People saying they are Irish - when they clearly aren't!

Scruffles

Oranage2 wrote: »

Poorly translated sentence in Irish using a translator - Sounds like he's Irish to me.

agreed.
personaly dont have any irish relatives who know the irish language well.
am the daughter of a tipp father and a donegal mother,and neither of them can say even basic irish words,yet they both go back to ireland several times every year to see the rest of the family,being crap at irish doesnt necesserily mean someone isnt irish or that their irish origins are seriously diluted.
was born in england but the only thing have got to relate to here is the fact its birthplace,have grown up emersed in irish culture and am very proud of having an irish background because it has always been a part of life.

it is petty snobbery to hate on people for being proud of their irish origins without going there or for showing it off.

as for announcing it on forums,well lets just say never believe everything read on forums and boards like any open site is not immune to manipulation and lies; the internet is a magnet for BS jockeys who lie and troll their way through all sorts of information- such as where they come from,their life, and so forth,have already recognised one user on here who runs multi accounts all over the web to BS and attention seek-one things for sure he isnt irish.

kupus

Scruffles wrote: »

was born in england but the only thing have got to relate to here is the fact its birthplace,have grown up emersed in irish culture and am very proud of having an irish background because it has always been a part of life.

it is petty snobbery to hate on people for being proud of their irish origins without going there or for showing it off.

the best quote of the day in this thread,
I knew a girl from London born and breed, she had the cockneyist (spelling) accent going but god help any guy who started the conversation with oh you're english, I made the mistake when I first met her and it took a while to get over !!!
as far as she was concerned sh grew up in an irish household going to irish bars, and she was a damn good gaelic player....

InTheTrees

Oh god not this one again...

Okay. try and follow this...

If you're an american and unless you're a native american (ie, indian), your ancestors came to the usa from some other place.

This may be reflected in your last name but a lot of times it isnt.

Because most US citizens came to north america from somewhere else and because it was usually in the last 200 years or so which is fairly recent, they tend to have some interest in where they originated from, and a lot of times that prompts them to visit the place their ancestors came from. At which point they may mention it to the rustics they encounter.

SOoooo, stay with me on this... When they call themselves "irish" they DONT mean that they are Irish Citizens, they mean of Irish heritage, or ancestry. They would be horrified if you were to suggest they werent americans for instance.

SO try and put yourself in their shoes before you go charging off thinking they're claiming false Irish Citizenship, or whatever. They're rootless emigrants desperate to find their connection to the old country.

:rolleyes:

Tiocfaidh Armani

Fratton Fred wrote: »

And St George never went to England, or Poland for that matter. Possibly not even Milan.

Thank you for backing up my point...

paddyandy

It's a great compliment......

LordSutch

InTheTrees wrote: »

If you're an american and unless you're a native american (ie, indian), your ancestors came to the usa from some other place.

This may be reflected in your last name but a lot of times it isnt.

Because most US citizens came to north america from somewhere else and because it was usually in the last 200 years or so which is fairly recent, they tend to have some interest in where they originated from, and a lot of times that prompts them to visit the place their ancestors came from. At which point they may mention it to the rustics they encounter.

SOoooo, stay with me on this... When they call themselves "irish" they DONT mean that they are Irish Citizens, they mean of Irish heritage, or ancestry. They would be horrified if you were to suggest they werent americans for instance.

SO try and put yourself in their shoes before you go charging off thinking they're claiming false Irish Citizenship, or whatever. They're rootless emigrants desperate to find their connection to the old country.

But what about all the other ancestry? what about the grandad who was German, or the father who was half Scottish, or all the other nationalities thrown into the mix! It does always seem to be the Irish ancestor who gets the credit. If I followed the American example of tracing my lineage back several generations I might call myself English, Scottish, or French, but then I guess that if we all did that, none of us would be truly Irish.

InTheTrees

LordSutch wrote: »

If I followed the American example of tracing my lineage back several generations I might call myself English, Scottish, or French, but then I guess that if we all did that, none of us would be truly Irish.

My familys been in Ireland for 100's of years, I can trace my roots back to the old kings.

And yet a lot of people in Ireland would still consider me "english".

So it can happen in reverse as well.

