# Favorite Irish-themed Stuff **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 17, 2010, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-irish-themed-stuff/532751 "2010-03-17T13:19:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-irish-themed-stuff/532751/61 "2010-03-19T22:55:26Z")
What’s the pronunciation of Ciaran? ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2010, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-irish-themed-stuff/532751/62 "2010-03-20T07:04:17Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > If we exclude all the Anglo-Irish stock writers we haven’t got much literature left, so yeah he’s one of us. Anyway none of us are of ‘pure emerald ancestry’. Not just writers–quite a few of the patriots who died gloriously for Ireland were Anglo-Irish. [Oscar’s mother](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Wilde) wrote poetry for Young Ireland & named her son Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde. I believe Brendan Behan said an Anglo-Irishman is a Protestant with a horse. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2010, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-irish-themed-stuff/532751/63 "2010-03-20T08:43:32Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > What’s the pronunciation of Ciaran? Keer-AHN. (It’s properly spelled Ciarán, with the accent mark - called a “fada” - indicating that the vowel sound is lengthened.) ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2010, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-irish-themed-stuff/532751/64 "2010-03-20T08:47:09Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > So born in Dublin but not of ‘pure emerald ancestry’ and not Catholic, do the Irish consider him “one of us” or “one of us [but with an asterisk]” or “not one of us”? What **An Gadaí** said. Also, the Irish have a great tendency to claim anyone with even the slightest bit of Irish heritage as “one of us” as long as they like the person. Last week I saw a tabloid with Obama on the cover, the story being about a visit to Ireland he’s allegedly supposed to be making in the near future, and the headline read: OBAMA COMES HOME. (His great-great-great-grandfather was from County Offaly.) Of course, if they _don’t_ like you, then you will be scorned and mocked for calling yourself “Irish” on the basis of even a far less distant connection! ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2010, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-irish-themed-stuff/532751/65 "2010-03-20T09:06:32Z")
> [@ruadh](#): > > Keer-AHN. For the sake of clarity, that’s “keer” rhyming with “peer”. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2010, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-irish-themed-stuff/532751/66 "2010-03-20T09:15:26Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > All due to those horny washed up Spanish Armada sailors.😃 (I can’t estimate how many times I’ve heard the Black Irish are descendants of the Spanish Armada.) Yes, that’s where I get my Iberian good looks from. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-irish-themed-stuff/532751/67 "2010-03-20T14:42:26Z")
> [@ruadh](#): > > What **An Gadaí** said. Also, the Irish have a great tendency to claim anyone with even the slightest bit of Irish heritage as “one of us” as long as they like the person. Last week I saw a tabloid with Obama on the cover, the story being about a visit to Ireland he’s allegedly supposed to be making in the near future, and the headline read: OBAMA COMES HOME. (His great-great-great-grandfather was from County Offaly.) For those of you who didn’t see it after the election, please enjoy the Corrigan brothers’ song [There’s no one as Irish as Barack O’bama](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HplZ_taHXLM). 😛 ---
**Author:** ![MickNickMaggies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/59ef9b/32.png) [@MickNickMaggies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MickNickMaggies)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-irish-themed-stuff/532751/68 "2010-03-20T18:48:42Z")
> [@Seamack](#): > > The floozy in the Jacuzzi was also known as ‘The Whore (Who-err) in the Sewer’ and once upon a time we had a millenium countdown clock in the Liffey - known as ‘The Time in the Slime’ > > Ok I should have read the entire thread before passing comment. Has the usher with the torch outside the cinema got one? I’ve heard ‘Stilletto in the Ghetto’, but ‘Ace with the Bass’ is new to me. ---
**Author:** ![Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boulter_s_Canary)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2010, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-irish-themed-stuff/532751/69 "2010-03-20T23:52:32Z")
[Horslips](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTykU7WWF3c&feature=related) [The Chieftains](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtSjM3YU7Qw), natch. And (though I blush to admit it) an extremely silly film called [High Spirits](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5_Zro_gf9g&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-irish-themed-stuff/532751/70 "2010-03-21T02:16:08Z")
Anuna and Clannad. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-irish-themed-stuff/532751/71 "2010-03-21T17:12:45Z")
