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Irish-born British?

  • 04-12-2009 3:03pm
    #1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,556 ✭✭✭


    What makes someone born here considered British? Hollywood actor Richard Todd, techno musician Aphex Twin, and Danny La Rue are examples. 'Irish-born British' is a phrase that appears a lot. Why are these people not considered Irish when others not born here are?


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Comments

  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,217 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wibbs


    Its often used when the person was born here before 1922. Usually its down to a sense of standard ownership though. Famous types are often associated with countries regardless of their place of birth. U2 as an example are thought of as Irish but AFAIR two of them were born in britain? I know the edge fella was. Someone like daniel day lewis is considered irish by many yet he's an english lad born and bred. Who was the irish actor in this position who said "If I win an award I'm British, but when I'm found drunk in a gutter I'm Irish". :)

    Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,301 ✭✭✭Snickers Man


    Comes down to personal choice at the end of the day.

    If you were born in IReland of Irish parents whose own parents were born in Ireland, you're pretty much Irish and you can't get out of it. But so many people were born in one country to parents from another and so they have a choice.

    My own dad was born in Africa, but try telling him he's not Irish. Both his parents were and he has lived here all his adult life. He's a paddy.

    Two of the seven signatories to the Declaration of Independence (Connolly and Clarke) were born in Britain, but were put up against a wall and shot because they demanded Irish independence.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 3,077 ✭✭✭Rebelheart


    Wibbs wrote: »
    Its often used when the person was born here before 1922. Usually its down to a sense of standard ownership though. Famous types are often associated with countries regardless of their place of birth. U2 as an example are thought of as Irish but AFAIR two of them were born in britain? I know the edge fella was. Someone like daniel day lewis is considered irish by many yet he's an english lad born and bred. Who was the irish actor in this position who said "If I win an award I'm British, but when I'm found drunk in a gutter I'm Irish". :)


    I think that would have been Brenda Fricker: 'When you are lying drunk at the airport you're Irish. When you win an Oscar you're British.'


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,560 ✭✭✭DublinWriter


    If you can be English and British, Welsh and British, Scottish and British, then why not Irish and British?

    Unionists Gusty Spence and David Irvine considered themselves to be both Irish and British.

    I think the term 'British' carries a lot of negative connotations and automatically means 'English' by those who consider themselves non-British.

    Maybe the question to ask is does the term 'British' also automatically convey a pro-Unionist stance?

    There's no denying the fact that as everyday Irish people the vast part of our culture is 'British' - we live in the British Isles and we speak English as our mother-tongue.

    Yet Irish people would rather consider themselves European and Irish, when in fact there's little in the greater European culture and history that we have a natural affinity to.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,021 ✭✭✭johnny_doyle


    in the case of Richard Todd it could be a mix of family and background. His father served with the BA (as a Doctor in the RAMC), winning the Military Cross and choosing to remain in the army after independence, moving to Co Antrim for a while, then India and settling in England. As a result Todd didn't spend much time growing up in Ireland. On his father's side, his grandmother was English. On his mother's side his grandmother was also English. His father's side was Presbyterian.

    Todd's father died in WW2 after being recalled to the RAMC but died aged 49 :

    http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=2929214


    His father did play rugby for Ireland just before the outbreak of WW1.

    http://www.scrum.com/ireland/rugby/player/2394.html


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,729 ✭✭✭Balmed Out


    i guess its just people born in ireland but grew up in Britain with a British identity, i lnow la rue was born in Cork but moved to england as a young child. Same as theres plenty of people born aroad but grew up in ireland and are considered Irish. Just depends on an individuals own view of their cultural identity and where they feel an affinity for


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 553 ✭✭✭TheCandystripes


    If you can be English and British, Welsh and British, Scottish and British, then why not Irish and British?

    Unionists Gusty Spence and David Irvine considered themselves to be both Irish and British.

    I think the term 'British' carries a lot of negative connotations and automatically means 'English' by those who consider themselves non-British.

    Maybe the question to ask is does the term 'British' also automatically convey a pro-Unionist stance?

    There's no denying the fact that as everyday Irish people the vast part of our culture is 'British' - we live in the British Isles and we speak English as our mother-tongue.

