i confess to feeling rage when people say they're irish

[BonosSaint]

A lot of folks in the commonwealth and formerly imperial countries seem to associate national identity moreso with the background of their immigrant ancestors, rather than their "new" colony.

For me, I'm found that it's difficult to simply tell people that I'm Canadian, because quite often they follow up with the question... well, what are you really? Apparently Canada doesn't hold much clout in the heritage department.

I guess we have to wait another few generations before colonial nationalities are hot.

I'm 1/4 Canadian and it's actually the part of my heritage of which I'm most proud. I love Canada.

(One of my great grandfathers left Wales and came to America because he kept knocking women up. I love family history dirt.)

 

[zonelistener]

Agreed.

I love the ones that call themselves Irish, and then celebrate St. Patrick's day wearing a green Notre Dame jersey, drinking green beer and talking in an Australian accent listening to bagpipe music.


Not only proud of their heritage, but also well educated.

 

[Vorsprung]

I'm 100% Dutch...more Dutch than most people that actually live in the Netherlands

No you're not

 

[NYRangers78]

Anyway, on a (semi) serious note the Irish even IN Ireland, are a curious genetic mix. I mean we were invaded so many times from the Vikings onwards. Most people probably are a mix of Celt, Viking, Anglo-Saxon, etc, etc.

You have your Anglo-Irish families who can in some cases trace their roots back to the 15th century- there is the saying "more Irish than the Irish themselves" - them aside I doubt if most people in Ireland could trace their roots back that far and if they did they would probably find they were a mix of different races.
Judging from his surname, Paul McGuinness is probably of Norman descent.

So the idea of a truly 'Gaelic Irish' person is a bit of a misnomer.

Adam Clayton is 100% English in terms of parentage but has an Irish passport and a strong interest in Irish traditional music.

dont forget when teh spanish armada invaded ireland...im american, my dad is from ireland and my moms parents were from ireland but i consider myself american-irish..

 

[lmjhitman]

For me, I'm found that it's difficult to simply tell people that I'm Canadian, because quite often they follow up with the question... well, what are you really? Apparently Canada doesn't hold much clout in the heritage department.

couple that with having brown skin. people almost laugh in my face when i say i'm canadian.

sorry, that had nothing to do with being irish.

 

[verte76]

Never mind, I deleted some nonsense.

 

[Laura M]

Agreed.

I love the ones that call themselves Irish, and then celebrate St. Patrick's day wearing a green Notre Dame jersey, drinking green beer and talking in an Australian accent listening to bagpipe music.


Not only proud of their heritage, but also well educated.

There is a joke here that you can spot the tourist (who will no doubt tell you they are irish) because they will be dressed from head to foot in green clothes, the more shamrock clad gear they are wearing, the more irish they will look.

 

[clarityat3am]

I have second cousins in Poland and I'm guessing I'm about 1/4ish Polish. My first generation Polish grandmother raised me though, so does that make me Polish by proxy?

 

[Zoomerang96]

you're polish AND you live near chicago. interesting...there's a LOT of poles there.

what part of the country do your cousins live in?

 

[elevation2u]

i'm not irish.
i'm mexican,
born and raised
nowadays i spend my time between
north CA [approx 1 hour south of oregon border] ,
south CA [approx 8 minutes from mexicon border] ,
and baja, mexico

do i consider myself mexican? well yeah...

i meet people who say theyre "mexican"..these are people who dont look slightly mexican, dont speak spanish, probably never have been there except for partying in sleasy tijuana clubs

 

[gareth brown]

hahaha

 

[Muggsy]

I'm colombian....

but now that we're talking about roots... I would be maybe1/8 spanish and 1/16 greek (well... that's true but I'm not good at maths hahahahaha)

 

[unforgettableFOXfire]

Well, the Irish were the custodians of all Western culture through their monasteries when Rome fell and Europe was plunged into 1000 years of 'The Dark Ages' or whatnot... I mean, that's gotta be worth something.

 

[UnforgettableLemon]

My fascination with irish culture tends to be more, well, cultural than pop culture. I'm a big fan of Joyce, Yeats, Keats, Celtic mythology, folk music and traditional music of Ireland and Scotland, etc. U2 just happens to be from a country I'm fascinated with. And I'm only like 1/8 Irish, I look more of my Spanish and such than Irish. my appearence doesn't suggest Irish in the least, even my green eyes are more of a forest green with gold... spanish eyes.

 

[VertigoGal]

just thought i'd share...

i was at an amusement park the other day, and *everyone* there was irish. everyone had some sort of shirt declaring their irish-ness, i saw several that read "i :shamrock: guinness"...even saw several black people wearing ireland-related shirts! lol

i dont know why we're so fascinated with it

i do love angelas ashes though, even if it "reinforces stereotypes" or whatever the book, i mean. i saw part of the movie on tv, and they killed the sweet glorious dark humor, it sucked.

 

[IrishDawg]

Everyone at my school is either Irish, Italian, or a mix of the 2. I live in Florida...

 

[chickadee]

Hello, just wanted to pop into this topic and say I so agree, it's SO annoying when people dredge up this unrealistic Irish connection just so they can say they're from the same place as U2 (or whatever other Irish band they like). I get so fed up. I'm Scottish, and proud to be. I love visiting Ireland and whatever, but there's no way I'd rather BE Irish when I'm Scottish, and that's the best ever!

 

[gareth brown]

This is all wonderfully ripping stuff, but who's to say they're actually saying it JUST to say they're from the same place as a band?! If I went around saying "Yes, I AM Japanese..." in the hope it will connect me more to Polysics [http://www.tofurecords.com/graphics/artists/polysics/polysics_main.jpg] then THAT would be pretty see-throughable, Hah...

however, what if you know someone who you know doesn't like U2 yet are saying they're Irish [this is to anyone by the way]...is a miniature investigation into that individual's heritage going to take place? Are you going to privately hate them because you THINK they're pretending??