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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To feel like a fake Irish woman?

117 replies

bumbleebe · 02/06/2023 19:16

So I was born in Ireland. All my grand parents and great grand parents born in Ireland. But before that, only about 1/4 of them are from Irish families. Rest of them moved over from England to Dublin (as a huge number did). So ‘genetically’ I’m only 1/4 Irish.

My parents gave me a very very Irish name. Sent me to Gaelic school etc.

I now live in England. People always sort of view me as being Irish Irish. But I feel like a fraud, because compared to many Irish folk, I’m not. I didn’t know this out until I did my family tree, and now I just sort of feel deflated.

OP posts:
eggandonion · 02/06/2023 19:22

Did you grow up in Ireland?
Realistically most people here have assorted people in their backgrounds. I have a relative who married into an Italian ice cream family about 100 years ago. My great grandfather was Welsh. I find that part of my family tree awkward to do because there are a lot of Welsh place-names and they seemed to move around a lot.

Hankunamatata · 02/06/2023 19:24

You were born in Ireland and assume raised in Ireland, then of course your Irish. Even if your parents weren't Irish if you are born and raised there, your still Irish

Dacadactyl · 02/06/2023 19:26

Of course you're Irish!

Saschka · 02/06/2023 19:27

Do you think Leo Varadkar counts as Irish? Unquestionably.

Hopefully that will demonstrate how silly you are being.

TheMurderousGoose · 02/06/2023 19:28

you feel like a fraud because your great-great-grandparents were English?

what does it matter as long as you have firm opinions on important matters Irish such as Italia 90, Bosco, Bono being a bit insufferable, and Fat Frogs being gone but not forgotten.

Talapia · 02/06/2023 19:28

bumbleebe · 02/06/2023 19:16

So I was born in Ireland. All my grand parents and great grand parents born in Ireland. But before that, only about 1/4 of them are from Irish families. Rest of them moved over from England to Dublin (as a huge number did). So ‘genetically’ I’m only 1/4 Irish.

My parents gave me a very very Irish name. Sent me to Gaelic school etc.

I now live in England. People always sort of view me as being Irish Irish. But I feel like a fraud, because compared to many Irish folk, I’m not. I didn’t know this out until I did my family tree, and now I just sort of feel deflated.

I really wouldn't worry. Millions of Americans claim to be Irish.

Was in Dublin at the weekend and there were more Americans than Irish people.

You are Irish.

Notimeforaname · 02/06/2023 19:29

You're Irish and thinkin too much into it. Call yourself English if you prefer. Nobody will actually care very much.

Original poster
bumbleebe · 02/06/2023 19:29

I know I’m Irish! It’s more that I don’t feel as Irish as someone whose family have lived on The Arans since before records began… do you see what I mean? I think it’s because I was raised with the notion that I was Irish Irish, and now there’s something that challenges that.

OP posts:
DappledThings · 02/06/2023 19:29

You have to go back 4 generations to find an ancestor born outside Ireland? Daft to feel fake about being Irish.

AhNowTed · 02/06/2023 19:30

I wouldn't worry about it OP.

I was born and raised in Ireland.

My father is a real Dub.

My mother was English and we were raised Protestant. (I'm an atheist just for clarity).

So we were never into the whole GAA thing, or priests and nuns and mass.

There's different flavours of Irish.

I am no less Irish than my mass-going, rosary-bead-wearing relatives.

BodyKeepingScore · 02/06/2023 19:32

If you were born and raised in Ireland you're Irish 😊

GalileoHumpkins · 02/06/2023 19:32

What does being Irish actually feel like though and why is a big deal to you when you don't live here?

TheMurderousGoose · 02/06/2023 19:33

bumbleebe · 02/06/2023 19:29

I know I’m Irish! It’s more that I don’t feel as Irish as someone whose family have lived on The Arans since before records began… do you see what I mean? I think it’s because I was raised with the notion that I was Irish Irish, and now there’s something that challenges that.

my dad used to tell my mother he suspected her ancestors came over in one of the plantations. he may be right.

It's a very Irish thing to obsess in detail over where the relatives came from and who's a 'blow in' because they've only lived in X village for two generations. So in that respect you're very Irish.

BusMumsHoliday · 02/06/2023 19:33

I'm an Irish citizen despite only having been there once in my life! Never even met the grandparent who made me eligible. If anyone's having the "fake Irish woman" badge here, then it's me.

