Have you ever experienced prejudice for being Irish?

Wompa1 · 18-07-2016 04:12AM

Had an old guy at a rental car place in Scottsdale, Arizona make a remark about the Irish when he saw me using my Irish drivers license and passport. He made some comment about how the Irish that came over were thieves and liars.

I worked with a guy who was Irish American. He was a little prejudiced at first but at least his had some sort of logic. His dad was from Ireland, he was an abusive drunk that beat him and his mother...we became good friends anyways.

Oh, I don't really drink much. Everybody makes a comment when I refuse a drink but I don't take that seriously.

spurious · 18-07-2016 05:14AM

I think it's usually said as something being 'a bit Irish'. I've heard my mother say it a lot. I've probably used it myself.

It's more along the lines of that's a bit stupid/ridiculous rather than implying shoddy workmanship.

e.g. The whole Irish Water debacle would be a bit Irish.

duffman13 · 18-07-2016 05:57AM

Had it a few times in Oz, particularly out in the rural areas. I did some regional work there and got dogs abuse of the locals but I could take it and gave it back way more so they eventually left me to my own devices. The hick Australians were unbelievably racist towards Asians and it made me realise being called a paddy/spudlover/alcoholic was relatively harmless in comparison to some of the bile I witnessed towards the Asian guys I worked with.

diomed · 18-07-2016 07:29AM

Decades ago playing in our Monday and Friday night soccer 7-a-sides in Africa I kept getting belted in the thigh by one Scottish guy. I thought it was poor tackles but when I mentioned it to my friends (two English, one Scottish) they said it was because I was an Irish catholic. He wasn't much of a player and from then on I just made him run a bit more than was really necessary.

Bongalongherb · 18-07-2016 07:30AM

Not really. Well, I am Irish of pink white colour, 'a blood-clot as they would say', but just call me pinky.

The only time I had experienced prejudice for being Irish is when my next door neighbour of Irish origin called me a drunk Irish bastard 'out of the blue' and I didn't even have a drink that morning 'strange'. These biological robotic neighbours hated the sound of birds tweeting, they could also not stand me at all coming through their home phone connection while I was blasting out amps of CB communications on AM radio ,seek-you dx's while the neighbour was trying to listen to an important phone-call from their boss.

They always called me an Irish bastard even though they were Irish ? unusual indeed. But they moved away because I didn't attach an AM ssb filter. That was the best CB I ever had, got rid of pompous pc correct neighbours and made my life better. Now I am transmitting radio-waves from an infrared dish transmitter.

The neighbours are fine now, happy days.

Wabbit Ears · 18-07-2016 07:49AM

At my brothers wedding in the US. He married into a very well-to-do family. I was playing snooker with his brother in law to be, The type of sociopathic rich American who has no idea what it would be like to not always be filthy rich, and he proceeded to tell me that the irish were white 'N' words. He was being deadly serious as well.

Still to this day I rank that guy in my top 5 cnuts Ive instantly hated.

fg1406 · 18-07-2016 07:57AM

Once in Scotland of all places. I was told to take my "Gerry Adams supporting ways back across the water". I've no idea where this guy got that idea from. I'm from Leinster and don't support SF and never made any comment in relation to my homeland. I think he heard the accent and went a bit gaga. Oh actually another time I got my Irish Reg car vandalised, again in Scotland. Cops told me it was the "wrong part of town" for an Irish car. I didn't really cop it was Rangers-land.

Dr Turk Turkelton · 18-07-2016 08:46AM

Speedwell wrote: »

I think I did, and I'm not even Irish (by anything but marriage; I am not of Irish descent nor am I yet eligible to apply for citizenship). I happened to be waiting in a queue of stopped traffic in the North, on my way home from visiting my mother-in-law, when I accidentally put my handbag up against the steering wheel and honked the horn, attracting the attention of a policewoman who had stopped traffic to (it turned out) let a tiny Orange Order parade go by. She saw my Republic license plate and took a quick look at my driving license and then asked me a bit sneeringly if I "had a problem" with the Orangemen. I think I startled her a bit when I told her that no, I was a secular American Jew and didn't think I was qualified to pick a side.

So are you a Catholic Jew or a Protestant Jew?

BalcombeSt4 · 18-07-2016 08:48AM

darkpagandeath wrote: »

Odd that in France. Prob just scumbags.

Really? Sound more like diplomats to me.

PaddyWilliams · 18-07-2016 09:04AM

Once in Gran Canaria. Got surrounded by 8 English lads, as I was wearing an Irish rugby top (was by myself at this stage). One fella threw a punch and cut my lip open fairly badly. I high tailed it out of there. Bloody lip got infected too.. I can still feel the pain of having to have all the puss squeezed out of it when I got home to an Irish hospital. B**tards!

steddyeddy · 18-07-2016 09:28AM

Giacomo McGubbin wrote: »

Experienced it a lot in when I lived in NI and Scotland, but that was more about them being sectarian and anti-Catholic than simply anti-Irish as such.

