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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
National
David Kent

10 things you should never say to an Irish person - from thirty-three to the 'Car Bomb'

This island of ours is absolutely stunning. So it's no wonder that we get thousands of people travelling here every year to see the sights.

Ireland's tourism industry is set to boom again in the summer of 2022 after a couple of quiet years due to Covid.

With that in mind, we've come up with a handy cheat-sheet of things you should avoid saying when you get here.

1 - Any mention of potatoes unless they are food related

It's acceptable at a carvery to ask if an Irish person wants some potatoes.

It is less acceptable when you're meeting them for the first time.

If your go-to fact about Ireland is that we love potatoes, you need to broaden your horizons.

Spuds aren't even Irish - we got em from Peru!

2 - Any mention of leprechauns in any context

Just no.

This is arguably the worst American stereotype of Ireland, all coming from the 'luck of the Irish'.

Leprechauns are not the little green fellows that are caricatures with drinks in their hands, pipes in their mouths and trying to start fights.

In a lot of the folklore stories, they wear red coats and are somewhat violent with their practical jokes.

Lucky Charms aren't a thing over here either.

3 - Top of the morning to ya!

See the point about leprechauns.

We have no idea where this one even came from, but we want it to stop immediately.

We're looking straight at the US again, particularly the 'Hollywood Irish'.

If you say it while you're on these shores, you'll get a fairly short/blunt response.

4 - Oh, so you guys are British?

Great Britain consists of England, Scotland and Wales.

No part of Ireland is in those three countries.

5 - Would you like an Irish Car Bomb?

Picture this scene for us.

You're Irish and you own a bar in America.

You start serving an alcoholic drink and decide to call it the Twin Towers.

Or you open a café in Tokyo and name a dish the Hiroshima Bomb.

It just wouldn't happen.

So why do people do it for the 'car bomb'?

6 - You're Irish? My cousin's girlfriend's brother's best friend's hamster's uncle is Irish, so I'm 1/61st Irish!

We'll put a caveat in for this.

If you want to look up your heritage, that is absolutely fine by us.

People should be free to find a link with this country through their ancestry.

But just because you have a great-great-great-great-grandfather who came to America in the 1800's, does not make you Irish.

7 - Can you say thirty-three and a third?

"Hah, look at the little funny man saying the words different."

A man dressed as St Patrick leads the start of the annual St Patricks Day parade through the city centre of Dublin (AFP or licensors)

This is especially egregious from the likes of Brits, who can't say Siobhán/Gráinne/Niamh, and Americans, who don't even know the difference between crisps and chips (see! We love potato products!)

8 - Do you know (insert general Irish name)?

Okay, the chances are the answer to this question will be yes.

But it's still annoying to try and work out if we do indeed have a connection to one Irish woman you went to college with.

9 - Ah, the fighting Irish

True, our best Olympic sport is boxing - with a whopping 18 medals at the summer games.

We've had world champions like Steve Collins, Andy Lee and of course Katie Taylor.

But they're professional athletes who have trained for thousands of hours.

Your average Irish person will try to avoid a fight at nearly all costs.

10 - Oh, I love Bono!

Depending on how old the Irish person you come across is, this will cause controversy.

Those who were going through their teenage years in the 70s and 80s, when U2 were at their peak, will gladly engage.

But for anyone in the 90s/00s and even 10s will have a few choice opinions on him - mainly that Bono is a pox.

Tax issues, his poetry and THAT iPhone incident have all soured his reputation with Irish people over the years.

So tread carefully.

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