Irish woman goes viral for dumping boyfriend who called her a “terrorist” over pub chant

A young Irish woman went viral on Reddit’s r/AmIOverreacting after sharing that she broke up with her English boyfriend because he called her a “terrorist.” In her post, which has over 35,000 upvotes and 10,000 comments, 18-year-old u/PhilosophyOwn2169 described a tense moment at an Irish pub where a patriotic song prompted her 21-year-old boyfriend to storm out. She took to the subreddit to ask whether she was overreacting for breaking up with him, and commenters replied with a near-unanimous verdict: No.

What happened?

While OP and her English boyfriend were visiting Ireland, a popular Irish song with references to anti-RA (Republican Army) sentiments played as they danced at the pub with friends. u/PhilosophyOwn2169’s English boyfriend became uncomfortable when she and many other Irish people on the dance floor chanted along with the song. The boyfriend stormed out of the pub—after calling her a terrorist.

People responded to u/PhilosophyOwn2169’s query with thoughtful responses unpacking political issues, history, and feelings about Irish-English relations. Others just found it absurdly funny that a man could refer to his girlfriend as “a terrorist.” Most commenters weighing in deemed the breakup, NOR—not overreacting.

‘You are and sound like a terrorist just as much as the rest of the people here’

u/PhilosophyOwn2169 described her situation to the Reddit community:

“I’m (F18) Irish and my bf (M21) is English. He was over in Ireland with me and we went out last night with my boyfriend and some friends to a pub. The atmosphere was great, music was playing, and someone put on ‘Celtic Symphony,’ a song I’ve heard and sung my whole life growing up Irish. When it got to the line “Ooh ah, up the RA” everyone started chanting it.

A minute later, my boyfriend leaned in, whispered ‘You are and sound like a terrorist just as much as the rest of the people here’ then got up and walked out. Nothing else. I messaged him as he wasn’t picking up my call and ended up breaking up with him. Am I overreacting, or was that completely out of line?”

The Reddit user included a screenshot of a text exchange with her boyfriend following his departure from the pub:

“Did you seriously storm out and call me a terrorist?” she asked.

“I wasn’t going to sit there listen to everyone chanting oh ah up the RA. Do you realise I’m British?” he responded.

“Get a hold of yourself for f*ck sake.”

“It’s disrespectful.”

“Well idk what to say to you, I don’t think we should see each other anymore. Especially with what you called me.”

Some AIO replies were simple and dismissive of the boyfriend. 

u/Objective-Review-359 commented, “That’s f8ckin rich an Englishman calling an Irish lass a terrorist.”

“Bro got surprised when Irish people started acting Irish,” said u/CKNolan_.

The ‘NOR’ crowd was confident and held firm in their ruling

“So let me get this straight. You both agree to go out drinking, in f’n Ireland. And he is surprised when shenanigans break out in a pub setting? Dude’s an idiot. NOR,” commented u/Infinite_Ad7743, adding, “Also who calls someone a terrorist?”

Even a Brit voted NOR, “…his behaviour is a huge red flag.” u/OhHiFelicia commented, “Him calling you a terrorist is disgusting. Sitting through an IRA song wouldn’t bother me in the slightest, but especially if I was in Ireland.” The commenter asserted that the boyfriend “needs to learn… some real British history because it ain’t pretty.”

The AIO was cross-posted on X as ‘New favourite reddit post’

The Reddit thread was cross-posted to X where @lordofcider1111 quoted the post, “New favourite Reddit post.”

@YaoiTielemans commented, “Always find myself at a standstill in these situations, but I lean to the Irish side because it’s funnier.” 

And @lordofcider1111 replied, “In this case I think no matter who you support, the idea of calling your gf a terrorist is just way too funny to not support her.”

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