Timothy A. Harper

Professor Guneyli

English Composition 101-001

6 June 2012                                                Irish

          
        When you mention the word Irish, most people smile. They might think about Celtic music,

celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, or Irish Dancing. They may picture a lad with red hair and freckles.

Some people cringe. They think about all the violence in Northern Ireland, Politicians, Cops, and

strict Catholic beliefs. There are some that think all Irish people are drunkards, that fight all the

time, or they eat potatoes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That the Irish throw garbage out of

their houses and are sloppy people. Some ignorant narrow minded people use an ethnic slur to

refer to my people. They use the ‘S’ word. They call us shanty Irish. What does it mean to be an

Irish American man, in today’s culture? Three men that I know that define the modern Irish

American man is my dad, my son and I.

         

          My father grew up in a catholic orphanage in Brooklyn, New York during the 1930’s. His Mother, who came from Ireland, at the turn of the 20th century, as an indentured servant, scrubbed floors for pennies. At age seventeen, my father went to war in Korea. He was wounded twice, and was taken prisoner of war. He escaped by kicking out the side of a barn where he was being held.  He was awarded the Bronze Star with the “V” insignia for valor. He had many friends and had a natural way of making a person feel like they had someone on their side. People would come up to me and say “your old man is alright.” My father married and had four sons. He was a successful businessman and owned an international textile firm. He was awarded a medal from Queen Elizabeth for bringing a large amount of business to the United Kingdom. He ran for political

office and won. He became the Housing Commissioner in northern New Jersey. He loved and played baseball. He stood 6 feet 1 inch and had a size 13 shoe. He was honest, smart, and fearless.

When he got emotional he talked in Gaelic. He was a very proud man, with a strong sense of fairness. He embraced his heritage. Whenever there was a St. Patrick’s Day parade, he would be wearing green clothes, march in the parade, smile and wave to the crowd. He loved corn beef and cabbage. He loved to eat, drink, and be merry. He was faithful to my mother till the day she died. He could make you cry when he sang “Ole Danny Boy.” He feared failure or being perceived as lower class. My Father was a great man.

          I on the other hand, hide my cultural heritage. I don’t drink alcohol. I am a sober person. I rarely show my emotions. I rarely sing in public even though I write songs and play the guitar, quite well. I dislike my heritage. I have three sons. I built a home overlooking a lake in a private gated community. I am a hard worker. I served in the military. I have worked as a paramedic and emergency department nurse. I am a pacifist. I am very sane. I heard someone say in the movie Spanglish “being to sane can drive you nuts” that fits me to a tee. I am quick witted and funny. I am faithful, kind, and religious (protestant). I am a family man. I have numerous friends. I was a campaign manager on a senatorial campaign. I am a good organizer. I am very tolerant of people different than me. I am a people watcher. I fear being perceived as stupid. I cringe every time my wife throws food scraps off the deck, for the raccoons. I can’t eat corn beef and cabbage it makes me sick. I feel most comfortable when the house is clean and everything is in its proper place. I am 5ft 11 inches tall, and have a size 11 ½ foot. I am a good person.

          My son on the other hand, has the word Irish tattooed across his abdomen, in big letters. He is a trained boxer. At sixteen, he wanted to be a gang member and emulated a hip hop singer

named slim shady. He dropped out of school and joined the army. He was a patriot missile operator on 9/11/2001. He obtained a GED and won a scholastic scholarship to Tufts University in Boston. Yikes! Boston is the Irish capital of the world. The ghetto housing projects in Boston are filled with poor lower class Irish Americans. He got in trouble with the police. The old Irish legal political machine went into motion, and he was found not guilty. He graduated with honors. He was recruited to a private international contracting firm. I have no idea what that means or what he does. He travels the world spreading his Irish charm to whoever deserves it. He is extremely intelligent. He converted to Catholicism. He has a very appealing personality. He is funny and quick witted. He loves corned beef and cabbage. He plays the harmonica, badly, but it doesn’t stop him. He is 5ft 11 inches tall. His shoe size is 10 ½ .He is honest. He has a deep sense of responsibility. He is a leader.

           You're probably wondering what shoe size has to do with defining the modern American Irish man. My father used that foot size to kick out the wall of that barn he escaped from during the Korean War. He kicked in the door of the neighbor's house, when in the early morning hours, he heard screams and ran out and saw the neighbor's house on fire. He was able to rescue the mother and three children, but the father had stumbled, got disoriented, and lost his way. With total disregard for his own life he ran back into the burning house and pulled the man to safety.

          Those are hard shoes to fill. I work in an emergency room and save people’s lives every day. I started a rescue program for heroin addicts called the McNod. My granddaughter looks up to my son in awe. She will have to have big feet to be able to walk in his shoes. I think these qualities define the modern Irish American man.

          As I reflex on this essay, I think you could probably substitute Irish with any ethnicity. I think a culture and a people are all these qualities and more. Some of these qualities are good and some of them are not so good.  Honesty, hard work, humor, faithfulness, and fairness, represents all cultures. I chose to see the good qualities in a culture.