But the devastating effect of the abuse of the British invaders–over centuries–cannot be underestimated. Much of the specifics of that history has slipped out of current memory, which for the work of the Good Friday Accord to keep gaining traction, has to be.

Danica, your amplification of the one line from the psychiatrist I met is fascinating. Understanding what the Irish endured speaks to this national addiction–meaning they are not crazy, they are in pain BECAUSE of outrageous, often deadly treatment of a conqueror.

And still, they have contributed the pinnacle of English language arts (in their enforced conqueror’s tongue !) to the world in Joyce and Yeats. Really remarkable.

heh. dan almost said the same thing. I think that shrink was right on and I love it…. In individuals, addictions are caused by abuse. We learn to check out from the pain and chaos in our childhoods, and then we find trillions of ways of staying checked out and keeping that nice familiar pain and chaos in our adult lives. I’ve often speculated about how this plays out on a national/cultural level, like how the incidence of smoking and drug and alcohol use tends to be higher here in the LGBT community. And I think that the spectre of alcoholism in Ireland is a good solid example of this stuff.

I’ll never forget the time Father Murray stopped Xmas Eve Midnight Mass in mid-service because all the drunks in the back were making too much noise (St. Helena’s, Olney, Philadelphia). Ah, those were the days, young bucks getting flagged en masse from Midnight Mass…