Americans were born into their empty country and desperately need to know where they came from (and why). When they visit Ireland they will tell everyone they meet about their Irishness and then when they go on to Italy they'll be telling everyone there about their italianess. You're just getting the Irish part of it because ... well they're hardly going to visit Ireland because of their spanish heritage right? Out here in Seattle, the region is famous for the Scandinavian "heritage", everyone around here is a gustafsen, anderson, svenson etc etc..

I'm sure they spend their summers bugging the natives of northern europe as well.

Again, they're not referring to their passports but their ancestry.

As churchill said "two people's divided by a common language".

SharpshooterTom

Good result for the plastic paddies last night then.

My boyfriend works for a small American company, and his boss is convinced he's Irish, because he's lived in Dublin for three years. Boyfriend tried to explain that he's English, to his boss's great confusion.... spent ten days on a working holiday telling everyone he was Irish, and really peeing me off. Eventually I told him to quit it, he's not Irish, he'll never be Irish, and he justified it with "They can't tell the difference and they like you guys better". Still made me pretty damn mad. He's got enough to whinge about while living here, but he'll trade in his nationality for mine when it suits him! /rant.

Cybercubed

Then some of you are hypocrites.

I bet you some of you were cheering on Walters goal.

AlmightyDublin

Cybercubed wrote: »

Then some of you are hypocrites.

I bet you some of you were cheering on Walters goal.

Walters lived in Dublin for a bit when he was a kid though...

SharpshooterTom

AlmightyDublin wrote: »

Walters lived in Dublin for a bit when he was a kid though...

Still wouldn't be considered Irish by some on here though. As would St.Ledger, McGeady, Cox etc. Don't know why some even bother with the national team then.

AlmightyDublin

Gnobe wrote: »

AlmightyDublin wrote: »

Walters lived in Dublin for a bit when he was a kid though...

Still wouldn't be considered Irish by some on here though. As would St.Ledger, McGeady, Cox etc. Don't know why some even bother with the national team then.

I suppose your right but they parents were Irish etc, not their great great great great grandmother etc...

Deki

Most people in the US have some ancestor who can be traced back to Ireland, for heavens sake just take a look at the immigration rolls of the 1800s, why wouldn't they? I have an interest in genealogy because I wanted to know where they came from and what they did, how they lived and how they died, had nothing to do with the country, only at times - reason for leaving- did it matter at all to me. They were who they were. I do believe that our befores had an influence on us. I mean my mothers parents influenced her, she raised me in accordance to what she was taught.
There is not some special thing found in Irish blood or in any other nationality that makes one a certain way - we all belong to the human race.

CaliforniaDream

See, I'm afraid of having children in case I ever give them an identity crisis in the future.
I'm from Ireland,born there, lived there 25 years, Irish parents, grandparents etc.
Boyfriend is the same, lived there for 27 years.
Moved to America last year. If we have kids here would they be Irish or American?
I'd consider them Irish but others have said they'd consider them American. And if we move back to Ireland with them would they still be American then?

So confusing for no reason!!!

K-9

Tiocfaidh Armani wrote: »

Of course all the wannabe Brits on here slate those not from Ireland who have a pride in their Irish heritage because you have a hatred of your own country and an admiration for another (Britain).

It's no surprise to see you on here slating them and using stupid examples and generalisations.

LOL

As against people like yourself who define their nationality by a hatred of the Brits. You'll deny you hate them of course but you'll keep whittering on about them in any thread possible to do so, like this one, thinly related to the Brits as it is. If some didn't have the Brits to hate they wouldn't have a clue who they are!

arybvtcw0eolkf

Ben Hadad wrote: »

The OP's attitude pisses me off. Who the **** are you to tell them which country they themselves feel they are from.

If they say they are Irish, **** that's good enough for me. I don't need to see their birth cert nor do I expect them to speak with an Irish accent. Have you no pride in your own nationality that you are not proud that someone with eight different nationalities in their blood chooses Ireland over all the rest?

**** post with a **** dripping attitude.

I wish I could see more of this in people, good on ya Ben.

Liam Byrne

bryaner wrote: »

I'm not so sure the Americans are as fond as they used to be in pulling the Irish card, last time I was over there there seemed to be a fair bit of not fcuking more paddys..