    Yet Irish people would rather consider themselves European and Irish, when in fact there's little in the greater European culture and history that we have a natural affinity to.

    Would you say Scandanavians are European?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 20,649 ✭✭✭✭CDfm


    I think Bob Geldof and Terry Wogan have expressed the view that they have assimilated and not lived in Ireland for such a long time that they are British.

    Danny La Rue well he is Dennehy from Cork so a homosexual drag artist has got to be British:p. Just joking but his cousin was Corks Lord Mayor and honoured him so he had buried his past.So maybe its a career move.

    The other too Aphex and Todd I wouldnt really know about how people percieve them but its probably because they dont speak about their Irishness.

    Richard Harris and the actor Peter O'Toole had no problem with O'Toole reputably turning down a knighthood.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 23 KingKiller


    CDfm wrote: »
    I think Bob Geldof and Terry Wogan have expressed the view that they have assimilated and not lived in Ireland for such a long time that they are British.

    Danny La Rue well he is Dennehy from Cork so a homosexual drag artist has got to be British:p. Just joking but his cousin was Corks Lord Mayor and honoured him so he had buried his past.So maybe its a career move.

    The other too Aphex and Todd I wouldnt really know about how people percieve them but its probably because they dont speak about their Irishness.

    Richard Harris and the actor Peter O'Toole had no problem with O'Toole reputably turning down a knighthood.

    I don't think Wogan ever said anything about himself been British, indeed I'd say the opposite was very much the case. As for Sir Geldof, yes he's an honoury Brit - we are better off without the loudmouth Blackrock college boy. Same with Mr/Miss La Rue.

    As for Aphex and Todd, who knows or cares who the feck they are :rolleyes:


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,560 ✭✭✭DublinWriter


    KingKiller wrote: »
    I don't think Wogan ever said anything about himself been British
    I distinctly remember TW commenting on a Eurovision one year and beginning a statement with the words "We British..."


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,476 ✭✭✭McArmalite


    If you can be English and British, Welsh and British, Scottish and British, then why not Irish and British?
    26 counties of Ireland are recognised as the soverign terrority of Ireland, we have a passport etc, why would anyone, bar a unionist, want to call themselves british ?
    Unionists Gusty Spence and David Irvine considered themselves to be both Irish and British.
    Their's about as much chance that Spence and Irvine said their nationality was Irish as Paisley claiming to be a Catholic. Fiction.
    I think the term 'British' carries a lot of negative connotations and automatically means 'English' by those who consider themselves non-British.
    Maybe the question to ask is does the term 'British' also automatically convey a pro-Unionist stance?
    The term british and English is practically the same thing, even among say Germans, French, America etc the term britian and England is interchangeable.
    In Ireland those who practise their loyalty to britain are british - and I'm sure that would include yourself ?
    There's no denying the fact that as everyday Irish people the vast part of our culture is 'British' - we live in the British Isles and we speak English as our mother-tongue.

    Well then could you explain how aspects of our culture like Gaelic games, music, folk dance, customs, a history of trying to be free of britain is ' british ' ? Ok the language is only spoken by a minority, but Americans speak English, does that make them british. Much of our employment is from American multi nationals, American tv programmes and movies saturate the place, their's a McDonalds and Burger King etc all over the place, jeans, t shirts, sweatshirts etc are all US in origin, maybe we are closer to the Yanks. But then the brits have all the previous from America, except possibly the employment, so maybe the brits are Yanks too :eek: We also drive German, French and Italian cars as well as Japanese ones and have tons of electronic gadgets from the Asia, it's called the global village.;)

    And Ireland is NOT a british island no more than us claiming that britain is an Irish island. And what ordinary Irish person ever refers to themselves as from ' the british isles ' :D :rolleyes:
    Yet Irish people would rather consider themselves European and Irish, when in fact there's little in the greater European culture and history that we have a natural affinity to.
    I would have thought if their was any country in the world that we least have an affinity to it's britain :D


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,476 ✭✭✭McArmalite


    I distinctly remember TW commenting on a Eurovision one year and beginning a statement with the words "We British..."
    Like Spence and Irvine calling themselves Irish. Some memory :rolleyes:


