How could anyone say the Irish weren't White?

[Herr Galke]

It was a big deal when my grandma wanted to marry my grandpa because he was Swedish, her family was upset at first but loved him when they got to know him. That wasn’t even that long ago; now the “rivalry” where I live are the Italians and Swedes (the two largest ethnic groups here), although now it’s just something we joke about. People in my age group are still carrying their ethnic pride strongly for Swedish and Italian ancestry but are a lot more open minded compared to our grandparents/parents.

In the next large town/small city over Major population are either Italian or Polish..

[nittionia]

In the next large town/small city over Major population are either Italian or Polish..

We have a lot of Poles and Ukrainians too, there are many Polish/Swede and Ukrainian/Swede mixes here due to their rural/farming lives here.

[Richmondbread]

It's simple. The English hated the Irish, and Americans at the time were mostly of English descent. The Irish were seen as peasant folk, they were Catholic (Spain and France were political threats and the British were always concerned that Ireland was a kind of backdoor threat in the great power struggles), they would work for lower wages, thus they brought wages down and/or stole jobs, they immigrated in such numbers that they basically took over entire neighbourhoods (when the potato famine hit and a million of the poorest, most wretched Irishmen swarmed into the country on a massive scale, there was some pushback from the locals), even cities (Maryland, for example, was initially a catholic haven, or the fact that the initial wave of indentured and slave labour came from a nominally catholic Ireland, or French Canada), all voted for one as an ethnic block, etc. At one point NYC jails were 90% Irish (hence the term paddy wagon sent out to round them up to keep the streets safe for decent people). These attributes were seen as something civilised Anglos wouldn't do. That's why there were Irish need not apply signs in the US through the 1930s.



Charles Kingsley, author of The Water-Babies, wrote in a letter in 1861 about a visit to Ireland:

What about the Irish Aristocrats and the lace curtain Irish?

[Richmondbread]

Germans were mostly just accepted I think but looked upon oddly for their association with Catholicism. The Irish were near completely catholic which led to a lot of rejection of mass migration. Also some of the irish were looked upon as the 'lesser irish' from lesser castes of Ireland and Great Britain.

Most of my Irish ancestors were Protestants.

[JamesBond007]

Most of my Irish ancestors were Protestants.

Irish Protestants usually end up being of Scottish or English origin due to the British plantation of Ulster.

[Richmondbread]

Irish Protestants usually end up being of Scottish or English origin due to the British plantation of Ulster.

Some were from that Northern Ireland area, but others were from County Cork and the South, which had little admixture of the two.

[JamesBond007]

Some were from that Northern Ireland area, but others were from County Cork and the South, which had little admixture of the two.

Being Catholic is pretty much tradtionally part and parcel of being a true Irishman. Which may be less true nowadays since religion has lost a lot of its power or influence in modern times.

[Richmondbread]

Being Catholic is pretty much tradtionally part and parcel of being a true Irishman. Which may be less true nowadays since religion has lost a lot of its power or influence in modern times.

I don't know how true that is. For example, my Irish ancestor Andrew Meade, was 100% Protestant of County Cork. It could be that some of those Irish had Anglo admixture or British influence. I don't know. The others were Catholic. But to an Irishman, it's the land that defines you.

[Duffmannn]

It was a big deal when my grandma wanted to marry my grandpa because he was Swedish, her family was upset at first but loved him when they got to know him. That wasn’t even that long ago; now the “rivalry” where I live are the Italians and Swedes (the two largest ethnic groups here), although now it's just something we joke about. People in my age group are still carrying their ethnic pride strongly for Swedish and Italian ancestry but are a lot more open minded compared to our grandparents/parents.


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Weren´t you swedish??¿

[nittionia]

Weren´t you swedish??¿

American


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