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AIBU?

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Original poster

Ah you're a Catholic!

435 replies

Appleday11 · 24/02/2026 19:50

I moved to England to work last year. I'm Irish.

When I arrived at my workplace, one of my colleagues said "Ah you are Irish, this is a nice city, there is a Catholic church down the road that you can go to".

I think she was trying to be helpful but I thought it was quite bizarre. I'm not Catholic and I told her so.

Second time - I was out in the pub with a mixed group of people. Some of them I had never met before. One man said "ah you're Irish, you're a Catholic!" I told him Im not.

Third time- I was at another group. A woman said to me "you are Irish. Ah so you like such and such. And you are a Catholic". I told her I am not.

I found it strange as I have never really thought about religiom. Do some people here think that all Irish people are Catholics? My family were not religious at all and I was never brought up any religion

OP posts:
Goldenbear · 25/02/2026 01:34

Appleday11 · 25/02/2026 01:31

Ah I just looked back and read that you are in London. I thought so. London in general is very multi cultural and accepting

My Irish mother lived in London in the 1970s. She liked it and had friends there. No abuse for being Irish.

She and my dad the decided to move to a smaller UK city. She said she was shocked when she moved there. She recieved such abuse. She told me that she went to a social group. She forgot to do something. The leader said "well what do you expect, you are Irish. You are stupid"

Her neighbour said to her 'ai hate the irish but you are not too bad".

She said in her workplace the people would make jokes about her being stupid and irish all the time

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I grew up in London and lived there until a young adult. I'm still in the south east and just don't recognise this old fashioned outlook as I am still in a very diverse and secular area.

Carla786 · 25/02/2026 01:34

Appleday11 · 24/02/2026 20:58

There are also a lot of Buddhists, Muslims and Christians in India

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13% of India is Muslim, but only 2% Christian and less than 1% Buddhist. I get what you mean, and India is so huge that that's still a lot of people. But if someone is from India, especially from areas that aren't Muslim or Sikh heavy like, say, the Punjab, or Christian heavy (Kerala) etc it would be reasonable to assume they were at least raised Hindu.

I agree that 'Ah you're a Catholic, here's this church' etc is lazy stereotyping.

DuchessDandelion · 25/02/2026 01:34

I never assume a person's religion but I'd think an Irish person was more likely to be Catholic than anyone else I know. Although my Irish friends are atheist, not that it ever occurred to me to ask

Most of what we see of Ireland on TV involves Irish Catholics so I'm not surprised the assumption is so strong. Most of what we know about recent Irish history involves religion...Even now, I think English people expect most Irish to be culturally Catholic if not religiously so.

Original poster
Appleday11 · 25/02/2026 01:33

Goldenbear · 25/02/2026 01:31

My point is that the English are not some homogenous group of people that the Irish have conflict with. The English have a very diverse heritage and as such they don't see themselves as responsible for that why would they if their heritage for example was Ashkenazi Jewish that fled the programs in Ukraine. Or for example, I have Danish heritage my family were not English oppressors of the Irish.

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Yes im sure i didnt write that all English do this. I wrote some.

I have never experiemced abuse for being Irish in spain, Italy, France, Germany, Greece, USA.

I HAVE received abuse for being Irish in England.

OP posts:
Goldenbear · 25/02/2026 01:32

Appleday11 · 25/02/2026 01:24

Are you in London?

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No

Original poster
Appleday11 · 25/02/2026 01:31

Appleday11 · 25/02/2026 01:24

Are you in London?

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Ah I just looked back and read that you are in London. I thought so. London in general is very multi cultural and accepting

My Irish mother lived in London in the 1970s. She liked it and had friends there. No abuse for being Irish.

She and my dad the decided to move to a smaller UK city. She said she was shocked when she moved there. She recieved such abuse. She told me that she went to a social group. She forgot to do something. The leader said "well what do you expect, you are Irish. You are stupid"

Her neighbour said to her 'ai hate the irish but you are not too bad".

She said in her workplace the people would make jokes about her being stupid and irish all the time

OP posts:
Goldenbear · 25/02/2026 01:31

Appleday11 · 25/02/2026 01:19

Its not school kids in general who give the abuse. When I was a teenager visiting England, it was always the old men and women that would abuse me. Parents of friends. People at bus stops

they would Call all Irish people stupid etc.