Well that's ok then.

Speedwell · 18-07-2016 09:30AM

Dr Turk Turkelton wrote: »

So are you a Catholic Jew or a Protestant Jew?

Funny you should ask. I married into a nominally Protestant family, but they've been incorporating the occasional Catholic into the family for something like eighty years now.

mcgovern · 18-07-2016 09:41AM

Used to get quite a bit in England (mainly London) during the 80s and early 90s when I went on holidays.
Didn't really understand why though.

HensVassal · 18-07-2016 10:06AM

In a pub in Liverpool.
Brassy girl in a tight dress and a bit tipsy says to me "You Aaaaarish?"
Me..."I am"
Her..."Come 'ere ya leprechaun" and stuck her tongue in my mouth.

So that was positive. Got some crap from a few English guys in the departure lounge of Schiphol Airport once....the usual "daft mick" slags. Nothing too malevolent though.

ellejay · 18-07-2016 10:40AM

Once, in Lanzarote of all places.
I was so shocked I still remember it.

An English woman got talking to us out in a bar and introduced us to her daughter.
The daughter picked up her drink and walked off outside.
I was so stupid I didn't realise it was a total brush off and included her in a round of drinks.
She didn't drink her drink, an expensive cocktail, so I thought maybe she didn't realise it for her and handed it to her.

She slammed it down on table, grabbed her mother and walked out.
I initially thought it was mother daughter tension but boyfriend copped she'd a problem with us.
Bar lady confirmed this!

Saw them out again a few nights later and the mother was very apologetic.
I thought maybe she'd been jilted by an Irish guy but apparently not!! just hates the Paddy's!!

pgj2015 · 18-07-2016 11:03AM

common theme here from the last few pages, get abuse for being Irish and take it without giving it back.

Gwynplaine · 18-07-2016 11:57AM

When living in Wales I was asked why I didn't have red hair. I was sharing a house with this idiot. Other housemate gave us all a lift one day for some shopping. When we got out on the road I said, "wow cars really are cool, it's my first time in one". Yer man says, "you don't have cars in Ireland?" I replied with "no I've only ever seen pictures of them"
Same fella, while the telly was on one night, there was a Dennis Bergkamp interview on after a match. Yer man says, "where's he from?" I says "he's Dutch" yer man says "fcukin German cnut".
I used to laugh in his face at his stupidity, and he thought I was backward. He believed me about the cars in Ireland. I wonder where he is now, the fool.

dd972 · 19-07-2016 01:58AM

fg1406 wrote: »

Once in Scotland of all places. I was told to take my "Gerry Adams supporting ways back across the water". I've no idea where this guy got that idea from. I'm from Leinster and don't support SF and never made any comment in relation to my homeland. I think he heard the accent and went a bit gaga. Oh actually another time I got my Irish Reg car vandalised, again in Scotland. Cops told me it was the "wrong part of town" for an Irish car. I didn't really cop it was Rangers-land.

Don't you feel inferior to those Soap dodging, skanger, Kyle show Ulster Prods and Jocks?, 'the Aryan master race'....

excuse us while we piss ourselves laughing :pac::pac::pac:

Chocolate fiend · 19-07-2016 04:39AM

We lived in Canada for a while (a year, it was long enough...) and lots of people really thought that Ireland was a different planet. I remember a guy asking me if there was Christmas in Ireland?!

We have two boys, both red-haired, born 14 months apart - the amount of "jokes" about Irish twins has never even started to be funny. We are in Australia now and the casual racism here is endemic. Things are "very Irish" and jokes about potatoes and lots of Irish "jokes" you have to learn to shrug it off or you would be in a constant state of annoyance.

As another poster said, I am just glad we are not Asian, they get it far worse.

yermanoffthetv · 19-07-2016 05:28AM

Yup a few times alright, almost totally from English/Scottish people who were the highly nationalistic knuckledragger/skank types. Paid little heed to them. Met a few Aussies too who had very primitive, stereotypical views and opinions about Ireland and Irish, though Id say that was more of a combination of pure ignorance and arrogance rather than prejudice - thick as sh1t some of them. Never had a problem with anyone else European Asian South American, most outside of Europe knew little to nothing about us.

qo2cj1dsne8y4k · 19-07-2016 05:53AM

In England, by a loud mouth idiot that was in my friends class in uni. I absolutely destroyed him with sarcastic comments though and everyone ended up laughing at him so it sort of back fired in his face

Dempsey · 19-07-2016 06:35AM

Job Hunting in Australia

In the ads, no irish need apply and on the phone one day. The call was ended when he found out i was irish. That was 2007

justback83 · 19-07-2016 07:22AM

Dempsey wrote: »

Job Hunting in Australia

In the ads, no irish need apply and on the phone one day. The call was ended when he found out i was irish. That was 2007

Hmmmm.....sounds very familiar! I was really surprised at the amount of racism in Autralia. Was once serving a table in quote a nice restaurant and the lady of the couple commented how she loved Irish people because they're funny.....they just use the "F" word way too much...thought it was funny because she said it herself several times throughout the course of their meal as they were bickering!

