How to be Irish for The Gathering – do you have what it takes to pull it off?

Saxon England's Hitler was Oliver Cromwell who, up into 1650 during his unfathomable reign of terror in Ireland, the numbers of Irish sent into slavery were unlike anything previously experienced. Remember that in 1641 Ireland had a population of 1,466,000 and by 1652 the population was down to only 616,000. According to Sir William. Petty, ``850,000 were wasted by the sword, plague, famine, banishment during the Confederation War 1641-1652.'' By the end of the war estimates vary from 80,000 to 130,000 of Irish men, women and children captured for sale as slaves to labour in England's expanding empire. The English were quite proud of these accomplishments as can be noted in Prendergast, ``Thurloe's State Papers'' (published in London in 1742), ``It was a measure beneficial to Ireland, which was thus relieved of a population that might trouble the planters; (previously planted and the NI Planted Ones) it was a benefit to the people removed, who might thus be made English and of England type Christian, a great benefit to the West Indies sugar planters, who desired men and boys for their bondsmen, and the women and Irish girls to solace them''. Under James I, Cromwell burned the Irish forests ...... "What will we do without wood the end of our forests are at hand" so the song expresses sorrowfully.

I beg your pardon Ireland North, who or what is this Duns Scotus?. I am not so good at the history but am thinking that it has something to do with Dunadd and the Dal Riada.

Stage Irishry! Paddywhackery! Stereotypical paltroonery! Racist typecasting! Intoxication industry sponsorship of next generation of sauce slurrrrpers! Just when you thought it was safe to reemerge from Hollywood inspired Darby O Gill-ery and Quiet Man-ery, ye have to read this faux antro[a]pologynacology. What would Duns Scotus have made of it all?

Sean and Marybeth - You are right. I realized a long time back that this is a very self-loathing site. It permeates everything. Really sad.

In order to correctly exibit the type of Irishness this article suggests, one has to be freuquently drunk, rejoice at every funera, and possess an unique way of being sick. Obviously this self-styles anthropoligist has carefully any positive aspect of Irish culture, such as the rousing tunes of bagpipers (which are widely emulated throughout the civilized world), the skillful step-dancing that has increased in popularity in many countries these past years, and the lilting,poetic teanga na nGael, which the writer totally ignores. As a London-born U.S. citizen with strong links to ALL of Ireland, I want no part of the drunkiness that is glorified in this in this self-abasing article.

Insulting, degrading and not one bit anthropological as this "creative" writer purports to be! What a load of crap, not craic! All this author speaks of is getting drunk, being drunk, or how not to show you are drunk, one of the negative stereotypes we, in the States, have long fought to overcome about the Irish and our fellow Irish-Americans! This guy doesn't know anything - I don't know why you'd bother pubishing this so-called "article" about his "book".

Grand way to sell a book now.

It sounds like something the Wizard of Oz would say. Was he an Irishman? I'm afraid I will never be Irish enough to eat Black Pudding, no matter where it's made. Sláinte!

Brilliant article!