Why is there a stereotype that Irish people are uneducated and ignorant?

Question

They always seemed intelligent to me..where is the origin of this stereotype?

cheers albert

Mrs.Sparks..irish people dont look different from american people they have the same % of red haired people as other countries

Answer 1

My Father was Irish, and for many years at school I was the butt of every Irish "thick" joke, yet my dad was the most intelligent, funny, caring, loving, generous well educated man I know, and where I succeeded at school,and in the workplace, my tormenters all ended up in dead end jobs, or on the dole, but guess who taught me most of what I know today? I visited Galway last year, and the people are lovely, and far from "thick"And, both my wife,and I noticed how lovely the girls in particular are, they don't walk around with their bellies hanging out, or their bums on display, like the "chavvy" English girls, they were all beautiful, sweet and modestly dressed, AND well educated.

Answer 2

Well, this stereotype draws its roots more to the 1800's where there was a large influx of Irish immigrants into the Americans. Basically, of all the immigrating groups (i.e. the Germans, the French, the English) the Irish were the ones who ended up doing the unskilled labour. They also lived in the slums during this time and were particularly hated by American workers for their lack of..."class". This is where NINA (No Irish Need Apply) came into play, a sign posted in many factory doors during the 1830's up through the 1860's. So basically, the Irish lived in the ghetto and composed the lowest class of civilization.

As for does it hold true today... no. Rather, two of my most Irish friends are attending Ivy league colleges (Harvard and Dartmouth) and are actually upper class. Really, the origin for the stereotype was not so much the Irish personæ but rather the conditions in which they lived in: conditions that naturally didn't support very robust education systems.

By the dawn of the 20'th century, Irish were soon quite assimilated into the general population so this idea really subsided somewhat: although as you have proven, it still exists today in a rather mollified form.

Edit: Outside the United States, the stereotype particularly applies to similar reasons for those aforementioned. After the Potato famine in the early 1800's, the Irish faced heavy poverty, and the potence of the Catholic church really helped feed on ignorance (a byproduct of the lack of funding for public education) and create a poor and fanatic class. Although this generation was quite short, people in Europe associated it with Irish people in general.

Answer 3

well, they were a very unknowledgeable bunch way back (as well as other people in the world). Part of this, was due to the concepts given to them by the Catholic Church (not that other religions are particularly better). The CC does have this thing about telling people not to think for themselves and not to question and whatever you face in life is actually gods will and you should just accept it...so, not much progress going on there. The CC also stresses that the group is more important than the individual, which subconsciously contributed to a lot of belittling in Irish society and mal treatment of individuals. The economic degradation from the British policies created such a horrible environment that it affected people's attitudes and minds. of course, you know the great famine. Naturally, many people had some anger, depression, and had a chip on their shoulder from all that, which is always interpreted by others as a sign of ignorance. And truly, the Irish never had access to any educations for centuries until the late 20th century. But although they were ignorant they have also had a reputation for a long time as being very clever. In fact there's an expression called "dirty Irish trick," cause they were known to quite smart. Their ignorance wasn't their fault, they didn't have a choice or any access to other information to make another choice.

Answer 4

This is a new one on me! I am not Irish, But have had many,
many Irish friends through out my life time, The Irish were
usually thought of as funloving, liked their drink, and were
wonderful story tellers, my friends proved that to be true. And the term used to be used, shanty Irish, lace curtain Irish,(poor/
rich) Sad to say all nationalities seem to be sterotyped, I always heard the Polish were classed as what you say of the Irish, The Italians as gansters, etc. What ever it may be, how
ever any of it started I do not know for sure, But it is all hear say, none of it completely true, Once again it is bias and bigeted, just mean spirited. Blessings

Answer 5

The actual reason is because when the Irish first started coming to America they were not accepted. They were treated just as other races were. They were only allowed certain jobs and only allowed to live in certain places. They were looked down upon because they 1. looked different and 2. their heavy accents and way of speaking made them see uneducated. I know this because my entire family is Irish and my great grandfather would tell me the stories of his youth. How his family was treated and how his father was constantly belitted and treated poorly because he had red hair and a heavy accent. My great grandpa said when he was young he was not allowed to attend public school and he could never get a job because everywhere he went there would be signs on the windows stating "Irish need not apply"

Answer 6

When the Irish started to leave after the famine, they were all of these. now a days many of them love to play "stage Irish" However the source of some amusement for me when i am in Irelaand is the choice of words often used. The construction is acurate and the meaning clear, Just refreshingly different. I also know that often as an Englishman I am often having my leg pulled by them and to get my own back I play the silly bugger upperclass English twit. No is fooled but i think both of us enjoy playing to sterotype

Answer 7

To be honest I've never heard of that one. I can only imagine that the people who perpetuate this belief have themselves encountered Irish folk of the ilk that's mentioned but to class all or most Irish people into this category would surely be showing ignorance, don't you think?

Answer 8

that idea is long gone now as well it should be, the Irish economy is one of the top in Europe so they cant be all that stupid. it all came to be when the British ruled Ireland in Ireland and never gave the Irish a chance to get educated and kept them in poverty, in 1845 8 million Irish died as a result of famine and Britain never gave any aid what so ever. and lots of them died on the coffin ships to America. there are 4 provinces in Ireland one of which is named conaught, the worst for land and produce, and the British told the Irish to go to hell or to conaught, so i will let you decide where the stereo type came from.

Answer 9

maybe im ignorant but ive never heard that! I love the irish, especially their accents, they are great! Plus most of the irish people I know, including relatives by marraige are probably the nicest people I know aswell, they are alway happy an cheerful about everything! They are wicked.

Answer 10

I agree. Italians have far greater stereotypes. a lot of that has come from the action picture industry via fact the Nineteen Seventies. yet undergo in suggestions, it additionally relies upon on the place you reside. In an Italian community someplace interior the jap US, which would be greater of a topic count number than it would in, say....Montana. region and ethnic inhabitants determines the pressures on any ethnic team. I stay in northern Minnesota it relatively is over whelmingly Norwegian. there are a number of stereotypes right here besides. however the Norwegians have a amazing skill to chortle at themselves (unusual in any lifestyle), and that they convey maximum of their very own stereotypes.