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My point is that the English are not some homogenous group of people that the Irish have conflict with. The English have a very diverse heritage and as such they don't see themselves as responsible for that why would they if their heritage for example was Ashkenazi Jewish that fled the programs in Ukraine. Or for example, I have Danish heritage my family were not English oppressors of the Irish.

Original poster
Appleday11 · 25/02/2026 01:24

Goldenbear · 25/02/2026 01:23

I mean again, yes in parts of the UK but there was certainly a cultural melting pot where I lived, music tastes, food you ate, there certainly wasn't segregation this was late 90s early 00s and there isn't where I live now.

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Are you in London?

OP posts:
Goldenbear · 25/02/2026 01:23

Appleday11 · 25/02/2026 01:13

Ethnic diversity doesnt mean less racism though.

There is a good bit of diversity where i Live in England. My muslim coleague tells me that he is often told to fu"ck off home.

They recently had a protest in the city against immigrants coming here.

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I mean again, yes in parts of the UK but there was certainly a cultural melting pot where I lived, music tastes, food you ate, there certainly wasn't segregation this was late 90s early 00s and there isn't where I live now.

Original poster
Appleday11 · 25/02/2026 01:21

tamade · 25/02/2026 01:20

Are the people asking/assuming quite religious themselves? If it is a big thing in their lives they might assume it is something others care about and then assume away from there...

I don't know. I didn't ask!

OP posts:
tamade · 25/02/2026 01:20

Are the people asking/assuming quite religious themselves? If it is a big thing in their lives they might assume it is something others care about and then assume away from there...

Original poster
Appleday11 · 25/02/2026 01:19

Goldenbear · 25/02/2026 01:17

Equally, if you went to a school like I did with a vast array of ethnic identities, I think you'd appreciate that many wouldn't recognise this as their conflict at all, even though they were born in England.

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Its not school kids in general who give the abuse. When I was a teenager visiting England, it was always the old men and women that would abuse me. Parents of friends. People at bus stops

they would Call all Irish people stupid etc.

OP posts:
Goldenbear · 25/02/2026 01:17

Appleday11 · 25/02/2026 00:59

That poster was Irish. The English dont hate the South Koreans do they? However some English people definitely hate the Irish. We have a history of conflict between us.

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Equally, if you went to a school like I did with a vast array of ethnic identities, I think you'd appreciate that many wouldn't recognise this as their conflict at all, even though they were born in England.

Original poster
Appleday11 · 25/02/2026 01:13

Goldenbear · 25/02/2026 01:10

The point they were making is that the English are racist which just demonstrates a complete lack of knowledge about many areas of the UK. That level of ethnic diversity is not something that would have been the same in 90s Ireland let alone now!

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Ethnic diversity doesnt mean less racism though.

There is a good bit of diversity where i Live in England. My muslim coleague tells me that he is often told to fu"ck off home.

They recently had a protest in the city against immigrants coming here.

OP posts:
Goldenbear · 25/02/2026 01:10

Appleday11 · 25/02/2026 00:59

That poster was Irish. The English dont hate the South Koreans do they? However some English people definitely hate the Irish. We have a history of conflict between us.

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The point they were making is that the English are racist which just demonstrates a complete lack of knowledge about many areas of the UK. That level of ethnic diversity is not something that would have been the same in 90s Ireland let alone now!

Original poster
Appleday11 · 25/02/2026 01:06

Goldenbear · 25/02/2026 01:04

But that doesn't follow as 42% of the UK population report no religion compared to 14% in Ireland. Equally, the UK is far more religiously diverse, for example, I in an area where many identify as Jewish or culturally Jewish. In Ireland there is a very small Jewish population in comparison.

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The UK is still a Christian majority country. People have said on this thread - if any country has a majority religion , its ok to assume that everyone from that country is that religion.

OP posts:
ValueofNothing · 25/02/2026 01:05

ErrolTheDragon · 25/02/2026 00:28

You might just possibly be voicing some outdated and stereotypical ideas there.Grin

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They can't be. Only English people would do such a thing!

