# Why is Northern Ireland so underrepresented in pop culture, and misunderstood in America? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 29, 2018, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-northern-ireland-so-underrepresented-in-pop-culture-and-misunderstood-in-america/813294 "2018-04-29T04:22:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-northern-ireland-so-underrepresented-in-pop-culture-and-misunderstood-in-america/813294/41 "2018-04-30T04:15:17Z")
Like someone else pointed out, NI is about the size of two smallish American States. Why would you expect NI to be better known in America than every ‘not California, New York, or Texas’ state in the US is in the UK or Europe? ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-northern-ireland-so-underrepresented-in-pop-culture-and-misunderstood-in-america/813294/42 "2018-04-30T04:55:55Z")
Plus, a lot of people from Nothern Ireland don’t identify as “Northern Irish”. Seamus Heaney, for example, is simply Irish. So, I’m pretty sure, is Liam Neeson. The OP starts out by talking about “Northern Ireland as a nationality”, but it isn’t really a nationality. And this isn’t necessarily linked to political positions: C. S. Lewis, for example, identified as Irish (and also as British). I think Kenneth Branagh also considers himself Irish. In so far as their’s a developing Northern Ireland identy, distinct from Irishness and Britishness, that’s a very recent thing, and if you are looking at the cultural impact made by people from Northern Ireland, well, culture tends to have deep roots, so it will be a long time before there’s a distinct Northern Ireland culture. So Seamus Heaney, for example, is not a Northern Irish poet; he’s an Irish poet, whose work reflects, and has been influenced by, the locality he grew up in, and the formative experiences he had there, which certainly does have a uniquely Northern Ireland twist. But he’s an Irish writer in the sense that Faulkner, say, is an American writer. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-northern-ireland-so-underrepresented-in-pop-culture-and-misunderstood-in-america/813294/43 "2018-04-30T05:46:33Z")
This is by no means an exclusively American phenomenon, this not knowing other cultures. Being long fed a bunch of malarkey about Europeans all speaking several languages, I was surprised to find during my own time in Europe that most really just spoke their own. And in Thailand, not only do Thais have no clue as to events in their immediately neighboring countries, they could not care less. Whenever I suggested maybe they might want to take an interest, they acted like I was crazy to think they would want to know anything about such “lower” people. I suspect it’s the same in other countries too. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-northern-ireland-so-underrepresented-in-pop-culture-and-misunderstood-in-america/813294/44 "2018-04-30T06:04:52Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > But [Neeson claims he was inspired by Ian Paisley.](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7128424.stm)\* > > - > - See kids, this is how you use Wikipedia for research without your teacher finding out–just follow the links at the bottom of the entry. 😃 I’m aware of that. It still doesn’t change his heritage or culture. From what I understand, he’s a practicing Catholic. ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@MonkeyCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyCat)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-northern-ireland-so-underrepresented-in-pop-culture-and-misunderstood-in-america/813294/45 "2018-04-30T06:30:11Z")
Can I be an ignorant sop? I read a good deal of responses, I’m just belligerent. Americans don’t know shit about Northern Ireland because they don’t know shit about the world at large. Hell, my Swedish ex-hubby told me it was common Americans would ask him “Do you guys have cars in Sweden?” Seriously?! I suppose what I am trying to say is we’re not the brightest crayons in the box anymore. And it’s because we don’t think we have to be. (Which is a horrible misjudgment.) ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-northern-ireland-so-underrepresented-in-pop-culture-and-misunderstood-in-america/813294/46 "2018-04-30T08:43:10Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > So…Northern Ireland has slightly less than 2 million people living there. Together, so do the US states of New Hampshire and Vermont, which are neighboring states ftr. Could the average person from Northern Ireland name a single individual known to them to originate from New Hampshire or Vermont? This. As a brit I guess I should be annoyed that Americans don’t know more about NI, and refer to the meme about Americans not knowing geography. But point out most countries / states / provinces that have only 2 million people and I would be unable to name someone famous from the majority worldwide. And as for all the “Haven’t you heard of van morrison” or whatever, yes I’ve heard of the celebrity but didn’t know where he was born and raised. Which arguably is the way it should be: not the ignorance, but not caring about someone’s country of origin. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-northern-ireland-so-underrepresented-in-pop-culture-and-misunderstood-in-america/813294/47 "2018-04-30T10:46:37Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I’d take that bet. I’m sure they might know who Bernie Sanders is, but I doubt most Northern Irish would know what state he’s from. He was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY and didn’t move to VT until his 20s, so I don’t think it’s comparable to what the OP meant. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-northern-ireland-so-underrepresented-in-pop-culture-and-misunderstood-in-america/813294/48 "2018-04-30T11:30:10Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Because Electric Light Orchestra is my favorite band, I know that they (as well as Black Sabbath and the Moody Blues) are from Birmingham. Also Dexy’s Midnight Runners and Jasper Carrot, so it’s a mixed bag, really. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-northern-ireland-so-underrepresented-in-pop-culture-and-misunderstood-in-america/813294/49 "2018-04-30T13:48:54Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > Like someone else pointed out, NI is about the size of two smallish American States. Why would you expect NI to be better known in America than every ‘not California, New York, or Texas’ state in the US is in the UK or Europe? To take this even a step further - the Wayne County in Michigan has a population of 1,749,366, just under the population of Northern Ireland of 1,876,695. Do we need a thread about how people in Northern Ireland don’t know anything about Wayne County, Michigan? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-northern-ireland-so-underrepresented-in-pop-culture-and-misunderstood-in-america/813294/50 "2018-04-30T14:08:51Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > To take this even a step further - the Wayne County in Michigan has a population of 1,749,366, just under the population of Northern Ireland of 1,876,695. Do we need a thread about how people in Northern Ireland don’t know anything about Wayne County, Michigan? Maybe once they figured out that you were being cute and told them that that’s where Detroit is, they’d have better luck. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-northern-ireland-so-underrepresented-in-pop-culture-and-misunderstood-in-america/813294/51 "2018-04-30T15:35:53Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > He was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY and didn’t move to VT until his 20s, so I don’t think it’s comparable to what the OP meant. Well, sure, but to someone in the know he’s a Vermonter. My point is that it’s very unlikely folks from Northern Ireland are in the know on such a thing. The distinction between Vermont or Virginia, New Hampshire or New Mexico is really not something that a great many people get, certainly not as many as I think the SDMB folks might assume. I live in Canada, quite a bit more up on going in the USA than pretty much anywhere else in the world, and I’d bet dollars to dimes more than half of Canadians cannot tell you Bernie Sanders is from Vermont. As it happens I did know, but I’m just a politics nerd who’s heard a few people mention it, that’s all. If you asked me what city of state/territory an Australian celebrity was from, I wouldn’t have the first damn idea, and that’s kind of what you’d be asking a Northern Irish person to do if you quizzed them on Bernie Sanders’s residence. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-northern-ireland-so-underrepresented-in-pop-culture-and-misunderstood-in-america/813294/52 "2018-04-30T15:37:33Z")
I mean people know more about Northern Ireland than they know about some massive countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. How many Americans could tell you much about Nigeria, which is a country with 185million people? The question is why should we pay more attention to Northern Ireland? They’ve had a famous actor and a big band or two, but why should that matter all that much? ---
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-northern-ireland-so-underrepresented-in-pop-culture-and-misunderstood-in-america/813294/53 "2018-04-30T16:14:14Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > Plus, a lot of people from Nothern Ireland don’t identify as “Northern Irish”. Seamus Heaney, for example, is simply Irish. So, I’m pretty sure, is Liam Neeson. The OP starts out by talking about “Northern Ireland as a nationality”, but it isn’t really a nationality. > In so far as their’s a developing Northern Ireland identy, distinct from Irishness and Britishness, that’s a very recent thing, … Yeah, OP’s concept of a such thing as NI nationality isn’t entirely accepted even in NI, let alone anywhere else. If it’s a matter of not knowing that politically NI is and has now long been part of what came to be known as ‘The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’ after the rest of Ireland became independent, OK that’s a lack of factual knowledge. Not highly practically useful knowledge to most Americans, but still better to know stuff than not if possible. But in terms of culture and nationality it’s arguably just as valid to think of a single nation ‘Ireland’ to which unionists in NI don’t want to belong, but rather to Britain and in part from their heritage as outside settlers encouraged to come by the British. That history hasn’t simply disappeared just because the sectarian divide has thankfully become largely non-violent. The concept of NI as a country unto itself still competes with other concepts of what it NI means. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-northern-ireland-so-underrepresented-in-pop-culture-and-misunderstood-in-america/813294/54 "2018-04-30T16:54:33Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > I mean people know more about Northern Ireland than they know about some massive countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. How many Americans could tell you much about Nigeria, which is a country with 185million people? This really needs to be explained? Most Americans are familiar with a lot of pop culture and trivia about the UK, Ireland, Scotland, Canada, and to a lesser extent Australia, and even some countries like Jamaica, because they’re (mostly) English-speaking countries which have all had major musical, literary, or film contributions with nationwide appeal in America. Rock music is just one example. How would this situation possibly compare to Nigeria? It’s not the SIZE of the country that matters in terms of global influence. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-northern-ireland-so-underrepresented-in-pop-culture-and-misunderstood-in-america/813294/55 "2018-04-30T16:58:08Z")
But you’re right, in general Americans know nothing of the geography of the rest of the world. I’m perpetually having to explain the geography of Greece, Italy, and Northeastern Europe whenever the topic of my ancestry comes up…everyone here in this country loves to yack about their ancestry but nobody seems to bother to research the geography of those countries or their borders or their history. In general, Asian-Americans (both east and south) seem to know more about it than most Americans, but that could be because their family are more recent immigrants. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-northern-ireland-so-underrepresented-in-pop-culture-and-misunderstood-in-america/813294/56 "2018-04-30T17:17:04Z")
