To say I'm half Irish

[Winederlust]

Just wanted to settle a petty argument between DH and I.
I was born in England. As was my mum. My dad also. However both his parents were born in ROI. They moved to the UK as young adults and met, married and settled with a family in England.
I think that, although my dad was born in England, he is full blooded Irish. Which in turn makes me half Irish. My DH reckons I'm quarter at best.
Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things but just interested in the general MN population's thoughts?

"Just suppose that all your grandparents were English and that your parents happened to be in eg Australia when you were born, that would not make you Australian

How does anyone aside from Aboriginal people ever become Australian then?"

Probably actually living there not being on holiday. For most countries one parent needs to be a citizen or at least a resident.

Get a DNA test kit! DH and I both have Irish heritage, we thought he was half Irish and I was a quarter. Turns out I’m more Irish than he is! My “non Irish” side of the family actually turned out to have come from Ireland in the very late 1800s. He could get an Irish passport though while I can’t.

Why don't you just ask someone who is actually Irish and living in Ireland? They'll soon put you right! ;)

I consider myself half English, half Welsh.

Dad is English and all his family are English going back a number of generations. I was born and raised in England.

Mam is Welsh and all her family are Welsh, going back for quite a few generations, with the exception of my Nain's paternal Nain, who was from the Isle of Man. All my great great Nain's family were Manx, but Welsh speaking for some reason. There's also the odd Irish and Scottish great times X grandparent too.

Mam's family are adamant that I'm Welsh as the mother is more important than the father apparently. Mam and her family consider themselves firmly Welsh, not British.

Dad's family are adamant that I'm I'm English as the father is more important than the mother apparently. Dad and his family consider them firmly English, not British.

I piss both sides off by declaring myself British and European

Why are you bringing up offensive Irish stereotypes? Weird
It's called sarcasm. Irish are pretty famous for it.

I think to me it would depend on what your dad felt he was - if he counts himself as English then I wouldn't say I was half Irish, whereas I would if he considered himself Irish - (that said I'd apply for Irish citizenship through grandparents due to the whole Brexit debacle either way)

I was born in Germany, to English parents, but have lived in Wales since I was 11 - I count myself as Welsh (or British - but not English) - I think it's a feeling rather than a piece of paper

With an Irish born mum and a British born dad (of refugee parents), I'm British not English - ethnically, I have no English blood , but I'm happy to say I'm British. Especially as I am also automatically an Irish citizen due to my mum.

Have you visited Ireland lately

I'm Irish (in Ireland) and my pals are English but have lived here for many years. They have 3 children. To me, those children are Irish, not English. English heritage yes, but they're Irish children as this is where they've been all their lives.
So no, I wouldn't say you're half Irish OP, I'd say you're English with Irish grandparents. It's nice that you're proud of the Irish part of you though!

This is a really interesting topic for me given our family dynamic. We've got 3 of the 6 Nations covered.. and I lived in France for a few years so they come 4th. And my surname, like lots of people in the West coast of Scotland is Irish so they're next.. leaving just England really.

My parents were both born in Jamaican. I was born in Britain.
I refer to myself as Black British, with Jamaican heritage generally, however, I do also consider myself to also be 100 per cent Jamaican too, as that was the dominant culture growing up in my home.

My mum, was born in Jamaica, yet her father was actually Indian. He was not born in India, (I think that was either his parents or grandparents) but in Jamaica. But Jamaica had a thriving community of Indians in the early 20th century for trade and farming, because if the British empire. They kept their cultures, language and traditions strongly in their community, even though they were settled in another country.

So my mum always refers to herself as ‘half Indian’, and half Jamaican, even though she was born in Jamaica.

So technically, by heritage and ethnicity, I am quarter Indian, and three quarters Jamaican, even though I am born in Britain, and consider myself British.

My DC are therefore ‘half Jamaican’. Evacuate they are half of me. (Technically if you want to get really technical. They are one eighth Indian within that half!)
They are also half DH’s country which I’d prefer not to say.

They are also British having been born here.

I refer to them as British, of mixed heritage (Jamaican, Indian and DH’s country)

I am of course very proud to be British. But I would be very offended if someone said I was half Jamaican or couldn’t be Jamaican because I was born over here, I would be very offended because I would feel like my culture, heritage and what I had grown up with, was just wiped out.

