Hi All
I was wondering if you might be able to help me. I'm living in I resenlty moved to ireland & I'm hearing the phrase "town was black" or "the bus was black" a lot. Although I know it means that town & the bus were busy I was wondering about the origin of this phrase. Could anyone shed any light as to whether this word has a race orientated meaning?

From: The O'Byrne Files ©  Dublin Slang Dictionary - the letter 'B' (http://homepage.eircom.net/~nobyrne/b.htm)
It means that it was crowded.

My guess is that it probably derived from something demeaning to the Black Irish. Which are the dark haired Irish who were descendent from the Spanish.