Is there an Irish gene for drinking? I know they used to say about alcohol. It's the one thing that's the curse of the Irish. But I know in the 80's, some people said they may have a gene that predisposes them to alcoholism. Was that ever proven? I know there's a gene that predisposes you for lower cholesterol from Italy. Some city in southern Italy IIRC. I think they discovered this in the 90's.
It is a long and complex story and part of it is a myth that went on to become the butt of Irish jokes. Ireland has a unique history. Since the 12th century, English gentry started to occupy parts of Ireland, setting up mainly potato farms. The native inhabitants were treated very badly, since due to the low export value of potatoes, they were paid wages that were insufficient to even feed their families. To relieve the hardship, men went out into the peat bogs at night, built sheds and fitted primitive stills. A potato mash was matured, and heated by a smouldering peat fire and distilled into an alcohol called Poteen. Although it tasted vile, it dulled the senses. Incorrectly diluted, it caused widespread renal damage frequently leading to a combination of madness and death. Between 1845-52 a blight caused the potato crop to fail, destroying around 80% of the harvest. The English landlords sold what they could of the crop, leaving the workers starving. Known as 'the great famine'. The combination of starvation and resultat disease led to more than a million deaths. This prompted an uprising, leading to the landowners who allowed workers to die being murdered in their beds. The landowners paid taxes to the Now UK government, so they were forced to send the army in. A strained peace followed for the next 70 years an the poteen flowed. Wheat and barley were now being grown, leading to the poteen being replaced with porter, this went on to become first stout, then extra stout that was developed by Arthur Guinness. Then in 1914 England declared war on Germany and the army were withdrawn. They were replaced with a makeshift force who were largely prisoners released from UK prisons. They (known as the black and tans) reeked havoc, murdering and raping as they went along. By 1919 Ireland had enough, resulting in a guerrilla war until 1921. On 6th of December 1921 Ireland declared independence. Six counties in the north east, Antrim, Down, Armagh, Derry/Londonderry, Tyrone and Fermanagh. remained as part of the United Kingdom. Returning to the thread. Between 1860 and 1950 hundreds of Irish families emigrated t the USA. Without work skills, many of the single men congregated in cities and took to alcohol. These were the guys who were locally known as the drunk Paddies and became the butt of the jokes we hear today. I said it was complex, this is only a brief outline. I hope it answers a few questions.
Its an economic thing the whole way. Rich people are not like you and me, because they can afford to censor anything. In general, the poorer the country, the more religious and the more they drink, which is a salt-of-the-earth tradition in the west. For example, the legend of Socrates was kept alive by the poorest of peasants in Europe, who celebrated the anniversary of his death for well over a millennium. The wealthy would never be caught dead in such bars, so the peasants could have one day a year to mock them. The tradition was kept alive in Ireland, in particular, due to their extreme poverty. Today, they're censoring Socrates and even fairy tales, and we might as well be living in the fucking dark ages again, but the entire world economy is dividing, as all the money floats to the top. Hippies are among the few seriously attempting to create new traditions, for the poorest of the poor.
