[Harp-L] Is "Paddy Richter" an insult to Irish people?

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

It's been posited that the name "Paddy Richter" for a harmonica tuning insults Irish people.

But does it?

Paddy is simply short for Patrick (or Paidric), who happens to be Ireland's patron saint (even though he himself was from Britain).
Paddy is a diminutive, like Billy for William or Gordie for Gordon. And some famous Irish musicians are known by this diminutive. For instance Paddy Moloney (founder of the Chieftains) and Paddy Reilly. Along with many other famous people.

The term "Paddy Richter" was coined by a man of Irish parents (Brendan Power) who often plays Irish music with Irish musicians. He came up with it specifically to make it easier to play Irish tunes in the lower register of the diatonic harmonica. I think that he would be well positioned to know whether the term was disrespectful, and that if it was he would not have coined it. I've even heard Irish musicians refer to Irish people as paddies (though perhaps with some irony).

Sure, it can be used as a negative epithet. But it's not inherently disrespectful.

So why divorce the term both from its roots and from its creator?

Winslow