It’s confusing, but makes perfect sense to me, to be both, fully Jamaican, with a part of Indian, while also being fully British!

I think the DNA kits are great, but I’d also recommend trying to do a family tree as well. The reason I say this is because, as I said earlier, the dna only gives half the story.

My one came back saying I was only 40 something percent British (a shock to me, I thought it would be Approx. 50:50) and gave me communities in my fathers country, but none in England.
So had I been adopted or something and looked at that, I would have found my fathers family easily enough, but not my mothers, who had all been in east London for generations (with the exception of a German great great grandfather and an Irish great great grandmother )
But had I not grown up with them, and know that about 4 generations were all from a radius of about 2 miles, I would never have know from the dna test alone, so I’d always recommend doing a test and a tree.

**because they are, not evacuate

I'm half Irish as my df was born in Ireland, I'm automatically a citizen of Ireland by birth and entitled to an Irish passport.

By ancestry you are half Irish but even though both your grandparents were born in Ireland you may not qualify for citizenship as the rules have changed for children of parents born in the UK.

It's called sarcasm. Irish are pretty famous for it
But you’d be going mad if someone else said it obviously.
Your heritage is obviously something you clearly need the world to know.
Just because everyone else doesn’t bang on about theirs doesn’t mean they’re ashamed.
Some people don’t get the need to give a history lesson if they’re read as British.
Some people would never have the chance

" I do also consider myself to also be 100 per cent Jamaican too, as that was the dominant culture growing up in my home."

If you went to live in Jamaica, do you think you would still feel fully Jamaican or be considered fully Jamaican by local people? It might be that being brought up somewhere else had more influence on you than you think.

It's not unreasonable. You are Irish by descent.
I am in a similar situation with my Grandparents home country.
My parent got citizenship here as they're born prior to 1981. If they were born after 1981, they would only be entitled to their parents home country citizenship, and so would I. So chances in timing make us British by law. I still consider myself (other country) by descent and blood, though, even though I've not set foot in that land.
I think it's a very personal thing and up to you to define.

"I would never have know from the dna test alone, so I’d always recommend doing a test and a tree."

This is my point. They're not accurate yet for countries of origin.
I have a family tree going back a couple of hundred years on one side and an idea of where the rest of the family comes from, but my uncle's DNA results were MUCH more varied and interesting so I presume they go back centuries or even millennia and not particularly relevant to your sense of heritage.

Omg this is the same as me !!! Sorry to derail but yes my dad was born in Scotland but to an Irish dad who moved there shortly before to work and his mum (my gran) was born to Irish parents but she grew up in Scotland most of her life so had a Scottish accent. My dad moved to England as a child so over time he lost his Scottish accent. I explained this to a colleague once just in conversation and he said you can’t be ‘half Irish, your dad’s English I’ve heard him speak!’ Apparently you’re only ‘from’ where you’re born, and you can be half or a quarter or whatever.

I said so if I was born whilst my mum was on holiday in Spain, I’d be Spanish ? He said of course not. I don’t know what he meant !

But her dad is British not Irish.

Not necessarily. My parents are both Irish. I was born in Britain but am Irish. I have an Irish passport and only ever describe myself as Irish. Being born in Britain is the dirty little family secret I rarely mention . However, I have lived in Ireland since I was 2.

Can’t* be half or quarter or whatever

You're a plastic paddy and proud. Go with half but get your Irish citizenship to back it up!

My parents are 100% Irish, but they moved here and I was born here (England). I consider myself Irish, my DH (and a few others) disagrees and says I’m British with Irish heritage. They are wrong!

If you like the Wolfe Tones OP, we'll have ya.

I agree with PP that it's personal to the individual really, so it's a bit disappointing to see people being less than nice to each other about it on this thread, but that's MN for you these days I guess

I agree it’s personal, but I also understand why it grates on people when someone declares themselves to be something and it’s not entirely accurate.

And when it’s about Irish heritage it’s very “plastic paddy”

As another PP asked - when were you last in Ireland?

I wouldn’t consider you half Irish if you were born and brought up in England to two parents who were born born and brought up in England - having one set of Irish grandparents doesn’t make you half Irish in my view. Neither does your British passport.