Ireland's view of Irish America must go beyond stereotypes

Irish New Yorker and resident in Kerry during lockdown, Eugene O'Driscoll, ponders Ireland's perceptions and preconceptions of Irish America, in a bizarre summer for tourism

A US flag flying

Driving into the town of Tralee one day on the 4th of July weekend, I noticed a massive American flag waving outside of a hotel on the edge of town. The flag, impeccably fresh and clean with its bright red and white and blue colours bursting forward, dwarfed the Irish tricolour next to it, its size something you’d expect in a gas station in Texas and reminiscent to me of one flying at a Trump-owned golf course in a prominent riverside location in New York City. 

At the time, I assumed the massive flag was flown especially for the American Independence Day but it remained standing as of last week.