Tralee Town Council is to ask the Government to change the title of Office of the Ombudsman to one more gender neutral.
The proposal came from Labour councillor Ms Miriam McGillycuddy, a solicitor.
She accused some councillors of "ridiculing a genuine attempt to tackle a problem in legal and political circles", when a heated argument broke out at Monday night's monthly council meeting. There was freedom for women and for men when gender neutral titles were used, she said.
The meeting descended into farce briefly during a heated argument. "What will we call a manhole cover?" asked the mayor of the Co Kerry town, Mr Johnny Wall (FF). "We are going to change the English dictionary if we go down this road," he said, putting forward a counter proposal.
All ships are called "she", Cllr Tommy Foley (Ind) said. "What are we going to call the Jeanie Johnston, the Johnny Johnston?"
Ms Norma Foley (FF) said: "Women are bigger than what this motion suggests. Women should be rising above this," she said.
The motion was passed following the failure of the counter proposal and a copy of the request is to be sent also to the Office of the Ombudsman.