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

[joyfulgirl]

I work for Irish-Americans who are so Irish in spirit and their love of all things Irish, especially Irish writers (James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, Seamus Heaney, etc.) that our office is actually closed on Bloomsday, June 16.

 

[JessicaAnn]

I am Polish :brag:

 

[financeguy]

All Irish people hate my last name. Catholic, Protestant, Belfast, Dublin, you name it. My name is hated equally.

Eh.......Cromwell?

 

[Techie2000]

I am Polish :brag:

Well my other half is polish. for that I get to eat pierogis!

 

[Rono]

I'm 100% Dutch...more Dutch than most people that actually live in the Netherlands, heh. I don't know too many Irish people....

Hé. dat is leuk om te horen



btw, I liked the st Patricks parade this year

 

[u2bonogirl]

The only thing I got from being of Irish descent is freckles, red hair even when I dye it black, and ten billion sunburns a year
I'm more German than Irish but you would never know.
My anscestors were sausage makers

 

[myusernamehere]

You're dangerous, 'cos you're honest. (yep, thats us)
You're dangerous, you don't know what you want. ( )

You're an accident waiting to happen (How does he know?!! He must read these forums!! )

Well you stole it 'cos I needed the cash ( mg: You are soooo right Myusernamehere! )

Ah, the deeper I spin
Ah, the hunter will sin for your ivory skin. (Thats ME to a T. Me! Me! Me! )

Who's gonna ride your wild horses?
Who's gonna drown in your blue sea? (passage from Ireland/England obviously)
Who's gonna taste your saltwater kisses? (disembarking on arrival)


I'm so glad we had this discussion I've gone my whole life not realising this song was about us/me

Thank you

Beli, we are special, Bono loves us more than any other fan. We should make people worship us because we are so clearly superior fans.

 

[She Is Raging]

I'm not one to go spouting it about, but I am irish- american. My family came over from there years ago - my cousins and I are all first generation, with no roots elsewhere that we know of. Nothing wrong with being proud of your roots, if they really exist. I do understand how everyone seems to be a "little" irish in some form or another, especially on St. Patrick's Day. There's more to being irish than drinking beer, chasing leprechauns and listening to U2.

 

[Pearl]

I'm American with a 100% Irish background. I don't call myself Irish-American since my ancestors came to America generations ago. I'm proud of my roots, but if someone were to ask me what I am, I say I'm American because its where I'm born. I have no ties to Ireland except my ancestry, so I wouldn't call myself Irish - except for St Patrick's Day

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

I really hate those people "So yeah my grandmothers neighbours friends dog walkers friends cousin aunt uncle sister niece was part Irish so I'm part Irish too"

well yeah exactly. i don't consider myself irish or even irish-american. i'm like a fraction irish

 

[JessicaAnn]

Well my other half is polish. for that I get to eat pierogis!

Pierogis

 

[financeguy]

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.

 

[Liesje]

Hé. dat is leuk om te horen

Sorry, I can't speak/write Dutch, only read (but that I did understand).

I was born here in the US, but my ancestry is 100% Dutch as far back as the 1600s. My family still has a lot of old Dutch traditions and the Dutch they speak/spoke is different/older than regular Dutch. My grandps describes it as "Yankee Dutch, but not the kind they speak in Pennsylvania" and my mom did a lot of research to find it's a dialect from the Groningen area. We don't speak it much anymore, but there are lots of words and phrases we still use. Once when I was little, I was writing a story for homework and asked my mom how to spell "rumeltje" and she said "oh, you can't use that word in your paper. It's one of our words and no one will know what it is."

 

[starsgoblue]

I'm 100% Russian

 

[VertigoGal]

haha, I know exactly what you mean. there are so many "kiss me im irish" and "everyone loves an irish boy" etc shirts at my school. people are definitely obsessed with irish-ness in general.

dont know if its that "irish" is just a fun word to say (it is), or that irish accents are hot (they are)...

when my brother found out we're 1/8 irish, he got all excited and kept saying "we're in bono's tribe!" he's 9 though...

I am mostly Polish/Russian though

 

[Tania]

I thought Paul McGuiness was from the scottish side of the Guiness clan. You know, the ones that broke away and developed a fast food chain that had a big yellow arch (isn't that were U2 got the approval to use the big yellow arch during the Pop tour?)

 

[VertigoGal]

no, McGuinness is derived from the "Guinness" tribe who make up the ethnic background of 99.9% of the modern-day Irish. All they do is sit around drinking Guinness, beating each other up, saying "i hate proddys", and shredding condoms. Duh!

 

[financeguy]

 

[starsgoblue]

when my brother found out we're 1/8 irish, he got all excited and kept saying "we're in bono's tribe!" he's 9 though...

