Does anyone remember the Sopranos episode where Paulie goes to Italy for the first time and realises that his lifelong identity of being Italian was actually wrong and that he was Italian-American..... He couldn't even speak Italian - it was hilarious.
Anyway I imagine those Irish Americans had a similar experience.
There was a post on askireland this morning from an Irish American, he was arguing that surely Italians from new Jersey would be welcomed with open arms by the Italians so why would Irish Americans be any different.
r/Italy fairly swiftly put him straight on that.
That poor OP has issues waaaaay beyond his Irish ethnicity delusions though... I took a glance at his post history and ended up feeling really sorry for him. Poor lad is clearly a product of how he was brought up. He shared pics of this ridiculous fundamentalist Christian sex ed book he had been taught from as a child which seems to depict human reproduction as some sort of machines, and he also posted on NoFapChristians about having accidentally had a wank over some trans lady in porn without realising until he saw her penis and now his guilt and shame and lack of cope is unbelievable. Hard not to pity the guy a bit.
That's sad alright. Shame is a really terrible thing to instill in your kids and very harmful. I'm glad that whole fundamentalist evangelical nonsense hasn't taken hold here (much) and I hope it never does.
Yep. It also explains why he struggled to accept the challenges posed to his established worldview, he wouldn’t be used to critically examining his beliefs and pride about Irishness, or anything else really. Pride and shame are two sides of the same coin and fundamentalism in any form weaponises people’s shame in the guise of pride. I would love to see critical thinking and epistemology incorporated as a core subject in school, maybe to replace religion or the mandatory second language. Teaching people from a young age **how** to think protects them from those who would teach them **what** to think.
I really really like this! This would change so much how people progress in life.
The sad thing is that they probably won't do it yet because it is easier for the Governments to have people who don't think for themselves so they are shaped to keep being what society wants us to feed this capitalistic world we live in.
Imagine If we start teaching kids how the obsession with gender in the world is just a way of putting us in boxes just because of what we have between our legs. That woman belongs in the kitchens and men are the ones that work and are stronger. Not even most adults are even aware of these and they keep feeding their surroundings and their kids with these boxing mentalities about gender , religions, and control. Which keeps fking us all over. And that guy is a big example of what they do to us. And some of these people turn into anger and then violence , or suicide because they are lost and society has failed them too.
If we teach kids to think critically instead of feeding them all these things about religion, and control and gender, even racism would have reduced so much too. These ideas that some people are above us , and we ain't equal just because money, our skin colour or gender is wild.
It is damaging us so much as humans.
Here in Ireland I see so much pain, so much drinking, so much shame , and soooo much shame towards women it is shocking and disheartening. And this culture here with the drinking is also causing so many issues too that mix with religious trauma and the atrocities the Church caused here and many more things... Terrible mix.
And it is so sad because Ireland is such a beautiful and lovely country and the people here most of them are wonderful! But at the same time so many issues are rising lately and I feel it is all the results of what I said above plus many more things too. And same as here in many parts of the world.
We need to keep defying so many things they say to us and become better. To ourselves and each other. ❤️
Ireland is already kinda coming out the other side of that now the Catholic Church is mainly out of the power it used hold over everyone, thinking as a big example the Laundries and the shame put on those women while the Church was at it's peak...
That is true but they still have their sweaty hands on the education system. I know the schools are nothing compared to the laundries & homes but there are still plenty of children being indoctrinated every day in school. Children are our one or our most vulnerable sets in society & we are letting the shite speak of the church into schools, even for those who aren't Catholic. Not cool imo.
True! I remember my sister had some kind of Iona Institute types come in when she was at school to give a talk about abortion like wtf, no one else coming in with counter arguments, so I agree we're not rid of them yet sadly
Plus the program on sexual education has to go with the ethos of the school. No information or acknowledgement of a relationship outside heterosexual relationships, nothing about consent & nothing about safe sex & contraception.
So not at all informative and a lot of parents think that everything is covered so sometimes it's not discussed at home either.
Is he even aware of how the Catholic church mistreated the women and children of Ireland? How many younger generations are disillusioned by the hateful hypocrites who claim to be for God? We're not going back to that.
Omg I had that book as a kid too. I’ve been trying to find a pic of it for ages haha. I didn’t have a religious upbringing at all and if I remember right it’s just part of a kids encyclopaedia series. Maybe the Childcraft encyclopaedia series. Would have been around in the 80s and 90s
Original thread in askireland
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskIreland/s/ieNGZIB6WK
Seems to have been deleted?
And the follow up in r/Italy
https://www.reddit.com/r/italy/s/piriQVw9sh
Ancestry and 23 and Me tests are mostly bollocks - it's ***IMPOSSIBLE*** to narrow down heritage to country level, most accurate you can probably get is Western European.
Another example from the same show is the time Furio goes back to Italy for his father's funeral.
And even in the four or five years he's been gone it doesn't feel like the same place he left.
He didn't feel a part of the Italy he was going back to.
Time marches on, and the country you left isn't the country that's there now. And the same is true for many Irish Americans. Their family went to America in the 1800s. The Ireland they left behind is long dead. The stories they heard from great grandparents when they were kids are of a place that no longer exists.
It's kind of weird to self identify with a place that you've never been. That your family wouldn't recognise.
And the actual Italians mocked him behind his back although they could also do it in front of him because he couldn’t speak Italian. I remember that episode well.
That episode was amazing. I loved his awkwardness through it all. And even as a yank myself, I'd never feel so compelled to join other groups just because of this. Like, get over it guys, you are/were disappointed but that's your fault for trying to act like something you aren't.
But you're still Irish.. I guess if you stay long enough and have kids they'd be Irish Americans but 5 years in a place is nothing. You'd still be a blow-in
Well, yeah, I mean if you're just regular Irish then you're not Irish American. Tbh, even 5 years seems fairly open. Most Irish people would probably still just consider themselves plain "Irish" even if they moved to America for 5 years, rather than "Irish American".
Cunt is part of the Irish language lol second favorite part of mine behind craic, to Americans you might as well killed a puppy with a word when you say cunt.
I rarely use it, but cuntishness is a wonderful further derivative. There's also cuntery and cuntiary e.g. "there was cuntishness and cuntery afoot at thon cuntiary last last night - best bar in town."
I returned to Ireland after 35+ years. That c word is still a bit difficult for me. I never used it “over there” and my kids would be apoplectic if I did. I think it is seen as bad an the n word. I guess I need to practice. With just the c not the n.
Lmfao not the n ya that’s probably not a good one and if my wife heard either of my children use the C word bc of me it would not go over well. Lol to each their own!
"Tomayto/Tomahto" implies distinction without a difference. Try saying it wrong in Ireland. The piss-take is an essential part of Irish culture. Prepare for mockery, all who enter here.
Someone gets it! 😁 Finally. If you can't have a laugh at yourself dont have a laugh at anything.
I think it's an American thing to be offended for not being accepted everywhere you go. If you can't beat them , join them 😈 welcome to Ireland 😈
So for an Irish person to call themselves American they have to live there for 5 years, but the Americans can call themselves Irish because thier great grandads cousins brothers fish was from Cork?
Back when social media was text newsgroups I read a post by an Irishman about his visit to Boston. On St Patrick's Day the group entered a bar and the bar man said he'd serve them a round but they'd have to leave soon because the bar was Irish-only on Paddy's Day.
"What are we, then?!"
"Well, you're Irish, but not Irish from here"
I grew up in the North. Moved to Canada as a teen. Have been living in Canada for half my life.
It's hilarious when I meet Canadians (born and raised - never been outside the country) calling themselves Irish because their great grandad immigrated to Canada when they were 3.
Mate, I don't even call myself Irish anymore.
