Gueast, was his name Padd... - oh no! I nearly gave away my deep anti-Irish prejudice then! That would have kept Tad-fat and Tir Eggbrain going for another 40 posts! Reading their other contributions I gather that like a certain kind of American they don't understand irony very well.

Curator, if I wanted to demonstrate that you conform to a certain crude and innacurate stereotype of Irishmen that I certainly don't share I would quote these two bits of your post, which were worryingly close together:

'Sorry but we did win!'.....', 'We will win our island's freedom...'

Plus, the fact that I regard getting out of Ireland as a victory for us went completely over your head. Bitterness? You forget, Ireland is something I scarcely ever think about except when it pops up in places like this. I think I live my life feeling more bitterness about the war of Jenkin's Ear.