I think the Moncrieffs, maybe aside from Ellie, have been well established as class-appropriating nepo-babies. And though they’re oblivious and likely in denial, I’ve yet to see them speak as callously as Eimear with regard to the underclass. They romanticise poverty and ignore the social/political implications of doing so, absolutely, but Eimear drags it to a new low.
I actually found out that her maternal grandfather was Pádraig Ó Siochrú, a newsreader with RTÉ and an award-winning Irish-language writer; he actually wrote 20 radio plays for RTE. He was also an actor, a former high-jump champion, a theatre critic and a FOUNDING MEMBER of Leopardstown Golf Club. He’s quite the persona when you Google his name. All this to say that Eimear comes from a long line of multi-generational wealth and status.
Likewise with Séan Moncrieff, his parents had the financial capacity to be able to put him through private boarding school (Garbally College). Like Eimear, it indicates that Keelin is the third generation to profit from membership of the upper-middle class.
At the end of the day, both girls directly benefited from elitist schooling, too. Keelin went to Sutton Park School. In 2022, day students pay €12,000 per annum while boarding amounts to €20,100. From the school’s own website, “Situated on 140 acres, the school is renowned for its facilities which includes a nine-hole golf course.” Enough said.
Similarly, Eimear went to Coláiste Íosagáin in Booterstown - a gaelscoil. It’s been well documented that gaelscoileanna are elitist on both socio-economic and educational grounds. David McWilliams writes about the issue with incredible depth in “The Pope's Children”, for example, as do Sarah Carey and Kathryn Holmquist in Irish Times articles from December 2008.
To Keelin and Eimear, whether knowingly or not, you’re both engaging in class appropriation. You’re taking elements of the lower class and adopting them into your middle/upper-class culture, whilst totally ignoring the social and political implications, and even mocking elements of the social. While you may think you’re reclassifying class, what you’re actually doing is attempting to make your own privileges appear natural in trying to commodify working class culture. It’s immoral and transparent as fuck, frankly. Do better.