Because lace-curtain Irish
My wife falls in that category, I will bring this to her attention! Whenever she begins some commentary about her family history, I begin singing It is just a little shanty in old shanty town which usually shuts her down, for a few minutes anyway!!
My father’s mother’s maiden name was Bernadette Devlin. He’d get all teary eyed whenever that homicidal bitch was on the news ragging about the English, who raised the Irish out of the mud and gave them the gift of the English language, which is the only thing that separates the Irish from the Hottentots.
Me father’s mutha was shanty Irish, definitely not lace curtain Irish, btw. Shanty Irish, like ‘er namesake. I had a German American school boy friend who was quite pleased to explain the difference between lace-curtain Irish and shanty-Irish to me.