da n [phonetics unavailable]. OED ~ ['father'], EDD ~ ; Trans Phil Soc (1895-8), 377 Ulster. Father; grandfather; respected elderly man.
   [1880] 1927 DOYLE (ed) "The Ryans and the Pittmans": Farewell and adieu to ye girls of St Kyran's, Of Paradise and Presque, Big and Little Bona, / I'm bound unto Toslow to marry sweet Biddy. / And if I don't do so, I'm afraid of her da. [1894 BURKE] ~ 55 No crying out 'go in da' is allowed, 'Go in grand-pa' strictly prohibited. [cl894] PANL P4/14, p. 199 Greenspond is a purty place / And so is Pincher's Island; / Ma shall have a new silk Dress, / When Da comes home from swoiling. 1902 Christmas Bells 14 One of the very few inhabitants of this lonely cove ... introduced us to 'Da,' the patriarch of the settlement. T 70-64¹ He says to the father, he said, 'Da, there's a punt there.'

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