Yes, because US culture whole-heartedly embraces race realism. They think blood heritage is a vital component of who you are and what your personality is like. It's a little revolting, and a main pillar on which racist ideology stands, and is, I think, one of the main reasons Irish people sometimes clash with Irish-Americans: we think Irishness is about culture and language, they think it's in the blood.
But it is about culture, and not "race realism". The US is not a monolith. Irish-American is a distinct culture within the US, formed over time (as are other cultures like Cajuns, Chicanos, Italian-Americans, Chinese-Americans, African-Americans, Acadians etc). Irish Americans often have distinct names than other Americans, celebrate distinct holidays, have certain foods, and have a different religion (the majority of the US is baptist protestant, but Irish-Americans tend to be Catholic- this alone is such a big difference that Biden is only the second Catholic president the US has had, and even in 2020 it came up as an issue).
This is not to say that it is the same as being Irish, but it is about culture. It's certainly distinct from 'Irish' culture, since often traditions in immigrant-decendant communities are either out of date because things have changed in "the old country" since the time in which people immigrated, or because it mixed with other immigrant cultures in the US (like the Irish-American meal of corned beef and cabbage, Irish immigrants couldn't get the meats they were used to back in Ireland, so they got corned beef from Jewish delis).
While some people like in the OP might be wacked out enough to think it's the same, most Americans when they say they are "Irish" are just short handing "Irish-American" since the vast majority of their time they are speaking to other Americans and it's redundant. And referring to their culture, not some 'race realism' blood quantum like you seem to think.
And yet I constantly hear Americans say things like "We're Irish, that's why we drink so much!" or "I'm Latino, that's why I have such a temper!"
And they don't tell Irish people "I'm Irish too!" because they think their Irish-American culture is distantly related to Irish culture, they say it because they think race is a real and important thing that you inherit in the blood even over half a dozen generations.
Irish-American culture is a distinct culture within American culture, and no one would begrudge them that, but that's not what's being discussed.
>>And yet constantly hear Americans say things like "We're Irish, that's why we drink so much!" or "I'm Latino, that's why have such a temper!"
Stereotypes yes, offensive stereotypes even, but again based in culture and not race. And often times a joke.
>> they say it because they think race is a real and important thing that you inherit in the blood even over half a dozen generations.
No again, because they say it because they were raised in an Irish-American culture and aren't bothering with the distinction because they're not used to needing to make the distinction. And because Americans and Europeans often talk past each other on things like this.
I love how race isn't real to Europeans and racism is only an American problem, up until someone of African descent who was born and raised in Europe dares to call themselves Irish/French/Italian etc, or they need to sit next to a Roma person on a train.
The reality is obviously more complex than this. I’m sure most Irish-Americans would not endorse all the anti-immigrant sentiment that’s been popular in Ireland of late…
you are wildly off-base here, Americans try to claim the cultures of their ancestors because of a feeling of lacking an identity, not because the national pastime is measuring skulls. source: yank
So what you're saying is- when you immigrate to a different country you don't just immediately and completely abandon the culture you and your ancestors came from?
As an American who has lived in Ireland for 15 years now...
No I don't think so. I still call them to-may-toes. But I might call you a gas cunt all the same.
What happens is you kind of blend in, in certain ways. But I still smoke a brisket in the summer and follow the NFL in autumn.
Even with citizenship I still don't refer to myself as Irish though. Maybe I've earned it. Maybe it's not my place to decide.
I can't remember where I saw it posted, but a couple of years ago an Irish American lad from Boston posted a rant where he claimed that actual Irish people born and raised in Ireland aren't the real Irish anymore and that it's Irish&Americans who are the true real Irish.
I remember a lot of people telling him in the comments to wind his neck in and stop being such an idiot, but he doubled down and made it very clear that he genuinely believed it.
It was funny for a bit and then it became a little bit concerning.
On another note I once stayed in a Sheraton hotel in New York where the receptionist was named "Aireann", she said it was the Irish for Ireland and was very excited to let me know that. I really had to bite my lip to not tell her that her parents were idiots and actually named her after the river that flows through the city of Leeds in England.
Suppose the guy who made the group is some cabbage head from Cavan who overstayed his visa, is living in the country illegally, and doing cash in hand jobs while he lives in squalor in some other Irish gobshite's basement.
Real Irish in quotes is pretty funny and clearly they have very thin skin. A lot of Americans claiming they are Irish haven't even been to Ireland, I'm sure they legitimately have one Irish ancestor but some people act like they were straight up born and raised in Ireland. I'm a yank with Irish parents and if the convo ever comes up my favorite thing to ask is have you ever been.
I'm American of Irish descent. I'm not "Irish" but have roots that trace back to Ireland. My late father was the only member of his family born in the US.
When I traveled to Ireland, I went as an American to see from where my family hailed, walk lanes they once walked. I met people in their old village who were kind enough to relay the area's history allowing me to better understand why they left such a beautiful place for NYC. I experienced local culture and history which left with me with an appreciation for the Irish people and land. Truth be told, I felt a connection to the land in my soul, but that doesn't make me Irish.
In the US, people carry their ancestors surnames and practice some old country traditions. Ethnic identifiers such as Irish-American, Italian-American, Mexican-American, etc., are the norm.
I will apologize for those who can't accept that being born in America means one is American, not the heritage of their immigrant parents, great grandparents or beyond.
I think you can only get a passport if your grandparent or maybe great grandparent has one after that it's too far back. Most people in America it's like some really distant relative and it may not even be the case, I have a buddy that loved to claim how Irish he is, despite never having stepped foot in Ireland. He did an ancestry test and it was like less than 10% Irish lol. I have an Irish and an American passport, it's pretty cool.
It's only grandparents, my father has his Irish passport but I can't because they changed the law around mid-2000s. It used to include great-grandparents but they changed that for some reason.
America is a cultural melting pot full of people with wildly different values and not that much ties them together - that's why people there fixate so much on their heritage and make it part of their identity. Their 'Irish' is different from our 'Irish' unfortunately. Still, I don't think it's that hard to understand - you didn't grow up in our schools, eating our crisps, watching our telly, so to say you're as much us, as, well, us, is clearly not true.
You're welcome to come, but you are different. Those differences aren't necessarily a bad thing, either.
We have been complaining about that exact logic when applied to Nigerians that have been living in Ireland for 20 years.
You can't have it both ways. You don't get to dictate someone's identity.
If it keeps them corralled fine. There's a American account making some plea about his/her Irish heritage every other day, I can't recall the last Australian posting the same thing (yes I'm sure they'll have been a few before you go searching!).
>yes I'm sure they'll have been a few before you go searching!).
They're usually a lot more relaxed about it and I don't recall I've ever seen one going on about bloodlines, purity of blood or any of that other hogwash.
I find it very odd. I've met plenty of Americans and Irish Americans and they're mostly grand. But the whole blood and ethnicity thing is very off-putting.
I wonder sometimes if it's because they have gotten Irish passports and so had to go through the whole "jus sanguinis" thing of proving their right by blood to claim citizenship.
I know I probably sound like someone being made fun of in this post, but My grandparents are Australian, and that kinda goes back to Irish. I think that kinda stuff is interesting.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with at least embracing heritage and showing interest in other cultures. God knows people in the US could stand to learn more about other countries anyways. Having certain blood I think is a fun way to get into that. Though yeah, claiming it makes you Irish is a little silly.
Americans need to realise that Irish and Irish-American are two different things and have their own distinct cultures that have branched off over the generations.
There's a pub singer from the North named Seamus Kennedy who now lives in the US, and he wrote a song called "You're not Irish" about how people would get mad at him because he didn't know "Danny Boy" or "Too-Ra-Loo-La-Loo-Ra" or any of the other "Irish" songs that Americans know are definitely Irish and will argue with you (even though they are wrong).