I am mostly Polish/Russian though

Yay, for Polish/Russian! The lines there kinda blur don't they....depending on where one's family lived at what point in time...

 

[beli]

Beli, we are special, Bono loves us more than any other fan. We should make people worship us because we are so clearly superior fans.

We are indeed.

No one can hold a candle to us

We are The Chosen Ones

 

[meegannie]

People always think I'm Irish because of my American accent.

 

[Russty Cat]

People always think I'm Irish because of my American accent.

I think there is nothing wrong with being interested in where your family came from ,your anscestory and all. It can be interesting stuff.

I was born and am an American. But my family is a mix of German, English, and Irish.

My husbands family has done a lot of research to see where their family name came from. Just recently they found out that they are possibly descendents of an Irish King. This doesn't make my husband Irish by any means, cuz who knows how many people who have married into their family tree from other nationalities. But it was fun to find out and an interesting fact to tell our kids.

 

[Laura M]

I'm not one to go spouting it about, but I am irish- american. My family came over from there years ago - my cousins and I are all first generation, with no roots elsewhere that we know of. Nothing wrong with being proud of your roots, if they really exist. I do understand how everyone seems to be a "little" irish in some form or another, especially on St. Patrick's Day. There's more to being irish than drinking beer, chasing leprechauns and listening to U2.

The joke about St.Patricks day is that it's not a huge deal in Ireland like it is in America.

Last time I was out for St. Patricks day (2/ 3 years ago) we got caught up in a riot. Fun times.

 

[Lil'Bono]

I don't mean to get 'political' on your ass but judging from a map, Northern Ireland actually is in actual Ireland.

Kind of.

Exactly!!

 

[VertigoGal]

Yay, for Polish/Russian! The lines there kinda blur don't they....depending on where one's family lived at what point in time...

exactly

I think there's even a little bit of "Belarusian" (don't know if that's the right way to say it) in me. Except it didn't exist as a country when my great-great-whoever left, but now it does, or something like that.

I did some geneaology project when I was in 5th or 6th grade, but (overachiever that I was) it has tons of info...I wish I could find it

 

[gareth brown]

I'm Irish, and would like to rub that fact in Zoomerang's face...

Zoo, are you Irish? just asking

 

[redkat]

My nationality is American but my Heritage is Irish. You aren't defined by where you live but how you were brought up. I've lived in England and never considered myself English. I'm first generation Irish. Half of my family is still there and it is part of who I am. We never drank green beer or ate corned beef those are american traditions. My family was more likely to go to church on St.Pat's day. My mom never got the St.pat's day thing here. She's a tee-totaler (sp) she and her brother signed a certificate in school to never drink. (that's right there are Irish that don't drink)

I do know what you are saying. I had a college roommate that considered herself Irish (was her towns St.Patricks day queen and all) She thought the last name Olson was Irish just because it starts with an O. She didn't really know anything about Ireland just what it's like to be Irish in america in her town. There is a difference. I do think it's great that people celebrate their heritage. Shouldn't Italians, Japanese Mexicans be proud of their ancestry? I'm happy people think it's cool to be Irish I know it didn't used to be. My family (parents, grandparents uncles and aunts) have led a really hard life and I'm proud of them and their background.

Off my soapbox ahhh I feel better: Now is there a leprechaun smiley I can include in all my posts?

 

[Zoomerang96]

I'm Irish, and would like to rub that fact in Zoomerang's face...

Zoo, are you Irish? just asking

if you're irish, that's cool. read what angela harem and canada's rodes had to say, that's the point i was trying to convey.

as for myself...it's a bit tricky to describe.

for all intents and purposes, i am canadian. my great great grandparents moved here from the other side back in the 1880's or something.

i am part of a sect, a group, that would be considered by most to be extremely backwards when it comes to social issues. we're all very right wing, and many would be scared of us.

not me, of course. and not all of us are like that.

but to finally answer your question, my roots are german-russian. they started in germany centuries again, and moves on to russia to escape persecution. they then moved to canada to again escape persecution, and farm.

that's enough personal information for a long time, yes, yes, yes it is.

 

[cujo]

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.

 

[beli]

Ive noticed that folks in the commonwealth and formerly imperial countries seem to associate national identity moreso with the background of ONE immigrant ancestor. The one that was Irish, the one that was Polish, whatever is sexiest to the individual. I have 34 immigrant ancestors and I would have more if it wasnt for the fact one of my grandmothers was born in England.

People in the USA I would expect to have more than my measly 34. Unless people on the internet are reasonably recent descendants. Theres another crappy theory for you! Im on a roll today.