Happy St. Pat's Day
by , 03-17-2007 at 09:31 PM (1558 Views)
Hmm, what do you blog on St. Patrick's Day...I'm half Irish 50%, but the "Irish American's" don't seem to recognise me as Irish. My ancestors hailed from the clan O'brien of County Cork. The community where I grew up was a small city, but it even had its Irish town, and my relatives are all Flynn's, O'briens, Mahoney, and McLoughlin's. When asked my religion, I even respond that I'm Irish Roman Catholic. The mascot of my school, a Leprechaun (we called it a rambler) complete with shillelagh.
My brother once tried to get a bartending position in an Irish bar. He was denied, because he didn't have an Irish Surname. It gets kind of frustrating to not be recognised by the people your family identifies most. Don't forget the Irish, they don't consider people whose ancestors left because of famine to be Irish. NOPE. They don't and maybe they have a right not to, but it inflames me.
Not long ago, I was working at a ski resort in Montana. I heard a man speaking with an Irish brogue. I asked him, "Are you Irish?"
He replied, "I am."
So I tell him, "Well I'm Irish too."
To which he replies, "Where I'm from we call you tourists." Now, his eyes squint and he gives a wicked laugh.
I looked him in the eye, and spit out, "Ohh? Where I'm from we call you Protestant!" With that I turned and left.
I later found out that his parents moved here before he was born, and he had duel citizenship because he was born in the US.
I personally think that this post depicts the major problem with the Irish. They exclude.
If your having a beer, raise one for me.
Cheers,
B



