History Main / OfficerOHara

** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS20E14InTheNameOfTheGrandfather In the Name of the Grandfather]]" ([[TheOneWith the one where]] the Simpsons go to Ireland), an Irish judge comments that Ireland has gotten nicer since they sent all their incompetent half-wits to America... "Where you, for some reason, made them police officers." Cue Chief Wiggum entering and accidentally macing and tasering himself.

* Played with in ''Film/TwoIfBySea'': FBI agent O'Malley is African-American, and it becomes a RunningGag that everyone is surprised to find out that he's not Irish when they first meet him.

* Jimmy Malone in ''Film/TheUntouchables'', who was completely and utterly invented for the movie. The real Eliot Ness knew what he was doing from the start, and didn't need a wise mentor to show him the ropes but apparently, that wouldn't be dramatic enough. Also, Sean Connery [[NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent is not Irish]], no matter what the other characters say.

* ''DeadlyHero'' (1975) has Don Murray as one of these-an Irish-American-as one of New York City's not-so-finest who fatally shoots a surrendering criminal then tries terrorizing the crook's victim out of testifying against the so called titluar "hero".

* ''Film/OneGoodCop'' has Michael Keaton's titluar character's ('Arthur 'Artie' Lewis) commanding officer, 'Lt. Danny Quinn' (Kevin Conway), as one of these, but a more understanding one when he finds out why Lewis committed the robbery on the drug dealers that his squad and a state undercover agent were investigating.

* Parodied in the episode "Altruists" of ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' with an African-American Irish police officer.

* ''Series/{{Ohara}}'' plays with this trope -- "Ohara" (without an apostrophe) is a Japanese name, and the title character, Police Chief Ohara, was played by Pat Morita.

* ''X-Men Noir'' is set in 1937, and Chief Eric Magnus is an Eastern European immigrant cop who is bitter over being discriminated against by the Irish-American cops who dominate the NYPD; he claims he failed the Sergeant's Exam three times just because he doesn't have a shred of Irish heritage. It's never explicitly spelled out, but it's notable that none of the members of his clandestine "Brotherhood" are Irish, either.

* Deconstructed in Creator/TomWolfe's ''Literature/TheBonfireOfTheVanities''. Prosecutor Larry Kramer observes that all NYPD officers eventually adopt the Irish persona regardless of their ethnic background, and how he, too, a Jew, had learned to be "as Irish as they come" when visiting crime scenes.

* Creator/RoaldDahl wrote a short story in which a wealthy New York couple, having forgotten their keys, attempt to break into their own house - and are promptly shot dead by a gang of Irish cops.
* ''Literature/TheCabinetOfCuriosities'' features NYPD officer Patrick "Paddy" O'Shaughnessey, who is described as having "probably the most Irish name in New York." The book then goes on to subvert the trope at every turn, making him a boon to the investigation, a guy with a standard New York accent, and a lover of opera.

* Officer Garroway in ''The Small Bachelor'' by Creator/PGWodehouse, which is set in New York. When Waddington goes in search of Garroway to attempt to buy back some shares he sold him, he can't remember Garroway's name; only that it was something Irish. As a result, he ends up encountering an endless succession of other policemen with Irish names.

* ''Series/RescueMe'': The Gavin family is almost absurdly proud of being New York Irish. The family has a tradition of being both cops and firefighters; one of the main drivers of the plot is firefighter Tommy Gavin's recurring nightmare/[[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane possible]] [[MagicRealism haunting by the ghost]] of his cop brother Johnny. His other younger brother Timo is also NYPD.

* ''Series/SpacePrecinct'', a "Cops in Space" show made by Creator/GerryAnderson, starred [[strike:Gary Ewing]] Ted Shackelford as veteran former New York cop Patrick Brogan, but the Irish accent came from [[DaChief Captain Podly]], an alien played by an actor with a giant puppet head. Ridiculous stereotypical accent aside, Podly was still a perfectly competent cop and got a few badass moments.
* ''Super Adventure Team'': Chief O'Brien of the NYPD is a black man with a thick Irish accent.

