THE BLACK IRISH

THE BLACK IRISH

I have heard the term "Black Irish" since childhood. Most often, it referred to someone of Irish descent who had black hair, green eyes and porcelain white skin. But, recently, I have heard the term used to refer to someone of Irish descent who exhibited the brooding, "dark" and maudlin traits attributed to some Irish.

Other origins of the term include:

Those Irish who may have been descended from shipwrecked Spanish soldiers and sailors from the Spanish Armada in 1588--after their defeat in the English Channel, a great many of the ships of the Spanish fleet were wrecked off the coast of Irish. There may have been some Moors cast ashore also.
Early residents of the island of Montserrat known also as the "Emerald Isle of the Caribbean". When first settled, the primary residents of the island were Africans and Irish slaves (the Irish were captured by Oliver Cromwell in the 1650s, so the story goes, and sold into perpetual servitude in the West Indies for treason against the Commonwealth), and soon the black folks were speaking English with a pronounced Irish brogue. Also, the mixed-blood offspring of the Irish emigrants and African slaves who live on the island Montserrat.
Descendants of Irish and Africans in the US--in certain areas, where Blacks and Irish would have children, sometimes their offspring would be called "Black Irish", especially if they had what was considered a traditionally "Irish" surname, like Kelly.