Oireland: Difference between revisions
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Lots of Americans have a fondness for Ireland. This is understandable, considering there are more Americans of Irish descent than there are people living in Ireland (by a margin of about 11 to 1). This has a certain amount of ''[[You Screw One Goat]]'' or ''[[Always an Actor]]'' about it, in that Americans will sometimes claim Irish or Scots descent on the basis of third or fourth generation ancestors and near-homeopathic dilutions of actual genetic connection. Thus, it is only natural that some series would at some point have an episode or two on the Emerald Isle.
[[Scotireland|Unfortunately, most people in Hollywood can't tell the difference between Ireland and Scotland]]. Some, however, like to [[Shown Their Work|show that they did do the research]] by showing Ireland as a separate country with its own customs. However, rather than have a look at what the place is actually like, they turn to [[British Series]] made before political correctness came in. Hence, you end up with
This trope goes waaaaaaaay back to at least the days of [[Modern Minstrelsy|stage Irishmen]] in eighteenth-century British theatre. Brought back to life by John Ford in the iconic [[John Wayne]] film ''[[The Quiet Man]]''
While elements of this character may also be seen in [[Southies]], ''never'' try to argue over whether Irish-Americans (or Irish-Canadians, for that matter) should be considered Irish. [[Internet Backdraft|You'll be sorry.]]
==== Features of Oireland include
* More sheep than the [[Land Down Under]], even though most Irish farms were arable until the late 19th century, when a lot switched to cattle. Sheep farming only really happens on the bad land in the West (in the British Isles themselves this is much more of a [[Land of My Fathers and Their Sheep|Welsh stereotype]]).
* Overwhelmingly Catholic: you'd be hard pressed to find a reference to Ireland's sizable Protestant population in Oireland unless the story is explicitly ''about'' religion or [[The Troubles]], still less the admittedly small Irish Jewish population, non-religious groups, or [[The New Irish|newer groups like the Irish Muslims]]. (This one is [[Truth in Television]], somewhat.)
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* Nobody says yes. Instead, expect to hear, "Ah, to be shoor, to be shoor and begorrah".
** It's reasonably common though to express agreement by restating, rather than with "Yes": "Did you see the film?" "I did." "Is it good?" "It is." This originated as a feature of the native Gaeilge language, in which restating the verb of the question in the positive or negative tense is the ''only'' way to say yes or no. Also, you are more likely to hear someone say "Sure" or "Aye" for "yes" if they do answer in such a way.
* Friendly [[
* [[Fighting Irish|Brawling, usually good-naturedly]], at the drop of a hat. This is a bit of a [[Forgotten Trope]]: the hair-trigger temper of Irishmen used to be a lot more common in stereotypes. See, for example, the Notre Dame University "Fightin' Irish", whose mascot is even a leprechaun with fists bared. Don't worry about Irish pub brawls,
** More darkly, there are startlingly frequent jokes about beaten wives, especially in American depictions for some reason. In Ireland itself, spousal abuse is treated no more casually than anywhere else in the
* [[Fiery Redhead|Red hair]] [[Redheaded Stepchild|all around]] and, if female, [[Green Eyed Red Head|paired with]] [[Green Eyes]]. It's true that Irish people are more likely to be green-eyed than most non-Irish people, but it's still not terribly common. See [http://www.gnxp.com/blog/2008/12/nlsy-blogging-eye-and-hair-color-of.php this study] (admittedly based on Americans of European descent). Fairly few TV writers have heard of "black Irish", which is to say, Irish people with [[People of Hair Color|dark hair]]. (Some stories claim that they are descendants of Spanish Armada survivors or related to the Basque people, though genetic evidence largely goes against this.)
** Don't forget freckles and pale skin. This is closer to [[Truth in Television]]; Irish people tend to sunburn pretty easily.
