The dark side of St Paddy's day

I like an excuse to go out drinking as much as the next man, especially if the next man is a raging alcoholic, and the St Patrick's day celebrations in the US are a great excuse to go out, be merry, and listen to "diddly-diddly" music. As someone who has a lot of immediate family in Northern Ireland (my sister's side of the family and assorted nephews, neices and cousins) and who has spent quite a bit of time there, I laugh off many of America's strange perceptions of how the Irish celebrate St Patrick's day - leprachauns, green-dyed budweiser etc.


What I can't laugh off is those that joke about "Irish car bombs". The cocktail is about as Irish as Antonio Banderas - it was invented in Conneticut in the 1970s. As I witnessed over the weekend, many "Irish" American's think the name is hi-lar-ious. However, as many Americian tourists have found out, ordering one in a pub in Ireland itself, whether North or South, will simply earn you a steely stare, or possibly a slapping. The Irish don't think car bombs are the least bit funny!


During "the troubles" 3,526 people were killed, of whom 1855 were civilians. An additional 107,000 people were injured, crippled or maimed for life. This may not seem a huge number, but compare it to 341 US and UK deaths in the first Gulf war, or 3,517 US combat casulaties in the Iraq War.



Moreover, Ireland has a very small population and few families were uneffected by the troubles. To put it into context, one person in 50 of the Northern Irish population was killed or injured during the troubles and as a result hardly any families were uneffected. I personally remember having bomb squads and police visiting and evacuating my elementary school in England because of bomb threats, and classmates at school crying because their father (in the army) had been killed in Ireland.

So to the "real" Irish, an "Irish car bomb" is about as an amusing name for a cocktail as one called "the twin towers plane crash" or "the Sandy Hook massacre"... just sayin'...