# weep Irish

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/weep-irish
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

To cry insincerely or in an exaggerated manner.

## Examples

- Stop weeping Irish and tell me what really happened.
- He likes to weep Irish whenever he wants more attention from his friends.
- She started weeping Irish to get out of trouble, but everyone knew she was not actually sad.
- The toddler began to weep Irish after his mother said no to the candy, but he stopped instantly when he saw a colorful toy.
- The politician began weeping Irish during his speech, hoping the public would ignore his recent scandals and sympathize with his fake distress.

## Origin

The expression derives from the traditional Irish practice of hiring professional mourners, known as keeners, to provide extravagant displays of vocal grief at funerals. Such demonstrations of emotion were a formal requirement of the ceremony, ensuring the deceased was sent off with a degree of public sorrow that the bereaved might not have been able to sustain unassisted. The phrase remains a linguistic fossil of the social expectation that mourning should be both loud and outsourced.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.