> [@Jacquernagy](#): > > Most Americans are familiar with a lot of pop culture and trivia about the UK, Ireland, Scotland, Canada, and to a lesser extent Australia, and even some countries like Jamaica, because they’re (mostly) English-speaking countries which have all had major musical, literary, or film contributions with nationwide appeal in America. Rock music is just one example. Other than the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, I’m not sure this is true. Certainly not for me. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-northern-ireland-so-underrepresented-in-pop-culture-and-misunderstood-in-america/813294/57 "2018-04-30T17:27:37Z")
Most Americans are familiar with Canadian rock groups like Rush, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell (who repeatedly sang about Canada), actors like Seth Rogen, hockey players, they’re aware of the Canadian “eh” thing and the other dialect jokes, and stereotypes, and probably are also vaguely aware of Quebec and Montreal. Most Americans are familiar with Australians. A number of Australian bands like AC/DC and INXS made an impact on pop culture, as have shows and popular movies set in Australia; most are aware of the indigenous people of Australia as well as the fact that they were descended from British “convicts” and other emigrants/indentured colonists; most Americans know that London is the capital of the UK and that Oxford is a university there, the BBC is their news and entertainment channel, they’re familiar with British movies like James Bond and many similar action/comedy series, as well as very serious actors like Sir Ian McKellen. Most are familiar at least vaguely with the Royal Family. Most Americans know that Scotland is north of England and that Ireland is an island near it. Maybe most couldn’t tell you where Wales is, though, or whether it’s part of the UK. I could go on and on with this. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-northern-ireland-so-underrepresented-in-pop-culture-and-misunderstood-in-america/813294/58 "2018-04-30T17:41:20Z")
> [@Jacquernagy](#): > > Most Americans are familiar with Canadian rock groups like Rush, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell (who repeatedly sang about Canada), actors like Seth Rogen, hockey players, they’re aware of the Canadian “eh” thing and the other dialect jokes, and stereotypes, and probably are also vaguely aware of Quebec and Montreal. Most Americans are familiar with Australians. A number of Australian bands like AC/DC and INXS made an impact on pop culture, as have shows and popular movies set in Australia; most are aware of the indigenous people of Australia as well as the fact that they were descended from British “convicts” and other emigrants/indentured colonists; most Americans know that London is the capital of the UK and that Oxford is a university there, the BBC is their news and entertainment channel, they’re familiar with British movies like James Bond and many similar action/comedy series, as well as very serious actors like Sir Ian McKellen. Most are familiar at least vaguely with the Royal Family. Most Americans know that Scotland is north of England and that Ireland is an island near it. Maybe most couldn’t tell you where Wales is, though, or whether it’s part of the UK. I could go on and on with this. Again, just speaking for myself and not “most Americans,” I didn’t know AC/DC was Australian, I thought they were American. I thought James Bond movies were made by Hollywood. I’m completely ignorant about INXS. I’ll grant you the part about the British Royal family, but their Northern Ireland’s Royal Family too, right? ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-northern-ireland-so-underrepresented-in-pop-culture-and-misunderstood-in-america/813294/59 "2018-04-30T19:38:57Z")
> [@Jacquernagy](#): > > This really needs to be explained? > > Most Americans are familiar with a lot of pop culture and trivia about the UK, Ireland, Scotland, Canada, and to a lesser extent Australia, and even some countries like Jamaica, because they’re (mostly) English-speaking countries which have all had major musical, literary, or film contributions with nationwide appeal in America. Rock music is just one example. > > How would this situation possibly compare to Nigeria? > > It’s not the SIZE of the country that matters in terms of global influence. Yes. This does really need to be explained. I see Morrissey and I see Liam Neeson and I’m not actually seeing why I should care more about Northern Ireland. I’m actually more familiar with Nigerian authors these days (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Nnedi Okorafor) than Northern Irish ones. And while I do like George Best, the Super Eagles will be in the World Cup this year. I may also point out that saying a small European nation of under 2 million should be more culturally relevant to the US than the largest African nation, and 7th largest in the world, of 185 million (of which there are plenty of American descendants - willing and unwilling) is somewhat problematic. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-northern-ireland-so-underrepresented-in-pop-culture-and-misunderstood-in-america/813294/60 "2018-04-30T19:58:28Z")
> [@Jacquernagy](#): > > This really needs to be explained? > > Most Americans are familiar with a lot of pop culture and trivia about the UK, Ireland, Scotland, Canada, and to a lesser extent Australia, and even some countries like Jamaica, because they’re (mostly) English-speaking countries which have all had major musical, literary, or film contributions with nationwide appeal in America. Rock music is just one example. Are you claiming that NI has had major musical, literary, or film contributions with nationwide appeal in America? What are they, exactly? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-northern-ireland-so-underrepresented-in-pop-culture-and-misunderstood-in-america/813294.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-northern-ireland-so-underrepresented-in-pop-culture-and-misunderstood-in-america/813294.md?page=4)