To think it's strange how many people..

[forallthetea]

That are famous in the UK are from Irish descent?

I'm watching Ed Sheeran at Glastonbury and it just struck me there are quite a few;

Ed Sheeran
Any & Dec
Dreamt O'Leary
Peter Kay
Jimmy Carr
Piers Morgan

Why have so many made success?
all English but all from Irish descent and I'm sure there are more but that's just off the top of my head.

Not remotely surprising. The U.K.and Ireland are each other’s closest neighbours with a shared language and a very long (albeit troubled) history together. The only land border for either country is with each other. Lots of people have migrated between the two countries over a very long time, of course many people in the U.K. have Irish roots.

@MissMarks

Ant and Dec have strong Irish roots too- there was a really interesting programme on earlier in the year about it. I don’t think it is strange- it is well known that the Irish are often very talented in relation to music and the arts. Big families and lots of putting on shows and just having a ‘don’t give a toss what people think’ attitude.

As someone who grew up in an Irish family this it so true, and not a stereotype at all. We were just like the Von Trapps, except there were three times as many of us and we weren't hiding from the Nazis.

Hang on, no that isn't true, and it is a stereotype. MissMarks do you also believe that the Italians are amazing lovers, the French fantastic cooks, and the Dutch all wear clogs?

The reason there are so many famous people of Irish descent in the UK is because approximately 25% of us have at least one Irish grandparent. That's a lot of people, so it would be a bit odd if a small number of that group of people weren't famous in some way.

The Kelly family used to live in a small castle near me. Our rector's brother is famous in Utrecht because he owns the Irish bar beside the windmill.
Assorted Irish rugby and soccer players are famous for having left this craggy island and buggering off to other European countries.
Johhny Logan is a superstar in northern Europe, and Jedward!
*English celebrities are well known in Ireland.

Hang on, no that isn't true, and it is a stereotype. MissMarks do you also believe that the Italians are amazing lovers, the French fantastic cooks, and the Dutch all wear clogs?

Indeed. Someone has signed up in full to the Stage Oirish School of Paddywhackery.