I miss my Uncle Mike — especially on St. Patrick’s Day.

He would have been 90 this year. He died far too young from leukemia in 1990 when he was only 59.

His mother immigrated to Syracuse, N.Y., from Ireland. His father’s parents had been Irish immigrants, too. He was proud of his Irish heritage.

Uncle Mike married my father’s sister, my Aunt Jane, whose grandfather — my great-grandfather — also had immigrated from Ireland.

Because of our Irish heritage, St. Patrick’s Day has always been a joyous occasion in my family.

I fondly remember my childhood when my Uncle Mike and my dad would swap Irish jokes and limericks.

My uncle would say to my dad:

“So Paddy and Mick are sitting at the pub and Paddy says to Mike, ‘If you were ever stranded on a desert island, who would you like most to be with you?’

“ ‘My uncle Seamus,’ replies Mick.

“ ‘What’s so special about him?’ asks Paddy.

“ ‘He’s got a boat,’ says Mick.”

The origin of the Irish joke is an interesting one.

Many years ago in Europe some of the jokes, such as the infamous Paddy and Mick jokes, were created to mock the Irish — to portray the Irish as lazy and stupid.

Americans of Irish descent, however, have long shared Irish jokes to celebrate their Irish heritage — and also to celebrate their American heritage.

It’s true that my family also descends from immigrants from Germany, France and who knows where else. We are Americans, nothing more.

But my family still playfully celebrates our Irish heritage by enjoying the occasional Irish joke.

Self-deprecation is a common theme of the American-told Irish joke. Self-deprecation is a sign of gratitude. It’s also a sign of confidence and strength.

We share Irish jokes not to mock our heritage but to celebrate its genius — to celebrate the great Irish wit, the Irish mastery of irony and the brilliant twist of phrase that the Irish have perfected.

In doing so, we lighten our hearts.

James Thurber, one of my favorite humorists, says the wheels of humor are set in motion by the damp hand of melancholy. Aristotle wrote that comedy and tragedy are close cousins.

The Irish have long known that humor and laughter are our chief weapons for combating sadness and pain.

With the country in such a tizzy these days — with so many people ready to shout and argue and poke each other in the eyes — I can’t think of a better time to embrace the Irish spirit.

America needs to get its sense of humor back. Here’s a self-deprecating joke that can get us started — one I know my Uncle Mike would like:

An American and an Irishman applied for a “Director of Business Ethics” position in Dublin.

Both had similar qualifications, so both were sent into a room to take a test. When the results were in, amazingly, both men had only one wrong answer.

The manager explained to the American that he was giving the job to the Irishman.

“But we both got the same score on the test,” said the American. “Why not hire me?”

“Because you clearly have poor ethics,” said the manager.

“How so?” said the American.

“Neither of you knew the answer to the last question,” said the manager. “The Irishman wrote, ‘I don’t know’ and you wrote ‘Neither do I!’ ”

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