Just In Time For St. Patrick’s Day: Our Favorite Marvel Irish and Irish-American Characters

Stop playing with your shillelagh and take a second to reflect on St. Patrick’s Day and what it means to you. Well, unless you are Irish or Irish American, it probably just becomes a day of drinking… followed by more drinking.

But if you work here, you are sure to have a connection with at least one or two Marvel heroes of Irish descent. In celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, we take a look at some of the better known inhabitants of the Marvel U who will be getting their green on today.

Matt Murdock a.k.a. Daredevil

Probably one of the best known Irish Americans to grace a Marvel comic, Matt Murdock fits the Irish stereotype with his red locks and being raised by a tough as nails father who made his money as a boxer in Hell’s Kitchen.

Though his ethnic background hasn’t played a part in much of his current storylines as he faces off against hordes of Japanese ninjas, there is something about the Man Without Fear that can be found in every drunken bar brawl during St. Patrick’s Day.

Eric O’Grady a.k.a. Ant-Man

Once a simple S.H.I.E.L.D. operative on one of the many helicarriers, Eric and one of his best friends stumbled upon the new Ant-Man suit. With his friend accidentally dying in the process, Eric took on the Ant-Man mantle and ended up being a pretty despicable superhero, eventually being placed on Norman Osborn’s black ops team of the Thunderbolts.

During the Siege however, O’Grady put a plan into effect to help turn the tides in favor of the heroes. As a result, this redheaded Irishman found his way on to Steve Roger’s Secret Avengers, donning an Ant-Man suit that honored the original designs of Hank Pym.

Sean Cassidy a.k.a. Banshee and Teresa Cassidy a.k.a. Siryn / Banshee

After sales of the original X-Men title were beginning to fall apart, Marvel decided on creating a internationally diverse team of mutants including the Russian Colossus, Canadian Wolverine and of course the Irish Banshee.

Based off of the mythical Irish ghost said to have a powerful wail, Sean Cassidy has a supersonic voice and the ability to fly, mutant powers that he would pass on to his own daughter Teresa. After Sean’s death at the hands of Vulcan, his daughter Teresa took her father’s mantle and now can be seen in the pages of X-Factor.