Divided

I am mostly Irish among a multitude of other heritages. I belong, therefore, to a divided people. North and South, Catholic and Protestant. Native and diaspora. Conquerors and conquered. In ancient times, we held sway over much of Europe, Asia Minor, and Africa. Where did you think the Black Irish came from? We were also slaves. In the 17th century, England sold more than 300,000 of us into slavery. Among them were: " . . . over 100,000 Irish children between the ages of 10 and 14 . . . . taken from their parents and sold as slaves in the West Indies, Virginia and New England. In this decade, 52,000 Irish (mostly women and children) were sold to Barbados and Virginia. Another 30,000 Irish men and women were also transported and sold to the highest bidder. In 1656, Cromwell ordered that 2000 Irish children be taken to Jamaica and sold as slaves to English settlers." Until the famine, which never was, we were the tallest, most long-lived, and healthiest population in Europe.

And who are we today? We are the lace curtain Irish and plastic Paddies, with our March 17th green. We are the descendants of the other saviors of Western civilization (the Arabs had a better library). We are alcoholics with a gifted tongue. We are aging revolutionaries with a guilty conscience and aging cheerleaders with no conscience whatsoever.

We are the origin for the Southern accent in the US and the reason African-American female house slaves were called Mammy. Hello Mam! Tá grá agam duit. We are behind some of the worst race wars in this country. We are a complicated people.


But mostly, we're just Irish. Exported all over. Excellent wherever we landed. Full of wit and melancholy. Wordy and worldly. And wise.

Tomorrow everyone will celebrate us. I probably won't. It's amateur hour for those of us that have actually lived it.

But if I do go out tomorrow, I will most certainly head to Duffy's.