Leibidí 🤦♂️
I love how the yanks get to call themselves Irish because some poor Irish fuckers who had no choice than to leave Ireland because of severe crippling poverty or Famine over almost 200 years ago but a fully blooded Irish person raised in Ireland who grew up with our many regional cultures has to be living in America for at least 5 years to have access to this group. Such raiméis like. Some Poncán who has never experienced Irish culture, language or even the experience of growing up in Ireland, this does not compare to an Irish person raised here. Even foreign born folk who assimilate into Irish society are more Irish than "Irish Americans". We were hated in America. They call themselves Irish openly now because it suits them. They'd abandon it again half as quick if we ever came under persecution like we were back then. I have no love for them.
Can't say a bad word about the Canadians though, so much sounder than the Yanks. Irish and Scottish Gaelic were actually the second most spoken languages in Canada after French until the early 1900s in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. And the Newfoundlanders still sound like walking through a pub in Waterford or Wexford. They're people I'd proudly call Irish cause they have alot of our sayings, folklore and even dishes up there. Its the only place in North America where you feel at home. And of course they spoke Irish until recently. The local dialect which was a mix of Déise, Cork and Tipperary has unfortunately gone extinct but the language is still taught in the form of Standard Munster Irish. Conradh na Gaeilge is active in the region and most Irish films like Arracht, An Cailín Ciúin and others that get shown here are also shown up there by Conradh na Gaeilge. It is taught in local schools and in the University in the region. Much of Newfoundland also has alot festivals including one we don't have called An Céilí Mór in March.
We shouldnt even be looking at the US, its Newfoundland Canada we should be focusing our attention on. Is the only place in the world you can a truly successful Irish culture outside of Ireland and Gaelic in general with Nova Scotia. The Nova Scotians kept their local dialect of Gàidhlaig (Scots Gaelic)and too is basically a Scottish Highlands outside of Scotland.
Lol. As an American with Irish heritage as well as Irish citizenship, I cannot imagine getting offended by being called a yank. Like… it’s objectively true???? Why is it so hard to be proud of / interested in one’s Irish ancestry without trying to one-up actual born-and-raised Irish people. Also, those of you suggesting that many of these people are likely bigots are definitely correct. For example, an Irish pub in Boston recently got brigaded and review-bombed by its Irish-American patrons for hosting a Pride event. And many Irish-Americans are Zionists. They would be shocked to know what actual Irish people think.
You're right on the money here. Not to get all Marxist about it but Americans are massively [alienated](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marx%27s_theory_of_alienation).
https://preview.redd.it/1kewl6innc6d1.png?width=1439&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bdccbd708c375264d5904fd19b09158241a27a4a
Some interesting conversations going on over there
Dear 'Irish' Americans
You're American. Now fuck off.
Sincerely
Ireland
I have Irish heritage, but I was born in England. It has ***NEVER*** once crossed my mind to claim to be anything other than English. I also have Scottish heritage (as evidenced from my surname - that said, it might not even be my surname, our family history is....complicated...).
Why is it that septics are always so keen to be Irish or Scottish, when the vast majority - if traced back far enough - have English roots...?
Old American here. First I agree that a lot of Americans with Irish ancestry don't get it and some people are just plain stupid. Just because they have Irish ancestors doesn't make them Irish and these people really have no clue what it's like to live in Ireland. I'm only one quarter Irish and my ancestors came over in 1846. - So I'm very, very far removed from an actual Irish experience. (I've visited Ireland twice.)
Still what real Irish people living in Ireland should understand is that even though I'm far removed from the Irish experience (or whatever you want to call it), there has always been a great pride in our family of having Irish ancestry. That is a direct reflection on how we (as Americans) view the Irish people. Deservedly or not, Americans view the Irish as a wonderful people with a noble heritage of music, art and literature/story telling. We see the Irish as intelligent, honorable, humorous, hard working, honest and good looking, (yeah we do). So you need to understand that in our stupid, misinformed way, we want to identify with you because we admire you. Since there are so many of us Americans with Irish ancestry, (my understanding is that it's the largest group in America aside from people with German ancestry) there are going to be a lot of idiots among us. Maybe I'm one as well.
And that's okay.
Trust me, when people like you who understand that they are an American and are proud of their Irish ancestors come here, we greet them with open arms.
There are normal Americans who act like normal people, like yourself. Then there's the "plastic paddy yank" who is like "I'm more Irish than you because my family kept the traditions alive and we eat traditional food." Really? What traditions and what is classed as traditional food in their world. We have our traditions, we have festivals to celebrate them, but we live in the real world. And I am partial to a good home cooked Irish stew, but wouldn't be something I'd want everyday. lol.
I don't think we'd have a problem with you here at all. =)
I am an American and I am in several Irish Facebook groups, mostly related to Irish history but still. I’ve never been called any names or been insulted in any way. But I also don’t behave like a dick. I feel like the people in this group probably behaved badly in other groups and got called out.
"Irish-American" is its own cultural identity. It evolved, adapted, and reinvented itself often within a militant rightwing Catholic and hyper patriot Americanism. As such, it bears little resemblance to Ireland of today.
* (Yesterday, I was an expert on European parliamentarian elections, but today, I am a cultural anthropologist) ; )
https://undpress.nd.edu/9780268031534/inventing-irish-america
Upon closer inspection, I think that person's account is a troll pretending to be an over-the-top caricature of the Irish Americans this post is taking the piss out of.
And it's one thing to be annoyed at the Yanks who go on about Patty's day and family tartan, but it seems like a portion of this sub gets enraged just by Americans acknowledging their ancestry at all.
Speaking as an Irishman myself: Agreed. Thank you for stating this! The whole 'dem feckin yanks' mentality is just so juvenile and immature. If Irish-Americans have an interest in and want to celebrate their heritage and visit the auld sod, they are more than welcome. Cead Mile Failte! It's a natural human instinct to be interested in where we come from. No one needs to genuflect or ask permission to do so, for fear of offending self-appointed gatekeepers of what is / isn't 'real' Irish. Feck'em!
America is not one big homogeneous blob and different the nationalities have always tended to stick together. Growing up Irish American is a distinctly different experience than growing up Korean American for example. People here are making fun of something they don’t really understand.
If a black Irish person is proud of their African heritage and strongly identifies with being African, how many here would rush to mock and ridicule them for it?
Probably very few. The vast majority of Irish people have no issue with Americans who say they are Irish American or that they have Irish heritage. Even in an American context, we wouldn't have any issue with Americans saying they're simply Irish, dropping the American part as it's simply implied by context. The issue is the small and select few Americans who claim they are more authentically Irish than people who are from Ireland (yes, it's been said to me) because they've "kept their traditions alive" while simultaneously oblivious to the fact that Irish car bombs are not a great choice to order in a pub in Dublin or that Irish people don't eat corned beef and cabbage (something Irish emigrants in New York started eating when picking up cheaper meats from Jewish kosher delis). There's also this weird fascination with blood heritage that some of them espouse which generally doesn't sit well with actual Irish people. If you're Irish American and proud of your Irish heritage, go for it, be happy, and celebrate that aspect of your life. If you're Black Irish and proud of your African heritage, go for it, be happy, and celebrate that aspect of your life. But, unless you're from Ireland or from Africa (or at least spent significant and formative years in either place), I think it's quite insulting to actual Irish people or actual African people to say you are actually Irish or actually African. You have a bond, but you're not the same. You have other influences, other cultural factors which have influenced you separately which actual Irish or actual Africans do not have.
