I’m resolved to read that tomorrow, it’s the least you deserve…
I always liked that scene at the end of trainspotting…where ewans character looks forward to a time of equality; when we’ll all just be wankers. I think, as a society (and as a forum) we’re getting there.
If this woke shite gets it’s way we’ll all just be wankers, but we still wont be equal.
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Supposedly during the 1840s a lot of people were so poor they couldn’t even afford the boat and they made up a lot of the ones who stayed. The 1840s were a lot poorer than the early 20th century.
I’d be surprised if that was true but maybe so. I always thought what I was saying was some of the reason the Irish got such a reputation for violence and ‘stupidity’ in us and uk. There was a hard, uneducated edge to the clientele emigrating. Similar to the way people at home used to tut tut at the ‘scumbags’ ‘disgracing’ us in Australia during the recession.
Decent post. Most of what you describe stemmed from the penal laws and Irish Catholics, even excluding the famine, seeking freedom not that different to countless other European ethnic groups fleeing oppression in the same century. You do realize that the Irish who emigrated to the US in the 19th century had to endure a significant level of racism, at least on a par as they suffered under the tan cunts, and often worse. Yet they by and large did OK for themselves and went on to play a significant part in the evolution of the US from the days of slavery to the bastion of democracy and opportunity it became?
The few million who emigrated have grown to 33 million, while the five or six million who remained in Ireland essentially stagnated up to very recently. And it was American investment in Ireland in the 70s and 80s that dragged it out of the economic stone ages. Ireland has a lot to thank the US for, both historically and contemporarily.
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And yet you’re obsessed with American culture and politics. Which groups do you identify with over there. Do the Hispanics, Native Americans or Blacks have much in common with your Monaghan bog white skin, red headed privileged life?
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I want you to cut this lad a bit of slack. He’s trying to rationalise things, he’s put his faith in the prevailing wind and he’s placed his hope and trust in those who he assumes share his own good nature. He’s on the point of realising that nothing worth knowing can ever really be understood, articulated or rationalised.
I have great hopes for @Tank
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Did he answer my question from a few days back?
He’ll hate you for saying that, but hate and love are…etc
What question was that mate?
This one:
I suppose he would say he doesn’t deny being a racist, which is fair enough really.
I gave you a lengthy and excellent response which you didn’t even read.
I actually can’t believe you just asked me if I answered that question or not, that’s fucking outrageous.
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Fair play to you, you’re doing your utmost to stick to this ‘character’. The pretend kids and the pretend 5k you ran are tremendous touches. Bravo
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I suppose even if you’re off the mark it’s another way of saying I was talking unmitigated shite
I think you’ve overthought some things there. There may have been some that chose not to go to America out of principle, but very few I’d say. More likely those that didn’t go were too poor or well enough not to have to go, and I’m sure connection to home meant a lot to many too. I’m guessing you read that Stephen Collins article about O’Connell recently? Good article and then he ends it with “all lives matter”. What a gobshite. “Irish America” nowadays is further away from Ireland than ever and is getting further and diminishing rapidly, mainly due to the tap of Irish immigrants having been turned off. It’s increasingly conservative and less easy for Irish people to see anything to identify with in it.
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My own fault for clicking into the tweet, but this came up on my twitter timeline and obviously twitter is a complete cesspit, but how can people honestly publicly say some of the shite there? You’re black so automatically you cannot be Irish? It’s absolutely disgusting how people will judge a person based on their skin colour rather than their upbringing, place of birth or family history.
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It’s bizarre. What the fuck is wrong with them? Some will try to tell you we don’t have racism in Ireland. That they feel entitled to post that shite publicly too. A dig in the mouth would be a good response for many of them.
I don’t read anything by Stephen Collins. The big smug prick head on him in his profile photo puts me off. I’ll look for it now.
Politics asides, O’Connell seems like a complete a cunt. I’m not sure if there is another thread to discuss it. He was a pacifist who personally killed men in duels. As far as I can tell the duel with the guy he killed was because O’Connell was riding another man’s wife but perhaps @Thomas_Brady could explain what happened better. Then goes lecturing people about pacifism.
He’s supposed to have 60+ children out of wedlock as well, all while married to his “sweetheart”. There’s only 1 illegitimate kid that’s definitely confirmed, to a very poor Dublin lady (she was a cleaner or something like that). O’Connell fucked her off completely and never gave her a penny for the kid. This is in the mid 1800s when there was no social welfare. She could easily have fallen into prostitution. A wealthy man in Ireland at that stage could do nearly whatever he wanted with the poor peasant women, it would be like a millionaire arriving in Kenya today. O’Connell took full advantage and was dangerous for every woman he met.
Also allowing churches to be dedicated to him and so on. He comes across as having an ego the size of Donald Trump. Like no praise would ever be enough for him
It annoys me reading historians and commentators today who are on the “anti-republican” or “non-violent” side of Irish nationalism gloss over that and continue to treat the guy like he’s a saint. I’m thinking specifically of the Sindo crew around Eoghan Harris but it’s all-pervasive. O’Connell married for love, it’s a beautiful love story. He could do no wrong. There’s a huge fragility to those people.
I’d describe O’Connell as an “idealistic psychopath”
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