What's the problem around here with Irish Americans?

yeah, they're just being polite.
they know you will eventually bring up the fact that your dog drank some guinness once. not you specifically. that's just a generalisation.

being American used to be something to be proud of ,everyone wanted to be American, but ever since the Bush's came to power it is has now become something to be ashamed of - Americans seam incredibly paranoid about being American, and only feal comfortable in certain outside countries, Ireland being one. Shame on the George Bush's for ruining a great country, and spreading there WASPish beliefs.

If you can obtain(note: not currently have one) an Irish passport you can claim to be Irish otherwise your not .

I have an Irish passport, and a Canadian passport, so technically I have
irish citizenship. However when I went to Ireland, I felt more Canadian
simply because I'm more familiar with Canada. But I got taken for local, and
tourists asked me directions... ahh genetics giving me away.

My Newfoundland cousins did some summer work in Ireland and once, the Irish locals didn't believe they were from Canada, because their accents sounded Irish enough. Here's what a Newfie sounds like: [url]A HREF="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uH_MvQzhstk[/url]

When 2 parents go from one country to another and raise children, chances are fairly high that they bring some of the culture from their home country to
the family that they raise. They likely eat most of the same kind of food,
and raise their kids with values they brought from home. So culturally, the
kids have a lot in common with the culture their parents are from. Now, over
generations, this connection gets more debateable.

In the US and Canada, where many people abandoned their language and heritage, but others hold tight to their language and heritage, it can make people feel inferior if they are just plain white American or Canadian. It's not till they notice culture around them that they go digging back through the family tree for something exciting to show off.

I'm trying to learn Irish only because I started picking up Cantonese from my co-workers. I figured I should channel that language aptitude into something worth learning for me. I also, once I realized I was an Irish citizen, started learning about Irish political parties... all I remember now was that there doesn't seem to be a right-wing party, but it opened my eyes to how much I don't know from not living there. But I know more Paddy Reilly music than I care to think about, thanks to my mom's taste in Irish music.

I'm an EARTHLING.. What are you..?



So when the Japanese/Chinese/Americanese, start building bases on the moon in the next fifty years, and start making babies up there, ... what will they be?.. Moonians, Lunatics, hmmm maybe they'll start claiming a bit of Irish in them and call themselves the Cruithne.....

The table I'm currently sitting at is from Norway, therefore, I am of Norweigan descent.


Seriously though, I was born and raised here. I hold a valid Irish passport and if I ever move out of this country for whatever reason, I will still consider myself Irish. Come American citizenship or whatever else you may have.

pvt. joker wrote:

I see a ton of BS posted here about americans who claim irish heritage. I don't really see what the discussion is about. I'm irish, that's where my family came from. America is where i live. The only people who truly are american are native americans. It doesn't mean i run around with a ****ing shillelagh looking for pots of gold.

As for the "stupid american" comments because random tourists don't know how to get from new quay to connemarra or how many cows farmer mcmillan has...do you guys know every single piece of american history? Can you tell me how to get from pa to tx or what residents of lancaster are known as? Don't confuse ignorance with stupidity. Contrary to what you guys think, Americans in public schools learn almost NOTHING about ireland besides a lot of you died 100 years ago.

discuss

Afrid youre not Irish buddy, youre an American with Irish parents. This is not an exageration, about 80% of people in Canada told me they were Irish. They didnt say "I have an Irish grandfather" they simply said, Im Irish. It gets anoying after a while. Maybe its because America has little to no culture or heritage of its own that people feel the need to associate themselves with others.

julep wrote:

i'll have to disagree with you on america having no culture of its own, Tusky.
entertainment is a huge part of american culture, from broadway through las vegas, on to hollwood and all points in between.
you also have the huge melting pot of hundreds of sub cultures from around the world all mixed together.
the thing is, i don't think that americans can actually see and recognise this as their culture and try to hold onto whatever bit of heritage they can find from "the old country". this doesn't refer to one specific country. it means all of them.
there is also the state to state difference in attitude and culture. you could compare it to the counties in Ireland, only with a larger variety of people.

You're actually dead on there Jule, thats what I was trying to say but you put it into better words. What I kind of meant is that they dont have much...folklore in their culture and thats maybe why they hang on to the idea of being irish.

Tusky wrote:

Afrid youre not Irish buddy, youre an American with Irish parents. This is not an exageration, about 80% of people in Canada told me they were Irish. They didnt say "I have an Irish grandfather" they simply said, Im Irish. It gets anoying after a while. Maybe its because America has little to no culture or heritage of its own that people feel the need to associate themselves with others.

Sure, a lot of Americans (and Canucks, I s'pose) will tell you they are Irish. Something to keep in mind here are the semantics of this statement. I am Irish is something I have long interpreted as I have Irish roots. Perhaps not always the case, but when you ask a few more questions, probe a little deeper, you may often find out that was the intended meaning of the statement.

The little to no culture sweeping statement-blanket-generalisation was a gem. I suppose moderators shouldn't be held to a higher standard. Just because you can't identify culture, don't judge like that Tusky. I've lived over here 10 years. I can tell you there's plenty of culture - it's just very different to Irish culture.

I am Irish and always will be. I guess based on the theory of the passport being the defining metric of 'what' you are, I could therefore claim to be American. Don't feel American though. Although I did vote today. Maybe I felt slightly Arm-chairian as I keyed in my vote.

When my daughter grows up, I'll tell her to be bit more specific if she ever comes out with "I am Irish". But what if I get her an Irish passport?