Menus and Music’s [The Irish Isle]([http://www.menusandmusic.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product\_Code=11CDi&Category\_Code=MM05&Product\_Count=8\](http://www.menusandmusic.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=11CDi&Category_Code=MM05&Product_Count=8%5C)) has a nice CD of Irish music. The menus are a little too fish and booze heavy for this non-drinking vegetarian, but there are some great recipes (mmmm…brown bread souffle). ---
**Author:** ![Hrududu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Hrududu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hrududu)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-irish-themed-stuff/532751/72 "2010-03-21T19:38:25Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > All due to those horny washed up Spanish Armada sailors.😃 (I can’t estimate how many times I’ve heard the Black Irish are descendants of the Spanish Armada.) Here’s something Ive wondered. Where did this ‘black Irish’ thing come from? Growing up I never heard of it. In fact it was only on US sites like this where I first heard it. So what is it? Tanned Irish people? Irish people with dark hair? And are the Spanish armada really to blame? ---
**Author:** ![sulamith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@sulamith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sulamith)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-irish-themed-stuff/532751/73 "2010-03-22T03:13:13Z")
> [@Hrududu](#): > > Here’s something Ive wondered. Where did this ‘black Irish’ thing come from? Growing up I never heard of it. In fact it was only on US sites like this where I first heard it. So what is it? Tanned Irish people? Irish people with dark hair? And are the Spanish armada really to blame? The “black Irish” are people like Colin Farrell. Irish, but with pale skin, dark hair, dark eyes. It has nothing to do with skin color. Legends tell of the selkies, who are beautiful dark-eyed women who wear a seal skin in the ocean but sometimes come on shore and take off their seal coats to bask in the sun. If a man can sneak up on her and take her seal skin coat, she is bound to live with him and be his wife. The Black Irish are said to be the children of these marriages. Which brings me to my favorite Irish movie, _The Secret of Roan Inish_. This movie tells the selky story in a very charming and heart-warming way. I watch it repeatedly. And speaking of Colin Farrell, he has a new movie coming out called _Ondine_, which is yet another take on the selky legend. He plays a sailor who falls in love with a selky. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-irish-themed-stuff/532751/74 "2010-03-22T06:37:44Z")
[Cecil on the “Black Irish” myth](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1094/who-are-the-black-irish) ---
**Author:** ![sulamith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@sulamith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sulamith)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-irish-themed-stuff/532751/75 "2010-03-22T12:01:33Z")
> [@ruadh](#): > > [Cecil on the “Black Irish” myth](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1094/who-are-the-black-irish) Yeah, yeah Cecil, whatever. It’s the selkies, I tell ya! My Irish blood demands a magical explanation and will not be satisfied with anything less. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-irish-themed-stuff/532751/76 "2010-03-22T15:06:25Z")
Guinness Irish breakfast U2 The Mountains of Mourne(Not sure I’ve spelled that right) South Dublin Galway Father Ted In Bruges The Chieftains The Dubliners All Irish traditional music Irish butter Ireland The Irish ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-irish-themed-stuff/532751/77 "2010-03-22T19:11:55Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > Guinness > Irish breakfast > U2 > The Mountains of Mourne(Not sure I’ve spelled that right) > South Dublin > Galway > Father Ted > In Bruges > The Chieftains > The Dubliners > All Irish traditional music > Irish butter > Ireland > The Irish Well fuck you and your _South_ Dublin, you snob! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ProfessorX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@ProfessorX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ProfessorX)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-irish-themed-stuff/532751/78 "2010-03-22T22:37:59Z")
Carbombs aren’t even really Irish, but something about the mix of Bailey’s and Guinness is just awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-irish-themed-stuff/532751/79 "2010-03-22T23:47:54Z")
> [@](#): > > Yeah, yeah Cecil, whatever. It’s the selkies, I tell ya! My Irish blood demands a magical explanation and will not be satisfied with anything less. No, no. Magic doesn’t exist. Since selkies obviously do exist, they’re therefore clearly not magical. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-irish-themed-stuff/532751/80 "2010-03-22T23:53:48Z")
> [@ProfessorX](#): > > Carbombs aren’t even really Irish, but something about the mix of Bailey’s and Guinness is just awesome. Unfortunately car bombs were common enough in Ireland at one time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-irish-themed-stuff/532751.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-irish-themed-stuff/532751.md?page=5)