Lace-curtain

My brandmother always says that our family (orignally from Suhmahvil) is "Lace curtian Irish".

yar it's also a word for a kind of genteel poor irish I think. poor but lotsa pride (and conservative).

We used to call the people in Southie who lived near the beach lace-curtain Irish.

Briefly, Lace Curtain Irish is a term that was used during the times when the Irish were being taken over by a king of some sort. The ones that were able to still afford luxuries and had time enough to make them, had lace curtains, and lace table cloths, doilies, etc, etc.

Lace was an industry that poor women in Ireland were able to pursue whilst doing everything else required to run homes on no resources. However, like the produce and livestock raised during the Irish Famine, lace wasn't made for home use. It was only for export and the tourist trade. Thus, "lace curtain Irish" were doing well for themselves, & might well be lording it over those a rung or two lower on the immigrant ladder. I got to visit Ireland in the fall of 2005, and was more than delighted to see that every single window in every dwelling had lace in it, from brownstone to little cottage. Even empty casements in abandoned row houses still had raggedy lace curtains happily waving in the breezes coming through! Ripped & filthy, yes ~ but made of lace!

Growing up in Somerville, I remember the Spring Hill area (St.Catherine's Church)being considered "lace curtain Irish" --- a bit more money than those in other sections of Som'l., such as Brickbottom etc..

So is being called a lace curtain irish a compliment or a dig,

So is being called a lace curtain irish a compliment or a dig,

If Irish call Irish Lace Curtain, it's a compliment. From non-Irish it's an insult.There is so much rain in Ireland, and the skies are often overcast. Lace on the windows gives some privacy yet allows the sun to shine through.

Lace curtains on the front windows and potatoes on the table. A Rossi term for JP Irish.

I think you have it backwards Annie calling someone a Lace Curtain Irish is and insult it implies that they're being a Plastic Paddy of sorts.

Lace-Curtain Irish to me means people who have forgotten their irish Roots and the hardships their parents & grandparents had to endure so they could afford those lace curtains in gentrified neighborhoods. lace Curtain irish in America is an insult. Think Bill O'Reilly or Sean Hannity - they are Lace Curtain Irish. They may trot out their heritage when it's convenient to win a point in an argument but everything they support is in direct opposition to the interests of their ancestors and present day Irish still in similar circumstances. A Plastic Paddy on the other hand is Irish on Saint Patrick's Day, drinks green beer and sings songs like When irish Eyes are Smiling and tries to tell you it's an old traditional song when it was written for the stage. Plastic paddy's think leprechauns are cute and folksie midgets rather than dangerous & to be avoided Sidhe. A Plastic Paddy can't usually tell you the County his grandparents were born in but a Lace Curtain irish might.

Absolutely an Insult to the Irish.. in Ireland it connotes being more associated with ruling Protestant English than Catholic Irish - and in the USA it includes another dig at being a poor housekeeper... that is, having lace curtains on the windows and cobwebs (another kind of lace curtain) in the corners.. all to do with keeping up a sort of appearance of being OK. Rather like the church going family on Sunday ... but there is a raging alcoholic in the house... etc. looks good from the outside (lace curtains on windows) but is not what it appears... cob webs on the inside.. absolutely an insult. Whether it is the Jumped up Protestant or not... it is not a nice thing to say to any Irish person.