Two Irish men meet in a bar.

[Uncle Al]

Two Irish men meet in a bar.

A man stumbles up to the only other patron in a bar and asks if he
could buy him a drink. "Why, of course," comes the reply.

The first man then asks: "Where are you from?"

"I'm from Ireland," replies the second man.

The first man responds: "You don't say, I'm from Ireland too!
Let's have another round to Ireland."

"Of course," replies the second man.

Curious, the first man then asks: "Where in Ireland are you from?"

"Dublin," comes the reply.

"I can't believe it," says the first man. "I'm from Dublin too!
Let's have another drink to Dublin."

"Of course," replies the second man.

Curiosity again strikes and the first man asks: "What school did you go to?"

"Saint Mary's," replies the second man, "I graduated in '92."

"This is unbelievable!" the first man says. "I went to Saint Mary's and
I graduated in '92, too!"

About that time in comes one of the regulars and sits down at the bar.

"What's been going on?" he asks the bartender.

"Oh, nothing much," replies the bartender. "The O'Malley twins are drunk again."


- - - - - - - - -

OK - It's an 'oldie' but a 'goodie'

Uncle Al

[ethelthefrog]

Ooooooh. Get to the back of the class.

[DALederle]

Speaking of Irish jokes:

The Golden Telephone...

While on vacation in Rome, I noticed a marble column in St. Peter's with a
golden telephone on it. As a young priest passed by, I asked who the telephone was for. The priest told me it was a direct line to heaven, and if I'd like to call, it would be a thousand dollars. I was amazed, but declined the offer.

Throughout Italy, I kept seeing the same golden telephone on a marble
column. At each, I asked about it and the answer was always the same: It was
a direct line to heaven and I could call for a thousand dollars.

Then -
I finished my tour in Ireland .. I decided to attend Mass at a local village
church. When I walked in the door I noticed the golden telephone. Underneath
it there was a sign stating: "DIRECT LINE TO HEAVEN: 25 cents." "Father," I
said, "I have been all over Italy and in all the cathedrals I visited, I've
seen telephones exactly like this one. But the price is always a thousand
dollars. Why is it that this one is only 25 cents?"

The priest smiled and said, "
Darlin', you're in Ireland now. It's a local call."


I think this is a good one too!


Dennis A. Lederle

Live Long and Prosper!

[Kirbstone]

A good one, Dennis. Thanks for that. It seems here that too many politicians have been making use of them !

Tom K.

[alexthebird]

I'm mostly a lurker these days, but I did feel a bit compelled to speak here. At the risk of seeming too politically correct, I found Uncle Al's joke to be really offensive. I'm of mostly Irish-American heritage (there's some German and some English in there too) but I have problems with the ease with which we characterize the Irish and Irish-Americans as good natured drunks. In fact, I have problems with any kind of joke that is based on the assumption that groups have characteristics that suggest ridicule.

But then we get Dennis' joke, which I found pretty cute. Then again, Dennis' joke doesn't highlight an alleged personality defect of the group, does it?

I know I'm being inconsistent, but as Skip is fond of saying, it's just my opinion.

[Kirbstone]

Exactly. Everyone is entitled to express their opinion, and as a member of the aformentioned 'alleged personality defect'-ed group I say:

Let's all have another round of pints and drink to that!

Tom K.

[owen]

Thanks Kirbstone, the usual for me please!

[crfriend]

One of the things that sets the non-PC crowd apart from the PC crowd is that the non-PC types can actually laugh at themselves when they see snippets that apply to them, even if the snippets are portrayed as jokes.

I have Irish blood coursing through my veins thanks to my paternal grandmother; I also have German blood mixed in by virtue of my biological mother -- and I can laugh at jokes about both nationalities with equal aplomb. Is every Irishman or woman a drunkard? No. is every German a warmonger devoid of a sense of humour? No. However, stereotype (of whatever ilk) can provide a humourous foil for widely perceived tendencies. We just need to recall that stereotypes are not necessarily factual representations.

I'll admit it, I laughed at both jibes at the Irish -- for I identify at several levels with the "butt of the joke". I'll also point out that being the butt of a well-crafted joke can be as thoroughly enjoyable as being one of the perpetrators. If one cannot laugh at one's self, then one has very serious issues to deal with indeed. Criticism, too, falls under the same aegis; I still sting from -- and fondly recall -- Sapphire's comment about me wearing one of her dresses: "You look like a gorilla in a dress!" The comment stung a bit, but was quite funny -- and it was accurate. We need to revisit the notion that we are infallible -- for we are not.

[PatJ]

There once was a time when ethnic jokes ruled the day. Strangely enough, there are even ethnic jokes in the Bible. I believe it was a fellow named Jesus who told one about a "Good Samaritan." (Like there was such a thing!) Times have changed, however, and today most ethnic jokes are frowned upon.

About the only ethnic jokes that are acceptable are Hittite jokes. As a race of people, Hittites are extinct and therefore it is impossible to offend a Hittite.

With that in mind,

"There were these two Hittites, Ole and Lena....."

My point being that the jokes are the same and all one has to do is substitute the nationality, names, or whatever to make it a joke of some other group. I suggest we not take offence where no offence was intended.