MaggieBsBoat · 02/06/2023 19:34

Wow. This is absurd and almost offensive. It almost seems like a humble brag. You are as Irish as 90% of people in England are English or 80% of Scotland born people are Scottish.
there is literally no such thing as a ‚pure bred‘ person. That is Nazi-speak. I am an Irish person living in Germany. This is beyond awful to think this way!!!!
For what it’s worth, I was born in Scotland and consider myself a Scot. I hold an Irish passport. If I bother getting a German passport I’ll be German and as authentic as anyone else. FFS.

Howiwonderwhat · 02/06/2023 19:35

TheMurderousGoose · 02/06/2023 19:28

you feel like a fraud because your great-great-grandparents were English?

what does it matter as long as you have firm opinions on important matters Irish such as Italia 90, Bosco, Bono being a bit insufferable, and Fat Frogs being gone but not forgotten.

Also the Late Late Toy Show, Tayto crisps and the Angelus.

Original poster
bumbleebe · 02/06/2023 19:36

Wtf. This is about identity and feelings. Nothing to do with physicality.

OP posts:
eggandonion · 02/06/2023 19:37

Remember when Barack Obama came to Moneygall to find his missing apostrophe?
Do you think Jedward should represent Ireland in Eurovision?

Howiwonderwhat · 02/06/2023 19:37

MaggieBsBoat · 02/06/2023 19:34

Wow. This is absurd and almost offensive. It almost seems like a humble brag. You are as Irish as 90% of people in England are English or 80% of Scotland born people are Scottish.
there is literally no such thing as a ‚pure bred‘ person. That is Nazi-speak. I am an Irish person living in Germany. This is beyond awful to think this way!!!!
For what it’s worth, I was born in Scotland and consider myself a Scot. I hold an Irish passport. If I bother getting a German passport I’ll be German and as authentic as anyone else. FFS.

Well that got Nazi-ish very fast!

Hannahsbananas · 02/06/2023 19:38

You’re fourth generation Irish…
Bizarre post, op.

BitOutOfPractice · 02/06/2023 19:39

Isn’t this the wrong way round? Doesn’t everyone with even a scintilla of Irishness claim it loudly? You’ve got the wrong end of the shillelagh! You’re Irish and proud!

I’m quarter Irish! You beat me!

DappledThings · 02/06/2023 19:41

bumbleebe · 02/06/2023 19:36

Wtf. This is about identity and feelings. Nothing to do with physicality.

So how many generations do you think real Irishness would feel like? 10? 20? Do those have to be complete or is there an acceptable percentage of each generation being born in Ireland that would make you feel better? It gets daft very quickly quantifying like that.

TheMurderousGoose · 02/06/2023 19:41

MaggieBsBoat · 02/06/2023 19:34

Wow. This is absurd and almost offensive. It almost seems like a humble brag. You are as Irish as 90% of people in England are English or 80% of Scotland born people are Scottish.
there is literally no such thing as a ‚pure bred‘ person. That is Nazi-speak. I am an Irish person living in Germany. This is beyond awful to think this way!!!!
For what it’s worth, I was born in Scotland and consider myself a Scot. I hold an Irish passport. If I bother getting a German passport I’ll be German and as authentic as anyone else. FFS.

Hmmm, there are lots of people (esp. post-Brexit) who have never set foot in Ireland but have been able to obtain an Irish passport due to having an Irish grandparent. Legally they're certainly Irish. But I personally don't consider them as Irish as the 10 year old born in Ireland to non-Irish parents, who's spent their entire childhood in Ireland and yet, due to a stupid law, isn't legally entitled to an Irish passport. Passports aren't the full story is what I'm saying.

SocksAndTheCity · 02/06/2023 19:44

If you were English with English grandparents but had found out some great grandparents were Irish and moved, would you be here kvetching about how you're not properly English?

I'm neither, btw.

Chickenkeev · 02/06/2023 19:44

MaggieBsBoat · 02/06/2023 19:34

Wow. This is absurd and almost offensive. It almost seems like a humble brag. You are as Irish as 90% of people in England are English or 80% of Scotland born people are Scottish.
there is literally no such thing as a ‚pure bred‘ person. That is Nazi-speak. I am an Irish person living in Germany. This is beyond awful to think this way!!!!
For what it’s worth, I was born in Scotland and consider myself a Scot. I hold an Irish passport. If I bother getting a German passport I’ll be German and as authentic as anyone else. FFS.

Offensive? Chill the beans like.

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