Key Points
- US President Joe Biden is on a four-day tour of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
- While speaking at a pub, he appeared to confuse New Zealand's rugby team, the All Blacks, with the Black and Tans.
- The Black and Tans were recruited to reinforce the Royal Irish Constabulary during the Irish War of Independence.
Joe Biden has appeared to confuse the All Blacks with the Black and Tans while making a speech at a pub in the Republic of Ireland.
The US president was finishing up his address to the crowd at the Windsor Bar in Dundalk, County Louth — his ancestral home region — when he began speaking about his distant cousin, former Irish rugby player Rob Kearney, who was in the pub.
As Mr Biden thanked Kearney for gifting him the tie he was wearing, he referenced the role the 37-year-old played in the historic 2016 match in Chicago when Ireland's men's rugby team defeated New Zealand for the first time.
"See this tie I have with this shamrock on it? This was given to me by one of these guys right here," he said.
"He was a hell of a rugby player, and he beat the hell out of the Black and Tans."
Joe Biden's distant cousin Rob Kearney was part of the first Irish rugby team to defeat New Zealand. Source: Getty / Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Who were the Black and Tans?
The Black and Tans were a group of police constables recruited to reinforce the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) during the Irish War of Independence, who earned notoriety for their brutality.
Their nickname came from the makeshift uniforms the initial recruits were given, made up of a mixture of dark tunics and caps, and khaki military trousers.
Around 10,000 men — most of whom were English — were recruited between January 1920 and the end of the conflict, with the majority being former soldiers who had fought in the First World War.
Their legacy was immortalised by the popular Irish rebel song 'Come Out, Ye Black And Tans'.
Britain recruited the Black and Tans to help suppress the Irish Republican Army (IRA) during the Irish War of Independence in the early 20th century. Source: Getty / Bettmann Archive
Mr Biden's four-day visit to the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland was timed to coincide with — a peace deal that largely brought an end to more than 30 years of violent conflict, mainly in Northern Ireland, known as the Troubles.
He earlier met with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in Belfast, and Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in Dublin.