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,560 ✭✭✭DublinWriter


    McArmalite wrote: »
    Like Spence and Irvine calling themselves Irish. Some memory :rolleyes:
    Irvine said as much on a BBC documentary about the building of the WWI Round-Tower monument in France. I think it was broadcast in 2006.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,560 ✭✭✭DublinWriter


    McArmalite wrote: »
    I would have thought if their was any country in the world that we least have an affinity to it's britain :D
    So, we'll be having this argument os Béarla then?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,560 ✭✭✭DublinWriter


    McArmalite wrote: »
    Well then could you explain how aspects of our culture like Gaelic games, music, folk dance, customs,
    Mid nineteenth century middle-class Gaelic revisionism and revivalism.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,560 ✭✭✭DublinWriter


    McArmalite wrote: »
    The term british and English is practically the same thing,
    ...and thereupon I'll have to close the argument with you if you're so ignorant to the basic terms of reference that a debate such as this needs.

    In closing, you'll argue that 800 years of English occupation f*cked this country up, well, we Irish are so brilliant that we did it in 80.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,476 ✭✭✭McArmalite


    ...and thereupon I'll have to close the argument with you if you're so ignorant to the basic terms of reference that a debate such as this needs.

    In closing, you'll argue that 800 years of English occupation f*cked this country up, well, we Irish are so brilliant that we did it in 80.

    Tell you what, since your so british maybe you should start a " Let's rejoin the british Commonwealth " movement and see if you can attract as big a crowd as you'd get at a junior hurling match at this time of year :D

    Ah sure, maybe if rain becomes an esstenial source or if the Corrib gas field turns out to be huge, we can expect a revisit from our lovely british friends down south on the pretext of looking for weapons of mass destruction or whatever, and you'll be there on O'Connell St waving your little union jack :)


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 20,649 ✭✭✭✭CDfm


    I distinctly remember TW commenting on a Eurovision one year and beginning a statement with the words "We British..."

    Limerick people have no shame.

    He would have had no need to say that if he was from Cork :p


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 20,649 ✭✭✭✭CDfm


    Here is a fact sheet for the numbers of Irish Abroad.

    In Britain 1 in 10 Britons have 1 or more grandparents who were Irish -thats 10%

    http://www.ean.ie/issues/how-many-irish-people-live-abroad-an-ean-factsheet/


    At the risk of sounding like an eejit -I believe there was an amount of Irish people born pre 1949 who claimed British Citizenship. So its not that clearcut.

    I mean if you are having a pop at Geldof and Wogan they make their living there, and have brought up their kids there.

    Would anyone sniff if an Irish person took out US, Canadian or Austrailian citizenship?Did Pierce Brosnan become American.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,255 ✭✭✭getz


    remember british is a collective not a country, you can be english/scottish/welsh/iriish[northern]isle of man,from gibraltar ect,and be british, in fact last time i looked it up,i came up with a figure of 65,000 people who were living in the republic who have british passports,


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 20,649 ✭✭✭✭CDfm


    Here is an interesting link - its not unknown for an Irish person to apply for British Citizenship.

    http://www.reform.org/TheReformMovement_files/article_files/Treaties/citizenship.htm

    How many Irish people born before 1949 have British subject status?

    Approximately 165,000 claims to retain British subject status have been made since 1949, with about 2,500 claims being made each year in the 1990s. There are no figures on how many of these people are still alive, but it is likely to be at least half of the above number. There is no information available on how many of these are living in Southern Ireland as opposed to elsewhere.

    How many Irish people living in Britain take out British citizenship?

    Currently about 100 Irish citizens per year (including children) are naturalised or registered as British citizens each year. During the 1960s this was about 700 per year, but has gradually reduced since then.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,005 ✭✭✭✭Zebra3


    Sorry for going OT but could I (as an Irish citizen) get a British passport as both my parents were born before in Ireland 1949?

    Just curious.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 150 ✭✭bogtotty


    Zebra3 wrote: »
    Sorry for going OT but could I (as an Irish citizen) get a British passport as both my parents were born before in Ireland 1949?

    Just curious.