Goldenbear · 25/02/2026 01:04

Appleday11 · 25/02/2026 00:57

Why say it though. Its a lack of social manners. I could presume from the statistics that most English people I meet are likely Christian. I would never assume though!

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But that doesn't follow as 42% of the UK population report no religion compared to 14% in Ireland. Equally, the UK is far more religiously diverse, for example, I in an area where many identify as Jewish or culturally Jewish. In Ireland there is a very small Jewish population in comparison.

Original poster
Appleday11 · 25/02/2026 01:02

Goldenbear · 25/02/2026 00:56

82.3% identify as Christian, are they all old people? You mention Spain, I would imagine the stats are higher there and Italy presumably some countries are perceived as very religious. I don't think it's a shocker at all!

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Where are you getting 82.3 from? The most recent survey said thst 69% identify as Catholic and about 4 percent as church of ireland ( protestant)

OP posts:
Original poster
Appleday11 · 25/02/2026 01:01

Goldenbear · 25/02/2026 00:58

Yes, I agree I have an Irish colleague who was explaining Catholic funerals in Ireland to me as it is totally different process and much more religious.

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Again not all. My Irish mother has told me what she wants to happen when she dies. She doesnt want a funeral at all.

OP posts:
Original poster
Appleday11 · 25/02/2026 00:59

Goldenbear · 25/02/2026 00:51

This is hilarious, I can guarantee being a teenager in late 90s West London was a much more diverse place to grow up with kids at school whose heritage or religious affiliation was much more culturally diverse e.g. South Korean, Chinese, polish, Turkish, Czech, Jamaican, Jewish than late 90s Ireland let alone in 2026!

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That poster was Irish. The English dont hate the South Koreans do they? However some English people definitely hate the Irish. We have a history of conflict between us.

OP posts:
TheOchreJoker · 25/02/2026 00:58

NotMeAtAll · 25/02/2026 00:30

Racial abuse has become a huge problem in Ireland. One things victims say is that people won't speak up. It's often gangs of feral scumbags, so people are probably afraid, but still...

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I did say Ireland also has these issues however what I experienced and witnessed in England was on another level.
I do stand by Irish being more likely to speak up, it's what suprised me so much about the English locals, so many more people around but much less outspoken when it came to harassment.

I was expecting people to help us because I'm used to speaking up or seeing other people do so back home in Ireland, so the fact not one person batted an eyelid when during any incident we were a part of or witnessed happen to others was a shock to me, especially so when shop/restaurant staff stayed silent.

I think the collective silence by the English public is why we experienced and seen it happen to others as much as we did, no one challenges these people's behaviour whereas in Ireland there's a higher chance someone will speak up.

Goldenbear · 25/02/2026 00:58

FloofBunny · 25/02/2026 00:55

I know a lot of Irish people and they're all rabidly Catholic, so yeah, I'd think there was about a 70% chance you would be, if you're from the Republic. I wouldn't say it out loud though.

I mean, Irish people are famously Catholic. I live in an Irish area and there are saints parades throughout the summer and three Catholic churches within spitting distance. Even people who don't count themselves as religious have Catholic funeral masses and a certain amount of guilt, lol!

Yes, I agree I have an Irish colleague who was explaining Catholic funerals in Ireland to me as it is totally different process and much more religious.

Original poster
Appleday11 · 25/02/2026 00:57

Goldenbear · 25/02/2026 00:53

But at the moment in 2026 the percentages are very high, I don't think people should make such bold remarks but it's not really a surprise that people think his as the stats back it up!

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Why say it though. Its a lack of social manners. I could presume from the statistics that most English people I meet are likely Christian. I would never assume though!

OP posts:
Goldenbear · 25/02/2026 00:56

Appleday11 · 25/02/2026 00:47

Thats because people in Ireland didnt have any choice to be anything except Catholic for a long time. The Catholic church had huge power. They affected police and government decisions. They ran most schools and communities.

Now that the Cstholic church has lost its power, a huge amount of young people in Ireland are not Catholic.

The older generation remains Catholic. When they die out, the percentages will be a lot different.

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82.3% identify as Christian, are they all old people? You mention Spain, I would imagine the stats are higher there and Italy presumably some countries are perceived as very religious. I don't think it's a shocker at all!