What constitutes to someone being Irish?

[Cybercubed]

Born there? Parents from there? Grandparents from there?

I'm born and raised in England, my parents are both Irish (mum from Belfast Dad from the ROI). In England whilst growing up people routinely called me Irish and so that's how I saw myself. Then I moved to Northern Ireland as teenager and had a reality check, because then everyone started calling me English. I still have an English accent so everyone still refers me to as an English person here. I've always understandably have a bit of an identity crisis therefore, compounded by the fact that the "British vs Irish" issue is right of the forefront of Northern Ireland politics as well I don't feel I fit in with either community here.

We've all heard of the term 'plastic paddy' which usually gets thrown at anyone with a non Irish accent calling themselves Irish. I personally don't really identify as anything more and feel kinda stateless but do you think calling yourself Irish should be reserved for those who are born and/or raised there only?

I'm interested in this too. My mid-20s DC were born in England, have an English mother and an Irish father, have Irish passports, have lived in Ireland for most of their lives and yet still have accents that are more English than Irish. They all think of themselves as completely Irish, and culturally that's what they are, but I think of them as a bit of both because of my own English background.

Ultimately though, I guess it's up to them how they define themselves.

Yeah I think born and raised there, I largely think where your parents are from is not relevant although obviously you would have a connection with that country. Depends though so if you were born somewhere else but moved as a baby/small child it's reasonable to identify as being from that country.

What constitutes being any other nationality? Irishness is not a special case, or no more so than any other country with a large diaspora.

I’m Irish (born in Dublin and lived there until my mid 20s) and I would think you are English with Irish heritage.

You're parents are Irish, you live in Ireland - you grew up in England. I think you have more than just an Irish heritage, you've been in the place a long time!
If people question your accent you could just say your family lived in England when you were little. If that's what you prefer I mean.
I have lived in a different part of the UK to the one I was born in for longer than I lived in my birth part - I identify as the one I live in mostly, though will usually add that I grew up in x.

when applying for a passport you don't need to have more than grand parents born there. so i think a relationship to a country can be quite distant, especially with terms like heritage and ancestry.

In everyday speech we don't distinguish between citizenship and cultural heritage. "I'm Irish" can mean either "I have Irish citizenship" or "My cultural heritage is Irish" - and frequently both.

In the USA they get round this by using the "heritage-nationality" format, such as "Irish-American". It's quite a useful construct.

I agree with PP that this isn't just relevant to Irish / English heritage.

Have a look for 'third culture kids'

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirdculturekid

I was born in this country. One of my parents was born and brought up in ROI. I consider myself half Irish.

• Born there. I think to be honest probably born there and either stayed there or at least maintained a close connection - I think if you were born in NI/ROI and moved away at a young age and never returned, then you’d be hard pressed to call yourself Irish even though “technically” you would be. It’s that difference between citizenship and cultural identity.

• Parent(s) from NI/ROI, IF there is still a close and regular connection to the country.

I am from Ireland. My DH is English. We lived in Scotland/England/US for about 25 years and have in the last few years returned to Ireland. Our DC were all born elsewhere but all identify as Irish despite not living here until aged 8/11/15. (They identified as Irish long before we lived here.) Perhaps because we moved around a lot, Ireland was the one constant for them. Perhaps because neither DH nor I were from any of the places we lived, so we never identified as from there either. Perhaps because I so strongly identify as Irish despite living away for so long, whereas DH doesn’t identify as English. (He’s identify as British but doesn’t consider where he grew up as “home” in any way. Ireland has always been home to me.) Either way, I definitely consider my DC Irish and not plastic paddys.

(The many people we met while living in the US however; not so much! inc the one who told me they were “from” my hometown despite never having left the US and it was actually a grandparent or great grandparent who had emigrated a long time ago and never gone back. They knew nothing of my hometown except its name but were adamant they were from there.)

Parent(s) from NI/ROI,IFthere is still a close and regular connection to the country.

This is the case with me and why I consider myself 'half'
My DPs mother is from another country (not Ireland) he was born here and I consider him to be 'half' his mother's country. It's an ongoing debate as he considers himself to be British.
I believe that the half comes from appearance/colouring and particularly cultural influences, especially if you've visited the parents country regularly and have family there.

