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To celebrate Columbus Day - top ten similarities between the Italians and the Irish

Irish and Italian Americans share many of the same likes and dislikes

MICHELLE K SMITH,

IrishCentral Intern

Published Monday, October 8, 2012, 7:16 AM

Updated Monday, October 8, 2012, 9:28 AM

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Italians wave their flags on Fifth Ave, NYC on Columbus Day - certainly some similarities to March 17th!

Photo by Reuters

Irish and Italians have many similarities.

And with Columbus Day here we thought we’d tell you about the top ten similarities -- at least as we Irish see it.

1. Both love pizza.

2. Both love beer and wine - whether it’s Guinness or a fine Tuscany Chianti

3. Beautiful women - between the black-haired Galway girls and tan Italian women, Irish and Italian women are some of the prettiest

4. Large families - see 3

5. Both love sunny weather - In Italy the sun shines a lot, In Ireland -- you guessed it.

Read more Columbus Day stories here

6. Great Italian/Irish Mafia films - good thing these two countries never got into a fight. They’ve given us some iconic films including The Godfather, The Departed, and The Boondock Saints to name a few.

7. Mixed marriages - it’s not uncommon for the Irish and Italians to marry and some celebrities boast both Irish and Italian blood, such as John Travolta and Robert De Niro.

8. Best ever movie about Italian Americans - "Moonlighting" (1987) starring Cher and Nick Cave, was made by John Patrick Shanley who has Irish heritage.

9. Although both countries have Roman Catholic traditions, the Irish are the only ones who listen to Italian popes about sex and felt the wrath of the nuns!

10. Mixed marriages make great weddings, especially mixed marriages where the food (Italian) and drink (Irish) never stop.

Nster.com

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19 Comments

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Seanmor | Oct 09, 2012, 08:24 PM EDT

An Italian buddy of mine in the Marine Corps told me of an emparrassing experience he had as a teenager in the Bronx. Peter became 'friendly' with a girl of an Irish family and she invited him to have Sunday dinner with her family. Peter looked more Northern European that Italian and he sensed that the girl's father was burning with curiosity about his background. The father asked Peter what 'line of work' his father was in and when told he was a baker, the father demanded to know what was his nationality. Peter said "italian". The fatheer flew into a rage and said, "No daughter of min is ever going out eith a guinea". Personally I got along very well with L/Cpl. Peter and most of the other Italians I knew in the marines.

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john1632 | Oct 09, 2012, 11:08 AM EDT

i grew up with irish and italian and one guy from tennessee

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Smyrnian | Oct 09, 2012, 10:05 AM EDT

Clearly the ignorant racist pig posting on Oct. 8th at 3:00pm was not mine. Posted by some jerk afraid to use his own name. IC needs to fix this problem. Anyway, God bless the Italians (and the Irish too)!

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Happyhippo | Oct 09, 2012, 07:43 AM EDT

Italia 90 June Palermo Sicily 110 degrees in the shade,but very little shade, Ireland v Holland Stadio La Favorita a jeez, such happy memories, even the signorinas wore green lipstick.

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diadiapolo | Oct 09, 2012, 03:05 AM EDT

My one and only son has my Italian surname as his middle name (from his "Mama Mia") and my husband's Irish surname. So, I think this a great list--all in fun. The only thing on the list I didn't like was the defamatory Mafia plug, which seems to stick to the Italians more, for some reason. Also, the movie, one of my favorites is titled "Moonstruck" not "Moonlighting"! Happy Columbus Day!

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hardshoe83 | Oct 08, 2012, 11:14 PM EDT

How about an italian girl who does irish dancing? What do you all think of that? I love it. I've been doing it for almost three years now. Its a lot of fun. :)

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hardshoe83 | Oct 08, 2012, 11:02 PM EDT

Tan? Hmmmm well I'm Italian and I'm very pale. And I'm not catholic, I'm a protestant. lol. I joined this site because I love irish stepdancing and irish culture. :)

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Seanmor | Oct 08, 2012, 10:01 PM EDT

The article reminds me of a story I heart in the Police Academy about an incedent in the subways the night of the blackout in the fall of 1965. An Irish Lt. in the Transit Police was in charge of 5 or 6 cops who found an elderly Italian woman confused and lost. The Lt. realized that all of his men, except one, were Italian and he motioned them toward the confused woman to address her in her own language,but none of these cops spoke a word of Italian. The remainng patrolman was a Kerry native who spoke reasonably good italian .He calmed the upset elderly woman and gave her proper guidance. The Kerryman has met and married an Itlian girl while stationed in Europe as a U.S. soldier and he knew enough Italian to get by on.

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TisEyerish | Oct 08, 2012, 08:40 PM EDT

@KilkennyCats...you might want to reread GraydonWilson's post...he said the IRISH never did those things, not the Italians! You can eat that crow now!

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TisEyerish | Oct 08, 2012, 08:36 PM EDT

My father absolutely would NOT let his daughter date Italian guys. One of biggest regrets is that I did not buck him and date a guy named Angelo in my youth...because I could never introduce him by that name to my father and he said he would not take me out, as much as he wanted to, unless he came to my house to pick me up. This guy was studying at MIT and was truly one of the nicest people I've ever met in my life...all these years later, I still sometimes wonder, "What if..." Sad!

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Smyrnian | Oct 08, 2012, 05:19 PM EDT

O - greaseball and Guineas?? You are an embarrassment. You insult my children and their heritage. How dare you, you racist ignorant jerk. They are fine people and much better than you, racist jerk! Get an education, if that's at all possible for you, which I doubt.

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KilkennyCats | Oct 08, 2012, 03:24 PM EDT

@GraydonWilson ... the Roman Empire never made war? Never invaded another country? Never stole anyone's land? What history book are you reading from??!

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GraydonWilson | Oct 08, 2012, 03:03 PM EDT

The Irish never made war on anyone, never invaded anyone's country and never stole anyone's land.

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Smyrnian | Oct 08, 2012, 02:46 PM EDT

I am Irish born married to an Italian girl. best people ever. God bless the Italians!!!!!!

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milfordmama | Oct 08, 2012, 11:57 AM EDT

Cute article, since I am 1/2 Irish and 1/2 Italian (Sicilian) it was a very interesting and sometimes "loud" childhood. My Sicilian mom was a homebody and my Irish dad liked to party. He loved her Italian cooking and she would "punish him" by not cooking it when he was "misbehaving". He was the life of the party and literally a "good time Charlie" (his name), but not a great dad or husband. He was a lot of fun, though and had hundreds of friends. Now I live in a town in Massachusetts which has a big Italian and even bigger Irish population and that is one reason why we settled here after moving from Michigan 32 years ago. (I checked out the names on the mailboxes as we drove around and decided we would fit right in!) There are two huge old beautiful Catholic churches in town and I asked the neighbors which to sign up for when we moved in. They all said, "the Irish church has a mixture of all ethnicities and is very poor." "The Italian church doesn't need much money (the parishioners are generous), but no one will speak to you unless they know you." Well, obviously we chose the "friendly" Irish church that really needed our money!!! Also,I think you've got the wrong name for the Cher movie though. I believe it was "Moonstruck", not "Moonlighting."

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