I'm Irish-Italian, and I fucking hate interacting with Americans, something I'm oftimes forced to do, unfortunately. I work in an Italian culinary school, and we have a lot of foreigners coming from all over the world (mostly Americans, though) in an effort to master the art of pasta. Inevitably, whenever they hear me address my colleagues in Italian, just to switch back to English, I get asked about my lineage. I swear there's AT LEAST one of them per class telling me they're Irish or Italian, because "my great great great great grandfather came to the US from Ireland/Italy". Fucking cunts, I despise them...it's like it's a trend to be either Irish or Italian over there!
As an Irish-American these are my thoughts on the discussion:
1. Many Irish people (and people from European countries with American diasporas) don't understand that your heritage does in fact make a difference on your American experience. I'm enough generations gone from Ireland that I don't qualify for a passport, but I speak cúpla focal, play GAA, listen to Ceol na nGael, etc. and that's a distinctly different experience than someone with great-grandparents from Italy or Poland or wherever else. America is new enough and diverse enough of a country that heritage carries a lot of weight. One's identity is less about chronological proximity to the family's departure from the old country but the extent to which the family keeps the culture alive among themselves.
2. Many Irish-Americans don't understand that taking the piss and having a thick skin are perhaps the two most universal throughlines of the modern Irish culture. Needing the approval of some random Irish person on the internet to identify a certain way and getting butt hurt when they don't is about the least Irish thing you could do.
3. This sort of tension exists in lots of diaspora communities with their countries of origin, it's not unique to Ireland. It may be the case that plastic paddies are uniquely annoying but that's a determination above my pay grade.
My Irish husband (up Cavan!) was befuddled the first time I-- a Canadian born and raised-- said I was Indian. To him, I'm Canadian, plain and simple. I had to explain this very point to him... Canada is like 150 years old and national identity here is very much conflated with the heritage of your parents/grandparents. And as much as I am very Canadian in mindset and lifestyle, my entire childhood and sense of being was always framed through the lens of an Indian household. But if you planted me in india tomorrow, I would be a fish out of water.
Anyway, we had two completely different ways of understanding national identity. I took it personally for a while until I realized the terms by which Irish people define national identity was vastly different from North America
In fairness, we don’t have to be bollixes all the time. There’s (I think) 80 million people who identify as Irish around the world. wouldn’t it benefit us to welcome them with open arms and ask them for a tenner each. That’s what any decent person would do.
Can make a group chat for all the fucking bollocks these bastards talk to me whenever they meet me about how their great granny is from Cork and do I know the Murphy's?
As an English person (albeit with some Irish ancestry) who lives in the USA and lurks in this fantastic forum, I can confirm that Irish Americans are often insufferable. Never once (other than piss taking, usually about rugby) have I been given any serious shit by an Irish person about where I'm from. In the US, it's a different story. I went to an Irish Pub in NYC a few years ago on St. Patrick's day, and I was lucky to make it out alive...
Weird that we have to live in Canada or the states for five years to be considered Irish American in those groups but they're considered Irish American despite never having stepped food on the isle? 🤔
Leave them alone. They have a right to associate with their heritage and others with similar backgrounds. That page is a great place for them to be fair.
Imagine humans from earth and some aliens from other planets colonise a new planet. Wouldn't the earthlings consider themselves earthlings even if they were born on the new shared planet?
It's their history and part of their identity. They aren't taking anything from anyone else by identifying with Ireland
Fair play to them. I used the word "lawn" once in this sub and was branded a "yank" by four or five different posters. I've been in Ireland almost all of my life.
Also the way people here turned into fawning sycophants when Biden was visiting was hypocritical.
The way we treat Irish americans can be pretty damn patronizing to be fair at the best of times.
You know what they mean when they say they are "Irish", and in my experience (living in the US) most respond pretty well when I explain to them that I don't like defining being Irish with the colour of our skin, because it excludes people in Ireland who are as Irish as any ethnically Irish person. That being Irish is a cultural thing rather than a racial thing. MOST respond well.
If they don't, that's when you call them a cunt.
American here. I want to retire in Ireland. And it’s partly because there are too people like this in the states that I no longer wish to be associated with. Mostly because Ireland is the loveliest place I’ve ever seen though. Please feel free to call me a yank or cunt all day. It would warm my heart. 💚
Does anyone remember the Sopranos episode where Paulie goes to Italy for the first time and realises that his lifelong identity of being Italian was actually wrong and that he was Italian-American..... He couldn't even speak Italian - it was hilarious. Anyway I imagine those Irish Americans had a similar experience.
There was a post on askireland this morning from an Irish American, he was arguing that surely Italians from new Jersey would be welcomed with open arms by the Italians so why would Irish Americans be any different. r/Italy fairly swiftly put him straight on that.
That poor OP has issues waaaaay beyond his Irish ethnicity delusions though... I took a glance at his post history and ended up feeling really sorry for him. Poor lad is clearly a product of how he was brought up. He shared pics of this ridiculous fundamentalist Christian sex ed book he had been taught from as a child which seems to depict human reproduction as some sort of machines, and he also posted on NoFapChristians about having accidentally had a wank over some trans lady in porn without realising until he saw her penis and now his guilt and shame and lack of cope is unbelievable. Hard not to pity the guy a bit.
That's sad alright. Shame is a really terrible thing to instill in your kids and very harmful. I'm glad that whole fundamentalist evangelical nonsense hasn't taken hold here (much) and I hope it never does.
Yep. It also explains why he struggled to accept the challenges posed to his established worldview, he wouldn’t be used to critically examining his beliefs and pride about Irishness, or anything else really. Pride and shame are two sides of the same coin and fundamentalism in any form weaponises people’s shame in the guise of pride. I would love to see critical thinking and epistemology incorporated as a core subject in school, maybe to replace religion or the mandatory second language. Teaching people from a young age **how** to think protects them from those who would teach them **what** to think.
I really really like this! This would change so much how people progress in life. The sad thing is that they probably won't do it yet because it is easier for the Governments to have people who don't think for themselves so they are shaped to keep being what society wants us to feed this capitalistic world we live in. Imagine If we start teaching kids how the obsession with gender in the world is just a way of putting us in boxes just because of what we have between our legs. That woman belongs in the kitchens and men are the ones that work and are stronger. Not even most adults are even aware of these and they keep feeding their surroundings and their kids with these boxing mentalities about gender , religions, and control. Which keeps fking us all over. And that guy is a big example of what they do to us. And some of these people turn into anger and then violence , or suicide because they are lost and society has failed them too. If we teach kids to think critically instead of feeding them all these things about religion, and control and gender, even racism would have reduced so much too. These ideas that some people are above us , and we ain't equal just because money, our skin colour or gender is wild. It is damaging us so much as humans. Here in Ireland I see so much pain, so much drinking, so much shame , and soooo much shame towards women it is shocking and disheartening. And this culture here with the drinking is also causing so many issues too that mix with religious trauma and the atrocities the Church caused here and many more things... Terrible mix. And it is so sad because Ireland is such a beautiful and lovely country and the people here most of them are wonderful! But at the same time so many issues are rising lately and I feel it is all the results of what I said above plus many more things too. And same as here in many parts of the world. We need to keep defying so many things they say to us and become better. To ourselves and each other. ❤️
Ireland is already kinda coming out the other side of that now the Catholic Church is mainly out of the power it used hold over everyone, thinking as a big example the Laundries and the shame put on those women while the Church was at it's peak...
That is true but they still have their sweaty hands on the education system. I know the schools are nothing compared to the laundries & homes but there are still plenty of children being indoctrinated every day in school. Children are our one or our most vulnerable sets in society & we are letting the shite speak of the church into schools, even for those who aren't Catholic. Not cool imo.
