Commentary
St. Patrick’s Day is a popular holiday for celebrating all things Irish, whether your ancestors come from the Emerald Isle or not. You can get in the festive spirit on March 17 by wearing green clothing, eating corned beef and cabbage, and decorating everything with shamrocks. My favorite way of celebrating St. Patrick’s Day is watching classic movies with Irish American actors playing Hibernian (aka Irish) characters.
There is a plethora of such Irish-themed old movies, starring the fantastic actors who were collectively known as the Irish Mafia. They included the likes of Spencer Tracy, Pat O’Brien, Frank McHugh, and James Cagney, plus directors like John Ford and Leo McCarey. Of course, many of the movies created by these actors and directors were not overtly Irish in subject matter—but sometimes they hinted at the characters’ nationality with names….