Originally Posted by
Isoverity
there are people of Irish decent in America that like to act out that they are more Irish than St Patrick himself.
That wouldn't be hard, he was from Britain. :P
Anyway, I agree with both of you. Irish-Americans have a very warped view of Ireland and Irish culture, especially when it comes to the subject of the IRA. Yes, there are still people here in Ireland who sympathise with the 'Ra, but for the most part we consider them to be, at best, gangsters. Ireland is a very different place than it was in the 1910s and 1920s, and indeed Northern Ireland is a very different place than it was in the '60s and '70s and even the '90s. The glamour and romance of the republican struggle wore off for most people many, many years ago, but for some reason, it persisted for a long time (and still does to a lesser extent) among Irish Americans, many of whom seemed to think that Ireland is still suffering under the yoke of "The Hated English" as they call them, and didn't seem to realise that IRA activity isn't glorious, song-worthy battle against the oppressors, so much as bank robbery, protection rackets and, occasionally, car bombs. Which isn't quite so romantic.
As for IRA donations being spent at the pub, no doubt a lot of them were, but some of them did find their way to Ireland.