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Hahah I grew up downunder and my folks (especially my dad) loathed the Irish.
My mother wanted all Irish and all Arabs to be blown up, quite the radical statement for her.
My dad just loathed all religion especially Catholicism.
I got sent to a Catholic school () and he would ask me "how were the Micky Finns today?".
Irish have long had a reputation for being quite mad, I think it originates from The Troubles.
Religions in general have been responsible for a lot of bloodshed so that's why religion was looked down upon.
We're just not that secular down here. Anyone who is a practicing Christian is pretty much viewed as nuts.
Sorry to offend! It's not my view, my bff is a Catholic girl whose father was literally born in an Irish potato field.
It also shows the ignorance of people who think the problems in Ireland were related to religion and not that they were colonised and disenfranchised from their country.
Look up the "Know Nothing Party" and nationalism in the USA at the time. Irish (with their whiskey) and Germans (with their beer) were outcasts. They were believed, at the time, to not being willing to assimilate. Americans were suspicious of them. Also Italians, Papalism. Thank goodness We've moved past it, but it was a very real issue at the time.
I wonder why the Irish were usually looked down upon? I've seen old history books, sites, etc, with signs posted NO IRISH. Seems those signs were posted in places of employment, stores, restaurants, etc. What was the problem with them?
And outside of their accent, how could one tell, anyways? they all looked alike to me
I always thought I had some Irish blood, but my grandparents were quick to veto that notion. actually, in doing my family research, I find very little indication of any irish blood. I'm mostly German, about 1/4 Scottish. Still, I wonder why my grandparents were so opposed to even the idea? What was considered undesirable about the Irish?
That is so easy. The Irish were disliked because in the British Isles, the Irish were resisting British rule in their homeland and also due to the fact that Britain had become a protestant nation as other nations of Northern Europe, Ireland remained staunchly catholic. Those same British folks brought the same hatred for the Irish, when they migrated to the new colonies in North America.
I have not read through the entire thread, but I do know that many of the late 19th century immigrant Irish brought with them a contentious position with British rule. Many were escaping the widespread starvation in Ireland that was caused directly by factors of British oppression. The many years of dealing with English oppression in the homeland enabled the Irish community to rely on organizing and cooperative skills that seemed threatening to administrations used to a more submissive working class.
Add that to a population of newly freed African slaves( and established Freedmen) and other working class laborers competing for a limited amount of work. Subsequent waves of other European immigrants meant that housing, labor, and food resources for eastern cities was strained. The ruling class of mostly English stock found the administration to increasingly needy communities, many of whom had their own specific languages in addition to English, to be costly and difficult. There was also a certain amount of prejudice towards Roman Catholicism on the part of the mostly Protestant upper class.
The Irish community was more likely to be vocal to city governments agents for more services. Industries also perceived the Irish to be pushy and unruly. Ironically the Irish were able to parlay their community organizing skills into lower level political representative positions in many cities like Boston and New York, eventually leading to mid-level and finally higher elected positions.
No irish Need Apply signs were common in the US. Here's a comment from The New York Herald of July 12, 1830 which states that they will not print any ads that state "No Irish need apply" and that they have received many of them.
now its no whites need apply
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) and he would ask me "how were the Micky Finns today?".
