What is the most unbeliveably cheesey and corny use of ITM and/or ‘Celtic’ culture seen or heard? For me is has to be the whole ‘Braveheart’ film. From the fact it is pure sentimental fiction compared to the real Willie Wallace to the two GHB’s playing with two fiddles and two bodhran players (!) to Mel Gibson wearing pants under his Kilt (the bigg jessie). Oh, and the Coors.
Darby O’Gill and the Little People, starring Sean Connery.
You have got to be kidding… Braveheart is an enjoyable film, if not particularly historically
accurate, and The Coors are, well, a pop band.
The Skittles television commercials, however, are a cheesy exploitation of the whole celtic
mysteries thing. Or were, when they were doing celtic-themed ones. I think they are tasting the
rainbow in art school now, or something.
There was also a car commercial about, uhm, a year, year and half back, maybe a Lexus, set to
Connaughtman’s Rambles. I have to admit, though, that the tune caught my ear and I had to
listen closely until I found the match and could put a title to it. Still haven’t learned that one,
though.
The"Stonehenge" thing from Spinal Tap?
Celtic cheese? Phil Coulter, the master of Irish elevator music. And what do you mean “Best”? Isn’t that like asking “What is the best/worst oozing skin rash”? 
Cheers,
David
I had a hard time seeing Highland Pipes being played and the sound of Uilleann Pipes coming out (campfire scene). Uilleann pipes were used a lot for background music which made little sense to me as the movie was about Scotland. Let’s add musically inaccurate as well.
Cheers,
David
Hmmm. The only Coors that I know about is the beer.
The Corrs, on the other hand, are an incredibly talented and very popular band in both Ireland and North America. They have found a way to mix pop with some touches of trad in their performances and CDs.
“Braveheart” seems to have convinced quite a few people that the Highland Pipes sound just like uilleann pipes.
[quote=“buskerSean”]What is the most unbeliveably cheesey and corny use of ITM and/or ‘Celtic’ culture seen or heard? /quote]
No question about it-
Michael Flatley!!!
All the Best, Tom
It was also filmed in Ireland.
Phil Coulter wrote two of the finest songs ever to come out of Ireland,“The town that I love so well” and “Scorn not his simplicity”.
He also produced and played on many of the Dubliners albums and brought to them a much greater depth than they had previously so I can overlook his elevator phase,after all the guy has got to eat.
As regards the cheesiest use of ITM known to man…In the film “My left foot” which was based upon the autobiographical novel “Down all the Days” ,there is a scene set in a bar where the subject of the film,Christy Brown, is introduced to all and sundry. Before this he had been shut away to hide his chronic disability but having used his left foot to scratch out the letter C on a dusty floor his father discovered a previously dormant paternal pride in his son,and carried him down to the Bar to be one of the lads so to speak. A brawl breaks out and then a very happy,lively diddley dee set of tunes is played over the chaos. Party Time in Ireland be Jaysus.
I very nearly puked.
Slan,
D.
I’ve never seen river dance, so I will say the …
WARNING You may get a tune stuck in your head!
Irish Spring soap commercials.
Probably one of the first exposures I had to Irish heritage other than lucky charms and the basketball team.
I think for me it had to be the Chieftains playing with Roger Daltrey as their “special guest”. He sang, of course, a bunch of Who songs. The only thing I remember was “Behind Blue Eyes,” in the middle of which Paddy and company played a jig or reel or something. Other than that it was Roger Daltrey singing a song with the occasional wail of a Upipe in the background. This was some kind of reverse synergy.
Oh, well, that’s easy to explain. The Uillean pipes sound good, and the GHBs don’t.
Actually, when I saw braveheart I wasn’t particularly familiar with the difference in pipe
sounds and didn’t notice. I imagine that if I watched it again to-day, I’d be similarly
perplexed.
–Chris
I always mix up the Irish Spring jingle with the Poland Spring (mineral water) jingle.
I remember seeing a TV movie called “Luck of the Irish” about a boy who ‘lost his luck’ and started losing all his basketball games to a rather mean looking fellow who turned out to be a leprechaun. Turns out the boy is part leprechaun too, but his mother turned her back on her heritage to marry his dad, who is from Pennsylvania. The mother’s father has been estranged from the family until this emergency brings Irishness back to the reputable part of the family.
There is a quite funny bit though. Everything is looking horrible for the family, they’re never going to get their luck back, the grandfather has lost his company, and everyone is looking morose and trying to figure out what to do next. The grandfather pulls out a tin whistle and starts playing a lively jig. When questioned on the appropriateness, he responds:
“I am an Irishman. This is how we show despair.”
Best Celtic cheese: Mu(e)nster. Goes great on turkey sandwiches.
Worst Celtic cheese: “Spy of the County Down”, done by Yours Truly on Clips ‘n’ Snips. What on earth was I thinking?! 
Irish Spring . . . remarkable for its unabashed portrayal of Irish men as studly farm hands who, err, sweat more than usual. And the sweaty women who love them, albeit while demonstrating poor taste in fragrances . . . “'Tis manly . . . but I like it, too!”
They’re magically delicious 
Phil certainly does deserve credit for good song writing. I’ve not heard the second but heard The Town I loved So Well first by French guitarist extrordinaire Pierre Bensusan and later by Paddy Reilly. It always amazed me that he could have written something so wonderful yet recorded such schlock as the aforementioned elevator music! Go figure…
Cheers,
David
“Too much of a good thing is usually better”
- Mae West
“A hard man is good to find.”
- Mae West
He’s a pro and does all sorts of things, he also produced PLanxty’s second but he’s also responsible for some unbelievably welknown pop songs. A song like Congratulations (remember Cliff Richard?) as he said himself paid for the education of all his children, and that only the one of many he (co-)wrote.