The Irish

I was asked by an Irishman, what is it that I have against the Irish?

Well, first let me tell you that I am no bigot. Some of my best friends are Irish.

Tee hee hee.

No, seriously folks, I am a bit of a bigot. I admit that quite freely. And yes, some of my best friends are Irish (even my wife is part Irish).

However, there is a long history between the Irish and the Italians in this country. The church in the United States was inflicted with the Irish in a very bad way, going back to the 19th century. Irish priests, Irish bishops, and worst of all, Irish liturgy and church art. The Irish bishops combined the worst of clericalism (and you must remember that Italians are an innately anti-clerical people) with dubious theology and the habit of lording their Irish ways over everyone as the only Catholic ways, and you will understand why the Italians of Sacramento begged the Papal Nuncio for Italian priests in a national parish (which we got in St. Mary's, originally a mission parish of St. Francis in San Francisco).

Now, there is nothing wrong with the Irish per se, and this is where we get to the root of my bigotry: another island, one peopled by renegade swamp Germans and Viking spawn. Yes, the Englisch.

Because when it comes down to it, every bad trait of the Irish has roots in the Englisch. Jansenism? Deliberately introduced to the Irish priesthood by the Englisch. Tacky art? The people did not have access to cultivation or education because of... you got it. Sentimental songs about only the rivers running free? Well, most oppressed people do develop much better music than that cheesy crap that comes from the Emerald Island. Go figure.

And as for cuisine, what do you expect on a near Arctic island? Can't hold that against them. Especially when the Englisch stole all the cows. I still don't quite understand the potato, but Melanie loves them, so I have learned to cook the things in a variety of ways.

Now, as for language, I love the sound of Irish Gaelic, mainly because songs in it are incomprehensible, so I don't have to pay attention to all the silliness of the rivers running free.

And "pogue mahone" is a fun thing to say!