Irish Wishing Well

I’m staying up late \watching “Saturday Night Live” because I enjoy the comedy sketches and jokes and because Irishman Paul Mescal is hosting the show. I was hoping and assuming that he’d mention his homeland of Ireland and he did in the monologue. (He does a Bono impression later,) The Ireland shout-out was at times funny. I felt proud and included as an Irish American, especially when he mentioned the Great Famine, but I also felt defensive when he brought up the Fighting Irish mascot of the University of Notre Dame. The Irish portion of the monologue went as follows:

“Anyway, I do take great pride in being Irish. The Irish people have been through a lot you know - centuries of British occupation, the Great Famine, mass immigration, that U2 album that automatically got downloaded…So before we start the show, I just want to clear up some ugly stereotypes about the Irish. For example, there’s a nasty rumor that Irish people have sex with our cousins, right? That’s offensive and it’s ridiculous. We have sex with our second cousins. People also think the Irish hate British people. That’s not true.. We just don’t consider them people. And sometimes people ask me if I think Notre Dame’s mascot, the Fighting Irish is offensive. Not at all. We do the same thing with the Americans. In fact, my high school’s mascot was The Fightin’ Fat-Asses. A lot of people ask if we wear kilts. No, that’s the Scottish. Traditionally the Irish wear short shorts…You know people often talk about the luck of the Irish and tonight I have to say I do feel very, very lucky to be here. I’m in New York City. I’m hosting SNL and this feels totally, totally insane to me.”

The joke about the Notre Dame mascot felt overly harsh to me. My father, sister, uncle and cousin all went to Notre Dame. My father was in the marching band that performed at half-time shows during football games. When I went to his reunion games, the leprechaun would take to the field along with the band to get everyone excited about the game. The mascot embodied the idea of never quitting, no matter what the score. [Honestly, I think the more urgent controversy is the danger of CTE to football players.}

But even if you are offended by the mascot, which you have every right to be, Notre Dame has strong connections to Ireland and to Irish Americans. I think it’s important to recognize that a university that so reveres the Irish culture, teaching classes about Irish dance, language, literature and history is probably not intending to put you down. I have listened to many Irish people rightly complain that Americans, particularly Irish Americans. don’t know enough about Ireland, especially its history. I would think that in that regard they would appreciate Notre Dame. Yet, it doesn’t seem that many Irish performers, Niall Horan of One Direction fame being another example, have bothered to know much about the university beyond its mascot. So maybe we could all try to learn a little more about each other,

Also, Paul Mescal’s joke about the Americans as “The Fightin’ Fat-Asses,” seems to be about a stereotype that Americans are overweight. The leprechaun that I always remember taking to the field when I was a child was fit, quick, sharp, smart, and full of humor and goodwill. He could do amazing acrobatics. He could bring the crowd to its feet. He had energy and confidence. He was in fighting shape. The competition to be the leprechaun is fierce because he’s so well-respected.

I think that part of the problem is that the stigma against leprechauns that seems to exist in Ireland does not exist in the United States. I would like to think we can recognize the difference between a hero of folklore and a flesh and blood Irish person. In my experience, a hokey, Lucky Charms idea of Ireland is not what drives most of the prejudice against the Irish in America. It is the very real idea that Irish are drunks, which is an insult to real people, much like calling Americans “Fat-Asses,” is an insult to real people.

I mentioned leprechauns in my last blog post and an Irish woman insulted me by posting a derisive video of what Americans think of Ireland in response that included a video of the McDonald’s shamrock shake. It was so mean-spirited that I cried because my Irish heritage means so much to me and I really wanted the approval of Irish people. I remember thinking that just because I am American does not mean that my Irish roots are not authentic. It was also insulting because to suggest that my understanding of Ireland is as shallow or commercialized as a shamrock shake, is to ignore my efforts to learn about Irish culture, which is the purpose of this blog. I’ve attended Irish plays, gone to Irish museum exhibits etc. I remember making a model of Ireland’s geography with clay on a wooden board when I was in the fourth grade. I’ve been learning about Ireland all my life.

Still maybe Irish people should allow Irish Americans the freedom to express their culture in their own way. We are not your embarrassing distant relatives that lower the world’s opinion of you. We are survivors who have a right to define ourselves based on our own journey and our own dual identity as Americans of Irish descent. Dyeing the Chicago River green on St. Patrick’s Day is an Irish American tradition. We don’t want to be you. We want to be the truest version of ourselves. We’re not taking your Irish away. We’re just creating our own story out of our own trauma, which includes a good luck symbol at a sporting event.