    Only if your parents had claimed British citizenship and held British passports.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 150 ✭✭bogtotty


    Returning to the OP, many British-born families moved here for work. Their Irish-born children still identify themselves as British, as that is the nationality of their parents, just as the foreign-born children of Irish emigrants still retain Irish citizenship and documentation.
    McArmalite wrote: »
    26 counties of Ireland are recognised as the soverign terrority of Ireland, we have a passport etc, why would anyone, bar a unionist, want to call themselves british ?

    Possibly because they have dual citizenship, or because they have 1 Irish parent and 1 British parent, or because they have some sort of claim on both identities. And not all Britons are Unionists...?

    McArmalite wrote: »

    The term british and English is practically the same thing, even among say Germans, French, America etc the term britian and England is interchangeable.


    Perhaps among the less-informed Germans, French, Americans etc. That doesn't make it correct. Tell any Scotsman who identifies himself as British 'sure, you're practically English'. Go on, I dare you.
    McArmalite wrote: »
    Much of our employment is from American multi nationals, American tv programmes and movies saturate the place, their's a McDonalds and Burger King etc all over the place, jeans, t shirts, sweatshirts etc are all US in origin, maybe we are closer to the Yanks...

    I would have thought if their was any country in the world that we least have an affinity to it's britain :D

    Britain is our most important trade partner. Millions of Irish have settled in Britain, millions more travel there to work for shorter periods or for seasonal work. Thousands of Irish study at British universities, more than in any other country. Most of our electricity comes from Britain. Sky is the most popular satellite service in Ireland. Guess what? It's British, containing predominantly British programmes. The most popular soaps are British. Support for British football teams is massive. Our laws strongly resemble British ones. Many of our newspapers are just syndicated Irish editions of British papers.

    America is our weird, bombastic, hyperactive distant cousin. Britain is our half-sister. We may argue but we'll never escape each other, and deep down we'd never really want to.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,255 ✭✭✭getz


    bogtotty wrote: »
    Returning to the OP, many British-born families moved here for work. Their Irish-born children still identify themselves as British, as that is the nationality of their parents, just as the foreign-born children of Irish emigrants still retain Irish citizenship and documentation.



    Possibly because they have dual citizenship, or because they have 1 Irish parent and 1 British parent, or because they have some sort of claim on both identities. And not all Britons are Unionists...?

    bottom line every family has its love hate relationships,me and the wife

    Perhaps among the less-informed Germans, French, Americans etc. That doesn't make it correct. Tell any Scotsman who identifies himself as British 'sure, you're practically English'. Go on, I dare you.



    Britain is our most important trade partner. Millions of Irish have settled in Britain, millions more travel there to work for shorter periods or for seasonal work. Thousands of Irish study at British universities, more than in any other country. Most of our electricity comes from Britain. Sky is the most popular satellite service in Ireland. Guess what? It's British, containing predominantly British programmes. The most popular soaps are British. Support for British football teams is massive. Our laws strongly resemble British ones. Many of our newspapers are just syndicated Irish editions of British papers.

    America is our weird, bombastic, hyperactive distant cousin. Britain is our half-sister. We may argue but we'll never escape each other, and deep down we'd never really want to.
    you have forgotten the shops


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 150 ✭✭bogtotty


    getz wrote: »
    you have forgotten the shops

    Yes, sorry, the shops. I LOVE M&S knickers. Dunnes ones get very saggy after a couple of washes.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,255 ✭✭✭getz


    bogtotty wrote: »
    Yes, sorry, the shops. I LOVE M&S knickers. Dunnes ones get very saggy after a couple of washes.
    strange isent it my wife cannot get enough of the irish shops, primark[pennies ] and dunnes in england


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 821 ✭✭✭FiSe


    bogtotty wrote: »
    Returning to the OP, many British-born families moved here for work. Their Irish-born children still identify themselves as British, as that is the nationality of their parents, just as the foreign-born children of Irish emigrants still retain Irish citizenship and documentation.

    I think that we are mixing 2 totally different things together. Nationality and citizenship.
    You can have Irish nationality and holding citizenship of Great Britain. You can be British national /if there is such a thing as you'd probably be Scottish, Walesh or English nationality/ and have Irish citizenship.
    I believe that there are a lot of 'foreign nationals' with Irish citizenship in Ireland and even more 'foreign nationals' in Britain with British passports.