How many Paddys do they usually fcuk ?

bayern282

Who would you consider ''more Irish'' ?, an English born and reared person with Irish Catholic parents and an Irish passport, follows the GAA, knows Irish history inside out, etc, eg; Shane McGowan, Kevin Kilbane etc

or

An Ulster Protestant born and reared on the island, considers themselves British and whose ancestors came here 4-500 years ago?

Mike 1972

bayern282 wrote: »

Catholic parents ?

relevence ?

bayern282 wrote: »

An Ulster Protestant born and reared on the island?

Suppose it might depend on which part of Ulster we are talking about ? :pac:

Madam

Mike 1972 wrote: »

relevence ?



Suppose it might depend on which part of Ulster we are talking about ? :pac:

I see where your coming from:) My dad was an Ulster protestant who never denied his Irishness.

SharpshooterTom

Also I must be the only person who goes to America and NEVER hears any hyphen Americanism.

Most Americans I know don't care about Europe, don't hate it, just don't care. Sometimes you get the anti-European jibes being "socialist" "soccer is for pussies" etc (but you get anti American jibes here too obviously).

Here check out this thread, bit stupid, not to be taken seriously but the comments were funny. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056412540

Pure_Cork

I'm from Ireland, but more importantly, I'm from Cork.

strobe

With the amount of people emigrating (quite often permanently) from this country I find the attitude in the OP strange and unfortunate. It's looking more and more likely that I will be emigrating myself shortly and if I do I would like any children I have in the future to have some sort of an affinity with my (and my parent's and their parent's etc going back over a thousand years) home country. I think it would be quite nice if my kids were to grow up to acknowledge their heritage and be proud of it. Their kids too (we're a fertile people, us Strobes).

bayern282

Mike 1972 wrote: »

relevence ?



Suppose it might depend on which part of Ulster we are talking about ? :pac:

Wasn't making the assumption that all people ''truly Irish'' were practising or nominal Catholics or even that all Protestants were from Ulster or the Six counties, but just making the point that there's a community on the island who've been here half a millennia who in some cases are hostile to being labelled Irish yet the London or Manchester born offspring of Irish emigres often face open hostility whenever they refer to the culture / upbringing that's defined them.

Seems a bit of a contradiction, that's all.

Tiocfaidh Armani

bayern282 wrote: »

Wasn't making the assumption that all people ''truly Irish'' were practising or nominal Catholics or even that all Protestants were from Ulster or the Six counties, but just making the point that there's a community on the island who've been here half a millennia who in some cases are hostile to being labelled Irish yet the London or Manchester born offspring of Irish emigres often face open hostility whenever they refer to the culture / upbringing that's defined them.

Seems a bit of a contradiction, that's all.

Someone had to bring religion into it, I fecking knew it.:rolleyes:

There's no contradiction outside of your own head. Give the relgion sh*t about the Prods a rest. If they don't consider themselves Irish then so be it.

Morlar

My take on this is if you have Irish heritage you can call yourself Irish, that'd include parent, grandparent etc even if born in and lived in another country.

If you just stepped off a ryanair flight then your not.

If you have lived here for a number of years and have an interest in, and knowledge of Irish culture, history and traditions then you can call yourself Irish if you like. To be honest though - deep down I think it is either in the blood or it's not.

KeithAFC

bayern282 wrote: »

Wasn't making the assumption that all people ''truly Irish'' were practising or nominal Catholics or even that all Protestants were from Ulster or the Six counties, but just making the point that there's a community on the island who've been here half a millennia who in some cases are hostile to being labelled Irish yet the London or Manchester born offspring of Irish emigres often face open hostility whenever they refer to the culture / upbringing that's defined them.

Seems a bit of a contradiction, that's all.

A different people bayern282. The Ulster Scots people are a people in their own right and that is accepted.

DColeman

Deki wrote: »

There is not some special thing found in Irish blood or in any other nationality that makes one a certain way - we all belong to the human race.

Agreed.

Patriotism and nationality is all a bit boring to me.

old hippy

DColeman wrote: »

Agreed.

Patriotism and nationality is all a bit boring to me.

Yup. If people focused on the bigger picture; we really might be one world.