It's not looking down, it's genuine ignorance. It's nothing to do with Ireland. People say similar things down south about the north of England.
I'm sure there are many countries you know little about and you can be forgiven for that. I don't know anything about Nicaragua, for example, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Of course, England have closer geographical and historical ties with Ireland so you may expect people to know a bit more but we can't know everything. If you don't know Ireland has Tescos, you don't know it. Does Nicaragua have motorways? I don't know.
Just because you are from Ireland, doesn't mean it is the centre of everyone's universe. You are the one looking down on English people for not been well educated enough.