Gest

    Like the two spellings whisky & whiskey, the alternative pre-fixes for the Gaelic word meaning 'son' befuddle even the most pedantic of us from time to time -patricularly when we get excited!

You are quite right: the company/family name is spelt 'McAlpine'; 'Mac' being the Irish usage...

Don't know about the derivation of O'Shea's nickname, but the verse has all the hallmarks of Behan's penmanship! O'Shea however (O'Se as Geailge) is definitely a Cork/Kerry surname, which might be a pointer there...

Many 20C. Irish migrant labourers, by the way, like the old Railway navvies before them used nicknames and aliases to hide their true identities - for all the obvious reasons. Something for another day perhaps...