Irish — reddead

“	They say God invented whisky to stop the Irish from rulin' the world.	„
	—Irish in "We Shall Be Together in Paradise"

"Irish" is a major character featured in Red Dead Redemption.

With the addition of the Liars and Cheats DLC pack, Irish is also a multiplayer character model that may be selected in the 'Damnation' section of the Outfitter.

History

Background

According to Irish, he grew up poor and hungry. Raised Catholic by a mother and a father who always told him to "never trust a Welshman", and his father would soon have his throat slit possibly by one. Irish emigrated to the United States at fourteen years old shortly after being caught in bed with his brother's wife. During the boat ride to America, Irish met and befriended two other immigrants, French and Welsh. In Irish's words, they became "as thick as thieves" ever since. He also alleges killing at least one man named "Twinkle-Toe Dave".

Events of Red Dead Redemption

New Austin

Irish is one of the supporting characters in the first chapter of Red Dead Redemption. His help was suggested to Marston by Nigel West Dickens as the man who could get Marston heavy firepower and ammunition from a Gatling Gun. After saving Irish from two of his "friends", he will repay John by leading him to a shack where he flees at the sight armed guards leaving Marston to do it himself. After John fights his way to the cabin, he discovers that the gun wasn't there at all in the first place.

John tracks Irish down again, and Irish leads John to a mine where the machine gun is actually located. After John takes care of the miners overground, he descends into the mine and finds the gun inside a mine cart that he pushes and briefly rides towards a lift that Irish is stationed at. The gun is lifted up and hoisted into a wagon, where Irish delivers it to West Dickens.

John finds Irish in an alleyway at Thieves' Landing, holding two nuns at gunpoint, John confronts Irish who claims he doesn't remember who John is, and in response John pistol whips Irish and scolds him for his attempted armed robbery of the nuns. After Irish comes to his senses, he hooks John up with his contact, Shaky, who can supply John with the ammo required for the Gatling Gun. When John and Irish arrive at the warehouse, Irish finds the door to be locked even though it shouldn't be and sends John inside to investigate. After disposing of Shaky's captors, the ammo for the Gatling gun is loaded into a cart as John rides shotgun with Irish to MacFarlane's Ranch while fending off people chasing the cart. When all is said and done, John makes it clear to Irish he expects him to fight at Fort Mercer. He will "help" John take over the hideout of Williamson in Fort Mercer. However, when the battle starts in Fort Mercer, he is nowhere to be found until just before the mission is finished.

Later in "We Shall Be Together in Paradise," Irish provides John passage to Nuevo Paraíso by raft and accompanies him across the San Luis River. En route, the pair are ambushed by bounty hunters, forcing them to land further downstream while John dispatches their assailants while Irish cowers at the gunfire. Upon reaching shore, he suggests John visit the town of Chuparosa to search up an American he had encountered during his last stay or Escalera for the region's governor. Before parting ways with John, Irish expresses that while he views him as an ill-tempered and ugly individual, he does not consider him a bad one. After which, he departs on horseback and is not encountered again.

Epilogue

In 1914, the "miscellany" section of the Blackwater Ledger states that an "Irish male, of unknown name, came to his death by the accidental discharge of a gun in a Thieves' Landing outhouse".

Character

“	A teller of tall tales, who'll try to talk his way out of anything.	„
	—Rockstar's description of Irish

Personality

Irish is a dysfunctional alcoholic known to greatly exaggerate, and tell tales of which he seldom remembers the finer details. When John Marston works alongside him, he often does the work while Irish is nowhere to be found, further perpetuating his reputation as a lazy drunk and a coward. He was also a regular problem for the people he was around because of this alcoholism. Almost being drowned by two of his ex-compatriots, where he surely would've been seriously injured or killed had it not been for John Marston. He's frequently found by John being under the effects of the drink half-asleep sitting against a wall.

Appearance

Irish is just barely more well-dressed than Seth, with at least a, although shabby, looking shirt and pants. His hair is very shaggy and grown out, and his pistol is seen holstered at the front of his pants.

