Which gaelic work does the word "tykes" come from ?
In the back of my mind..it sounds like taig or tague ?
Any help appreciated
Thanks

According to Webster tyke comes from Middle English from Old Norse tik {bitch] and its first meaning is a mongrel dog and secondly a small child. I don't think there's a Gaelic link.

I have been told that it is an Anglicisation of the Irish name Tadgh ( Tim, Timothy) but why do we refer to Catholics as " tykes " ???

We don't. Tadghs is a perjorative term used by Protestants in the North for their Catholic neighbors. Possibly because Timothy is a common name among them. Tykes is a term used for small children, the same usage as tots.

Tadgh and Paddy have long been used as stereotypical names for native Irish as they are both common names. Usually spelt Taig in the North.

Does Tadgh truly mean Tim/Timothy? Seems unlikey since the name is of Greek origin(supposedly). Also, in my dictionary(Oxford Irish Dictionary), the name is defined as meaning "two-faced dealer."

Tadgh means Tagdh. When Irish names were anglicized they often were changed to the English names which sounded most like it.

T-A-D-H-G atá ann!...cén fáth nach mbíonn duine ar bith m'ainmse a litriú? lol......

"Tadhg" is often thought to be a very generic name. there's an expression "Tadhg an mhargaidh"...meaning something like "Joe schmo"/"some guy in the street".
sin mar atá mé, ceart go leor, just some guy in the street!

-tadhg

Tadhg means "poet" according to most sources I can find online, whereas Timothy is a greek name meaning "Honouring God".

Names are tricky things!

Cad atá in ainm? Fuaim agus litriú, sin an méid!

Ní hea, go deimhin. Tá tabhacht ag baint le hainmneacha do dhaoine i gcoitinne.

Tuige, mar shampla, nach bhfuil tusa sásta do fhíor ainm a scaoileadh linn?

Tugann ainm cleite saoirse dhuit (agus do dhaoine eile) tuairimí eagsúla a thriall agus rl.

Agus tá an sásamh le baint as "ainm seanchas".

http://www.welt.de/data/2004/03/18/252513.html?s=1

http://www.pdom.com/QA_Onomastics.htm

Is fearr liom bheith "anonymous" ar an idirlíon. Ní thugaim m'fhíorainm, agus mar sin ní nochtaim m'aitheantas, mar ní féidir liom mé féin a ionadú go fíor trí scríobh go hamháin. Níor mhaith liom go gcruthódh daoine tuairim fúm go hamháin trí mo nótaí a léamh ar an idirlíon, agus gan bualadh liom "in person". Go cosúil, is fearr liom gan clú a bheith agam in áiteanna, is fearr liom go gcruthódh duine tuairim fúm as bualadh liom "in person".
Agus mar a dúírt tú, bíonn saoirse ar dhuine rá mar atá uaidh nuair nach mbíonn 'fhios ar dhaoine cé hé!

Thank you all for your suggestions .....at this stage I'll take "tyke" as meaning "someone who kicks with the other foot " ( seeing that I come from a protestant northern Ireland family ) Downunder here here in the big land of Oz, catholics are referred to sometimes as tykes. Confused ??
Tykes isn't meant as a derogatory term...just as we call men "blokes" and women "sheilas".

Hi "tis"

It's funny (or sad) how a word can be inflammatory in one place and mild in another. Unfortunately, Tadhgs is very ugly in the North of Ireland.

G'day!

Hello, "tis". Why not just call us Catholics? That way no one can take offense. In my experience, the "cute" terms people use for other ethnicities don't seem as "cute" to those on the receiving end.

An obviously example is "nigger". It's okay among people whose skin is black, but an offence if it originates from a person whose skin isn't black.

I think "gael" is very like the term "nigger". People called us - the Celts, the Irish - wild. "Gael" comes from the Welsh word "Gwyddle", or something like that, and it means "wild". Anyway, it started off as an insult, an offence, from non-Irish to Irish, as did "nigger", but then we just turned the tables on them and adopted the term for ourselves, as a demonstration of the total ambivalence we have toward their insults. Although "nigger" is still a taboo-ish word, and is censored on television, radio, etc., we went even further and adopted it as a fully-fledged noun into our language, "gael", and we're proud of it! Is gael mé!