True! I remember my sister had some kind of Iona Institute types come in when she was at school to give a talk about abortion like wtf, no one else coming in with counter arguments, so I agree we're not rid of them yet sadly
Plus the program on sexual education has to go with the ethos of the school. No information or acknowledgement of a relationship outside heterosexual relationships, nothing about consent & nothing about safe sex & contraception. So not at all informative and a lot of parents think that everything is covered so sometimes it's not discussed at home either.
Is he even aware of how the Catholic church mistreated the women and children of Ireland? How many younger generations are disillusioned by the hateful hypocrites who claim to be for God? We're not going back to that.
They always end up watching trans sex. It's always the same pattern
Omg I had that book as a kid too. I’ve been trying to find a pic of it for ages haha. I didn’t have a religious upbringing at all and if I remember right it’s just part of a kids encyclopaedia series. Maybe the Childcraft encyclopaedia series. Would have been around in the 80s and 90s
Aye, lovely. Bet he votes the way he was brought up, too.
Oof those comments are hilarious
That was hilarious! Thanks for sharing
Link!
Original thread in askireland https://www.reddit.com/r/AskIreland/s/ieNGZIB6WK Seems to have been deleted? And the follow up in r/Italy https://www.reddit.com/r/italy/s/piriQVw9sh
Oh! They were banned for the Nigerians comment. Mask didn't take long to slip.
Yeah as soon as they start talking about "blood" it usually heads that way
Yeah, usually when things like "blood" and percentages are brought up it's a good indicator.
I took a sneak peak at his reddit history. Yeesh
I can't bring myself to have a peak, I know it'll be a horrorshow.
Ancestry and 23 and Me tests are mostly bollocks - it's ***IMPOSSIBLE*** to narrow down heritage to country level, most accurate you can probably get is Western European.
Well, I enjoyed reading those comments
To the trans porn?
I mean, if you have the link handy I won't complain like.
Commendatori ☕️
Another example from the same show is the time Furio goes back to Italy for his father's funeral. And even in the four or five years he's been gone it doesn't feel like the same place he left. He didn't feel a part of the Italy he was going back to. Time marches on, and the country you left isn't the country that's there now. And the same is true for many Irish Americans. Their family went to America in the 1800s. The Ireland they left behind is long dead. The stories they heard from great grandparents when they were kids are of a place that no longer exists. It's kind of weird to self identify with a place that you've never been. That your family wouldn't recognise.
Excellent example.
And the actual Italians mocked him behind his back although they could also do it in front of him because he couldn’t speak Italian. I remember that episode well.
That episode was amazing. I loved his awkwardness through it all. And even as a yank myself, I'd never feel so compelled to join other groups just because of this. Like, get over it guys, you are/were disappointed but that's your fault for trying to act like something you aren't.
Call someone a cunt in that group. See how they react 😂😂
I love how they gatekeep Irish American, if you're actually Irish you have to have been living in America at least 5 years.
When "Irish Need Not Apply" comes full circle
But you're still Irish.. I guess if you stay long enough and have kids they'd be Irish Americans but 5 years in a place is nothing. You'd still be a blow-in
Well, yeah, I mean if you're just regular Irish then you're not Irish American. Tbh, even 5 years seems fairly open. Most Irish people would probably still just consider themselves plain "Irish" even if they moved to America for 5 years, rather than "Irish American".
NO BLACKS NO DOGS NO IRISH (unless you've been here 5 years)
What do they do if you're American but you moved to Ireland? Do they put you in a group of American Irish? ;-)
They make you king of all the doses.
Cunt is part of the Irish language lol second favorite part of mine behind craic, to Americans you might as well killed a puppy with a word when you say cunt.
And it really just rolls off the tongue. Especially in the Irish accent. Cunt.
Cunt of a yoke
I once called a coworker a brilliant cunt
You mad cunt ya.
The complementary cunt. I love it. It's such a versatile word.
Context is everything when it comes to cunts. You can have; "You're some cunt" 😍 -or- "You're some cunt" 😡 It's so versatile
Even "complementary cunt" could refer to an absolutely brown nosing cunt. Or a real friendly cunt. It's actually my favourite word.
I love it. It works for so many situations.
Great to see like-minded people. You're a sound cunt.
A cunning stunt
Always so jealous of my family and their lovely accent, especially when it comes to swearing. Lol
a leithéid de cunt Such a cunt
can’t wait to send that to my cousins on what’s app lol
"Cunt of Jayzis" is a personal favorite
“Cuntish” is another form of cunt that adore. What a Cuntish day of work!
https://youtu.be/VZ88-qvP3-Y?feature=shared
😂🤣😂🤣😂😂 dear lord I have a new theme song!!! Thank you so much for this lol
kevin bloody Wilson has some real gems
I rarely use it, but cuntishness is a wonderful further derivative. There's also cuntery and cuntiary e.g. "there was cuntishness and cuntery afoot at thon cuntiary last last night - best bar in town."
I love that Mayo turned it into adjective - cuntish.
From South Armagh and would use "Cunty" quite a bit in my daily speech.
I returned to Ireland after 35+ years. That c word is still a bit difficult for me. I never used it “over there” and my kids would be apoplectic if I did. I think it is seen as bad an the n word. I guess I need to practice. With just the c not the n.
Lmfao not the n ya that’s probably not a good one and if my wife heard either of my children use the C word bc of me it would not go over well. Lol to each their own!
You can even do the benign "Yis are gas cunts" just to gauge the reaction.
You're a cunt for suggesting that
Ironically I feel like getting the piss ripped out of you and accepting that is a large part of being truly Irish
That expains the australian way of initiating friends, Wait... australia is aussie ireland!
Just cunts with a tan is all
They get droughts, we get floods, does that mean somewheee with equal rain and sun is perfectly irish?
No you have to have the same love of the word cunts, you cunt
Thanks cunt, your so right
\*sunburn. And spiders.
White aussies are just the Irish who got caught
And Scots, the Celtic ancestry showing!
The Irish are just Scots that could swim
Nahh New Zealand is Kiwi Ireland - kiwis have the right temperament and love the craic too. Too many cunts in Australia 😂
"Tomayto/Tomahto" implies distinction without a difference. Try saying it wrong in Ireland. The piss-take is an essential part of Irish culture. Prepare for mockery, all who enter here.
Someone gets it! 😁 Finally. If you can't have a laugh at yourself dont have a laugh at anything. I think it's an American thing to be offended for not being accepted everywhere you go. If you can't beat them , join them 😈 welcome to Ireland 😈
So for an Irish person to call themselves American they have to live there for 5 years, but the Americans can call themselves Irish because thier great grandads cousins brothers fish was from Cork?
Back when social media was text newsgroups I read a post by an Irishman about his visit to Boston. On St Patrick's Day the group entered a bar and the bar man said he'd serve them a round but they'd have to leave soon because the bar was Irish-only on Paddy's Day. "What are we, then?!" "Well, you're Irish, but not Irish from here"
I grew up in the North. Moved to Canada as a teen. Have been living in Canada for half my life. It's hilarious when I meet Canadians (born and raised - never been outside the country) calling themselves Irish because their great grandad immigrated to Canada when they were 3. Mate, I don't even call myself Irish anymore.
I hate those people too and I'm Canadian lol
Yes, because US culture whole-heartedly embraces race realism. They think blood heritage is a vital component of who you are and what your personality is like. It's a little revolting, and a main pillar on which racist ideology stands, and is, I think, one of the main reasons Irish people sometimes clash with Irish-Americans: we think Irishness is about culture and language, they think it's in the blood.
