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?

I have a similar family tree to you OP, both paternal grandparents Irish but my dad born in England. My sister had an Ancestry DNA test done which came back 48% Irish, but I have never and would never consider or refer to myself as half Irish. Both of my maternal grandparents were welsh with mum born in England. Wouldn't refer to myself as half welsh either. I'm English with Irish and Welsh heritage.

I’d say a quarter. My English born kids are half Irish, half something else as neither of us Are English. If I was English born and i would say they were a quarter Irish via the grandparents.
Get your Irish passport! That’ll shut him up then you really will be a dual national, British and Irish. I have two passports and it’s really handy. Particularly as the British one will no longer give me EU citizen rights soon.

My Dad is Irish ,he was Born in Ireland and lived there untill he was 11 his Parents were both Irish but I'm English.

Of course you are half Irish. Of 4 grandparents, 2 are Irish. That's half!

I'd say you're a third.
MGM England
MGD England
M England
D England
MGD Ireland
MGM Ireland
2 out of six, 1/3rd

Counting places of birth of grandparents and parents btw

Call yourself whatever you want OP.
My DF was born in India but moved to Wales when he was 2- calls himself Welsh.
His DM was born into an Irish/mixed race family in India and lived there until she was 29- called herself Irish.
His DF was born to English/Welsh parents in Patagonia and came to Wales when he was 5- called himself Welsh.
My DM is English for many generations, as is my DH. I was born and grew up in Wales, yet we call DS half Welsh.

@Lucifer666 The Irish look (aka 'the big Irish head') explained waterfordwhispersnews.com/2020/04/30/its-a-struggle-big-irish-head-syndrome-sufferers-speak-out/

It's funny, because mostly people demand to be called British rather than to be referred to by their ancestral heritage. I've noticed quite a few British people who are immensely proud of their Irish roots and love to visit Ireland and their ancestral home. Not so much with other countries - usually, like a PP mentioned, they dislike being referred to as Indian for e.g. when several generations have been born in England. Similarly I've found it with Africans - if they were born in Britain, they take great offence to being called anything other than British.

I'm Irish, born and bred. I think it's nice that people want to honour their Irish heritage. It's a compliment.

@DontStandSoCloseToMe

You've won Mumsnet today 😆

Bonus points for great username too

I call myself British because I was born & raised in England. My parents were born & raised in ROI so culturally my upbringing was Irish particularly as all other family members are still in ROI

I am sure I've read somewhere that 25% of the British population have at least one Irish grandparent. Go figure.

Even Obama has Irish roots! As had the Kennedy's, Clinton and Reagan I think. The Kennedy's strongly so.

My cousin was born in the US to an Irish mother and US father. She calls herself second generation American, but is Irish at heart I think.

I’d agree with your DH.....quarter. Because your parents were both born in UK. If one was born in ROI you would be half Irish, ecause it was your grandparents, you are quarter.

I am sure I've read somewhere that 25% of the British population have at least one Irish grandparent. Go figure
Yes, the Irish had a knack of subtly infiltrating countries and reproducing prolifically

It’s about blood to me. Where you live doesn’t make you that nationality. I’m half Irish. My dad is English of English parents and grandparents.Mum was born in England to Irish parents so Irish blood. I have half of each.

My general opinion is if you are born and raised in a country, you are that nationality. But if your family originally came from somewhere else, you would be British with x heritage.

I do know of an example of someone who was born on holiday in a really random country and she has dual citizenship.

You said BOTH your parents were born in England but that your grandparents on your dads side ONLY were Irish, but didn’t say where your maternal grandparents were born, so presumably England too?

How can you be half Irish?

Are you saying your dad is 100% Irish simply because of his parents being Irish even though he was born in England? That’s illogical.

It’s also about the culture you grow up with at home. My mum had Irish ways and sayings that she transferred to me. We spent lots of time with the Irish side of the family, far less with my English side.

You can be ethnically one thing, culturally another and legally something else entirely. I kind of think you are what you feel yourself to be. My brother is a US citizen but would not describe himself as American - he would say Welsh (born and grew up there), despite being born from two English parents (who also have other nationalities in their family backgrounds). I, OTOH am English since I was born and spent most of my childhood in England. We are full brother and sister, not half or step.
Genetically I'd say you were half Irish but culturally you are English since you were Bron and raised in England.

I agree with those who say it depends on whether you’re thinking about your genetics or your nationality. If you did one of those ancestry DNA thingys it’d say that a large percentage of your genetic makeup is Irish. You might be more than ‘half‘ Irish. My Grandma did one and it said ‘86% Irish’! Although she would always say she was British because she was born, bred and buttered in UK.

My husband was born and raised in Ireland. I was born and raised in UK. I think of our kids as being half Irish and I will get their Irish passports sorted one of these days.

I lived in Ireland for about a decade and was married there. We relocated to UK before we started a family. When I called my Mum to tell her I was coming back she said “aw, my grandkids won’t have beautiful Irish accents”

I’m white. If I was born in India and moved back to England, I wouldn’t call myself Indian.

Anyone remember Obama coming to visit his ancestral home in Ireland about 10 years ago and the Beast got stuck on a ramp coming out of the Dáil? Funniest thing I had seen in years.

The 'Beast' is what Obama's presidential car was called. It was flown over to Ireland with him on his visit. News reporters were massively amused that this high spec, bullet proof, bomb proof vehicle fell foul to a wee ramp coming out of the Irish parliament.
There was great fanfare that time. We quite like people claiming their Irish heritage.

I’m 52% Irish according to my DNA, although my father was born in Kent, his parents were born in Scotland but their parents were from Ireland.

I never knew this until last year as my father was ‘absent’ and I thought I had Scottish ancestry on his side.

My love of potatoes and green countryside makes complete sense now!

Both my parents had one Irish parent, so were half-Irish. Does that make me half-Irish, too?

I know it entitles me to Irish citizenship, which I'm contemplating trying to sort out. Tricky though, as my grandmother was born in 1898, and I doubt if record keeping was all that back then, especially in rural Cork, which is where I believe she came from.