The Story Behind the Term:
The Luck of the Irish
Now, if you’ve come here looking for tales of leprechauns and pots of gold, you’re going to be very disappointed, I’m afraid. The Irish mythological creatures known as Leprechauns, couldn’t be further from the story behind the phrase. The term ‘the Luck of the Irish’ is believed to have originated in U.S. during the 19th century and it’s thought to have been used in a derogatory manner at first.
This story all begins at a time when the U.S. was experiencing what is known as its ‘gold rush years’. Several major gold rushes took place throughout the 19th century across the world, but most notably in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
When poor Irish immigrants started to make their way across to the U.S. at a time when the Great Famine was ravaging the small island of Ireland, many took up jobs in the bustling mining industry.
Discovery of Fortunes Led to the Creation of the Term
The story goes that the Irish had a knack for digging up mining fortunes during the gold rush. Was this luck? Or was it pure determination to succeed? After all, these people had just left a land rife with mass poverty and starvation and were surely just doing everything in their power to find, keep and excel at a job. For money to feed themselves, and to send back home to Ireland to feed their families. The term ‘the Luck of the Irish’ is said to have followed successful miners from Ireland for the duration of the gold rush in United States.
However, today it tends to be used by everyone other than Irish people to describe people experiencing some form of ‘luck’ in winning a prize or an event.
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