Mackman · 19-07-2016 07:54AM

justback83 wrote: »

Hmmmm.....sounds very familiar! I was really surprised at the amount of racism in Autralia. Was once serving a table in quote a nice restaurant and the lady of the couple commented how she loved Irish people because they're funny.....they just use the "F" word way too much...thought it was funny because she said it herself several times throughout the course of their meal as they were bickering!

They don't even realise they are doing it. I heard on the radio just yesterday, they were having a competition asking for people to phone in and do their best Irish (leprechaun) accent. Just for laughs, it wasn't for a trip to Ireland, to win a CD by Ronan Keating or anything

Speedwell · 19-07-2016 08:01AM

It might be instructive to translate the Yiddish phrase "a shanda fur die goyim" into Irish and pretend it's five hundred years old

The meaning of the Yiddish phrase is literally, "a shame for the goyim", that is to say, a Jew doing something that embarrasses Jews in front of non-Jews. The fact that there is such a phrase is evidence that Jews like myself are conscious of doing such things (I am not immune to it myself). I thought of the phrase, however, when I walked into one of the countless "Molly's Bars" in the US on St. Patrick's Day with my Irish husband, and I saw him getting noticeably uncomfortable with the attention paid to his accent... I mean, the phrase didn't apply to him, but to the setting.

qo2cj1dsne8y4k · 19-07-2016 08:09AM

Irish accents are like currency in New York. My accent and a fake ID belonging to some Italian girl whose name I couldn't even pronounce was enough to get me served in dive bars in the Bronx at 18.
The barlady was actually insane. She gave me her number, and she kept asking me to say "you crazy Irish bitch" to her, and in return she kept giving me free drinks. Towards the end of the night she asked me "so what age are you really? Because you look about 14"

The west coast, not so much. You could be on a Zimmer frame and still need to produce your real ID. I was mistaken a lot for British there.

Subcomandante Marcos · 19-07-2016 08:27AM

Organisation I work for has offices in umpteen countries, including the UK so every now and then I end up in London for a few days/weeks for little bits of work.

I usually stay in a hotel so the lads in the office over there go out of their way to invite me around for dinner, out to drinks or gigs and so on which is nice of them.

One week I was there one of the staff members who I'd been working closely with on something invited me out to celebrate his housemates birthday with a group of friends, nothing formal just going to their local to watch a match and get some food and then head into the city for a few hours. Seemed like a good way to kill a boring thursday evening.

So we're in the pub, about 15 of us and the usual introductions are done friend does the "hey chaps, this is Subcomandante Marcos, Subcomandante Marcos these are the chaps" speil and left it at that because we all know nobody remembers names anyway. So I'm sitting with workmate and his housemate in one corner of a little snug area and the group is spread over a long table so I haven't actually chatted with most of them yet.

Dirnks are ordered and drank, food is ordered and delivered and then it happens. One of the guys at the end of the table starts moaning about something, his chips aren't to his liking, everyone else tells him to either ask them to replace them or shut up, we're all enjoying our food and out he comes with "you'd think the thick paddy ****s could cook potatoes, they've been living on them for 400 ****ing years" and everyone my end of the table goes quiet and he's like "what, it's true, useless Irish cu*ts".

I let an audable "are you for real?" and he's all shocked and looks dead at me and goes "oh, **** off, how was I meant to know you're Irish, you look like a ****ing Paki!". To which my work colleague's housemate replies "well, he is half Indian. Just **** off home Dave, this is why we never invite you anywhere".

HensVassal · 19-07-2016 08:51AM

pgj2015 wrote: »

common theme here from the last few pages, get abuse for being Irish and take it without giving it back.

When a Brit calls me Paddy I generally respond with "My name isn't Paddy. You got that, Bert?"

Usually shuts them up.

swimming in a sea · 19-07-2016 11:02AM

Dempsey wrote: »

Job Hunting in Australia

In the ads, no irish need apply and on the phone one day. The call was ended when he found out i was irish. That was 2007

I think this is because the perception of the Irish to ordinary middle class Australians is that they are all drunks.

I had an interview in Sydney once and guy flat-out asked me if I got the job could I be trusted to work hard and be on time or was I one of those Irish that are pissed out their minds all the time. He said he lived in Bondi and that is all he knew about the Irish.

I got the job:)

Turfcutter · 19-07-2016 11:29AM

I always found the Australians are worse for the jibes about Paddies been thick, drunk etc.
The English are mostly grand. They are probably a bit more polite and keep it to themselves compared to the more boorish Aussies.

That said, you get a bit bored being asked to say "thirty three and third" to amuse English people.
Best response is to say "ferty free and a fird, innit" in your best David Beckham weenie accent.

Have you ever experienced prejudice for being Irish?

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