Mission appearances

Red Dead Redemption

Quotes

Main article: Irish/Quotes

“	It's the whisky, sir... It gives me the memory of a newborn babe. Innocent as could be.	„
	—Irish ("Man is Born Unto Trouble")

noicon

“	They call me El Rato, 'The cat', on account of me stealth and cunning.	„
	—Irish

“	"God invented whiskey to keep the Irish from taking over the world."	„
	—Irish

“	Ain't you got some peckers to be suckin'?	„
	—Irish

“	Oh, me virgin ears!	„
	—Irish

“	You're an angry and a feck-ugly man, but not a bad one.	„
	—Irish's last words to John Marston

Trivia

In multiplayer, he is placed in the Damnation section, most likely due to his crimes and attempts to get John Marston killed.
If shot at before starting a mission, he may shoot back and possibly kill the player or simply flee. During these moments, the player is unable to kill Irish.
Irish seems to keep his revolver tucked into the front of his pants rather than in a holster.
- In multiplayer, Irish's gun is not in the front of his pants, but in a holster on his waist.
- When Irish puts his gun away after shooting in the mission "We Shall Be Together in Paradise", it uses the animation like he is putting his gun in a holster. His gun can then be seen to teleport to the front of his pants.
After the mission "We Shall Be Together in Paradise", it is possible to kill him. However, the player needs to be extremely quick and likely will have to use Dead-Eye.
He mentions indirectly that he met Landon Ricketts.
According to a comment Irish makes in "On Shaky's Ground", Irish may be from the city of Dublin, Ireland.
During the mission “We Shall Be Together in Paradise”, he uses the term ‘shitehawk’ while being shot at. This could mean he comes from Cork, Ireland, as it’s a phrase used often in that area.
- Also during the mission, Irish mentions he was born into the world fighting and he will leave it fighting, to which John replies that he thinks Irish will leave it pissing his pants. Ironically, this predicts Irish's death in the future when his gun accidentally goes off in an outhouse in Thieves' Landing.
He is one of the few original Red Dead Redemption characters that does not appear in Undead Nightmare. However on occasion, a Retcher may be encountered which has a striking similarity to Irish and next to the train station in Armadillo, there is a half-eaten corpse, that if looked at carefully, has a resemblance to Irish, with a Repeater Carbine next to the body.
He appears to be a well-travelled person, having been to both Mexico and Canada, the majority of New Austin, and his native Ireland (then a part of the United Kingdom). These claims may be untrue, however, due to Irish's consistent dishonesty.
Both of Irish's parents are mentioned at one point in the game. His father's throat was slit by a Welshman, as said in "A Frenchman, a Welshman and an Irishman", and his mother was still alive as of 1911, as said in "Man is Born Unto Trouble".
Irish justifies his thievery with ideals very similar in concept to Marston's, as told by his dialogue with Marston after being caught threatening a pair of nuns for money in "On Shaky's Ground".
When questioned by John about his absence during the assault on Fort Mercer at the beginning of "We Shall Be Together in Paradise", Irish replies; "I awoke with me head in a pair of tits and it felt ill-mannered not to get reacquainted with them."
Irish and Uncle are similar in several aspects, considering they both have very prominent beards, struggle with alcoholism, are fairly apathetic, only known by their nicknames, have similar facial structures, are known for their most likely lies of grandeur, and the type of "love/hate" relationship (although mostly hate when it comes to the former) that Marston has with both.
After completing "On Shaky's Ground", when Irish rides off, the player can catch up to him and get back on the wagon. Doing so will cause Irish to flee, and the player is able to kill or hogtie him.
At the beginning of the mission "Man is Born Unto Trouble", the song Irish is singing, "I love me precious Flora, the lily of the West", is in fact "Lily of the West", an old Irish folksong.
Irish indirectly mentions that he drank and played a game of cards with a Colonel "something or other" in Escalera. The Colonel in question is most likely Agustin Allende.
In "Man is Born Unto Trouble", Irish mentions that one of his reasons for leaving Ireland was for "poking" his brother's wife.
During the raft ride in "We Shall Be Together in Paradise", Irish admits that he can't swim.
At least one news outlet criticized the portrayal of Irish as the "town drunk" who attempts to talk his way out of situations as being the "Stereotype of the drunken Paddy."^[1]