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Jackie Kennedy disliked the Irish and cooking Irish stew

Said she considered them ‘so bitter’ towards everyone else

By
BRIAN O"CONNOR,
IrishCentral.com Contributing Writer
Published Tuesday, September 13, 2011, 7:13 AM
Updated Tuesday, September 13, 2011, 2:00 PM

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See more: John F Kennedy  

Jackie and John F Kennedy
Jackie and John F Kennedy
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Jackie Kennedy had little time for John F. Kennedy’s close Irish friends and considered them very “bitter” about everyone else in the Kennedy inner circle.

In a new book "Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy,"  by  Kennedy aide and historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr written soon after Jack Kennedy was killed, she spoke out against the Irish Americans who surrounded her husband.

Speaking of those close to Kennedy she stated ‘there was the Irish Mafia... who now, some of them, at least from the Irish-- are just so bitter about everyone else. ”

She also considered remaking the menu so that the White House kitchen served French food rather than a traditional Irish dish, a major step-up she said.

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“French food is a plus instead of a minus-- that you don’t like , stay in a kitchen all day making Irish stew.” she noted.

She was also disdainful of Teddy Kennedy’s Irish style of political campaigning. "Jack never said ‘Hi Fella' or put his fat palm under your armpit , or any of that sort of business” she noted

She also stated that the Irish suffered from a persecution complex. “there seems to be all these Irish-- they always seem to have a persecution thing about them” she said.

She portrayed Kennedy as quite a devout Catholic.

Every night she said he’d "come in and kneel on the edge of the bed --cross himself  and say his prayers. -- it was just like a little childish mannerism,” she said.

​
See more: John F Kennedy , Jackie Onassis , Irish American
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39 Comments

15 - 39 | See all comments

Woodman | Sep 18, 2011, 09:55 PM EDT
The Irish feel persecuted because THEY ARE AFTER OUR LUCY CHARMS!!

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Woodman | Sep 18, 2011, 08:14 PM EDT
The ONLY REASON the IRISH FEEL PERSECUTED is cause EVERYONE IS OUT TO GET US!!

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Peadar62 | Sep 16, 2011, 11:28 AM EDT
Pittsburghkid.I am sorry but..George Walker Bush is as English as could be..

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PhoenixZouave | Sep 15, 2011, 09:21 AM EDT
My late mother was Democratic commiitte woman in Pennslyvania for many years. She was in the Oval office with FDR, Truman, Kennedy,and Carter. She said Truman swore like a trooper,didn't take crap from anyone, but was a true Democrat. FDR was a regal, but friendly Brahamin Blue Blood. Kennedy was an old tome Irish pol who could turn the blarney up and down at will, but Jackie was a complete snob. Actually, although she didn't like the Carter's political stance too well, she said Jimmy and Roslyn were the nicest, friendliest, couple in the White House

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Rebelforce | Sep 15, 2011, 09:18 AM EDT
I was very surprised to hear Jacqueleen say she "despised" the French. "They are not very nice people" she says. I had always assumed she took pride in her French ancestry. Apparently not. Then I remembered reading once that Jacqueleen Kennedy was so proud when she discovered she had Irish-Catholic ancestors on her maternal side.

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bogsidebunny | Sep 15, 2011, 01:27 AM EDT
WOW, Jackie was smarter than I gave her credit for!

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kateomprint | Sep 14, 2011, 04:15 PM EDT
I really don't care that she didn't like us or that she didn't like Irish Stew. It is too far back for anybody to really give a sh****e

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AengusOg | Sep 13, 2011, 09:19 PM EDT
It was the same old trite and hackneyed story, impoverished nobility marrying nouveau riche for their money and then looking down on them.

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Stiofain | Sep 13, 2011, 08:54 PM EDT
My father came to America in 1918, Republican,protestant background (he hated all religion,except Quakers). It made no difference if he was a "Prod", "All dem micks are alike, lazy and drunk!" For me St. Patrick's Day in grade school, "The Irish are just niggers turned inside out!" Gee, I guess that might,possibly,give one a persecution complex.

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jamieLM | Sep 13, 2011, 06:44 PM EDT
Jackie was very proud of her French roots, not so much of her Irish ones. She liked people to think she was descended from the French aristocracy. When JFK was elected, the genealogists traced her ancestors back to a Michael Bouvier who was a peddler, or something like that, from the working class. Jackie was NOT pleased. She'd earlier had someone write up a fake book on her illustrious French pedigree. I think she thought the Kennedys were a loud, rowdy, brash clan without a lot of class. Jackie knew that JFK was no saint before she married him, and she was never really comfortable with some of his family members. She probably wouldn't have eaten, let alone cooked, Irish stew if it had been served on a silver platter. She loved ALL things French.

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seanomelbourne | Sep 13, 2011, 06:34 PM EDT
Poor little "precious pup"jackie.Life was so hard for her in the rarified air of Hyannis port or Martha's vineyard. Life dealt her a dud hand.

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Pittsburghkid | Sep 13, 2011, 05:44 PM EDT
Kennedys are not the only Irish in America. Reagan's father was Irish Catholic, until he died. Reagan was permitted to chose his religion at age 12. Herbert Walker, an Irish Catholic, was the grandfather of George Herbert Walker Bush. Herbert Walker disowned his daughter for marrying a Protestant. They must have made up because his in the middle of Bush's name. George Walker Bush looks very Irish, but he never made a big deal about it like Obama.

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LainieMcEl | Sep 13, 2011, 04:46 PM EDT
Many of the so-called aristocrats married for the all the wrong reasons and then wonder why they weren't happy. Jackie was a very smart lady and knew what she was geting into when she married into the Kennedy clan. And she didn't HAVE to put up with his womanizing...she chose to put up with it.

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hooligan6a | Sep 13, 2011, 04:05 PM EDT
CitizenWhy, I am an Irish-American, rabid right winger and proud of it. It's much better then being a wimpy liberal.

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ariagirl | Sep 13, 2011, 03:15 PM EDT
Can any of you imagine what life was like for this woman from the time she married JFK? His family was brash and overbearing and that's why they wanted her to add a little refinement to their brash bunch. They U-S-E-D her. She had to put up with that, her husband being a womanizer, then all the sycophants at the White House. Actually, at the time he died, he was starting to mellow and it's a well known fact that they were growing closer. She had just lost a baby in August and I think JFK began looking at Jackie differently because of it. She was part Irish, as am I. So it's not because I hate the Irish. I embrace my heritage. This poor woman just had too many outside forces against her. She was kind of like Priscilla Presley with Elvis. She never had her husband to herself.

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