** References to the "black Irish" do come
* Potatoes. Lots of potatoes. Taters. Admittedly, for a long time potatoes were the main diet of the Irish (due to British policy reducing the size of family plots), and when there was a terrible Potato Famine in 1845-50, many people
* Corned beef with cabbage (see the ''Simpsons'' example below): this is unknown in Ireland (except for a spam-like lunch meat, which is a different thing). Corned beef is an Irish-American invention, a piece of cuisine for the poor which they learned from eastern European Jewish immigrants in the slums of the big cities of the United States. In Ireland, people ''actually'' eat [[wikipedia:Bacon and cabbage|bacon and cabbage]].
** First generation American Irish took up corned beef because beef is very culturally
* Everyone lives on a [[Arcadia|farm or in a tiny village]], with [[In Dublin's Fair City|Dublin]] as the only major city. Cities like Cork, Limerick and Galway go completely unmentioned.
* Lots of Irish step dancing, which is inexplicably referred to as "Riverdance" even though that is the title of ONE Irish dancing stage show that started in 1994, and which bears roughly the same resemblance to reality as Caesar's Palace does to [[Ancient Rome]]. It's like referring to all anime as ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]''.
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* Oirish people are all poor, or at the very least come from a working-class background. This ceased to be [[Truth in Television]] from 1995 until roughly 2007, when Ireland's economy became the booming [[The Celtic Tiger|Celtic Tiger]] with one of the highest standards of living in the world; since then, though, it's crashed hard.
* Post-[[The Troubles|Troubles]], you may also get some form of reference to "the Hated British."
* Any Irish character in an action
* [[Gratuitous Foreign Language|Gaeilge gan ghá]].
* Sentimentality. Lots and lots of sentimentality. In particular, when combined with a selection of the above the Oirish people are generally presented as a canny and friendly folk (the word 'quaint' tends to pop up a lot) with a cheerful song in their hearts and a mischievous twinkle in their eyes, expressing their simple-yet-wise philosophy that's as old as the hills and informed with the magic and mystery of the ages and the [[Fair Folk]], just waiting for some poor outsider who's lost sight of the ''really'' important things in life that they can educate, and other such trite cliches; think an Emerald Isle version of the [[Magical Negro]]. If you were to base your understanding of the Irish solely on the amount of times this rather over-sentimentalized depiction has popped up, the whole damn country can start to look rather insufferably twee.
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== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* A few chapters of ''[[Hellsing]]'' are set in Northern Ireland in what appears to be an abandoned factory in the fictional town of Badrick. This is where the first fight between Alucard and Anderson takes place. It's a reference to the religious disputes as the British, Protestant Hellsing forces, are there cleaning up a vampire attack, so the Vatican sends Anderson because Ireland is regarded as their territory, even though Northern Ireland is technically located in the United Kingdom.
** The funny thing about this is that Hellsing starts in the fall of 1998. The Good Friday Agreement was signed on April
* ''[[Fractale]]'' has a slight amount of this going on- the main character lives in a very old fashioned faux-thatched cottage, despite the series being set hundreds of years in the future. This may just be to add to the already-copious [[Scenery Porn]].
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* ''[[Red Dead Redemption]]'' gives us "Irish". The only reason John Marston tolerates his drunk, nun threatening ass is because Irish can supply him with a Gatling gun. (In his defence, he thought they was doxies.) On the other hand, he's one of the rare black-haired Irishmen in fiction.
* Roy McManus from ''[[Shadow Hearts|Shadow Hearts From The New World]]''. An ill-tempered, violent and power hungry Irish gang boss, McManus tried to seize up Chicago while Capone was locked in [[The Alcatraz|Alcatraz]]. He also had a most unrequited crush on Capone's sister Edna that led him to kidnap her. Sadly for both of them, Edna did not return his feelings and an enraged McManus pulled a gun and shot her dead.
* [[The Suffering]]: Ties That Bind boasts an Irish Foundation soldier who promptly shouts 'Jaysus!' every
* Atlas, your [[Mission Control]] from ''[[BioShock (series)]]''. He later turns out to be {{spoiler|a fake persona cooked up by [[Big Bad|Frank Fontaine]]}}.
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