Do these St Patrick's Day t-shirts depict Irish as drunk and dumb?

These t-shirts depict the wearer as drunk and dumb. No Irish person would wear this tat so we'll leave it up to other.

These t-shirts are no more offensive than the leprechaun at Notre Dame games, or the constant barrage of I`m Irish too, my family 10 generations back came from.... no one is forcing us to wear them all we do is smile politely like we do with the ohhh your really Irish and let it roll off our backs, and laugh loudly in private

pittsburghkid asks 'if you can't laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at?' It's obvious - other people.

o.k. - I took a beating from some of you about the T-shirts - but you have to admit - I took a bit or more that with of 7 or more seasons of The Sopranos which I had to sit through and watch as friends took great joy in pointing out that all Italians came from that vein. God knows how I hate the mafia and all that the pain it brought to Italy and this country. All of you are correct in saying that I should never wear a T-shirt that would depict a Mob credo or anything that would praise their criminal activities, nor should any Irish person wear a T-shirt that praises the destruction that drink can bring. I concede. So, here's to all the marvelous Irish and Italian writers and artists that have graced this earth, and all the great contributions and beauty I have seen from Ireland - let's celebrate them instead, and let's hope that my children, albeit only 1/2 of which they are Irish, will wear a T-shirt that will make them proud of that heritage!

It should be remembered that Guinness sells a vast amount of stuff--T-shirts, caps, mugs, scarfs and I don't know what else. It gets on my nerves when I go to Dublin and I see all that Guinness merchandise in the souvenir stores. I complained about it once, saying that Ireland had a rich history and culture and should not be marketed by a booze company, but the store clerk was Spanish and didn't understand what I was saying. I guess that pretty much sums up where Ireland is right now. I would appeal to folks who visit Ireland not to buy that Guinness garbage (I'm talking about the stuff they market, not the drink, though to be honest I prefer the Cork stouts, Beamish & Murphys).

In Ireland if you don't drink a lot there is something wrong with you."He's good for nothing, he's not even able to drink". I thing it's changing slowly.

IrishCentral needs to look at itself, they are just as guilty of promoting these stereotypes. Last year at this time i challenged IrishCentral when they ran a similar story about t-shirts with drunken Leprechauns, while on the very same page IrishCentral were running ads selling St. Pat's day cards featuring the Irish as drunken Leprechauns!! On any given day you will see a drink related article on IrishCentrals front page. This is the image they are promoting to the world of Ireland then they complain when others do the same!

To others perhaps. But they reflect the reality that we are known internationally as a nation of drunks. Like it or not.

Of course, they are all offensive and only the young, the stupid, or the non-irish would buy and/or wear these ridiculous t-shirts. I like what faberm1 said....wear something with the Irish language on it and engage in conversation about your roots.

Norinalundy.You might not take offense to be called a mob wife.But Italians would if they were T-shirts with Italian-American criminal.Or if young Black-Americans wore T-shirts saying "I'm a Proud Uncle Tom Nig*er on crack" on Martin Luther King,Jr Day.Or if young British people went around with T-shirts saying "I'm a Proud English Football Hooligan" on the up coming Queen's Diamond Jubilee.Maybe some people here like to think "I'll rise above above this"But it isn't funny when young Irish people get blind drunk and it isn't funny when young blacks take crack and it isn't funny when English people riot and kill innocent people in football stadiums.All those things can and do cause serious harm to young people.To have my heritage associated with excessive drinking by a few young Irish idiots and have the MEDIA jump all over it YEAR IN,YEAR OUT is very annoying.More so from an Irish born person who never had a family drink problem or in the extended family for that matter.An Irish born person in Ireland wouldn't be seen dead wearing T-shirts of that nature.Irish born people wouldn't find it funny.

I think the shirts trivialize what it means to be Irish born or ethnically Irish. I like the idea of wearing a jersey from the County of your origin to celebrate the day. Or, better yet. Caithigi giota beag eadaí oraibh le rud beag scriobh air as Gaeilge. (Wear a bit of clothing with something written on it in Irish). It's a great way to start a conversation about your roots. I wear one that says, "Ní Eireannach mé, ach tá Gaeilge agam". (I'm not an Irish citizen, but I have the Irish Language). That's pretty unusual in Texas!

norinalundy, I don't know that these stupid t-shirts will urge the population to drink, but they certainly reinforce the notion the alcoholism is the major Irish contribution to civilization. Tragi-comically, this notion is joyfully reinforced by a lot of Americans who think that binge drinking reinforces their "Irish" cred.

Of course I find these T-shirts funny, but I have to somewhat agree with Eileen Murphy. As the wife of a person who suffered through a person who drank and never deemed it a problem, well it was tough, and putting more emphasis on "such a sad state of affairs", it is recognizable and understandable. I didn't have it in my family, and it was hard to put up with it for my children's sake (whom I fondly call "gimmicks", and who had to live with seeing their father out of control too many times in their young lives.) Will these T-shirts urge the population to drink? Maybe. But probably not. Did prohibition stop people from drinking? Definitely not! Did all my yelling, crying, and screaming stop my children from drinking? No. The way I tried to live my life, and what they saw in their lives, from their family and their friends' families, is what finally tempered their desire to follow in their father's family's footsteps, and made them responsible drinkers. (BTW, things have vastly improved in that area with their Dad!). I am not Irish, but I would not take offense at those shirts. However, I am Italian, and do not take offense at being labeled a Mob wife, etc., because I know that I am not, God knows, I would have so much better nails, and would be able to afford better manicures! Alas, I do understand the implications, and feel that if one does not want to wear them, then it is more than understandable as to why. Moreover, if people want to wear stupid T-shirts for one day, let them do so, no one will remember anyway. If they want to get piss-drunk, well, then, let them have a hang-over the next day, they will remember, at least for a week or so. Let's face it, all the preaching in the world will not stop them. Unfortunately, they have to learn on their own that this dis-ease is something that has to be cured by the person who has it by their own volition, and no amount of T-shirts, prohibition, clergymen, etc. could ever stop them.

As long as there's a market for these T-shirts, they're going to be produced for those who love to wear this kind of stuff. I find these T-shirts stupid, so I wouldn't buy or wear them.

If you think the tee-shirt wordings in this article are offensive, take a walk by a Spencer's Gifts store a few days before St. Patrick's Day and check the shirts, hats, and beer mugs on sale there. But don't take your wife or teen-aged daughter with you, you could be very embarrassed; this stuff is nothing compared to Spencer's hard-core vulgarity....