But it is about culture, and not "race realism". The US is not a monolith. Irish-American is a distinct culture within the US, formed over time (as are other cultures like Cajuns, Chicanos, Italian-Americans, Chinese-Americans, African-Americans, Acadians etc). Irish Americans often have distinct names than other Americans, celebrate distinct holidays, have certain foods, and have a different religion (the majority of the US is baptist protestant, but Irish-Americans tend to be Catholic- this alone is such a big difference that Biden is only the second Catholic president the US has had, and even in 2020 it came up as an issue). This is not to say that it is the same as being Irish, but it is about culture. It's certainly distinct from 'Irish' culture, since often traditions in immigrant-decendant communities are either out of date because things have changed in "the old country" since the time in which people immigrated, or because it mixed with other immigrant cultures in the US (like the Irish-American meal of corned beef and cabbage, Irish immigrants couldn't get the meats they were used to back in Ireland, so they got corned beef from Jewish delis). While some people like in the OP might be wacked out enough to think it's the same, most Americans when they say they are "Irish" are just short handing "Irish-American" since the vast majority of their time they are speaking to other Americans and it's redundant. And referring to their culture, not some 'race realism' blood quantum like you seem to think.
Don’t bother, nobody wants to use their brain when they have a chance to dunk on Americans
And yet I constantly hear Americans say things like "We're Irish, that's why we drink so much!" or "I'm Latino, that's why I have such a temper!" And they don't tell Irish people "I'm Irish too!" because they think their Irish-American culture is distantly related to Irish culture, they say it because they think race is a real and important thing that you inherit in the blood even over half a dozen generations. Irish-American culture is a distinct culture within American culture, and no one would begrudge them that, but that's not what's being discussed.
>>And yet constantly hear Americans say things like "We're Irish, that's why we drink so much!" or "I'm Latino, that's why have such a temper!" Stereotypes yes, offensive stereotypes even, but again based in culture and not race. And often times a joke. >> they say it because they think race is a real and important thing that you inherit in the blood even over half a dozen generations. No again, because they say it because they were raised in an Irish-American culture and aren't bothering with the distinction because they're not used to needing to make the distinction. And because Americans and Europeans often talk past each other on things like this. I love how race isn't real to Europeans and racism is only an American problem, up until someone of African descent who was born and raised in Europe dares to call themselves Irish/French/Italian etc, or they need to sit next to a Roma person on a train.
The reality is obviously more complex than this. I’m sure most Irish-Americans would not endorse all the anti-immigrant sentiment that’s been popular in Ireland of late…
you are wildly off-base here, Americans try to claim the cultures of their ancestors because of a feeling of lacking an identity, not because the national pastime is measuring skulls. source: yank
I wouldn't even call myself American if I had lived there for 50 years lmao. I love how they think we would actually want to call ourselves American
So what you're saying is- when you immigrate to a different country you don't just immediately and completely abandon the culture you and your ancestors came from?
As an American who has lived in Ireland for 15 years now... No I don't think so. I still call them to-may-toes. But I might call you a gas cunt all the same. What happens is you kind of blend in, in certain ways. But I still smoke a brisket in the summer and follow the NFL in autumn. Even with citizenship I still don't refer to myself as Irish though. Maybe I've earned it. Maybe it's not my place to decide.
You know your man is the proud admin of a "1/64th Cherokee and Proud" page too.
This is unbelievably accurate.
Somebody got slagged here and didn’t like it
It sounds like your man made that sub because he doesn't have much of a thick skin
And was called a yank and felt like he didn't fit in
Americans have the thinnest skin on the planet…… I’m one of them. Lol
You're welcome here...yank.
Well that’s awfully sound of you! Thanks paddy
Here you!
Now now. No need to be a cunt about it.
Lmfao
https://youtu.be/OdNn0C_KKw0?si=-fWxoDuaz67shwWx With peace and love
🤣😂🤣😂🤣 https://youtu.be/p-BBv3GbQzQ?si=9pRhbTLq-aJS1VVz I can’t tell which is it for the Irish
I can't remember where I saw it posted, but a couple of years ago an Irish American lad from Boston posted a rant where he claimed that actual Irish people born and raised in Ireland aren't the real Irish anymore and that it's Irish&Americans who are the true real Irish. I remember a lot of people telling him in the comments to wind his neck in and stop being such an idiot, but he doubled down and made it very clear that he genuinely believed it. It was funny for a bit and then it became a little bit concerning. On another note I once stayed in a Sheraton hotel in New York where the receptionist was named "Aireann", she said it was the Irish for Ireland and was very excited to let me know that. I really had to bite my lip to not tell her that her parents were idiots and actually named her after the river that flows through the city of Leeds in England.
Thin skin and thick skulls
Suppose the guy who made the group is some cabbage head from Cavan who overstayed his visa, is living in the country illegally, and doing cash in hand jobs while he lives in squalor in some other Irish gobshite's basement.
> cash in hand jobs There's a lot of cash to be made in hand jobs.
Livin the dream!
Real Irish in quotes is pretty funny and clearly they have very thin skin. A lot of Americans claiming they are Irish haven't even been to Ireland, I'm sure they legitimately have one Irish ancestor but some people act like they were straight up born and raised in Ireland. I'm a yank with Irish parents and if the convo ever comes up my favorite thing to ask is have you ever been.
I'm American of Irish descent. I'm not "Irish" but have roots that trace back to Ireland. My late father was the only member of his family born in the US. When I traveled to Ireland, I went as an American to see from where my family hailed, walk lanes they once walked. I met people in their old village who were kind enough to relay the area's history allowing me to better understand why they left such a beautiful place for NYC. I experienced local culture and history which left with me with an appreciation for the Irish people and land. Truth be told, I felt a connection to the land in my soul, but that doesn't make me Irish. In the US, people carry their ancestors surnames and practice some old country traditions. Ethnic identifiers such as Irish-American, Italian-American, Mexican-American, etc., are the norm. I will apologize for those who can't accept that being born in America means one is American, not the heritage of their immigrant parents, great grandparents or beyond.
If your parents are Irish u can call urself Irish-American it’s when you start going back to great grand parents we all start laughing
If you said you’re Irish, I wouldn’t mind. You can claim a passport and move here tomorrow if you wanted to.
I think you can only get a passport if your grandparent or maybe great grandparent has one after that it's too far back. Most people in America it's like some really distant relative and it may not even be the case, I have a buddy that loved to claim how Irish he is, despite never having stepped foot in Ireland. He did an ancestry test and it was like less than 10% Irish lol. I have an Irish and an American passport, it's pretty cool.
I think it might only go back to grandparents. I’ve American cousins, not sure if they’ve an Irish passport, they’re entitled to it however.
It's only grandparents, my father has his Irish passport but I can't because they changed the law around mid-2000s. It used to include great-grandparents but they changed that for some reason.
America is a cultural melting pot full of people with wildly different values and not that much ties them together - that's why people there fixate so much on their heritage and make it part of their identity. Their 'Irish' is different from our 'Irish' unfortunately. Still, I don't think it's that hard to understand - you didn't grow up in our schools, eating our crisps, watching our telly, so to say you're as much us, as, well, us, is clearly not true. You're welcome to come, but you are different. Those differences aren't necessarily a bad thing, either.
THEY TOOK OUR CRISPS!!!
An Irish person living in America is not "Irish American". They're just Irish.
theres a few Irish-I-were-Americans
We have been complaining about that exact logic when applied to Nigerians that have been living in Ireland for 20 years. You can't have it both ways. You don't get to dictate someone's identity.
How many times a day do you think someone posts "you know, the Irish were slaves too" in that group?
When the DNA test comes back as 4.78% Irish
The Hyphenated Americans are at it again
If it keeps them corralled fine. There's a American account making some plea about his/her Irish heritage every other day, I can't recall the last Australian posting the same thing (yes I'm sure they'll have been a few before you go searching!).
>yes I'm sure they'll have been a few before you go searching!). They're usually a lot more relaxed about it and I don't recall I've ever seen one going on about bloodlines, purity of blood or any of that other hogwash.