* ''Film/OneGoodCop'' has Michael Keaton's titluar character's ('Arthur 'Artie' Lewis') commanding officer, 'Lt. Danny Quinn' (Kevin Conway), is one of these, but a more understanding one when he finds out why Lewis committed the robbery on the drug dealers that his squad and a state undercover agent were investigating.

* ''Film/QAndA'' has Nick Nolte as one of these, a murderous bigoted tool of an ambitious Homicide Bureau chief and who himself (Nolte's character here) sees himself as a "line" that keeps minorities subordinate and downtrodden.

* '''DeadlyHero''' (1975) has Don Murray as one of these-an Irish-American-as one of New York City's not-so-finest who fatally shoots a surrendering criminal then tries terrorizing the crook's victim out of testifying against the so called titluar "hero".

* ''DeadlyHero'' (1975) has Don Murray as one of these-an Irish-American-as one of New York City's not-so-finest who fatally shoots a surrendering criminal then tries terrorizing the crook's victim out of testifying against the so called titluar "hero".

* ''Film/DeadlyHero'' (1975) has Don Murray as one of these-an Irish-American-as one of New York City's not-so-finest who fatally shoots a surrendering criminal then tries terrorizing the crook's victim out of testifying against the so called titluar "hero".

* ''Film/QAndA'' has Nick Nolte as one of these, a murderous bigoted tool of an ambitious Homicide Buereau head and who himself (Nolte's character here) sees himself as a "line" that keeps minorities subordinate and downrodden.

** Season 5 features a fictionalized version of Mike Malone, an Irish-American treasury agent who gets into Al Capone's inner circle by pretending to be an Italian named Mike D'Angelo.

* ''Series/BrooklynBridge'' (1991-1993) has James Naughton's recurring 'Lt. Patrick Monahan' character as such-one of New York City's finest of its 1950's timeframe.
* ''Series/BrooklynSouth'' (1997-1998) have several, both younger officers and veterans, that fit this ethnicity.
* ''Series/{{Copper}}'' is [[JustifiedTrope justified]] since it takes place in 1864. The rank-and-file police officers shown are first generation immigrants who were born in Ireland. The police officer protagonists are named Corcoran, Maguire, and O'Brien. Corcoran even {{Lampshade|Hanging}}s the fact that their captain is as Irish as they are but the captain's father dropped the 'O' from O'Sullivan when they arrived in America.

Historically this was TruthInTelevision, as the police in cities like [[UsefulNotes/NewYorkCityCops New York]], Boston, and Chicago were disproportionately staffed by Irishmen.[[note]]This also rang true in other New World colonies like Australia (in UsefulNotes/NedKelly's day, 80% of Victoria's police), Canada (the NWMP was based on the Royal Irish Constabulary) and New Zealand ([[https://teara.govt.nz/en/irish/page-5 as much as 40% in the 1930s]]).[[/note]] This is the reason they called it the "Paddy Wagon."[[note]]Unless it got its name from the Irish drunks it often hauled. As an old New York City joke goes, "If it weren't for the Irish we wouldn't have a police force -- and if it weren't for the Irish, we wouldn't need one."[[/note]] Around 1900, five-sixths of the [=NYCPD=] was Irish. A [[UsefulNotes/TheIrishDiaspora large wave of Irish immigrants]] in the 19th century coincided with the time when major cities started establishing "professional" police forces, and police work was one of the few jobs open to Irish immigrants at the time. In RealLife, police forces offer many opportunities for recent immigrants, and they sign up, partly to protect their own people. Because early police work closely resembled [[PoliceBrutality thuggery]], it was not a prestigious position, and because poorly paid police were vulnerable to corruption, the police were widely despised. It did not take long for the urban police and TheIrishMob to become partners.

* ''Film/QAndA'' has Nick Nolte as one of these, a murderous bigoted tool of an ambitious Homicide Buereau head and who himself (Nolte's character here) sees himself as a "line" that keeps minorities subordinate and down.

