We’ve all heard the phrase Luck of the Irish, but are you curious where it comes from? Is it a really good thing to be lucky as the Irish? Ireland is a small country with rich history, and the Irish are known for their hospitality and cheerful personality. So, if you are curious to learn more, here we’ve covered the history of the phrase and more below.
Historical Phrase
First things first, the world luck is actually not related to Ireland. It has Dutch origins, and it was initially associated with gambling. So if you are looking to test your luck with casino games and trying your hand at poker or blackjack or other casino games you’ve likely heard that phrase before.
Fortunately, you don’t need to visit a land-based casino in order to try your luck with popular casino games. All you need to do is find reliable casino sites that are active on the European market, which will bring you closer to your favourite casino games, and you can see how the term luck of the Irish applies to your luck.
Back to the history of the luck of the Irish. It is actually more associated with the USA. It is, in fact, a phrase that doesn’t have an Irish origin, but it is related to Irish American History. More specifically, the USA in the 19th century was going through a gold rush. Millions of miners, many with Irish origins, embarked on the hunt for gold.
Many successful miners at the time were Irish or Irish American, and they managed to get wealthy by findings stockpiles of gold. So, over time their luck became more prevalent, which resulted in the phrase – luck of the Irish.
Leprechaun Irish luck
Leprechaun is a small supernatural being in Irish folklore that is associated with mischievousness and the famous pot of gold that he keeps at the end of the rainbow. Legends about Leprechauns are quite famous worldwide, and it’s the unofficial mascot of Ireland and the Irish. They are forever tied to abundance in gold, which further popularised the term the Luck of the Irish in the USA.
As a result, some historians believe that the term Irish luck is associated with these creatures and the luck they bring to the Irish.
Summary
So, we hope that we’ve made it clear where the phrase – the luck of the Irish comes from and whether you can use it when you are actually feeling very lucky. Needless to say, there are many other theories that associate the luck of the Irish with other folk tales or legends.
But in our opinion and based on the historical facts, the phrase was notably most used during the gold rush in the later half of the 19th century in the USA. So, it was probably coined by the Americans who saw how lucky some of the Irish miners were while they were looking for gold and obviously, the association with the leprechaun, which always guards his pot of gold, was another reason why the phrase came into existence.