Reply #10: The old story goes that there are two kinds of Irish-Americans

[Bryan]

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/cultures/irish-faq/part08/section-10.html

"Shanty Irish" was used to describe the poorest of the poor
Irish immigrants, the kind who ended up in shanty town (the
origin of the word "shanty" is not known, but it might come
from the Irish "sean tí", meaning "old house"). Today "shanty"
in the States is a derogatory term for people who in Ireland
might be known as culchies but the people so described need
not necessarily be of Irish descent.

"Lace curtain Irish" could be as poor as the Shanty Irish but
they had notions of being more respectable. They were called
that because they would put up lace curtains for appearances
sake, even in a shanty town. Thus the term is far from being
a compliment.