Is the Irish Car Bomb Drink Offensive?

For those who don’t know, an Irish Car Bomb is an alcoholic drink.  I’ve been told if you ask for it in an Irish bar, especially one in Ireland you’ll either get a smile or a black eye, but the latter is more likely.

An Irish Car Bomb drink is made like this:

3/4 pint Guinness stout, 1/2 shot Bailey’s Irish cream, 1/2 shot Jameson Irish whiskey

Add the Bailey’s and Jameson to a shot glass, layering the Bailey’s on the bottom. Pour the Guinness into a pint glass or beer mug 3/4 of the way full and let settle. Drop the shot glass into the Guinness and chug.

Sounds harmless, but this drink is actually pretty insulting to a lot of people from and in Ireland.

You see, not too long ago there were literal car bombings in Ireland.  The kind with real explosives that killed real people. Take the Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 1974. 33 people were killed and almost 300 injured when the bombs planted by the UVF went off.

Then there was the Omagh car bombings in 1998 carried out by the RIRA that killed 29 people and injured 220 people.

So before you belly up to the bar this weekend, think about what you’re ordering.  The choice is completely up to you and I'm not going to judge, but I thought I should let you know why some people, especially the Irish find the Irish Car Bomb drink to be offensive.