I thought you were all settlers who breed with/outbred the locals?
Am I part Irish or not?
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I thought you were all settlers who breed with/outbred the locals?
I still think he made that up.
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. I do know a little bit about my ancestry. Basically, my mom's side is a bunch of Indians with a Norwegian chick thrown in somewhere a few generations back, and my dad's side is a bunch of white, Western European descended Cajuns with an Indian chick thrown in somewhere a few generations back. My aunt is really into genealogy, and traced my dad's side of the family back to 1590, and while the name of the ancestor was somewhat hilarious (Barbara Fricken-Schmidt), I didn't really have any sense of connection to any of it. 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.
Maybe it's just something I'll never understand. I barely identify with the culture I was raised in!
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).
I think a general rule of thumb is to figure out when your ancestors went to Ireland. If they were connected with the Norman invasion of Ireland where the rulers went native, they're generally considered Irish (the name Fitzgerald indicates that you were the bastard son of Gerald of Wales, who helped lead the Norman invasion, but Fitzgerald is still considered an Irish name). However, if you're related to the Scottish Presbyterians who were transplanted to the Ulster area after Cromwell's invasion, you're generally considered Scots-Irish. I don't think name alone is an indicator, though.
Not that it really matters beyond curiosity.
Not that it really matters beyond curiosity.
I was going to say something similar but you hit it out of the park.
I agree with flandry, the Irish are mongrels. Saxon certainly isn't a common surname here, and almost certainly came here from England, but English settlers were common in Ireland for centuries and there was an eventual mingling of cultures that led to what is considered Irish today. By the mid-19th century, the traditional Irish tribes and clans weren't really an element or Irish society any more.
Just don't act like a plastic Paddy and we'll be cool.
The name itself isn't "Saxon" but might be a Saxon name...perfectly clear, right?
Well, since it isn't MY name...Allsworth--which doesn't sound Irish to me. Going back, someone spelled it Allworth. Might also have been spelled Alworth, Halworth, Ellsworth, Aylworth, etc....
It's more for curiosity, and I have time on my hands to do it. I'm told I need a hobby, so for now, this is helping. Beats cleaning my basement.
Yeah...I'm American. Very happily so. Third generation on Mom's side. Born in Hollywood, CA. That's right! A star was born that day! (The hospital is within the boundaries of Hollywood, an area of Los Angeles and not its own city.)
My 78yo Mom, never having had contact with her father or his family, was intrigued by this contact to finally learn something about him. All she wants is one nice photo and one question answered, "Was he a good man during his lifetime, someone she would've been proud of?" It matters to her, despite his never supporting her. My grandmother was...difficult is a very polite word (emotionally abusive is closer), so Mom's always been insecure.
Lots of different spellings of the same name.
In my case, going back: Bradley, Broadley, De Broadelegh. It all started with broad lea ""broad wood" or "broad clearing" in Old English".
In my case, going back: Bradley, Broadley, De Broadelegh. It all started with broad lea ""broad wood" or "broad clearing" in Old English".
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.
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).
My grandfather used to say, there are two kinds of people in this world-- those who are Irish and those who wish they were.
I though it was the Welsh who were so 'interested' in sheep?
Oh, my bad.
I read that before drinking my morning tea, so my brain wasn't fully operational yet.
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.
Isn't EVERYONE part irish if they are at least somewhat white?
Nah, the Irish have only been white for about a Century,
You mean you're related to this guy? Cool!
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!"
Depends on your point of reference. Aussies make sheep-fucking jokes about New Zealanders. And vice versa.I though it was the Welsh who were so 'interested' in sheep?
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?
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?
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.
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
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNJStquFEGk[/yt]
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.
