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Original poster

Irish racism in England

677 replies

angell84 · 13/12/2019 11:22

I am shocked. I am half English, half Irish. My Irish mum lived in England for a long time, gave birth to us children there with her English husband, and then moved back to Ireland.

The reason that she always gave me for returning to Ireland, was that, "she could not take the nastiness to her anymore". She described one incident of many to me: she went to my brother's primary teacher in England, and said that he had lost something, he must have been six at the time, and the teacher said to her , "sure what do you expect - he is half Irish".

I always thought of it in an abstract way, I never really understood what she meant. Until I spent quite a long time in the U.K this year.

I was absolutely shocked at the hatred and nastiness, and calling Irish people stupid.

How can it be possible? The U.K stole alot of Ireland's land, committed mass genocide during the famine, eradicated the Irish language,

And yet instead of apologising, many people are going around calling Irish people stupid.

Isn't it nearly unbelievable? It would be like a German going up to a Jew and calling them stupid. That it was their fault , thhat everything happened the way it did.

I am really shocked

OP posts:
halloumi2019 · 13/12/2019 16:34

I’m not Irish but am a Londoner, I know 3 Irish women, we all used to work together and I’m friends with one of them. I would have never thought that they may experience racism! They all moved from Ireland to London (separately) and years later, are still living in London so just assumed that they like it here. My friend even moved to Ireland for a year as she was broke, but moved back as soon as she could!

It’s probably different for younger generations though, especially if you’re very attractive (like all 3 of the women I know). And London itself is quite welcoming in comparison to other regions.

GreyTS · 13/12/2019 16:38

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DoTheHop · 13/12/2019 16:41

@GreyTS Sure you've got the 'look'. Cos you're inbred innit. Can't escape those genes.

I've brown hair, brown eyes, have some freckles, but no moreso than any Brit I know. I speak a mainland European language and many people presume that's where I'm from. When I actually lived in that EU country, most people thought I was either Russian or Polish.

crosstalk · 13/12/2019 16:42

The Irish potato famine (I was amazed to find it also occurred in Germany and Poland and led to migrations then too) was undoubtedly exacerbated by British government reaction and anti Catholicism.
www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/famine_01.shtml

But it certainly wasn't the first ethnic cleansing. For that look to the Jews in Europe or the (British again) 1820s in Tasmania.

DoTheHop · 13/12/2019 16:45

But it certainly wasn't the first ethnic cleansing.

So you accept that it was in fact, ethnic cleansing, rather than a famine?

DoTheHop · 13/12/2019 16:47

Irish travellers are recognised as being an ethnic minority.

They are and want to be different to your average Irish Paddy.

I've been asked whether I was a gypsy when I stated I was Irish. Pure ignorance.

DoTheHop · 13/12/2019 16:50

But worse still is being mistaken for a Brit when abroad! The fucking horror! Grin

Ponoka7 · 13/12/2019 16:50

YANBU, there was a post recently that described someone as a 'pikey pervert' (he was a sex offender and happened to be Irish) but if it had said, Muslim/black/paki etc it would have been deleted.

Piglet89 · 13/12/2019 16:54

@GreyTS kiss your mother with that mouth?

MindyStClaire · 13/12/2019 16:55

I live in NI so can't comment on real life, but see it a lot on here. Brexit, baby name threads, "having a paddy" which appears several times a week etc.

DoTheHop · 13/12/2019 16:56

That your best comeback @piglet89? Grin

Offended your sensitivities?

thefattestchip · 13/12/2019 17:07

Most of the survivors of the Armada shipwrecks on the coast of Ireland were executed. Any who escaped would have been unlikely to hang around to try to impregnate Irish girls.

cadisainmduit2 · 13/12/2019 17:13

I am also half English and half Irish but brought up in England.

My over riding memory of our summer holidays “back home” was the hostility and racism we experienced from our Irish relatives - because my father had made the fatal mistake of marrying an English woman who was not a catholic and who did not sit happily in the kitchen with the women while the men went down the pub. So I think it cuts both ways. The difference is that the Irish people we encountered thought they were justified in their stance because we were the offspring of the oppressors.

