Top 12 Myths of Ireland

Top of the mornin' to ye! St. Patrick's Day is loved by all people (especially those who drink) and with it, out comes the American-Irish fads. Green, leprechauns, 4-leaf clovers, "luck of the Irish", fake Irish sayings, and unending novelties. It's surely a favourite time of the year. I like this holiday for a particular reason: I'm part Irish (back 6 generations). But that's about as far as my liking of St. Patrick's Day goes bacuse the way Americans view Ireland and the Irish are actually quite different from what's actually true and I want to reveal some of the myths of Ireland that America believes.

1. They say "Top of the mornin' to ya". Actually they do not. One thing about Ireland is that it's much like America. Culture is different depending on where you're at in Ireland. In Dublin area, most people seem Americanised. They talk like us and use a lot of the same language (and younger people seem to have an Americanised Irish accent). But Ireland is actually heavily English influenced so they use a lot of British terms and words that we don't in America. But as far as greetings, "Hello" seems standard just like here. There are obviously variations like here in America. If you venture to Co Kerry and more out west, Gaelic is prominent and you may hear Dia duit, Dia duit ar maidin, and other Irish phrases.
2. Leprechauns are a typical Irish character. This is also false. Yes, the leprechaun myth started in Ireland, but isn't really a big deal there like it is in America. If you go to gift shops or touristic areas, you will see it for the sake of the tourists and in Dublin, there is a leprechaun museum for tourists, but that's about as far as it goes. Creatures like fairies, Banshees, and Demons are more of a thing over there than leprechauns.
3. "Luck of the Irish". If you have ever read any Irish history, you would know that the Irish were far from lucky. In the middle ages, they were more like the pawns on the chess board. They were pretty well used by whoever would recruit them. More recently speaking, They were associated with England, but decided to have their independance and fought for it. Later on, someone with power was bribed to rejoin England and it was kind of a cycle. Who they are associated with largely has been dependant on bribes. Currently they are a republic, but Northern Ireland is still a part of the UK, so Ireland is currently split. And have you ever heard of the Easter Rising? IRA? Potato famine? The Irish have a history of migrating because of famine, lack of work, etc. They have migrated to England quite a bit (as my family did), and many migrated through Ellis Island to America. That is why a lot of Americans have Irish heritage. Not to mention their crown jewels have been stolen. So in short, the Irish were not so lucky.
4. Irish/Celtic/Scottish are all the same. Far from it. The cultures of Ireland and Scotland are completely different. Yes, there are some similairities, but they are 2 different countries. The food is different, the accent is different, the language is different (Irish vs. Scotish gaelic not the same), the dress is different, the history is different. The islands are close, but they are not the same. And Celtic is a different thing altogether. Many people use Irish and Celtic interchangeably, but they are not. The Celts actually started in Germany and spend hundreds of years in Europe long before migrating to what is now the UK. They later on migrated to Ireland as the vikings. The Celts were actually a religious group, similair to the Druids.
5. They all eat corned beef and cabbage. In Ireland, they pretty well eat the same as we do in England, Europe, and America. They do have their traditional dishes, but it's not a regular meal. In fact, even in a large town like Dublin, most restaurants don't serve traditional dishes. You have to go to select pubs. Most (younger) Irish people have never even eaten traditional dishes (look up videos on Youtube of Irish people eating Irish dishes for the first time).
6. They are always drunk. Ireland has the same standards as America, if not stricter, about working while intoxicated. Drinking all the time is no more feasible as it is here in America. Yes, they do drink their share and drinking age is younger than in America, but the steriotypical drunk Irish is exaggerated.
7. Accents. Here in America, we have the idea that every Irish person has the same accent and that we know what that accent is. Actually what we have is an idea of their accent based on the movies which are most of the time, inaccurate. Like America, the accent is different depending and where you are. In fact, it seems that the accent differs between counties. But the steriotypical "leprechaun, top of the mornin to ya" accent is off. This video is pretty accurate as to the accents in Ireland. However, some of the words we think they use are pretty accurate such as lad, las, fish n' chips, craic, and slainte, though the use of language varies throughout the county.
8. Ireland is all green hills. There is half truth to this. First, it is very green. Everywhere I went in Ireland, I saw green fields and plains. Most farm fields are green, but they still have brown fields like America. Even in Dublin, you will see green fields and parks. And the green is a different shade from America. It has a distinct look, and to top it off, there are so many shades of green. However, it is not all hilly and mountainous as most Americans believe. They do have their highlands and hills, but they are relatively small compared to America's hills and mountains. Even at Glendalough in the Wicklow mountains, they are smaller than what Americans are used to.
9. The Irish have red hair. This is partly true. Generally, it's the same anywhere. Hair colour can vary, but what I've found is most Irish actually have black hair. I think depending on where you go, you will see red haired people and Irish people are known for having red hair, but not all of them and most have black hair.
10. The Irish have always been catholic. Since Ireland was actually a viking, Celtic, and Druid island, it was very pegan. When missionaries, including St. Patrick, came over, Catholicism started to fade in. Though, most of the people would not just adopt Catholocism and would generally mix it with their already practicing pegan religion.
11. St. Patrick's Day is big in Ireland. Yes and no. St. Patrick's Say is known to be an Irish holiday recognising St. Patrick. But it wasn't really a big holiday in Ireland like it is in America. I think it has mostly been an American holiday, something Americans can have to recognise the Irish and pretend to be Irish for a day. However, it has recently become a growing things worldwide, mostly as reason to get drunk and act like a steriotypical Irish, partaking in the myths of Ireland. Though Ireland is awesome so who wouldn't want to pretend to be Irish for a day?
12. The shamrock is the symbol of Ireland. Actually this is not the case. Although some Irish businesses, such as Aer Lingus Airline, have a shamrock in their logo, it is not the symbol of Ireland. Ireland actually uses the Irish harp that is kept at Trinity College as their symbol which is on their currency or anything official. The harp on the Guiness symbol is actually not a copy from the one at Trinity college, but is a seperate harp at the Guiness brewery. Nonetheless, the harp is more of an Irish symbol than the shamrock.

So now you know the truth behind some of the myths of Ireland that so many Americans believe. There are obviously a lot more, but this also gets person to wonder how many steriotypical views we have of other countries that are false. Hmmm.