    Here what Britannica says about it:

    Citizenship
    Relationship between an individual and a state in which the individual owes allegiance to the state and in turn is entitled to its protection. In general, full political rights, including the right to vote and to hold public office, are predicated on citizenship. Citizenship entails obligations, usually including allegiance, payment of taxes, and military service. The concept arose in ancient Greece, where citizenship was granted only to property owners. The Romans initially used it as a privilege to be conferred upon or withheld from conquered peoples, but it was granted to all the empire's free inhabitants in AD 212. The concept disappeared in Europe during the feudal era but was revived in the Renaissance. Citizenship may normally be gained by birth within a certain territory, descent from a parent who is a citizen, marriage to a citizen, or naturalization.

    Nationality
    Affiliation with a particular nation or sovereign state. People, business corporations, ships, and aircraft all have nationalities. Nationality is inferior to citizenship, insofar as the latter implies a full set of political privileges and the former does not. Countries have limited rights to determine which of their inhabitants will be their nationals. People generally acquire a nationality by birth within a particular country's territory, by inheritance from one or both parents, or by naturalization. It may change or be augmented or taken away if a country cedes control of the territory where one lives to another country.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 88 ✭✭DUBDUBDUB


    I am Scottish and have never considered myself to be British. Despite the fact i served in the British forces for a while with many irishmen.

    As for the whole "if i win an award i am British, if i am drunk at an airport I am Irish" we are all guilty of selecting the best and associating them with our nation. Peter O tooles mother was Scottish and he was probably born in Leeds, so was he Scottish (by Standard Irish rules he would be as his Ma was Scottish and he was good at what he did) or was he Irish as his Da was from Ireland??

    Baby P's heritage was distinctly Irish and I didnt hear anyone queuing up to claim his Ma and Da as Irish?? making him Irish

    We are all guilty of it.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 24,227 ✭✭✭✭ejmaztec


    DUBDUBDUB wrote: »
    I am Scottish and have never considered myself to be British. Despite the fact i served in the British forces for a while with many irishmen.

    As for the whole "if i win an award i am British, if i am drunk at an airport I am Irish" we are all guilty of selecting the best and associating them with our nation. Peter O tooles mother was Scottish and he was probably born in Leeds, so was he Scottish (by Standard Irish rules he would be as his Ma was Scottish and he was good at what he did) or was he Irish as his Da was from Ireland??

    Baby P's heritage was distinctly Irish and I didnt hear anyone queuing up to claim his Ma and Da as Irish?? making him Irish

    We are all guilty of it.

    e.g JFK was Irish.

    Someone like myself, with dual British/Irish nationality, would be English if I were a serial killer, and Irish if I won the Nobel Peace Prize.

    In the UK, the opposite would happen.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 217 ✭✭Hookey


    Dara O'Briain does a good routine about this in his latest stand-up "I will love my English child", where he goes on about his kid scoring the winning goal for England. At Croke Park.

    My experience in the UK was that huge numbers of second generation Irish people are keen to proclaim their Irishness, but not to the extent of getting an Irish passport, and hardly any first generation Irish in Britain (or Brits in Ireland) will bother to naturalise and take citizenship, because its largely pointless these days; all part of the gradual homogenisation of national identities into the EU.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 20,649 ✭✭✭✭CDfm


    bogtotty wrote: »
    Only if your parents had claimed British citizenship and held British passports.

    If living in the UK you can apply for a british passport but the nationality box will say irish


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 13,549 ✭✭✭✭Judgement Day


    CDfm wrote: »
    If living in the UK you can apply for a british passport but the nationality box will say irish

    That sounds very odd to me are you sure? I have just looked at my own British passport and sure enough there is a space for nationality - very strange - I mean why would they issue a 'British' passport to someone of a different nationality? It seems a contradiction in terms. :confused:


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 20,649 ✭✭✭✭CDfm


    That sounds very odd to me are you sure? I have just looked at my own British passport and sure enough there is a space for nationality - very strange - I mean why would they issue a 'British' passport to someone of a different nationality? It seems a contradiction in terms. :confused:

    Dunno - I had one - in fact William Joyce(Lord Haw Haw) was hanged for fraudulently travelling on a British Passport so it probably should carry a health warning.:D

    Anyway here are the rules from the British embassy in Dublin
    Do I qualify?
    Birth in the UK:

    In most cases, a person born before 1 January 1983 in the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) is eligible to hold a British passport.