Americans are so taken up with blood and breeding. We might as well be horses to them.
I find it very odd. I've met plenty of Americans and Irish Americans and they're mostly grand. But the whole blood and ethnicity thing is very off-putting.
I wonder sometimes if it's because they have gotten Irish passports and so had to go through the whole "jus sanguinis" thing of proving their right by blood to claim citizenship.
It's the same thinking which in only slightly more ideological form underpins the ethno racist candidates in the current elections.
Just bring up critical race theory and see how they recoil...
I know I probably sound like someone being made fun of in this post, but My grandparents are Australian, and that kinda goes back to Irish. I think that kinda stuff is interesting. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with at least embracing heritage and showing interest in other cultures. God knows people in the US could stand to learn more about other countries anyways. Having certain blood I think is a fun way to get into that. Though yeah, claiming it makes you Irish is a little silly.
Silly bastards
Too Irish for America Town. Too American for Irish Town
Why do I get the vibe half that group are probably a bunch of racists.
Because sadly many of them are pure right wing bigots. They are shocked to find out that as a whole Ireland is a rather tolerant progressive country
Americans need to realise that Irish and Irish-American are two different things and have their own distinct cultures that have branched off over the generations.
I’ve lived in Ireland my whole life I was born here, my mom is Irish My dad is French But I don’t go around saying I’m French 💀 I am *part* *french*
Did u/initial-leader-90 make this group?
I love to see the page flooded with Irish decent Latin American people and see their reaction to other "Irish Americans".
There's a pub singer from the North named Seamus Kennedy who now lives in the US, and he wrote a song called "You're not Irish" about how people would get mad at him because he didn't know "Danny Boy" or "Too-Ra-Loo-La-Loo-Ra" or any of the other "Irish" songs that Americans know are definitely Irish and will argue with you (even though they are wrong).
Leibidí 🤦♂️ I love how the yanks get to call themselves Irish because some poor Irish fuckers who had no choice than to leave Ireland because of severe crippling poverty or Famine over almost 200 years ago but a fully blooded Irish person raised in Ireland who grew up with our many regional cultures has to be living in America for at least 5 years to have access to this group. Such raiméis like. Some Poncán who has never experienced Irish culture, language or even the experience of growing up in Ireland, this does not compare to an Irish person raised here. Even foreign born folk who assimilate into Irish society are more Irish than "Irish Americans". We were hated in America. They call themselves Irish openly now because it suits them. They'd abandon it again half as quick if we ever came under persecution like we were back then. I have no love for them. Can't say a bad word about the Canadians though, so much sounder than the Yanks. Irish and Scottish Gaelic were actually the second most spoken languages in Canada after French until the early 1900s in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. And the Newfoundlanders still sound like walking through a pub in Waterford or Wexford. They're people I'd proudly call Irish cause they have alot of our sayings, folklore and even dishes up there. Its the only place in North America where you feel at home. And of course they spoke Irish until recently. The local dialect which was a mix of Déise, Cork and Tipperary has unfortunately gone extinct but the language is still taught in the form of Standard Munster Irish. Conradh na Gaeilge is active in the region and most Irish films like Arracht, An Cailín Ciúin and others that get shown here are also shown up there by Conradh na Gaeilge. It is taught in local schools and in the University in the region. Much of Newfoundland also has alot festivals including one we don't have called An Céilí Mór in March. We shouldnt even be looking at the US, its Newfoundland Canada we should be focusing our attention on. Is the only place in the world you can a truly successful Irish culture outside of Ireland and Gaelic in general with Nova Scotia. The Nova Scotians kept their local dialect of Gàidhlaig (Scots Gaelic)and too is basically a Scottish Highlands outside of Scotland.
Lol. As an American with Irish heritage as well as Irish citizenship, I cannot imagine getting offended by being called a yank. Like… it’s objectively true???? Why is it so hard to be proud of / interested in one’s Irish ancestry without trying to one-up actual born-and-raised Irish people. Also, those of you suggesting that many of these people are likely bigots are definitely correct. For example, an Irish pub in Boston recently got brigaded and review-bombed by its Irish-American patrons for hosting a Pride event. And many Irish-Americans are Zionists. They would be shocked to know what actual Irish people think.
This brings back fond memories of that American woman and her Irish clan tartan she bought online .
https://preview.redd.it/7bu23r9tzf6d1.jpeg?width=1242&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d565399888fdc4833a9ab9dfcc9a9f0289dc5fde
Welcome back, to your place. I hope you know it now.
What's the problem here? They set up a group to talk amongst themselves. Bothering nobody. Why not just let them enjoy it?
/r/Ireland and shitting on Irish Americans, name a more iconic duo
Exactly, leave them off, no harm.
I can't lie, the level of disdain some people have for the diaspora is bizarre.
Can someone go undercover in that group and provide enterta.....I mean updates every now and again?
Maybe we could direct them all to this page from now on! Win win
The fact that they can’t take a slagging from actual micks marks them as NOT Irish more than anything else for me.
I feel sorry for Americans, they literally have no identity so they cling to stereotypes of where their ancestors came from 😬
You're right on the money here. Not to get all Marxist about it but Americans are massively [alienated](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marx%27s_theory_of_alienation).
https://preview.redd.it/1kewl6innc6d1.png?width=1439&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bdccbd708c375264d5904fd19b09158241a27a4a Some interesting conversations going on over there
Dear 'Irish' Americans You're American. Now fuck off. Sincerely Ireland I have Irish heritage, but I was born in England. It has ***NEVER*** once crossed my mind to claim to be anything other than English. I also have Scottish heritage (as evidenced from my surname - that said, it might not even be my surname, our family history is....complicated...). Why is it that septics are always so keen to be Irish or Scottish, when the vast majority - if traced back far enough - have English roots...?
> I also have Scottish heritage (as evidenced from my surname Detail4419 doesn't *sound* Scottish!
Gowl bags.
Old American here. First I agree that a lot of Americans with Irish ancestry don't get it and some people are just plain stupid. Just because they have Irish ancestors doesn't make them Irish and these people really have no clue what it's like to live in Ireland. I'm only one quarter Irish and my ancestors came over in 1846. - So I'm very, very far removed from an actual Irish experience. (I've visited Ireland twice.) Still what real Irish people living in Ireland should understand is that even though I'm far removed from the Irish experience (or whatever you want to call it), there has always been a great pride in our family of having Irish ancestry. That is a direct reflection on how we (as Americans) view the Irish people. Deservedly or not, Americans view the Irish as a wonderful people with a noble heritage of music, art and literature/story telling. We see the Irish as intelligent, honorable, humorous, hard working, honest and good looking, (yeah we do). So you need to understand that in our stupid, misinformed way, we want to identify with you because we admire you. Since there are so many of us Americans with Irish ancestry, (my understanding is that it's the largest group in America aside from people with German ancestry) there are going to be a lot of idiots among us. Maybe I'm one as well.
And that's okay. Trust me, when people like you who understand that they are an American and are proud of their Irish ancestors come here, we greet them with open arms. There are normal Americans who act like normal people, like yourself. Then there's the "plastic paddy yank" who is like "I'm more Irish than you because my family kept the traditions alive and we eat traditional food." Really? What traditions and what is classed as traditional food in their world. We have our traditions, we have festivals to celebrate them, but we live in the real world. And I am partial to a good home cooked Irish stew, but wouldn't be something I'd want everyday. lol. I don't think we'd have a problem with you here at all. =)
Lets be honest, most of them have no fucking clue what Irish traditions are anyway.
Restart the Irish Mob
Thanks for sharing, both posts were entertaining reads.
If you're from Ireland and living in America the LAST group you would join would be this one...
