The image of Ireland is strongly associated with lucky symbols and legends about good fortune. To have ‘the luck of the Irish’ is a famous saying. Although the origin of this term is not actually Irish, there may in fact be some truth to it. So what is ‘the luck of the Irish’ and will it rub off on you?

In recent years, there has been much about the commercialisation, or ‘appropriation’ of Irish culture, particularly in the United States. Modern St.Patrick’s Day celebrations overtly flaunt the quintessential traits of everything which represent the typical ‘plastic Paddy’, a term the Irish often use themselves to refer to the ‘fake Irish’ – usually Americans.

The whole concept of commemorating St.Patrick’s by showcasing everything ‘typically Irish’ originated in the USA amongst Irish Americans, in Ireland it was always a much more solemn affair, a day of religious observation.

Over the last few decades St.Patrick’s Day in Ireland has been celebrated with much more fanfare that it traditionally was, yet the celebrations are still not as over the top as across the pond. The Liffey is yet to be dyed green! Although there had been plans to do this for the year 2020, but the celebrations were cancelled that year due to the pandemic.
Customs such as dying rivers green and drinking green beer, are purely American fabrications. It’s no surprise then that the idea of Irish people being lucky, which is so prominent in the American imagination, was also conceived in the US. The old saying itself, ‘the luck of the Irish’, originated during the California Gold Rush of 1848-1855.

Myths and legends are a big part of Irish culture and there are many superstitions involving luck which predate the California Gold Rush. For example, the tradition of kissing the Blarney Stone dates back to the 15th century. However, the popular idea of Irish people being inherently lucky, originates from the Gold Rush era.

Some of the most prosperous gold miners were of Irish origin, whether born in Ireland or of Irish descent, according to Edward T.O’Donnell, an Associate Professor of History at Holy Cross College.

However, there is an underlying negative aspect behind the expression.

The Great Famine ravaged Ireland from 1845 to 1852. Around 1 million people died and at least a further 2 million fled Ireland during this period, which coincided with the Gold Rush, with many Irishmen setting out to try their luck in California. By 1880, approximately one-third of San Francisco’s population was of Irish descent. San Francisco developed as a boom town serving prospectors during the Gold Rush.

Irish immigrants suffered much discrimination and were stereotyped as drunkards and hooligans. Plays such as The Colleen Bawn (1860) and The Shaughraun (1874) reinforced these stereotypes, parodying the Irish in a form of stage ‘Paddywhackery’ which was common at the time.

It is theorised that the idea of the Irish being lucky was originally made in jest, alluding to the notion that the Irish struck gold only because they were lucky, rather than being good at their work. It could also be considered to be sarcastically mocking the Irish for their bad luck in terms of their plight with regards to the famine and in relation to their troubles with finding work along with other social issues, with regards to their immigrant experience.

Despite the earlier negative connotations, the Irish have managed to turn the image of luck favouring their people into something positive. They’ve done a good job of ‘owning’ the saying and really making the most out of it, after all, being lucky is hardly a bad thing.

Nevertheless, it seems that the image of leprechauns and rowdy drunkards is firmly ingrained in the American imagination of Ireland. Let’s not forget the famous leprechauns from the ‘Lucky Charms’ cereal and the mascot of the ‘Fighting Irish’ Notre Dame American football team.

It’s interesting to note that leprechauns rarely feature in ancient Irish mythology, first appearing in medieval tales about Fergus mac Léti, King of Ulster. The first mention of leprechauns in the English language appears in Thomas Dekker’s comedy The Honest Whore, Part 2 (1604), spelt ‘lubrican’. Leprechauns were previously described as wearing red coats, rather than green, as described by William Butler Yeats in Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry (1888). The current imagery of leprechauns wearing green is a modern adaptation which owes much to the commercialisation of St. Patrick’s Day, similarities can be drawn with Santa Claus wearing red as a result of a marketing campaign by Coca-Cola.

Leprechauns of course, go hand-in-hand with luck. The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is the ultimate definition of ‘the luck of the Irish’ and the ominous symbol of this is the four-leaf clover.

Often confused with the Shamrock, the four-leaf clover is said to have been considered lucky since the time of the Celtic druids, although the first mention of the plant in reference to having any positive attributes comes from John Parkinson’s Theatrum Botanicum (1640) where it is claimed that they are ‘good for the purples (purpura) in children or others’. Their more specific association with luck only becomes more prominent in the 19th century. In fact, according to a recent study, the odds of finding a four-leaf clover are only 1 in 5,076 - much less than previously thought.

The research was carried out carried out from 2015-2017 by a Czech biochemist and his wife, both avid clover collectors, and was conducted across 35 locations in 6 countries over 74 hours, with over 5.7 million clovers inspected.

As it turns out, just as it’s not as unlikely to find a four-leaf clover, the odds of winning the lottery are not as high as you may believe. The odds of winning the Irish Lotto jackpot are 1 in 10,737,573 – much more favourable than the UK National Lottery at 1 in 45,057,474  or the EuroMillions at 1 in 139,838,160. The good news for UK punters is that you can bet on the Irish Lottery from the UK with Lottoland.

Lottoland is an online lotto betting operator based in Gibraltar which is regulated by the UK Gambling Commission and which enables you to bet on lotteries from around the world. The Irish Lotto is one of the most popular foreign lottos amongst UK lottery enthusiasts as it offers relatively large jackpots at more favourable odds than many other international lotteries.

The largest ever Irish Lotto jackpot, €19.06 million (£15.7 million), was won in the town of Castlebar, County Mayo, in January 2022. Castlebar, with a population of just over 12,000, has been dubbed ‘the luckiest town in Europe’ as four major jackpots have been won in the town since 2014, including three previous EuroMillions wins.

The first EuroMillions win came in April 2014 when a jackpot of €15 million (£12.4 million) was won, the second jackpot came in 2019 with a massive €29 million (£24 million) win, followed by a €17 million(£14 million) win in 2020.

Perhaps the Irish are lucky after all.