I have a green T shirt I like to wear, a cheap thing I bought at Target. It screams (in puffy paint, no less) IRISH PRIDE! Of course there’s a gigantic shamrock on it.
And I can’t count the times people have come up to me, and stared at it, and said, “But I thought you were Jewish? Aren’t you Jewish?”
When this happens, I like to explain that I’m hardly the first Irish Jew. I mention Leopold Bloom (though I’m not sure he’s anybody’s Jewish role model). But my entire response is kind of misleading, since my own JewishyIrishy status stems from my mother NOT being Jewish (she’s Irish Catholic, and her name is Mary Catherine, Kate for short).
But despite my own blended heritage, there is a Jewish Community in Ireland, and since St Patrick’s Day is next week, I thought this might be the time to mention it here.
The history of Irish Judaism is interesting… and documented as far back as 1079. By 1241 there was almost certainly a growing community near Dublin. There was even a Jewish Mayor in County Cork in 1555 (which I was kind of shocked to find out!)
In general, there have never been very many Jews in Ireland, which might explain why the Irish have been pretty decent to the Jews overall (there’s only one real pogrom on record. But sadly, the more recent history is uglier than the ancient stuff:
Ireland's behavior towards Jewish refugees fleeing the Holocaust was, in the later words of Justice Minister Michael McDowell "antipathetic, hostile and unfeeling". Dr Mervyn O'Driscoll of University College Cork reported on the unofficial and official barriers that prevented Jews from finding refuge in Ireland: "Although overt anti-Semitism was untypical, the Irish were indifferent to the Nazi persecution of the Jews and those fleeing the third Reich.
Still, Chaim Herzog was an Irish Jew. As was Robert Briscoe. And although the Irish Jews are dwindling (since 1948, most have moved to Israel, and in fact more live there now than in Ireland) it’s worth reading about.
I can’t help wondering if maybe the intermarriage rates will produce more JewishyIrishy types like me, and cause a resurgence of interest in this particular strain of Jewish culture. After all, both tribes are pretty ridiculously invested in food, history, literature, and politics.
Not a bad match.
(Incidentally, the flag was designed for me by my good friend, Barry. He’s not Jewish, but he always calls me on Jewish holidays—just to wish me well)