    Since 1 January 1983, a person born in the UK is eligible for a British passport if, at the time of their birth, one of their parents was:

    a British Citizen or
    a person with settled status in the UK (i.e. an EU national, a person who had been granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK by the Home Office, or a Commonwealth Citizen with the right of abode in the UK.

    If the parent concerned was the father, he must have married the mother of the child either before or after the birth. However, for births on or since 1 July 2006, it is sufficient for the father's name to appear on the birth certificate, provided this birth certificate is issued within one year of the birth.

    Birth overseas:
    British nationality is now transmitted only to the first generation born abroad:

    Before 1 January 1983, this could only be passed on through a British father born or registered as a Citizen of the UK and Colonies in the UK. Usually, the father had to be married to the mother of the child, before or after the birth. See above for births since 1 July 2006.


    Since 1 January 1983, the claim can also be made through a British mother born, or after registration is a Citizen of the UK and Colonies or a British Citizen.


    Special arrangements are in place if the child was born overseas whilst one of the parents was on Crown or other designated service.

    Persons born in the Republic of Ireland before 1 January 1949 with a parent born in Ireland before 31 March 1922 are also eligible to hold a special type of British passport.

    Persons born in the Republic on or after 1 January 1949 count as being born overseas.

    Persons born in the former British Crown Colony of Hong Kong are also eligible to hold a special type of British passport ("British National (Overseas)"), if they had already applied for such a passport before Hong Kong returned to the People's Republic of China.

    There are many instances in British Nationality legislation where, due to a unique combination of ancestry, place and date of birth, a person may qualify for a British passport automatically, especially if they were born before 1 January 1983. If not, they may be able to register with the Home Office as a British Citizen before applying for a British passport.

    If you believe that you have such a claim, please send us as much detail as you can about the date and place of your birth and those of your forebears back to your grandparents. Please include marriage details of your parents and grandparents.

    ALL FIRST TIME CLAIMS TO BRITISH NATIONALITY MUST BE BACKED UP WITH SUITABLE DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE IN THE FORM OF ORIGINAL BIRTH, MARRIAGE AND REGISTRATION CERTIFICATES (OR CERTIFIED COPIES FROM THE ISSUING OFFICE CONCERNED).

    For more information on British Nationality matters visit the Home Office website.

    Now a passport really is an application to the Secretary of State for "protection" when travelling outside the UK.

    My understanding is that an Irish Person who has settled in the UK may be deemed to be a British subject and it is on that basis and it is a voluntary status . Being a "subject" does not nesscessarily make you a Citizen and the terms are not interchangeable.

    Thats how I understand it- but others are free to correct me.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,041 ✭✭✭who the fug


    CDfm wrote: »
    If living in the UK you can apply for a british passport but the nationality box will say irish


    What Nationality box are you on about , I have 10 passports in font of me and I can't find it in any of them, all it says is British Citizen


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 20,649 ✭✭✭✭CDfm


    What Nationality box are you on about , I have 10 passports in font of me and I can't find it in any of them, all it says is British Citizen

    it should be under your name -same on my irish passport it follows a standard eu format.

    i needed a british passport for work to go to commonwealth countries withoutneeding a visa


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,041 ✭✭✭who the fug


    Looked at mine and it just says British Citizen, no mention of Irish anywhere.


    got mine cause I was entitled and it saved hassle in the UAE and Oman with visas , and you don't want to go to Gib 3 months after the shootings on an Irish one :(


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,255 ✭✭✭getz


    CDfm wrote: »
    it should be under your name -same on my irish passport it follows a standard eu format.

    i needed a british passport for work to go to commonwealth countries withoutneeding a visa
    on my british passport all it says is place of birth ,in my case it says sale[thats a town just outside manchester] on my wifes passport in place of birth it says gibraltar,so would a person from northern ireland have say in place of birth belfast or northern ireland ?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,476 ✭✭✭McArmalite


    bogtotty wrote: »
    Returning to the OP, many British-born families moved here for work. Their Irish-born children still identify themselves as British, as that is the nationality of their parents, just as the foreign-born children of Irish emigrants still retain Irish citizenship and documentation.



