” topped the poll nationally with 30%, but not in Roscommon. Top of the list in Roscommon at 37% is Mammy. “Ma’ received zero votes in Roscommon; Mam got 11%; Mom, 11%; Mommy, zero; Mother, 5%; Mum, 32% and other 5%.
Offaly was the only county where “Ma” came out on top with Kerry being the only one to vote for “Mom”.
Interestingly, the northside/southside divide in Dublin held firm with the North voted for “Mam” while the South went for “Mum”.
Elsewhere, the survey also revealed a clear geographical split with the northern counties far more likely to vote for “Mum” with the southern counties making up the vast majority who voted for “Mam”.
Rachael Kane, a spokesperson for Paddy Power Bingo, said: “This debate has raged for decades so we decided to give everyone a much clearer picture by carrying out the mother of all polls on the subject which captured the opinion of over 1,100 people across all 32 counties. While “Mum” may have topped the poll, we learned that almost every other iteration is used widely across the country. The most important thing however is no matter what you call your Mother make sure you tell her you love her today.”
