Kilts and Pipes Co-opted by Irish in America

[flairball]

What question are you asking here? If you are asking about Pipe Bands affiliated with Fire Departments and Police Departments that seems to be pretty much a given in most American metropolitan areas. Historically Irish and their decendants are over-represented in Police and Firefighting because it was one of the few legitimate jobs available to them during the early days of immigration when the Irish migrants were suppressed by the other already established European immigrants. Hence a logical connection in many peoples minds between Irish and bagpipes.

Jamie

As a career firefighter I am well aware that the police and fire depts are fond of them. My dept had a Gaelic brigade. But the logic of the quoted statement is missing. People associate the pipes as Irish because the police and fire depts have pipe bands, and historically have been staffed by Irish. So, how did the police and fire depts come to have pipe bands? The statement need to connect the police and fire depts to the Scots prior to the Irish getting involved. Then the Irish continuing the Scottish tradition, which had become the police and fire dept tradition, and the subsequent assumption by others that the tradition was Irish would make more sense. If not we've got a chicken / egg argument. Not that it really matters.