    Possibly because they have dual citizenship, or because they have 1 Irish parent and 1 British parent, or because they have some sort of claim on both identities. And not all Britons are Unionists...?





    Perhaps among the less-informed Germans, French, Americans etc. That doesn't make it correct. Tell any Scotsman who identifies himself as British 'sure, you're practically English'. Go on, I dare you.



    Britain is our most important trade partner. Millions of Irish have settled in Britain, millions more travel there to work for shorter periods or for seasonal work. Thousands of Irish study at British universities, more than in any other country. Most of our electricity comes from Britain. Sky is the most popular satellite service in Ireland. Guess what? It's British, containing predominantly British programmes. The most popular soaps are British. Support for British football teams is massive. Our laws strongly resemble British ones. Many of our newspapers are just syndicated Irish editions of British papers.

    America is our weird, bombastic, hyperactive distant cousin. Britain is our half-sister. We may argue but we'll never escape each other, and deep down we'd never really want to.
    As bad an attempt to wind someone up as I've seen in a long time......ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,476 ✭✭✭McArmalite


    CDfm wrote: »
    Dunno - I had one - in fact William Joyce(Lord Haw Haw) was hanged for fraudulently travelling on a British Passport so it probably should carry a health warning.:D
    Joyce was actually born in America. Family moved back to Galway when he was young. Regardless, he was an American citizen under international law and I'll bet the US weren't too interested in protecting this particuliar ' citizen '.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,041 ✭✭✭who the fug


    McArmalite wrote: »
    Joyce was actually born in America. Family moved back to Galway when he was young. Regardless, he was an American citizen under international law and I'll bet the US weren't too interested in protecting this particuliar ' citizen '.


    He never had a US passport, the only passport he had was the one he applied to leave the UK to go to Germany just before the war so he clearly opted in to the UK, so hiding behind the US is a red herring.

    His father left Ireland in a hurry after the independence


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,476 ✭✭✭McArmalite


    He never had a US passport, the only passport he had was the one he applied to leave the UK to go to Germany just before the war so he clearly opted in to the UK, so hiding behind the US is a red herring.

    His father left Ireland in a hurry after the independence
    No, under international law he was an American citizen. You are a citizen of the country where you were born, like it or not. You may reject it culturally etc if you happen to grow up or have an affinity with/in another country, but as I said, like it or not you are still a citizen of the country you were actually born in. I knew a guy ( a bad egg as it goes ), born in Ireland, raised in Canada with the rest of his family from 2 or 3, got into trouble several times there, was sent back to Ireland around 30 years old as he was only a naturalised citizen.

    The country you were born in, even if for only the first day of your life, you are a citizen of it whether you like it or not.

    ( But your right, his father did run out of the country, they were a Catholic unionist family who collaborated with the brits, think they tried to spy on the local republicans in Galway or something. )


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,255 ✭✭✭getz


    McArmalite wrote: »
    No, under international law he was an American citizen. You are a citizen of the country where you were born, like it or not. You may reject it culturally etc if you happen to grow up or have an affinity with/in another country, but as I said, like it or not you are still a citizen of the country you were actually born in. I knew a guy ( a bad egg as it goes ), born in Ireland, raised in Canada with the rest of his family from 2 or 3, got into trouble several times there, was sent back to Ireland around 30 years old as he was only a naturalised citizen.

    The country you were born in, even if for only the first day of your life, you are a citizen of it whether you like it or not.
    thats a big turn round on your part,from send all the people who were born in northern ireland back to scotland [remember] and now you say you are a citizen of the country you were born in,please make your mind up,then let us know


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 20,649 ✭✭✭✭CDfm


    McArmalite wrote: »
    No, under international law he was an American citizen.

    International law would be irrelevant as the US is a sovereign country and legislates itself

    You are a citizen of the country where you were born, like it or not.

    Not so in Ireland. That was so pre 2005 but now the citizenship of the parents is taken into account.


