From what I remember, he didn't sound Irish. Furthermore, I've just read that Nicky's banker's surname was Clark. Clark doesn't sound Irish.
share“Charlie Clark” was American. How do you know he isn’t 3rd or 4th….generation American? Nicky was pissed off….and rightfully so. Maybe Nicky and Ace knew him? Went to a St. Patrick’s Day Party at his house?
shareMaybe he's only half Irish, coming from his mother's side. Or maybe a previous generation changed their name to something more "American".
shareI think my pointy is being missed. His name was Charlie Clark. He was an American national. His surname isn't even Irish. How in the world did Nicky believe Charlie was Irish?
sharePeople who are 100% one ethnicity and are very proud of that tend to have a sharper sense to figure out what other people are.
Or maybe it came up in one of their previous conversations. Or maybe Ace had mentioned it to Nickey, since he had already been doing business with Charlie.
Probably in his heritage and it came up in conversation. Lots of families when they hit Ellis Island were told their name was Smith, Brown, Green, etc. instead of the name from the homeland. I know of two Italian families who had their name changed to Smith because they were told at Ellis Island it would make their lives go better in the US. There are cases where people changed a surname well after their ancestors arrived in the US to help them get ahead. The US for many many decades in many many places was English centric and to gain acceptance or get ahead a number of families switched surnames to typical English surnames. Accept it or not I don't really care but it is the honest truth.
shareIn Ireland 'Clark(e)' is often an anglicisation of the Irish surname Ó Cléirigh (forms like 'O'Cleary' & 'Clery' are also used).