Like I mentioned earlier, Niall Horan also has a huge issue with the Notre Dame mascot, which was brought up three years ago when he guest hosted for Jimmy Kimmel. Whenever Irish performers speak about America and Ireland it seems to be about chastising Americans for getting Ireland wrong. They are usually really, really angry about it, despite the humor that exists on the surface. It’s a wink to the Irish across the pond, that even though you’re promoting yourself in America, you’re still part of the gang back home by putting us down. Here is his diatribe/monologue:

“As I said, I’m from Ireland and when people find out I’m Irish that’s all they want to talk about. Everybody seems to be from Ireland in America. Oh my god, you’re Irish! My dad’s brother’s neighbor is Irish too! Do you know him? No. I don’t and guess what? I couldn’t give two fucks about him either. Another thing - You guys are also very misinformed about our traditions. Let’s take Saint Patrick’s Day! First of all, it’s not called Patty’s Day. P-A-T-T-Y like the inside of a burger. On St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland you just go to mass and light a candle with your granny. Speaking of my Granny. It’s her 91st birthday today. Happy Birthday, Granny. Trooper! Trooper! Here in America, you just sing U2 songs all day and then puke green beer on your Uber driver. Even your sports teams have it wrong. Right. Let’s have a look at this: The Notre Dame Fighting Irish. This is their mascot: a leprechaun. He looks more like Abraham Lincoln had sex with a garden gnome. If you want Fighting Irish, Conor McGregor - that’s fighting Irish and he’ll pull… Guess what about Conor McGregor? He’ll pull your heart right through your ass….[He does a Conor McGregor impression.] Who the fuck is Abe Lincoln anyway? He’ll do absolutely nothing. I’ll fight him any day.”

(Mr. Horan goes on to introduce one of Jimmy’s questionnaires to prove that Americans don’t know anything about Ireland. Hint: Jimmy Kimmel never finds anyone knowledgeable in those questionnaires. Otherwise it wouldn't wouldn't be as funny and kinda scary).

The Conor McGregor bit hasn’t aged well. At least the Notre Dame mascot wasn’t found guilty in civil court of raping a woman. Also, I take issue with the whole Patty’s Day/Paddy’s Day non-issue. In America, we use the anglicized form of the Christian missionary’s name - Patrick. I assume that’s why it’s sometimes spelled (or misspelled) with two t’s. In Ireland, the Irish form of his name is Pádraig, hence, the two d’s. The anger really seems to be about the translation, which really seems to be about assimilation. That’s what Americans are really guilty of…We’re the watered down version of Irish, like green beer. Plastic Paddy’s. How cruel and disrespectful is that when your family tree is full of Irish surnames? Think about how that slur makes an Irish American feel, especially since for many of us, it was not our ancestors’ choice to leave Ireland. Yes, I’m playing the ancestor card because it still matters.

In summation, we all have a right to be offended, but it is a pretty miserable business when we just speak past each other and hurt each other. Insulting someone to show that you’re insulted, just brings the whole conversation down. Americans are not the big money bullies that Irish people need to stand up to…At least, I’m not. Behind every national identity is just a human being.

On a positive note, I like the idea that there are women who are mascots at Notre Dame now. Women can be part of the legend. That feels like progress to me. We all deserve to have a say in defining who we are and how we’re represented. There’s no room for sneering.

Update: I’ve added an SNL sketch about Irish Americans that was cut for time but added to social media, which includes no resentment, but is full of goodwill. (Insert sarcasm here.) It is presumably about how obnoxious and self-involved Americans are toward the Irish when they visit Ireland. It hit like a bit of a gut punch because when I visited Ireland I was so excited to be there. I didn’t know if I’d be able to make the trip in my lifetime. I only got to go because my sister Stephanie won a trip for two through Irish America magazine.

I don’t think I told anyone about my Irish heritage when I was there, but that’s probably partly because I’m a shy person. (Also, it’s kind of obvious. I look Irish - maybe not in the modern way many in Ireland think of themselves, but I look like the stereotype, which just so happens to be true for many of us redheads of Irish descent. Frankly, being told that I look Irish was always some compensation for being bullied.) I guess I’m glad I didn’t open up about my Irish heritage when I was there though, unless I would have had a chance to talk to a genealogist. (You have to love those people for their intellectual curiosity and compassion.) I woudn’t have wanted to aggravate anyone.

To be fair, it must be annoying having Irish Americans telling you their story ad nauseam, as if you’re supposed to care or share in our excitement. Sometimes when you’re excited you imagine that others are too and that’s just not the case. In the meantime, how much curiosity do Irish Americans exhibit toward Irish citizens? People can be self-absorbed on vacations. There’s a lot of baggage that comes with tourism dollars.

I also think there’s another aspect to this frustration. Ireland often views itself as a more modern and global country and Irish Americans that come and reference the past, feel to some Irish citizens as if they’re an impediment to progress. To them, Americans are forcing Ireland to be prisoners to a distorted and belittling nostalgia. In response to an article posted on Instagram by the Irish Times about the SNL episode, one user commented: “The yanks still think the Irish are all devout Catholic red heads (sic) with frekles (sic) but they get a shock when they come out the airport and the place is flooded with ‘ new Irish ‘ the old Irish replaced.”

In the meantime, multi-national American corporations have an outsized impact on Ireland’s economy and prosperity. In both cases, for many in Ireland, we loom too large. I think this is part of why relations are sadly so frayed. I don’t know how to fix this. I only know that I’m hurt by it.