Question for non irish people who watched it

I'm part Irish but I would like to comment. I just wanted to say that sometime the "o" part in front of certain word and the speed of their talking made it a little hard to understand what they say. But the movie was good.

My views of the Irish were greatly affected by my third grade teacher who was from an Irish family. I was a bit younger and she once showed a short home video clip of her mother in a carriage on the way home from a funeral, or something to that effect...the kind you see in larger cities, speaking Gaelic... at least I think it was Gaelic...and I was under the impression that all Irish didn't speak English. That's the only real impression that I kept.

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I'm coming late to this question, but I really have to answer it.

Yes, I suppose it had an effect, but not a negative one. Even though I was only 11 when I first saw it, I knew that Ireland and the Irish wouldn't be like they were portrayed any more than German, French, English or Italian people are like the ones you see on the screen. I took it to be a representation of the Irish the same way westerns give you a representation of the settlement of the North American continent from 1848 to 1900. That is, it's not the way it was--it's the way we want it to have been.

What the film gave me was a basis of respect for the rich history and folklore of Ireland and a burning to desire to see the place for myself. For the rest, it was a delightful afternoon at the flicks and a wonderful memory that lives within me these many decades later.

To reply to the question, "Do all Americans have Irish ancestry?" The answer is no. Absolutely not. (I don't. My ancestors were German and Russian--two other nationalities that did well here.) Further, most Irish-Americans have some other nationality in their bloodlines as well--except on St Patrick's Day when EVERYONE is 100% Irish. Seriously though, America has welcomed people from pretty much everywhere. During the potato famine of the 1800's thousands of Irish who had lost everything came to America to make new lives. Like many before--and since--they had a very hard time. Despite popular belief, the United States is seldom kind to new immigrants at first. However, for those willing to work for it we do offer a chance to make new lives that is not found in many other places and the Irish succeeded brilliantly! They succeeded so well that millions and millions of Americans can claim at least one Irish anscestor.

I now your project is long since done but here is my answer anyway.

No. I look at it as a tale from about the turn of the century (people use horse-drawn carriages instead of cars) Also, the action takes plase out in the country, not in Dublin or some other big city, and people were living a poorer and simpler life.

I don't think Irish people should be offended by this movie, it really is a wonderful story about people and their beliefs. We are all a littly like Darby in that our reality is what we imagine it to be, regardless if others cannot see it.

I hope that the Irish are still tellers of great tales, whether they are true or not.

Wow, I'm amazed!

I'm Irish too, and I'm extremely glad to see that Americans don't take the stereotypes in the film seriously.

My town gets bombarded with tons of "OH MY GAWD! IRELAND IS RILLY SWELL! WHERE'S DA LEPRACONNS!!!!" American tourists every Summer, and it has really polluted my outlook on Americans.

I'm overjoyed to see that some of you don't see us as leprechaun-believing loud-mouthed drunkards that live in thatched cottages!

"Warlocks are enemies of God! Harry Potter would be put to death!"
- Old Klingon Proverb

Because of the costumes and horses, I assumed the movie took place in the late 1800's/early 1900's. So the only thing I thought applied to modern-day Irish was the fight in the pub!

This is a long, long time after, but I have to join the other Baby Boomers chiming in about this wonderful film. Yes, I'm part Irish. Each side of the famly is a mixture of Irish and Native American (the Illini tribe), with much emphasis on our Irish heritage. Many of our ancestors came over during the Famine as boundslaves, many of them children, who worked off their passage as servants. Siblings were separated, and most of them didn't find each other till they were quite elderly. Some were lucky to have good families to work for, and some were basically slaves. They went through the days of "No Irish Need Apply" signs in the window and a great deal of discrimination though some discriminated themselves. The term "lace curtain Irish" was aimed at those who were "pretending to be better than they are". Also, though they were facing bigotry, they sometimes showed it, too. When someone would marry an "Indian", his/her name often was removed from the family Bibles! Yes, there are places where we can see where, with a knife, the ink was scraped off! Those wounds did heal over time.

We were brought up hearing stories about Ireland and hearing, singing and playing the music, passing it down carefully.

Our family has Nugents, Cornwalls, Antrims and others from throughout the country. The Antrims ARE from County Antrim.

As for the movie: Even at about 8 years old, I knew that this wasn't truly what Ireland would be like. I think we were savvy kids though naive in many ways. I knew from family talk that some believed in the Little People (not necessarily leprechauns) and some did not. We knew there were large cities and little villages. My family dearly loves this movie, and it definitely left us thinking fondly of the "Old Country". Ever since I can remember, I've wanted to "go back", which is how I've always thought of it~going back to Ireland. So many families were forced out. They did not leave voluntarily. Most had never traveled far from their homes. The feeling was retained here, as shown when, on my mother's side, a girl married a boy from the next county. Her parents were fuming about their daughter "marrying that foreigner" (only, Southern Illinois Brogue turns that into "furriner")! I think it did leave a trauma in people that was passed along to their descendants.

By the way: No one in our family "parties hearty" for St. Patrick's Day. With only a few exceptions, we are teetotallers, not taking a drop of the stuff. My father quit a lucrative job when the place added a cocktail lounge. He felt that strongly about it. So, we knew about pubs but also knew that, just because you sing about it, doesn't mean you drink. Tommy Makem is a good example of that.

To me, "Darby O'Gill" is absolutely positive. I've never heard of anyone coming away with a negative view of Ireland and the Irish. I'll bet many people wanted to go there just to see what it really is like. Disney gave us a loving postcard.

Actually, I've seen Irish-made movies that are harsh about the country and its people, actually cruel at times. I'd be concerned about those. Disney did not do it a disservice, just as it also treated Scotland kindly in "The Three Lives of Thomasina". Then, there's the swashbuckling "The Fighting Prince of Donegal"!

I hope you did well with your project though most of us responding are of Irish descent. However, you could say we're non-Irish; we're simply Irish American! In this region, practically everyone seems to be! We have a village of Germanic descendants about three miles away and a townful of them to the north, but the majority of us have at least some Irish. Doesn't it say something that we take great pride in that?

~~MystMoonstruck~~