Don McLean - No Irish Need Apply / Johnny McEldoo

[mooninquirer]

There were an extremely small number of jobs were the employer specifically did not want Irish, and these were for personal assistants, especially live-in domestic servants and nannies, and even then, it was from Americans who had come from Britain. It is a myth that these ads were widespread, and there were NO signs saying "No Irish Need Apply." Originally, this song referred to a WOMAN who faced this discrimination, in England.

[MadTomOfBedlam]

@mooninquirer if there were no signs that said no irish need apply how do explain all the pictures in say, history books? in fact, i have a book in my room right now "no irish need apply) which on the cover has a picture of such a sign bearing the words "no irish, niggers, jews or alligators need apply" that the irish were not descriminated against largely in america is one of the more ridiculous contentions i have heard. perhaps you should read before writing. your ignorance is sad and annoying

[MadTomOfBedlam]

@mooninquirer the civil rights movement is entirely based in the civil rights of All people in america, and to say that the movement should only be for blacks is exactly the same as saying that the back of the bus should only be for blacks, the civil rights movement is in existence to secure the same treatment for everyone who is descrimnated against, whether it be blacks in NY or whites in NM. what does it matter whether the racism is written into law?

[MadTomOfBedlam]

@mooninquirer if someone were to deny you a job because they hated "your kind" what does it matter whether there is a law that says they have to? the irish and blacks have most definitely been discriminated against, as is any race that will or has to work for cheap yet both deserve the unalienable rights they were denied. to posit that the civil rights movement should have consisted of any one color is the same as positing ____ supremacy, because it implies that only one group faces oppression

[mooninquirer]

Employers were VERY eager to hire the Irish en masse for jobs in construction, railroads, mining, etc., in the same way that employers are very eager to hire the MEXICANS of today.

The problem was not the "No Irish Need Apply" myth, but low wages and poor working conditions. The resentment they faced was NOT from employers, but from other workers, just like there is so much resentment today for Mexicans, because they "are taking the White man's jobs."

[monklane]

I've been a Don McLean fan since all the way back then, but I've never seen this before. So I thank you.

[TYBAKERVLOG]

I am not Irish, but a Black man and I think this song a long with other ones that I've heard is so inspirational. I respect the Irish struggle!

[mooninquirer]

@TYBAKERVLOG Why do you respect the Irish struggle ?  It is sucking off and very severely diluting the REAL victimization of Blacks in America, not just with slavery, but with the Jim Crow laws and culture surrounding them. Blacks and Native Americans properly have a story of victimization and something to bitch and moan about. The Civil Rights struggle SHOULD HAVE been surgically targeted only to correct the Jim Crow laws, and not an excuse to have every group fighting each other.

[fitzemmett075]

@mooninquirer you are an idiot

[whipthenations]

@fitzemmett075 yeah, the Irish have a pale skin tone so this guy thinks they could not have been persecuted that bad, he does not understand that it isn't a competition on who has had the most 'victimization'. It is not a competition, it is disrespectful to all peoples to treat it in that manner. The rest of europe has been shitting on the the Irish for 1000 years, but they are white so i guess it makes this fact null and void

[jerry0142]

@mooninquirer you could be the dumbest person ever. so stupid and ignorant.

[mooninquirer]

@jerry0142 The thing is, you not only believe that "No Irish Need Apply" ads were common ( for Blacks in the South, it was a criminal offense for which the police could be immediately called, if anyone failed to segregate Blacks and Whites, and there was nothing at all like that in America for the Irish ), you ALSO agree with the behavior of the Irishman in this song. You don't realize that THIS SONG actually is a very great discredit to the Irish ---- like gangsta rap is to Black males.

[SheaSouffle]

This is absolutely amazing! :D

[vlinder1562]

Thanks for uploading this very rare video. I do like the Irish songs like Molly Malone for instance.

Please upload some more of this wonderful material from the past.

[homelessbrother]

@vlinder1562 Thanks for the comment, Don also sings Mountains of Mourne and Molly Malone in the same concert, must get round to upload these songs too.