Has anyone noticed how many soapies, esp. English, have baddies with Irish names? From Moriarty in "Elementary", to the murderers in a Miss Marples, numerous Irish named baddies in American films and series - often wealthy, powerful Irish American businessmen in the rackets, when we all know the Irish are not heavily involved in racketeering any more.
I estimate roughly 40% of baddies in recent shows have had Irish names: way above the % of the population at about 20%. Hmmm ... Clem Gorman

I estimate roughly 40% of baddies in recent shows have had Irish names:
clem gorman,
I'd think that to be pretty much on the mark with reality. The Irish are in fact the most wide-spread of all migrants. They're everywhere but they assimilate after 4 generations whereas the new lot never will.

Yes the Potato famine saw America got its share.
And England,s harsh view of law and order saw us get ours.
I prefer to see the positives we gained from them.

Irish stew, Irish whiskey, very smooth. Guiness. I wouldn't mind betting Turnbull has got shares in that. corrupt to the core.

I be thinking you are talking about the English speaking soapies, So I be right in thinking that 60% of the baddies erred have be called aftar the English.
Cheers
Pádraig

Long live RTÉ

when one considers a diet of only potato & only your siblings to have any kind of intercourse with then I think the Irish didn't do too badly. This happened in most hidden away small enclaves. Academics on the other hand have genetically evolved into asexuals. Give me an Irish any day no matter what.

I've seen lots of TV dramas and reckon, usually after someone is shot, the most heard name is O'God.

Is that Irish?

TV drama! Isn't that the stuff on the box where the people run around & shout a lot.

After I realized that good drama ABC style had lots of moody people staring silently, & meaningfully at a camera, followed by lots of very loud shouting, I stopped watching any of it. I found no fun once I understood the formula.

Tell me, is this still the system, & does the ABC still rate the quality of the drama by how many decibels the shouting reaches, higher the better?

Hasbeen, you're thinking of Mrs Brown's Boys.
The ABC has had some decent drama of late, I caught bit of "The time of our lives" and though not a fan of TV in general I sat through a whole episode and I pronounce it to be "excellent".
But, as ever, the best drama is found in novels.

There's been quite a few entertaining dramas
on TV lately. The Bletchley Circle,
Midsommer Murders, Ripper Street, Underbelly:Squizzy,
to name just a few. I didn't notice any Irish named
"baddies" that stood out. However, I'll have to pay
greater attention in future and not get lost in the
story line.

These stories just reflect the period in which they were written. The Irish were often perceived as 'poor Irish' and untrustworthy especially by the privileged English aristocracy and middle classes. It is ironic really when one considers the evils and arrogance of English colonialism and then to demean those who essentially oppose it or become victim to it.

If you read a bit about American History, the Irish did create the first mafia groups (the Irish mob) particularly around Chicago, New York and Boston well before the Italians dominated organised crime.

You might be right, Doog - I'd keep an eye on Irish stew futures if I was you, I think they're already going up - that Turnbull, he's an Irish-stew master.

It's interesting how stereotypes and cultural 'baddies' always seem to be a couple of generations behind the times. The Irish haven't been 'Irish' in the sense of ultra-criminal for at least fifty years or more, here or in the US.

It's ironic, I have at least nine ancestors who were convicts (which puts me up amongst the bunyip aristocracy), but only one ancestor who was Irish (Fermanagh), as far as I can tell, and he (arrived 1844) was one of the few who wasn't a convict - probably the most boring of the lot. Others, Welsh, Scottish, even English, seemed to have lived much more violent and colorful lives. Epigenetics would suggest that I have inherited all of their bad traits, but my Irish ancestors may have redeemed me. Isn't ancestry fascinating ?

Joe

Put people up against the wall & expect the unexpected. There's no more dangerous a human being than an unjustly cornered one.

Well, I don't think it is just limited to Irish names and people. Ever noted that evil scientists always bear German names? It has become something of a cliche, the rogue-ish Irish, the evil German...