I think that comparing the Great Famine to the twentieth century German genocide of the Jews demonstrates little or no understanding of either event. My Irish family used it to justify their racism towards us. Ironically family history research showed that the Irish side of the family were small time landowners during the famine and did quite well well out of it. I guess that explains why they were still living relatively prosperously in Ireland rather than emigrating to Britain or the States.

tttigress · 13/12/2019 17:18

Erm are you really sure about this?

Have Irish family, who have lived on the UK, what you are describing doesn't ring true.

PlinkPlink · 13/12/2019 17:30

I'm sorry you've experienced this.

This is one of those things I've just really never got... as in I've never felt prejudiced against Irish people - I always thought Ireland was a beautiful country with some wonderful traditions. I think those people who say things like that will always find something to be insulting about. If it wasnt the Irish, they'd find someone or something else to be disgustingly rude about.

I think each country in the UK has it's own wonderful traditions and histories. I see it as something to be celebrate.

I did however encounter quite a bit of anti-English sentiment in my uni days, in Cardiff. I remember a huge bit of graffiti just outside the train station 'FUCK THE ENGLISH' 😳 And later when I worked in the pub during a 6 Nations match between Wales and England. That wasn't fun. Quite intimidating.

I went up to a little village in West Wales called Newcastle Emlyn some years later and it was quite clear I was not welcome and I had to sit through hours of being ignored and not understanding a word of Welsh. It wasn't all like that, lots were welcoming but there were alot of uncomfortable moments.

brassbrass · 13/12/2019 17:48

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DoTheHop · 13/12/2019 17:52

the Irish experience is not the first and not comparable to the systematic extermination of the Jews in nazi Germany

an Irish life lost isn't worth as much as a Jewish life lost?

DoTheHop · 13/12/2019 17:53

genocide badge wearing trolls

Nice way to refer to the Irish posters here...........

DoTheHop · 13/12/2019 17:55

apologise for racist Irish people

Who are you referring to?

Voila212 · 13/12/2019 17:55

I think you'll find there are racist and nasty people in every country. I'm sure if you ask any minority in the UK and Ireland there will be a percentage who have experienced some form of prejudice and racism. I think it's unfair to tar an entire nationality because of a few.

Mummyoflittledragon · 13/12/2019 17:58

I had no idea to have a paddy had such sinister origins. It’s not a term I used as it’s something my mother used to say and it sounded very demeaning to the child.... let alone an adult having their land and therefore source of income stolen.

I used to work for an Irish company. A lot of the people working there were from rural areas in the republic and had strong accents. I loved trying to understand what they were saying when talking amongst themselves. It was almost like a foreign language. Nice memory.

I was recently ripped off by travellers - a weak moment after major surgery. Neither travellers nor Irish people wish to be confused with one another. Unfortunately I have now learnt to be wary of travellers. But this does not make discrimination against anyone acceptable.

DoTheHop · 13/12/2019 17:59

A cháirde.

Apparently, us Irish posters are 'genocide badge wearing trolls'.

Are you willing to accept that?

Is amadáin í/é.

DoTheHop · 13/12/2019 18:03

the Irish experience is not the first and not comparable to the systematic extermination of the Jews in nazi Germany

What's different?
It was carried out by the Germans not the Brits?
It involved the actual physical mass killing of the Jews rather than the systematic starvation of the Irish?
Different methods employed - same outcome.

ethelfleda · 13/12/2019 18:04

I see OP kicked off a twatty bunfight with a sweeping generalisation about English people and then fucked off to make room for the genocide badge wearing trolls. Get a grip. There will have been countless genocides dating from ancient history, the Irish experience is not the first and not comparable to the systematic extermination of the Jews in nazi Germany

I can’t believe you actually typed this. I am gob smacked.

DoTheHop · 13/12/2019 18:06

@ethelfleda It's a typical example of what we're trying to discuss....
Rise above it and report.