* ''Series/GoldenBoy'' briefly [[DiscussedTrope discusses]] it in one episode. Walter's sister Agnes asks Detective Deb [=McKenzie=] if there's any bigger cliche in New York than a waitress wanting to make it big:

** And in "The Blue Butterfly", one of the heavies in the '40s diary story that set the scene was an Irishman, complete with calling everyone "boy-o"...whom Castle imagines as Ryan.

Historically this was TruthInTelevision, as the police in cities like [[UsefulNotes/NewYorkCityCops New York]], Boston, and Chicago were disproportionately staffed by Irishmen.[[note]]This also rang true in other New World colonies like Australia (in UsefulNotes/NedKelly's day, 80% of Victoria's police), Canada (the NWMP was based on the Royal Irish Constabulary) and New Zealand ([[https://teara.govt.nz/en/irish/page-5 as much as 40% in the 1930s]]).[[/note]] This is the reason they called it the "Paddy Wagon."[[note]]Unless it got its name from the Irish drunks it often hauled. As an old New York joke goes, "If it weren't for the Irish we wouldn't have a police force -- and if it weren't for the Irish, we wouldn't need one."[[/note]] Around 1900, five-sixths of the [=NYPD=] was Irish. A [[UsefulNotes/TheIrishDiaspora large wave of Irish immigrants]] in the 19th century coincided with the time when major cities started establishing "professional" police forces, and police work was one of the few jobs open to Irish immigrants at the time. In RealLife, police forces offer many opportunities for recent immigrants, and they sign up, partly to protect their own people. Because early police work closely resembled [[PoliceBrutality thuggery]], it was not a prestigious position, and because poorly paid police were vulnerable to corruption, the police were widely despised. It did not take long for the urban police and TheIrishMob to become partners.

Mostly a DiscreditedTrope these days. Of course, Irish-American cops still show up frequently (noticeably in ''Film/TheDeparted'' in which nearly all the cop characters are Boston Irish--and all of the criminals are part of TheIrishMob), but the just-off-the-boat accent and whimsy are long gone -- except somewhat in HistoricalFiction. In modern works, Irish-American officers might be [[FamilyHonor following in the footsteps]] [[FamilyBusiness of several generations of police families]] and/or [[PursuingParentalPerils trying to live up to a parent who died in the line of duty]]. Additionally, in many modern works, cops in big-city police departments on the East Coast are often portrayed as being honorarily Irish even if they are not of actual Irish descent--which, given the extensive adoption of Irish customs within these departments (particularly wakes for fallen officers and fake wakes for retired ones) is more or less TruthInTelevision (see ''Series/TheWire'' for a good example: the Baltimore P.D. is one of those departments; also, many NYPD-focused shows will have this element show up).[[note]]To paraphrase Lenny Bruce, in the NYPD, even if you're Black, you're Irish.[[/note]]

* ''Film/DeadlyHero'' (1975) has Don Murray as one of these-an Irish-American as one of New York City's not-so-finest who fatally shoots a surrendering criminal then tries terrorizing the crook's victim out of testifying aginst the so called titluar "hero".

* ''Film/DeadlyHero'' (1975) has Don Murray as one of these-an Irish-American as one of New York City's not-so-finest who fatally shoots a surrendering criminal then tries terrorizing the crook's victim into not testifying aginst the so called titluar "hero".

* ''Film/Q&A'' has Nick Nolte as one of these, a murderous bigoted tool of an ambitious Homicide Buereau head and who himself (Nolte's character here) sees himself as a "line" that keeps minorities subordinate and down.

* ''Film/FortApache:TheBronx'' stars Paul Newman as a third generation NYCPD-er who's this (after his father and grandfather before him).

* ''Film/SomebodyUpThereLikesMe'': More plot-relevant than this trope usually is. There's ethnic tension between the Irish beat cops and the local residents of New York's Little Italy. One Irish cop calls Rocky Graziano a "greaseball".

* ''Series/Daredevil2015'': Naturally, since it features a lot of New York cops, including minor character Officer O'Rourke (who's involved with [[TheIrishMob the Kitchen Irish]] and (African-American) Detective Brett Mahoney, Foggy's FriendOnTheForce.

* ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'' had a {{Lampshade|Hanging}}/parody sequence in the lungfish level, complete with Officer O'Lungfish.