and i've always thought it, along with turlet (as Archie Bunker would say) as being low class 3rd generation irish--mostly brooklynese, but i heard turlet as a child in the bronx.

Yup. The Irish drop their 'h's when pronouncing 'th' words. Thanks becomes Tanks and Thing becomes Ting. Father and Mother are pronounced (in Dublinese anyway) as Far-dah and Mud-dah but I don't know abot an Irish influence for turlet. It's usually pronounced toilah here.