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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To say I'm half Irish

579 replies

Winederlust · 23/05/2020 01:15

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?

OP posts:
serenada · 23/05/2020 02:20

@Hohohole

surely you are 'officially' Irish. Ho?

Lucifer666 · 23/05/2020 02:24

My DH reckons I'm quarter at best. LOL I'd love to know how your DH came to that conclusion Grin

I'd say you were definitely half Irish and your dad is Irish. I'm also half Irish half English but whenever the subject comes up I just say my family are Irish and when asked if I'm full or half I just respond with "I'm a plastic paddy!" Grin which normally gets a laugh. My mum's aunt has told me though that I have the "Irish look about me" including my nose but I'm still not sure what she meant by that Grin she also told me that even if I have one drop of Irish blood in me then I'm still Irish! I quite like her she's a funny lady and always telling coming out with these kind of statements.

Can anyone who is Irish please explain to me what the Irish look is because so far no one has been able to explain? Grin

Maria53 · 23/05/2020 02:27

Agree with you, you are half Irish. My dad is the same as you.

Sobeyondthehills · 23/05/2020 02:28

Both my parents were born in a different country, but ours is a wee bit more complicated because at the time they were born, the UK owned the country, both sets of grandparents fought in the British army, so their children were born in different places, only my dad was born in his country and raised there till his parents moved to the UK, then I was born in England, but my maternal grandparents were Irish and Scottish, but if anyone asks, I say I am half nationality and half British, because once you get into quarters it starts getting difficult.

As it is, my cousin did a family tree and we found out my ancestors slept their way round Europe.

Weirdly though my DP is English and his line was traced back fairly far and yet he was born in Germany

DramaAlpaca · 23/05/2020 02:28

OP, you have two Irish grandparents therefore you are half Irish. No doubt about it. The proof is that you are entitled to an Irish passport Shamrock

Hohohole · 23/05/2020 02:31

Come over if you're bothered, see if you gel. If you do, we'll keep you.

Pixxie7 · 23/05/2020 02:35

Half Irish.

managedmis · 23/05/2020 02:38

How do you feel op? That's what's important

SailingAwayIntoSunrise · 23/05/2020 02:40

What does your dad's nationality say on his birth certificate?

Both my DC were born in London. Their birth certs say Irish (DH) and they have Australian citizenship now also (me).

Not British at all.

HepzibahGreen · 23/05/2020 02:43

You're British. Just like I am even though my grandparents were not from here. I'm born here, so I'm British ( although actually I would probably say English). Genetically who knows what we all are anyway, it's often a surprise, and not what you were expecting! Grin

Jammydodger1981 · 23/05/2020 02:59

@Gwenhwyfar actually my Ancestry DNA test pinpointed the exact area my Irish family are from so you’re wrong on that front I’m afraid!

OP I’m like you and another pp. I identify as half Irish, because that’s what I am. It’s an important part of my heritage and have been back many times. It feels like coming home as soon as I step off the plane. Also learning to speak Gaelic in lockdown.

Durgasarrow · 23/05/2020 03:02

Of course you're half Irish.

BritWifeinUSA · 23/05/2020 03:02

It depends on whether you are referring to ethnicity or nationality. They are different things. I will soon have my American citizenship through being married to an American and living in the US for the required period of time. So legally I will be a US citizen but I would never think of myself as an American. The US is one place where “jus solis” exists. Anyone born here is a US citizen no matter where their parents are from, where their parents were living at the time, or if they were even legally here. You could arrive here the day before your baby is born and leave the very next day (health permitting) and the child is a US citizen. Even if you were here illegally.

Jus solis has been abolished in the UK and the parents now have to be “settled” in the UK for the child born of foreign parents in the UK to be considered a British citizen. So the example of holiday makers from Australia giving birth in the UK, as mentioned by a PP, is no longer accurate.

Ireland recognizes citizenship of people with one Irish-born grandparent. Not many places do.

Wendigogo · 23/05/2020 03:06

You're British, with some Irish ancestry.

Jammydodger1981 · 23/05/2020 03:12

Britwife her dad is seen by Ireland as an Irish citizen (born abroad) so that would still make her half Irish in ethnicity or nationality. I know this is rare and if we were talking about other countries it wouldn’t be valid but in this case it is, she can get an Irish passport herself and go and live there as a child of a citizen if she wanted to.

FortunesFave · 23/05/2020 03:14

I think you're half Irish. But it's so personal. Both my parents were born in England but to Irish parents. They feel English....however they brought me up and I was born in Wales....I grew up in Wales.

I feel Welsh.

FortunesFave · 23/05/2020 03:15

There is NO denying that the Irish culture is strong though...my Nan was so Irish that I have Catholic guilt even though I wasn't brought up Catholic. She had the priest secretly baptise me! So I wouldn't go to purgatory. My Mum laughed her head off when I told her as a teenager!

Xpectations · 23/05/2020 03:19

@Jammydodger1981
If your grandparent is an Irish citizen, you are also an Irish citizen, born abroad and can apply for citizenship through foreign birth registration.

SD1978 · 23/05/2020 03:28

I'd say British with Irish heritage, as both parents are British.

cheesemongery · 23/05/2020 03:42

Northern Ireland or Eire?

I'm half Irish, a quarter Welsh and a Quarter English - my daughter has all that plus some Scottish.

Anyway I only ask which part of Ireland as my Dad was Eire and I fully intend on getting European passports for me and my children.

MarioPuzo · 23/05/2020 03:42

You're entitled to an Irish passport, so get one and you can win this argument once and for all.

Peridot1 · 23/05/2020 03:42

Well you are entitled to an Irish passport so I’d say that makes you pretty Irish. (All the best people are you know! Wink)

But maybe it depends on how your Dad identifies? Does he say he’s Irish? Does he have an Irish passport?

Rosebel · 23/05/2020 03:51

My dad was born and grew up in Ireland and I always say I'm half Irish but would say my children are a quarter Irish.

alwayscrashinginthesamecar1 · 23/05/2020 04:08

chesemongery, people in NI are entitled to both UK and Irish passports, and can call themselves Irish or British. Also your dad was Irish, not 'Eire'.

Sugartitss · 23/05/2020 04:21

I’ll go with what your passport says.

I’m Irish and living in Dublin. I’m Irish because I was born here.