Why is Notre dame called the fighting Irish?

Notre Dame fighting Irish is the sports team of University of Notre Dame. The fighting Irish team participated in intercollegiate sports. The name fighting Irish after Notre Dame was taken from Irish immigrant soldiers. These soldiers participated in Civil War against Irish Brigade. The fighting Irish name for Notre Dame can be justified in the name of Irish Brigade Chaplain who was the third president of this University. The name of this chaplain was Fr. William Corby.

The athletic teams of Notre Dame were known as fighting Irish. Notre Dame had several nick names earlier like Rovers, Ramblers, and Terriers. There are many stories which tell us the way Notre Dame got the name of fighting Irish. This name was found to have come into existence from 1899. It started with a game played by Notre Dame against North-Western at 5-0 leading during the halftime of the game held at Evanston, Illinois. The fans of the opposite team began to shout as ‘kill the fighting Irish,, ‘Kill the fighting Irish,.

There is another story which says that the name ‘fighting Irish, started form halftime period of another game for Notre Dame against Michigan in 1909. The Notre Dame shouted at his team mates that they are all Irish and are not able to show the worthy Irish fight. The Notre Dame came out of this game as winning team and announced the victory of the ‘Fighting Irish,.
It is generally accepted that any name combined with Notre Dame will be taken as granted for characterizing the playing teams of Notre Dame in 1920s. This nick name as ‘fighting Irish, was given by the press due to few reasons mentioned here. They are: Irish stereotypes, a newspaper article representing Notre Dame as ‘Irish, in 1924, and tenacity of the coach Knute Rockne football team. Press reports used to represent Notre Dame as both ‘Catholics, and ‘Irish,. But, the players were not all Irish or Catholics. This continued for long time and the Puritans were the first to shout as ‘stop the Irish,. The nickname ‘Fighting Irish, has come not as a name, or because there are Irish in the team. This name was used to remember the Irish faith maintained in the team.