We don’t know whether to laugh or to be offended.
Like most nations, Irish people can be a little bit sensitive towards outsiders perpetuating stereotypes about us that can be a little bit flexible with the truth.
We don’t need to be reminded of some of the lazier and exaggerated ideas that people have of what life is like in Ireland, but just in case we did, a sketch titled ‘What it really means to be Irish’ on Conan O’Brien hammered it home in a big way just in time for St. Patrick’s Day.
The sketch featured a character called Drinkin’ Dancin’ Danny Doyle dancing around to traditional Irish music in a leprechaun costume before he was interrupted by a ‘random Irish person’ in the audience who sought to explain to Conan what being Irish really means.
That ‘random Irish person’ only went on to exaggerate the worst Irish stereotypes even further, saying lines like ‘Real Irish is getting into a bar fight with a girl and when she beats ya, ask her to marry ya’.
While it seems clear to us that O’Brien, who comes from an Irish background, was merely taking the piss out of the very people who pander to the Irish stereotypes in the sketch, it would appear, by the Facebook comments at least, that some people didn’t get the joke.
Have a look at the sketch below and judge for yourself.
Cheers to John Egan for sending this our way. If you have something you would like to share with us, send it to [email protected] or hit us up on Facebook or Twitter.
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