Pray tell, what is a hoey?
I looked it up on the Internet, but no dice.
shareIt was the guy's surname, was that not obvious? It's not a thing or like a title or something it's his last name...
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Given the knack the Irish have for coming up with clever/interesting new slangs for things, it's understandable that one would think that it was meant as some kind of insult. In fact I believe I once assumed that 'hoey' was some kind of insult too!
I hear the word 'Gurrier' used by the Irish to describe juvenile delinquents and that sounds like it could easily be a person's last name too. :)