Wednesday, July 07, 2010

US bars slammed for serving ‘Irish car bomb’ drink

Bars in the United States have been slammed for trivializing the suffering of hundreds of victims by serving up a cocktail called an ‘Irish car bomb.” An IRA victim’s group, Fair, has criticized the selling of the cocktail claiming the suffering of bomb attack victims, who have been maimed or killed, should not be celebrated in such a way.

Willie Frazer, a spokesman for the group said “It is disgusting that IRA car bombs which killed and maimed so many in Northern Ireland are being trivialized or celebrated in this way. "I would have expected Americans, of all people, to behave more sensitively and responsibly. How would they like it if we developed the Al-Qaeda car bomb, the Twin Towers cocktail, or the 9/11 ice-cream sundae?"



The group has called for authorities in the United States to clamp down on the sales of the cocktail and asked that the websites advertising the drink be shut down. Frazer said “All those who drink this cocktail and see it as a great joke wouldn't think it funny if they were caught in a car bomb themselves.

“I'd challenge them to meet victims of bombings – people who have lost arms and legs and are scarred for life." The cocktail made from Guinness, Bailey’s Irish cream and whiskey has become hugely popular in the United States.



The story goes that the drink was invented 30 years ago by Charles Burke Cronin Oat, owner and bartender at Wilson’s Saloon, Connecticut. While experimenting with drinks he added whiskey to Bailey’s Irish cream, in a shot glass and it bubbled like an explosion. He remarked “the IRA just showed up.”

The drink is made by dropping this shot of Bailey’s and whiskey into a pint of Guinness. If not drunk immediately the drink will curdle. Some bars in the United States have refused to sell the cocktail as they find the name offensive. However Irish car bomb ice-cream sundaes and cupcakes are now also selling well. The drink even has its own website.

13 comments:

ShaunK said...

This is another one of those 'Only in America' stories.
Can you imagine any Irishman (or woman) wanting to drink that?

Foreigner1 said...

So sensitive! So what's next?

- Zyklon-B cocktail at the old German S-Bar...?
- Roadside Blast drink at the Baghdad Bar...?
- Suicide Bomber Vodka at the Chetchenia Club...?
- Kathyusha-Surprise at the Palestinian or Israeli restaurants...?

... *DONT_KNOW* *DONT_KNOW* *DONT_KNOW*

Ratz said...

Foreigner1: Don't forget Sarin slammers in a Tokyo bar

Anonymous said...

Actually, the drink is made by floating Bailey's on top of the Guinness and then dropping in a shot of whiskey.  At least that's the only way I've seen it done.

I don't think most Americans (in our infinite American-ness) have any idea what the IRA is.  I know in college we all thought that the 'car bomb' part of the name was a clever way to say you were going to get 'really bombed' and had no idea that it was tied to real events. 

It's possible that I'm stupider than the average American, but I doubt it.

kdub said...

Most people I know just call it a car bomb, they don't make it specifically an Irish thing.

L said...

Tasteless.

soubriquet said...

We were targeted by IRA bombs for a long time, whilst IRA fundraisers in north america, (hello Boston) paid for explosives and guns.
bombs, rockets, mortars, sniper bullets. And the US government turned a blind eye, refused extradition of murderers.

Calling a cocktail an IRA Car Bomb is disgusting.

Oh well, I'll just go mix myself a Timmy Mc Veigh Blaster...... Ooooooklahoma, .........
No? a bit tasteless?
A "Ground-Zero Flag-Burner" perhaps. That would be a Manhattan, with a flaming airliner thrown in.

soubriquet said...

kdub, Don't you think Baileys, Guinness, and whiskey's just a bit of an Irish clue?

Foreigner1 said...

Nooo it definitely is not tasteless!

...Oh sorry - you meant the name.

;)

Foreigner1 said...

Carbombs and acts of terrorism in general are wrong if innocent civilians are victim.

But the whole Northern Ireland topic can be quite an "interesting" topic if you ask people from outside Nothern Ireland and the rest of the UK...
For example I know lots of people here in the Netherlands who still do not understand why the Catholics and the Protestants over there are so much at eachother's throats and why the UK still governs Nothern Ireland instead of it being part of Ireland. And I also know lots of people over here that still believe that the IRA has or had a just cause.

Well- I personally believe in Peace and Love and Flowers for all where there is no place for bullets or bombs. And I live in the land of mushrooms and fairytales and falling asleep  while being told nice bedtime stories...

blitherypoop said...

Gotta love how something can be around for years and then suddenly it's an outrage.

Besides.... ever hear of a kamikaze?  Is that scandalous too?

My mother's got red hair... should I be offended by the dirty redhead?

It's a gimicky drink with a mean-spirited name.... get over it.  I have never seen anyone call it an "IRA carbomb" until I read this article.  It's hinted at, but not spelled out like that.  The first time I heard someone mention it I said "that's terrible"... and I laughed.  I'm half Irish.

This is a country where we celebrate the Irish with horrible domestic beer dyed green and general binge drinking... or by dressing little kids as coal miners and maids and putting them in parades.  We still call it a "paddy wagon".  Ever have an "Irish breakfast" or the "Irish flu"?  Every ethnic group as something that pokes fun at its troubles.  Get over it.

Ratz said...

Hailing from Belfast myself, I do find this rather tasteless, especially since it was the USA that was funding the terrorism (sorry, funding Sinn Fein) in Northern Ireland.  Though that being said, it's been more than a year since the last car bomb, so it's now long enough for it to be funny.  Well, a year if you exclude Londonderry or Newry or Strabane or..  Sod it, we should have the 911, a multi-level tower of booze that makes the average man plummet to the ground.

irishyorkshirescottishamerican said...

I think that a drink called the "Car Bomb" is all very harmless when you have not lived in England. In comment to Blitherypoop, I am a red head my grandfather is Irish from Cork and I have experienced IRA bomb scares whilst living in Leeds for 27 years, I think things like this are very distasteful, can you imagine calling a drink in the UK the "Twin Towers Chaser", there would be an absolute uproar in the US.  They may celebrate St Patrick's day in the US but it was not a happy time for anyone living in the UK for 27 years of IRA attacks.  I now live in the US and I frequent Irish bars and English bars but I still find it a horrifying time in my life