[Newfy]

I don't know about anyone else, but it pisses me off everytime I hear an American claiming they're Irish. Just a few weeks ago one of the other guys in my squadron was in the PX at the Air Force Base we are staying at when this American came over and asked why us Australians were here. Obviously he replied by stating that we were not Australians but Brits. The American then said " I'm Irish fuck the Queen". Needles to say we had to stop our mate from knocking him out, but where do they get off saying they're Irish. OK, so their great great grandfather might have been Irish and immigrated to America but it doesn't make them Irish.


You lot aren't Irish, you're American. You're all about as Irish as I am French so get over it!!

[BartSimpson]

Newfy wrote:

I don't know about anyone else, but it pisses me off everytime I hear an American claiming they're Irish. Just a few weeks ago one of the other guys in my squadron was in the PX at the Air Force Base we are staying at when this American came over and asked why us Australians were here. Obviously he replied by stating that we were not Australians but Brits. The American then said " I'm Irish fuck the Queen". Needles to say we had to stop our mate from knocking him out, but where do they get off saying they're Irish. OK, so their great great grandfather might have been Irish and immigrated to America but it doesn't make them Irish.


You lot aren't Irish, you're American. You're all about as Irish as I am French so get over it!!

Hmmm.

The remark about Her Majesty, The Queen, was wholly inappropriate and I apologise to you on behalf of The United States of America for the offence.

That said, I am an English-Irish-American whose roots are as follows:

On the English Catholic side (maternal) my forbear Charles Whaley came over in the 1630's and was one of the three first settlers of Dedham, Massachussetts. The Walley family (my first cousins) are still there almost four hundred years later. My maternal grandmother is of Irish Catholic extract with her parents both coming over from Derry in the 1890's...we think they entered the USA through Canada after arriving in Halifax.

On the Irish side (paternal) my father's parents came over from a bitty little "town" in Sligo in 1904 and I am still in touch with my first and second cousins and I also visted there in 1983 and got to see the auld sod first hand. At that time there were family members (I'm still unsure of the exact relation) living in the same house that had been built in the 1400's. Happily, that awful structure has been replaced by a modern home given the improved economy.

So I am 75% Irish, 25% English, and 100% American.

Mostly, though, I go by Irish American which saves me explaining to people that I'm mostly Irish but that I'm also related to Oliver Cromwell via Chas. Whaley.

Those of you who know your history are giggling, I'm sure.

Still, I am of mostly Irish descent and, ergo, an Irish American. That this should piss you off is your own affair.

Legally, I can claim an Irish passport and easily acquire recognized Irish citizenship so, techincally, I could claim to be Irish if I really wanted to.

What should piss you off is not that someone claimed to be Irish, but that the person in question was just an a$$hole who desperately needed a few teeth removed.

Naturally, I'd have bought you a beer had I seen you do this!

[Newfy]

I don't have a problem with people being proud of their heritage, I just get annoyed by those that from the way they talk about themselves you'd think they had lived in Ireland all their lives.

[BartSimpson]

Newfy wrote:

I don't have a problem with people being proud of their heritage, I just get annoyed by those that from the way they talk about themselves you'd think they had lived in Ireland all their lives.

I can appreciate that.

It's like all the fools in the USA who gave money to the Paras and the IRA without knowing what was done with that money. They're just ignorant is about the most charitable thing I can say about them.

You constitute a far better man than the sum of them all put together.

[Newfy]

I moved to Northern Ireland in 1998 with my family. My dad is N. Irish and is living there at the moment and my Grandmother lives in Belfast. I wouldn't really consider myself Irish as I was born and raised in Canada but I am still proud of my heritage there, although I do sometimes feel embarrased by what goes on there. I have also picked up a bit of the accent as well as people often can't tell whether I'm Canadian or Irish, I have a mixture of the two.

I found it a great shock when I moved over even though I had been to N.Ireland on holiday several times before. I hated the fact that I had to be labelled as a Prod in the eyes of others as coming from Canada I didn't have these prejudices. Going to school was especially difficult as it was mainly a Protestant school and of course you either had to be with them or against them. I'm quite glad to be living in England now.

[BartSimpson]

Newfy wrote:

I moved to Northern Ireland in 1998 with my family. My dad is N. Irish and is living there at the moment and my Grandmother lives in Belfast. I wouldn't really consider myself Irish as I was born and raised in Canada but I am still proud of my heritage there, although I do sometimes feel embarrased by what goes on there. I have also picked up a bit of the accent as well as people often can't tell whether I'm Canadian or Irish, I have a mixture of the two.

I found it a great shock when I moved over even though I had been to N.Ireland on holiday several times before. I hated the fact that I had to be labelled as a Prod in the eyes of others as coming from Canada I didn't have these prejudices. Going to school was especially difficult as it was mainly a Protestant school and of course you either had to be with them or against them. I'm quite glad to be living in England now.

Reminds me of the old joke where a man leaves a pub and gets hauled into an alley by a gunman.

The gunman asks him if he's a Catholic or a Protestant.

"Neither," replies the fellow, "I'm an atheist!"

The gunman cocks the gun and says, "Aye, but are you a Catholic atheist or a Protestant atheist?"


The whole thing is ridiculous to the point that I want to send Derby over there to mediate.

[Newfy]

BartSimpson wrote:

Newfy wrote:

I moved to Northern Ireland in 1998 with my family. My dad is N. Irish and is living there at the moment and my Grandmother lives in Belfast. I wouldn't really consider myself Irish as I was born and raised in Canada but I am still proud of my heritage there, although I do sometimes feel embarrased by what goes on there. I have also picked up a bit of the accent as well as people often can't tell whether I'm Canadian or Irish, I have a mixture of the two.

I found it a great shock when I moved over even though I had been to N.Ireland on holiday several times before. I hated the fact that I had to be labelled as a Prod in the eyes of others as coming from Canada I didn't have these prejudices. Going to school was especially difficult as it was mainly a Protestant school and of course you either had to be with them or against them. I'm quite glad to be living in England now.

Reminds me of the old joke where a man leaves a pub and gets hauled into an alley by a gunman.

The gunman asks him if he's a Catholic or a Protestant.

"Neither," replies the fellow, "I'm an atheist!"

The gunman cocks the gun and says, "Aye, but are you a Catholic atheist or a Protestant atheist?"


The whole thing is ridiculous to the point that I want to send Derby over there to mediate.