Well, here's a guy who was Black Irish before Black Irish was cool:
Phil Lynott
Posted on 09/03/2007 3:39:39 PM PDT by Clemenza
Black children left out of Irish schools
By SHAWN POGATCHNIK, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 41 minutes ago
Almost all the children who could not find elementary school places in a Dublin suburb this year were black, the government said Monday, highlighting Ireland's problems integrating its increasingly diverse population.
The children will attend a new, all-black school, a prospect that educators called disheartening.
About 90 children could not find school places in the north Dublin suburb of Balbriggan , a town of more than 10,000 people with two elementary schools. Local educators called a meeting over the weekend for parents struggling to find places and said they were shocked to see only black children.
"That overwhelmed me. I'm not quite sure what to make of it. I just find it extremely concerning," said Gerard Kelly, principal of a school with a mixture of black and white students in the nearby town of Swords.
The parents at Saturday's meeting in a Balbriggan hotel said they had tried to get their children into local schools but were told that all places had to be reserved by February.
Almost all of the children are Irish-born and thus Irish citizens, under a law that existed until 2004.
Some parents questioned why white families who had moved this year into the town had managed to overcome the registration deadlines to get their children into schools.
Some also complained that Ireland's school system was discriminating against them on the basis of religion. About 98 percent of schools are run by the Roman Catholic Church, and the law permits them to discriminate on the basis of whether a prospective student has a certificate confirming they were baptized into the faith. Some of the African applicants were Muslim, members of evangelical Protestant denominations or of no religious creed.
Education Minister Mary Hanafin said the problems reflected bad planning amid rapid population growth, not racist attitudes at existing schools. She vowed to get the new school, which will take students aged 4-12, integrated with white students as soon as possible.
"I would not like to see a situation developing where it is an all-black school, so it's something to keep an eye on for next year's enrollments," Hanafin said.
Kelly said some parents, both locals and immigrants, "felt forced or coerced to have their child baptised to get a place in their local Catholic school."
More than 25,000 Africans have settled in Ireland since the mid-1990s. Most arrived as asylum seekers, and many took advantage of Ireland's law — unique in Europe — of granting citizenship to parents of any Irish-born child. Voters toughened that law in a 2004 referendum.
I would be upset if these folks were part of an Islamic invasion. 25,000 African christians, however, should be welcomed.
Black Irish ?
Well, here's a guy who was Black Irish before Black Irish was cool:
Phil Lynott
The Gaelic Hendrix ?
Paging Jesse O’Jackson...
How could this be? I thought only white Americans were racial.
Bad mistake. They’re going to wind up segregating the country.
Irish Bump.
until 2004... too bad we won't do anything about our anchor baby situation.
Black Irish is a traditional term believed to have originated in the United States that commonly ascribes to a dark brown or black hair phenotype appearing in Caucasian persons of Irish descent. This can be distinguished in contrast to the (lighter) brown, blond or red hair color variant, the latter stereotypically perceived by many to solely personify the look of typical Irish folk. The term itself is rather ambiguous and not frequently used in everyday conversation. As such, the description of those it depicts has been known to vary to a degree in that some have differing views on which physical characteristics (e.g., dark hair, brown eyes, medium skin tone or dark hair, blue eyes, pale skin tone) best define the appearance of the so-called Black Irish.[1]
Inspired by tales which claim the darker features to be of Iberian derivation,[2]
Skinny Lizzy. They rocked hard in their day.
Regards
What? Haven’t they ever heard of ‘black irish?’
Apparently even after centuries pass, Ireland still remembers, Moor o’ less. ;)
Future Notre Dame football players?
“Do you not get it, lads? The Irish are the blacks of Europe. And Dubliners are the blacks of Ireland. And the Northside Dubliners are the blacks of Dublin. So say it once, say it loud: I’m black and I’m proud.”
— Jimmy Rabbitte in “The Commitments”
Incidentally, they’ve determined that the Black Irish are the original inhabitants of the islands, and not descended, as it was thought, from shirpwrecked Spaniards.
The *real* black Irish have very, very black hair, but very pale complexions, as opposed to the Spaniards. Unfortunately, the goth fashion craze has resulted in a lot of very pale (untanned, vegetarian, WASPy) people with dyed, black hair, so look for the healthy ruddy tones of a healthy, meat-fed Irish lass who is congenitally incapable of tanning.
>> “Do you not get it, lads? The Irish are the blacks of Europe. And Dubliners are the blacks of Ireland. And the Northside Dubliners are the blacks of Dublin. So say it once, say it loud: I’m black and I’m proud.” <<
‘Course it sounded closer to “Jinnagehelaz?,” then “Do you not get it, lads?”
I think two things get mixed up, concerning “black” Irish and Spain.
One aspect is the migration of the celtic people from the continent, to Ireland. Irish legend has them coming from Iberia-Spain.
Maybe this is what you mean by “original” Irish people. I have no idea if anybody predated the celtic people on the Irish island.
A later incident is the shipwreck of the Spanish Armada when it circled Britain, and some may have wrecked on Irish shores.
Racially today’s Irish people include a lot or Nordic, plus Gaelic (celtic) and probably English (mongrel in their own right).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.