She’s Catholic, she’s rich, and she’s HAPPIE! Meet the Irish American Princess, introduced by SEAN O’DRISCOLL.

The Irish American Princess. She’s wealthy, she’s Catholic, she’s popular — and she’s way out of your league. 

The Irish American Princess, also known as a HAPPIE, or Hibernian American Princess, is known to travel in groups, has her own careers but is looking out for Mr. Professional with whom to move out to the dream house in the suburbs and start making baby Shannons, Taras, Colleens and Erins. 

While HAPPIES can be second, third or fourth generation, they all have common ingredients — they are raised to belong in society and be proud of the county they came from. 

They are also the demographic for a new Claddagh-style ring issued by a Pennsylvania company that are hoping to sell some quality jewelry on the back on a growing market. 

For about $1,000, you too can buy the Irish American Princess ring, a clear indication that you’re proud of your roots while scouring for a suitable husband at an Irish American charity event.

Charlie Bennett, the owner or the Seaware jewelry corporation in Pennsylvania, reports excellent sales for the Irish American Princess ring, which he christened himself. 

“I guess it’s a reaction to the Jewish American Princess but the market it out there. I sell a lot across the U.S., as well as in the U.K. and Ireland,” 

The healthy sales figures are an indication that the Irish American Princess is rediscovering her roots. 

“There was a time when Irishness wasn’t talked about if you wanted to get ahead. Grandparents and parents didn’t talk about it. Now you can get ahead and show pride in your Irish roots, there’s a generation change there,” Bennett says.

Like her sisters, the Jewish American Princess (JAP), the Cuban American Princess and the Italian American Princess, the HAPPIE is a product of immigration striving. The grandparents and parents work hard so that the next generation can be hoisted up to the next level of the immigrant story. 

A friend of mine, Erin Connors, first put me on to this phenomenon. Born in Arizona, all her grandparents come from Ireland. (One of her grandfathers was shot dead in San Francisco by former IRA comrades.) 

Erin’s parents christened their daughters Erin and Colleen. “How Irish American is that?” she jokes. 

Erin was raised in a world of horses and charity events, learning some Irish and raised to believe that she should settle down with a nice Catholic Irish boy. 

“Yeah, I guess I fit the Princess profile, but nobody is going to go along with it completely. You’ve gotta be yourself,” she feels.

There were certain expectations — like going to Ancient Order of Hibernian functions. “We marched in St. Patrick’s Day parades and went to Irish functions full of much older Irish guys. I was looking for my young Irish prince but he was never there!” Erin says.

She went to college, as expected, and eventually did settle down with a doctor. 

“Okay, you got me!” she jokes. “But he wasn’t a Catholic, so I’m not the stereotype. My parents were cool about it. My mom joked to him that that was all that was wrong with him.”

Mary Ellen Sweeney, an author and journalist for Bella, an online women’s magazine, frequently admits in her column that she is an Irish American Princess, but likes the term HAPPIE even more. 

Unlike Erin, she came from first generation stock who were eager their daughter rise to higher station. Her father, from Donegal, was a sandhog supervisor. 

“He was a striver, no doubt about it,” she said. 

Mary Ellen was raised to be a princess. “I was the eldest, so it was natural. The price for being the princess is that you have to be in charge for the next generation. You host the Christmas dinner because you’ve been raised to know how to make plum pudding, you know to call a priest if someone is ill, you know what to buy for weddings,” she advises.

Mary Ellen was raised to find a suitable Irish husband. “You go along to Knights of Columbus dances, where your parents watch you like a hawk. You fall for a gorgeous piper but you’re being watched!” she says, recalling her New Jersey upbringing. Eventually, she did marry a man from Dublin, just as her parents had wanted, and introduced him to her father in church. 

“It’s your father who crowns the princess, that’s why it’s so important,” she said. 

Mary Ellen is delighted the Irish American Princess is finally getting the attention she deserves.

“You hear about the Jewish American Princess all the time, and you hear about the Italian American Princess. The Irish American Princess comes first in the dictionary. It’s time we were finally placed up there. It’s time we were finally recognized,” she feels.

The Irish American Princess ring is available from www.seawear.com, phone 757-342-1000.