Sorry, Martin, was just about to!

When speaking of black people as in the black race found in Africa, the Irish language uses the word "gorm" (used for blue, but in actuality one of the various terms for "things that are their natural colour", like glas and liath). So it's "cine ghoirm" ("blue" - black - race), "fear gorm" ("blue" - black - man), bean ghoirm ("blue" - black - woman) and so on.

My grammar isn't so hot in Irish, so while the feminine is softened by adding an "h", I'm not sure about the slenderising by adding an "i" before the end of the word, by the way.

When speaking of black hair, we use "dubh" (black); also in English we'll say "D'you see that little black fellow over there?", meaning little black-haired fellow - though this is a usage that's dropping away now that there are so many people from Africa now living here and it might sound rude.

"Black Irish" is an American term for dark-haired Irish people commonly supposed to be quick-tempered and bear grudges, as I understand. I suppose this may have come from the fact that many of the Irish people who emigrated to America over the generations may have arrived under intense stress, and remained stressed and edgy for many years after their arrival due to the pressures of poverty and lack of work.

"Black Protestant" is a term used in Ireland to suggest a Protestant, almost invariably Northern, who's bigoted.

The "Black North" comes from the fact that the northern direction was seen as that from which ill-luck and monsters came; distressingly, the children's graves in graveyards are traditionally placed to the north.

Kipling was a racist. Find an approving mention of an Irish person anywhere in his work and I'll give you a tanner.