/ · 1894 Brewer’s · I · Irish Wedding
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When a person has a black eye we sometimes say to him, “You have been to an Irish wedding, I see,” because the Irish are more famous for giving their guests on these occasions black eyes than white favours.
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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.