# the "luck" of the Irish **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 8, 2000, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-luck-of-the-irish/6995 "2000-02-08T06:02:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-luck-of-the-irish/6995/1 "2000-02-08T06:02:00Z")
Being of Irish lineage, I have been interested in the history of the land and its people. So where in the world did the phrase “having the luck of the Irish” come from ? Was it perhaps a bad thing originally . . . say, like having the luck of the Jews ? (So to speak.) Any ideas ? Come on - famine, political upheaval, disease, religious wars, terrorism . . . this is NOT the kind of luck I want coarsing through my veins. * * * “A single lifetime, even though entirely devoted to the sky, would not be enough for the investigation of so vast a subject.” - Seneca ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-luck-of-the-irish/6995/2 "2000-02-08T10:15:00Z")
Simple Gabriel, having seen all the shit we’ve come through, you got to be lucky!! \*see SmickD’s sig * * * J “Cast a cold Eye, On Life, On Death, Horseman, ride by” W.B. Yeats ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-luck-of-the-irish/6995/3 "2000-02-08T12:59:00Z")
WAG: I always felt it was associated with shamrocks which are supposed to be lucky, and quite abundant in Ireland…or so I imagine. Also, leprechauns were supposed to be lucky with the pot of gold and the whole sh’bang! ---
**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2000, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-luck-of-the-irish/6995/4 "2000-02-08T15:22:00Z")
[hijack] John Belushi’s rant on “The Luck of the Irish” on “Weekend Update” was one of the funniest things he ever did on “Saturday Night Live.” [/hijack] * * * “You should tell the truth, expose the lies and live in the moment.” - Bill Hicks ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2000, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-luck-of-the-irish/6995/5 "2000-02-09T04:27:00Z")
Years ago, Irish-American comedian Kevin Rooney did a very funny extended bit on “the luck of the Irish.” Considering that the Irish experienced 700 years of British oppression, poverty, starvation, and alcoholism, it was hard to imagine what “luck” the phrase could be referring to. Rooney suggested that the Irish are lucky ONLY in the sense that we’re “lucky” to step in a pile of dog doo-doo while we’re wearing our old, worn-out shoes! “Ah, sure 'n I’ve stepped in dog bleep. Tis lucky for me I wasn’t wearing me GOOD shoes, now!” ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2000, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-luck-of-the-irish/6995/6 "2000-02-09T12:23:00Z")
While I appreciate the above posts, I still haven’t heard an answer to the question. Where did the phrase “having the luck of the Irish” come from as it is used in present day America ? How could the Irish have gotten a reputation for being “lucky” ? Please don’t say its that damned leprechan from Lucky Charms. Seriously, with St. Paddy’s day on the horizon, this question has merit. Has Cecil answered this and I missed it in the archives ? Dammit, someone knows something . . . ---
**Author:** ![Ezstrete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ea924/32.png) [@Ezstrete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ezstrete)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2000, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-luck-of-the-irish/6995/7 "2000-02-09T23:58:00Z")
It is commonly used as a description of any thing that goes bad,fails or courts disaster It’s often given in irony and is quicker that saying that ‘if it weren’t for bad luck I/we/they/he /she/it wouldn’t have any luck at all—at all–at all’. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2000, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-luck-of-the-irish/6995/8 "2000-02-11T00:47:00Z")
## Also, a barrage of rocks, broken bottles, bricks, etc. used to be called “Irish confetti”. 🙂 Soon afterwards, Deimos simply vanished from the sky. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2000, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-luck-of-the-irish/6995/9 "2000-02-11T01:21:00Z")
It’s like when something screws and up you say “Well, that’s just great”. Isn’t it? Peace, mangeorge * * * I only know two things; I know what I need to know And I know what I want to know Mangeorge, 2000