Think You Know What “Luck of the Irish” Really Means?
Ironic phrase, isn't it? After all, when you think of how truly unlucky the Irish have been down through the ages, it seems the epitome of irony: pillaged by the Vikings, persecuted by the English monarchy, starved by the potato blight, then despised and ridiculed when they arrived in America. But some of them did quite well during the Gold Rush in California and the American West; apparently some of the most successful gold and silver miners were Irish. Of course, people thought the Irish mining successes couldn't have been achieved through their ingenuity or brains, so it must have been just sheer luck. And [...]