It’s why James in Derry girls is such a great character. He is technically full Irish (his mum Kathy got pregnant in Derry and then moved to England) but he’s tormented as the ‘wee limey’.

I think you’re Irish and as pp said, just say I am Irish but lived away for a long time. I have two friends who are similar (both sets of parents worked in Brussels) and they def say they are Irish, just in a delightful English RP accent.

I think it’s if you love
Kimberley, Mikado and Coconut cream biscuits 😜

I also completely understand as I have one grandparent from a particular culture that has a strong genetic ‘look’ which has skipped a generation and come straight to me and sometimes even when people have known me for years if I ever finally say ‘my p was from x’ or quite ridiculously ‘I’m a quarter x’ they go ‘ohhhhhhh I seeeee, yes that makes sense now’

I feel similar OP. My family are Scottish. I was born there. We moved to England when I was a child and I lived there for two decades. I now live in Wales and have lived here for a decade.

I don't really feel like anywhere particularly welcomes me. I still have a bit of a Scottish twang to my accent which everyone picks up on and starts asking me about Scotland when I haven't lived there in over 30 years! All of my family in Scotland have passed on, my parents and siblings live in England now. So I feel like my connection there has gone. And of course to a Scot, my accent is very, very anglicised.

My kids were born in England (We live very close to the border and nearest hospital is in England). DH is English. DC have only ever lived in Wales. When asked, they consider themselves to be Welsh (much to DH's annoyance ).

Slightly different for Ireland, but I'm at the point now where British goes on my passport so that's what I am.

My dh was born in Ireland, has Irish parents but moved to England when he was 16. I consider him Irish.

This is very interesting. My parents are both Irish and I have an Irish passport but born in London- I consider myself culturally Irish.

I think it is from how I grew up in the 80s - Irish enclave in london, at school my friends were Sinead, Siobhan, and the boys were called Brendan, Patrick etc. We all went on holiday (home to) to Ireland, had Irish dancing lessons, socialised at the local Irish club (attached to the church!), went to the local GAA club and cheered for the Irish teams/sports people. It never occurred to me that I was English as ‘they’ were so different.

Basically I think the Irish community in London did a really good job of coming together and a lot of the kids born in that environment still have really close links to Ireland. Now I’d describe myslef as a Londoner and plastic paddy - I don’t see myself as being British still.

I definitely would think of you as Irish, particularly as both parents are Irish, you moved to NI as a teenage and consider yourself Irish. I have a friend who is similar, with an English accent but I consider him Irish as he does himself.

I have an Irish passport because I really wanted one not because of brexit etc. I was born in Scotland my dad and all his family are irish. My mums Scottish. I'm Scottish but I feel Irish ! I have always had a real connection with Ireland and it sounds daft but when I go there I feel im home. I've since found out there is a thing called ancestral memory which maybe explains how I feel. I just love it.

I think the cultural aspect can only imparted from living relatives. I am in the US and don’t think that the Irish here, who don’t have any living relative who has actually stepped foot in Ireland are really Irish. I have heard the term plastic paddy but I tend to only think of Americans, whose great great grandparents may have been from Cork (it’s always Cork...?), but no one actually knows for sure.

I have an American friend who had one set of great grandparents from Mayo. Her others were Italian. This makes her Irish/Italian apparently. When I queried it and said that surely she was just American she was offended. I really don't understand it. My maternal great grandparents were Polish but I am British. It wouldn't even occur to me to say I was Polish.

My DC all have Irish passports (because of Brexit) but they have never been there. FIL was born and educated in Ireland. MIL is from another continent altogether. DH and his siblings were each born in a different country and were brought up in another country again. They each have different views about their backgrounds but all have got Irish passports now, although they are obviously eligible for others and have had others at different times.

To me it's what your accent is. If you have an english accent you are english (parents irish).

Unlike in america i think we take identity from where we grew up.

@Pangur2

I’m Irish (born in Dublin and lived there until my mid 20s) and I would think you are English with Irish heritage.

I'm similar and would think the same. I think parentage can give you a strong connection with another country, but it isn't the same as "being from" there. But on the other hand there's this tipping point where you've lived in Country 2 for so long that you're a bit of both. I feel like that about England sort of

If its any consolation on the accent thing, I'm Irish, but my accent has faded a lot now, so people back home often think I'm English .