I haven't really watched it, so I was wondering why is the show called "The Black Donnellys"?

Question

From the previews, I know they are white. (I'm being serious)

Answer 1

It comes from the term Black Irish, which is a group of Irish (who usually have a darker complexion, hair and/or eyes). Irish oral traditions say that Black Irish are descended from another non-Celtic group of people that lived in Ireland prior to the Celts, and the Black Irish can trace their bloodline to them. Many people say that they originally came from the Iberian Peninsula, and may or not be Celts. There is some genetic relationships here according to some studies. There's a lot of other myths and stories as well regaridng Black Irish. SOme came from the US as well (many Protestants compared dark-haired Irish to blacks, for example, and Irish were treated similarly in the old days as blacks.

For the show the Black Donnelys, they use the oral myth where the Celts tried to wipe out the Black Irish that existed before the Celts and the Black Irish are the remnants (this is an old myth, but historically probably not true), and they are looked down on in Irish society (and some are still today).

In short, it's a very ambiguous term with several meanings and possible origins. Usually today, a person called Black Irish might be looked down upon as a bad seed (like in the Black Donnelys).

That being said, I'm rather unimpressed with the show. I was hoping for something better.

Here's a link to info on the term Black Irish.

Answer 2

it is called that because, as Joey Ice Cream explained, there were a group of irish who had black hair (irish are typically redheads). They were refered to as the Black Irish and some say that they had gypsy blood in them. Donnelly is the four brothers last name. The brothers are Black Irish. So, therefore, the show is called "The Black Donnellys".

Answer 3

I don't know. But as an American of Irish decent, I have a theory or two.

It could have something to do with the legend of the "Black Irish". The Black Irish have descendents who were Moorish sailors, (blacks from North Africa), whose ship crashed in Southern Ireland and they eventually married into the bloodlines there.

Or it could have something to do with their upbringing. For generations poor Irish in America have been called "the blackest white people in Europe" or "black on the inside". Some of this has to due with the bigotry that they used to have to endure from the WASPs in the old world and the new. Back in the 1800's and early 1900's, the "real" Americans looked upon the Irish as almost as bad as blacks. They often featured them in newspaper cartoons in ways like the blacks were featured, half-human, and half-ape creatures. Of course all such racism went out around the time of JFK's election but some poor Irish-Americans today might use a term like "black Irish" to scare up some traditional "blue-collar" pride in themselves.

Answer 4

Donnelly is the name of the family

But the Black part refers to the Black Irish

It's a really good show you should watch it!

Answer 5

At the beginning of the show, the narrator Joey Ice Cream, says that people claim that Black Irish have Spanish or Gypsy blood, but his grandmother told him that there was a race of dark haired people who lived in Ireland before the Celts invaded and the Celts never could get rid of them all.

Basically, I think it's dark haired Irish people with fair skin and light-colored eyes.

Answer 6

Yes they are.

First of Donelly is an Irish name that has been around for centuries.

The black part comes from two different things. One is that it is a term for "blackguards" or people who are not on the up and up. The other is for the fact that there is a term called Black Irish and it is intended for those who are Irish but not the orange-haired Irish that everyone thinks about. It is for those that have the "dark" swarthy looks. Dark brown hair and eyes on an Irish person.

Answer 7

Black as in "black sheep".
Also the term Black Irish are not actually "black".

I

Answer 8

Good point. Maybe they meant it in a poetic sense, because they have dark lives...? Or maybe it's the leather jackets. Who knows.

Answer 9

I was thinking that exact same thing!!