    Anyway Lord Haw Haw was a member of the British Union of Fascists.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 20,649 ✭✭✭✭CDfm


    getz wrote: »
    on my british passport all it says is place of birth ,in my case it says sale[thats a town just outside manchester] on my wifes passport in place of birth it says gibraltar,so would a person from northern ireland have say in place of birth belfast or northern ireland ?

    Does it give a space for nationality under your name???

    In my Irish Passport it gives Irish ? Cant find my British one but from memory it said Nationality Irish.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,255 ✭✭✭getz


    CDfm wrote: »
    Does it give a space for nationality under your name???

    In my Irish Passport it gives Irish ? Cant find my British one but from memory it said Nationality Irish.
    there is no mention of me being born in england,as far the passport is concerned ,the only place of birth is sale,no mention of england/scotland/wales and i would think its the same for northern ireland,but thats the part i am not so sure about ,maybe one of our northern threadies can tell us


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,033 ✭✭✭Winty


    McArmalite wrote: »
    Tell you what, since your so british maybe you should start a " Let's rejoin the british Commonwealth " movement and see if you can attract as big a crowd as you'd get at a junior hurling match at this time of year :D

    Ah sure, maybe if rain becomes an esstenial source or if the Corrib gas field turns out to be huge, we can expect a revisit from our lovely british friends down south on the pretext of looking for weapons of mass destruction or whatever, and you'll be there on O'Connell St waving your little union jack :)

    McArmalite is a prolific writer on Boards and in all cases as the debate moves forward his aggression and childish anti-British agenda takes hold of him like a red mist. I wonder what English football team he supports


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,476 ✭✭✭McArmalite


    CDfm wrote: »
    International law would be irrelevant as the US is a sovereign country and legislates itself




    Not so in Ireland. That was so pre 2005 but now the citizenship of the parents is taken into account.


    Anyway Lord Haw Haw was a member of the British Union of Fascists.
    As stated in post #41 " Regardless, he was an American citizen under international law and I'll bet the US weren't too interested in protecting this particuliar ' citizen '. " :rolleyes:
    getz wrote: »
    thats a big turn round on your part,from send all the people who were born in northern ireland back to scotland [remember] and now you say you are a citizen of the country you were born in,please make your mind up,then let us know
    We're goin WAY off topic but I never stated " send all the people who were born in northern Ireland back to Scotland "
    Winty wrote: »
    McArmalite is a prolific writer on Boards and in all cases as the debate moves forward his aggression and childish anti-British agenda takes hold of him like a red mist. I wonder what English football team he supports
    Again we're WAY off topic, but in reply :rolleyes:. Little interest in soccer. Besides, most of the players in the ' English ' league are from every where but britain and similarily the owners of the clubs.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 217 ✭✭Hookey


    McArmalite wrote: »
    The country you were born in, even if for only the first day of your life, you are a citizen of it whether you like it or not.

    Nonsense. Your citizenship can be based on either your country of birth or your parentage if different, and it doesn't even have to be both parents, plus the combination of countries you're claiming citizenship for (some countries don't allow dual nationality, others do; Arnold Schwarzenegger holds Austrian and US citizenship for example, but he doesn't have to, and could renounce his Austrian citizenship at any time). I personally know a couple of people with dual citizenship, Canadian-British and Peruvian-Spanish, but in no case do they have to be citizens of the country they were born in.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,476 ✭✭✭McArmalite


    Hookey wrote: »
    Nonsense. Your citizenship can be based on either your country of birth or your parentage if different, and it doesn't even have to be both parents, plus the combination of countries you're claiming citizenship for (some countries don't allow dual nationality, others do; Arnold Schwarzenegger holds Austrian and US citizenship for example, but he doesn't have to, and could renounce his Austrian citizenship at any time). I personally know a couple of people with dual citizenship, Canadian-British and Peruvian-Spanish, but in no case do they have to be citizens of the country they were born in.

    :rolleyes: From my post #43 " You are a citizen of the country where you were born, like it or not. You may reject it culturally etc if you happen to grow up or have an affinity with/in another country, but as I said, like it or not you are still a citizen of the country you were actually born in. I knew a guy ( a bad egg as it goes ), born in Ireland, raised in Canada with the rest of his family from 2 or 3, got into trouble several times there, was sent back to Ireland around 30 years old as he was only a naturalised Canadian citizen. "


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