Mediterranean Irish

• Mediterranean Irishman

Originally in patronizing self-reference to British mistreatment of the Irish and their various prejudices about them, particularly with regard to their religion.

Mediterranean Irish (plural Mediterranean Irish)

1. (UK, see usage notes) The Ionian Islanders.
   • 2000, Thomas W. Gallant, “Honor, Masculinity, and Ritual Knife Fighting in Nineteenth-Century Greece,”, in American Historical Review, volume 105, number 2, page 377:

     Since the 1830s, pro-British Ionians . . . took their cue from the colonial officers, who denigrated the Ionians, comparing them to the aboriginal groups like the Hottentots or Irish. Indeed, the British frequently referred to the Ionians as the "Mediterranean Irish."

2. (US, see usage notes) Synonym of Italian, an inhabitant of Italy or person of Italian descent.
   • 1959, Labor-management Reform Legislation: Hearings Before a Joint Subcommittee of the Committee on Education and Labor, United States Congress, U.S. Government Printing Office, page 742:

     His name is I. J. Saccamanno. He is a Mediterranean "Irish" and I love him like a brother.

Mediterranean Irish (not comparable)

1. (see usage notes) Of or pertaining to such people.
   • 2007, "Advertisement for 'Kiss Me...I'm Irish' T-shirt, zazzle.com, comment posted by Donamaria, 24 Feb. (retrieved 21 Jan 2008):

     My dear deceased mama used to say to me when I was young and cried b/c I was all Italian. . . "You're Mediterranean Irish and that's good enough" on St. Pat's day!

   • 2007 March 28, “Licari of Arabia”, in blogspot.com, retrieved 20 January 2008:

     My name is Tony Licari. . . . An Irish guy once told me I was "Mediterranean Irish." I guess that is slang for those of us with vowels at the end of our surnames.

• As indicated by the quotations, the term can be jocular and inoffensive in certain contexts, particularly in American English, while at other times it may be meant or received as a derogatory term or ethnic slur.