Am I part Irish or not?

[RJDiogenes]

1001001 wrote:

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This is very interesting to me.

My great-grandparents immigrated from Ireland in 1922, not long after the vote. My grandmother was the first one in our family born in the United States, in 1924.

I bear a solid Irish name, and the mark of the Catholic church (mostly, scars on my knuckles from rulers).

But I really don't identify much with the past. I am American. Maybe because it was so much easier for us to assimilate, there was not a need to hold on to where we came from? I don't know if this is coming out right, but it's something I've thought a lot about. Why do I not have this identification with my "home" country like some others do?

I don't think much about the "old ways" or the "old country". Sure I'd love to visit one day. I'm curious. But I don't have the overwhelming emotional attachment and/or longing that some people describe for their past. I live in the present.

I think sometimes "my great grandparents got the hell out of there for a reason!"...

I don't know. This is all very disjointed, and I apologize. I think the bottom line is we can all define ourselves, and many of those definitions will be arbitrary anyway (as auntiehill said earlier, go back far enough and we're all related).

It's a bit different for Americans, too, as the melting pot itself, as well as a set of beliefs, define us more than genetics. My ancestors two or three generations back were refugees, but I am as American as anyone whose family came over on the Mayflower or fought in the Revolution. I have friends who were born in Thailand and St. Vincent-- the day they became citizens, they became just as American as me. That's one of the things I love most about this country.

Maestro wrote:

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Next Sunday, we're all Irish.

My grandfather used to say, there are two kinds of people in this world-- those who are Irish and those who wish they were.

[Miss Chicken]

flandry84 wrote:

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Must..resist...sheep...reference..

I though it was the Welsh who were so 'interested' in sheep?

[TheGodBen]

propita wrote:

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The name itself isn't "Saxon" but might be a Saxon name...perfectly clear, right?

Oh, my bad. I read that before drinking my morning tea, so my brain wasn't fully operational yet.

[Nerys Myk]

I enjoy history so looking into my family's genealogy is just a way of exploring history. It was a bit frustrating as it took to the 1600 to get out of America. Nothing surprising though. The ancestry was the expected mix of Irish, English and Scottish plus some German Swiss. (Swiss German?) My wife's a bit easier, as as all of her Grandparents are from other countries.

[teacake]

Isn't EVERYONE part irish if they are at least somewhat white?

[Nerys Myk]

teacake wrote:

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Isn't EVERYONE part irish if they are at least somewhat white?

Nah, the Irish have only been white for about a Century,

[scotpens]

Miss Chicken wrote:

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. . . For example - one of my ancestors was born in Dunvegan Castle on the Isle of Skye. His father was a stone-mason who worked on the castle. The castle is the seat of the Clan McLeod and is the longest continously inhabited castle in Scotland.

You mean you're related to this guy? Cool!

thestrangequark wrote:

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I guess I can see the history being interesting, like Miss Chicken's example. I just don't understand the desire for roots and connections that people seem to have. . . People tend to speak about their distant ancestry with such ownership, but why someone who's great-great-great-great grandmother was Irish (or Greek or Spanish or whatever) want to take ownership of that? -- it's not like they know what it's like to actually be a part of that culture.

I feel the same way. Family history can be an interesting topic, but ultimately your identity is about who you are, your own psyche and personal experiences, and not where your great-great-grandfather was born or what kind of clothes he wore or what religion he practiced or what he ate for breakfast.

I'm reminded of the movie Flirting With Disaster, in which Ben Stiller plays an adoptee who goes in search of his birth parents. When he thinks he's found his biological mother (a woman who happens to be of Finnish ancestry), he says, "Finnish? I don't even know how to be that!"

Miss Chicken wrote:

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I though it was the Welsh who were so 'interested' in sheep?

Depends on your point of reference. Aussies make sheep-fucking jokes about New Zealanders. And vice versa.

[CorporalCaptain]

Did any of my human ancestors ever live on Éire?

I don't know. Possibly. Possibly not, I suppose. In the parts of my family tree that I'm familiar with, the answer is, "No."

So, what's the scientifically calculated probability of the affirmative answer to the question, assuming I'm a randomly selected person?

[Miss Chicken]

You mean you're related to this guy? Cool!

My best friend is a huge Highlander fan ad I think she was a little miffed when I told her of my family's McLeod connection. I am a Highlander fan too but nowhere as fanatical as she is.

Depends on your point of reference. Aussies make sheep-fucking jokes about New Zealanders. And vice versa.

New Zealanders are more likely to make underarm jokes about Australians. Tasmanians are subjected to two-headed jokes.

I only learnt that jokes were made about the Welsh and sheep by watching QI

[gturner]

teacake wrote:

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Isn't EVERYONE part irish if they are at least somewhat white?

The Vikings took over Ireland for the slave trade, and their trade routes extended all the way to the Middle East (Baghdad, Iran, etc) and perhaps into India (Viking treasures include Buddhas and objects and coins from as far away as North Africa). If they were selling Irish slaves the other way, then just about everyone is probably part Irish.

So perhaps the globe-spanning British Empire was just an attempt to oppress the Irish where ever they might be found.

[flandry84]

Miss Chicken wrote:

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I though it was the Welsh who were so 'interested' in sheep?

One's as bad as the other TBH.
Also,the British didn't need to do us down,we do quite a good job of that ourselves.

[propita]

scotpens wrote:

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You mean you're related to this guy? Cool!

Whenever I'm holding a closed umbrella, I find myself twirling it around and saying, "I'm Duncan McLeod of the Clan McLeod."

Please tell me I'm not the only one who does that!

[RoJoHen]

Kestra wrote:

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I consider myself American, first and foremost. I was born in the US and have lived here my entire life.

Same. In fact, I would have to go back at least 4 generations before I found an ancestor that wasn't born in America. Whatever random family members I had that lived in Europe are so far removed from me that I can't really care about them, and I certainly don't consider myself to be "part" anything. My parents are American, therefore I am American.

[Kestra]

RoJoHen wrote:

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Same. In fact, I would have to go back at least 4 generations before I found an ancestor that wasn't born in America. Whatever random family members I had that lived in Europe are so far removed from me that I can't really care about them, and I certainly don't consider myself to be "part" anything. My parents are American, therefore I am American.

I'm from the first generation in our family to be born in the US, and my parents are Indian. But I still consider myself American.

[Captain Kathryn]

Kate and Conan would know:
http://youtu.be/Y6jSFPwXGPk