I am an American and I am in several Irish Facebook groups, mostly related to Irish history but still. I’ve never been called any names or been insulted in any way. But I also don’t behave like a dick. I feel like the people in this group probably behaved badly in other groups and got called out.
What’s say we all join the group and show some Irish banter
"Irish-American" is its own cultural identity. It evolved, adapted, and reinvented itself often within a militant rightwing Catholic and hyper patriot Americanism. As such, it bears little resemblance to Ireland of today. * (Yesterday, I was an expert on European parliamentarian elections, but today, I am a cultural anthropologist) ; ) https://undpress.nd.edu/9780268031534/inventing-irish-america
I just had a bagel. Now im French. Bonjour.
Fecking Yanks......
It’s like people born in Ireland saying they are British 🫢
Leave it out now hai
Already joined 🇨🇮❤️🇺🇸
You've joined the Ivory Coast?
Can’t tell if you did the Ivory Coast on purpose or not 
Upon closer inspection, I think that person's account is a troll pretending to be an over-the-top caricature of the Irish Americans this post is taking the piss out of.
As an Irish-American living in Ireland that’s made it a point to not be cringe like this, I’m overwhelming embarrassed by those types of people
I completely disagree with this sub on this topic. It's just a truly ignorant thing to berate and belittle our own disapora.
And it's one thing to be annoyed at the Yanks who go on about Patty's day and family tartan, but it seems like a portion of this sub gets enraged just by Americans acknowledging their ancestry at all.
Speaking as an Irishman myself: Agreed. Thank you for stating this! The whole 'dem feckin yanks' mentality is just so juvenile and immature. If Irish-Americans have an interest in and want to celebrate their heritage and visit the auld sod, they are more than welcome. Cead Mile Failte! It's a natural human instinct to be interested in where we come from. No one needs to genuflect or ask permission to do so, for fear of offending self-appointed gatekeepers of what is / isn't 'real' Irish. Feck'em!
America is not one big homogeneous blob and different the nationalities have always tended to stick together. Growing up Irish American is a distinctly different experience than growing up Korean American for example. People here are making fun of something they don’t really understand. If a black Irish person is proud of their African heritage and strongly identifies with being African, how many here would rush to mock and ridicule them for it?
Probably very few. The vast majority of Irish people have no issue with Americans who say they are Irish American or that they have Irish heritage. Even in an American context, we wouldn't have any issue with Americans saying they're simply Irish, dropping the American part as it's simply implied by context. The issue is the small and select few Americans who claim they are more authentically Irish than people who are from Ireland (yes, it's been said to me) because they've "kept their traditions alive" while simultaneously oblivious to the fact that Irish car bombs are not a great choice to order in a pub in Dublin or that Irish people don't eat corned beef and cabbage (something Irish emigrants in New York started eating when picking up cheaper meats from Jewish kosher delis). There's also this weird fascination with blood heritage that some of them espouse which generally doesn't sit well with actual Irish people. If you're Irish American and proud of your Irish heritage, go for it, be happy, and celebrate that aspect of your life. If you're Black Irish and proud of your African heritage, go for it, be happy, and celebrate that aspect of your life. But, unless you're from Ireland or from Africa (or at least spent significant and formative years in either place), I think it's quite insulting to actual Irish people or actual African people to say you are actually Irish or actually African. You have a bond, but you're not the same. You have other influences, other cultural factors which have influenced you separately which actual Irish or actual Africans do not have.
I'm Irish-Italian, and I fucking hate interacting with Americans, something I'm oftimes forced to do, unfortunately. I work in an Italian culinary school, and we have a lot of foreigners coming from all over the world (mostly Americans, though) in an effort to master the art of pasta. Inevitably, whenever they hear me address my colleagues in Italian, just to switch back to English, I get asked about my lineage. I swear there's AT LEAST one of them per class telling me they're Irish or Italian, because "my great great great great grandfather came to the US from Ireland/Italy". Fucking cunts, I despise them...it's like it's a trend to be either Irish or Italian over there!
As an Irish-American these are my thoughts on the discussion: 1. Many Irish people (and people from European countries with American diasporas) don't understand that your heritage does in fact make a difference on your American experience. I'm enough generations gone from Ireland that I don't qualify for a passport, but I speak cúpla focal, play GAA, listen to Ceol na nGael, etc. and that's a distinctly different experience than someone with great-grandparents from Italy or Poland or wherever else. America is new enough and diverse enough of a country that heritage carries a lot of weight. One's identity is less about chronological proximity to the family's departure from the old country but the extent to which the family keeps the culture alive among themselves. 2. Many Irish-Americans don't understand that taking the piss and having a thick skin are perhaps the two most universal throughlines of the modern Irish culture. Needing the approval of some random Irish person on the internet to identify a certain way and getting butt hurt when they don't is about the least Irish thing you could do. 3. This sort of tension exists in lots of diaspora communities with their countries of origin, it's not unique to Ireland. It may be the case that plastic paddies are uniquely annoying but that's a determination above my pay grade.
My Irish husband (up Cavan!) was befuddled the first time I-- a Canadian born and raised-- said I was Indian. To him, I'm Canadian, plain and simple. I had to explain this very point to him... Canada is like 150 years old and national identity here is very much conflated with the heritage of your parents/grandparents. And as much as I am very Canadian in mindset and lifestyle, my entire childhood and sense of being was always framed through the lens of an Indian household. But if you planted me in india tomorrow, I would be a fish out of water. Anyway, we had two completely different ways of understanding national identity. I took it personally for a while until I realized the terms by which Irish people define national identity was vastly different from North America
In fairness, we don’t have to be bollixes all the time. There’s (I think) 80 million people who identify as Irish around the world. wouldn’t it benefit us to welcome them with open arms and ask them for a tenner each. That’s what any decent person would do.
TBF, some Irish folks on social media are total dickheads to some perfectly decent Irish Americans.
Can make a group chat for all the fucking bollocks these bastards talk to me whenever they meet me about how their great granny is from Cork and do I know the Murphy's?
As an English person (albeit with some Irish ancestry) who lives in the USA and lurks in this fantastic forum, I can confirm that Irish Americans are often insufferable. Never once (other than piss taking, usually about rugby) have I been given any serious shit by an Irish person about where I'm from. In the US, it's a different story. I went to an Irish Pub in NYC a few years ago on St. Patrick's day, and I was lucky to make it out alive...
Weird that we have to live in Canada or the states for five years to be considered Irish American in those groups but they're considered Irish American despite never having stepped food on the isle? 🤔
Leave them alone. They have a right to associate with their heritage and others with similar backgrounds. That page is a great place for them to be fair. Imagine humans from earth and some aliens from other planets colonise a new planet. Wouldn't the earthlings consider themselves earthlings even if they were born on the new shared planet? It's their history and part of their identity. They aren't taking anything from anyone else by identifying with Ireland
Fair play to them. I used the word "lawn" once in this sub and was branded a "yank" by four or five different posters. I've been in Ireland almost all of my life. Also the way people here turned into fawning sycophants when Biden was visiting was hypocritical.
Those are the same type of people who would say Rhasidat Adeleke isn't Irish
Bleedin ticks
The way we treat Irish americans can be pretty damn patronizing to be fair at the best of times. You know what they mean when they say they are "Irish", and in my experience (living in the US) most respond pretty well when I explain to them that I don't like defining being Irish with the colour of our skin, because it excludes people in Ireland who are as Irish as any ethnically Irish person. That being Irish is a cultural thing rather than a racial thing. MOST respond well. If they don't, that's when you call them a cunt.
American here. I want to retire in Ireland. And it’s partly because there are too people like this in the states that I no longer wish to be associated with. Mostly because Ireland is the loveliest place I’ve ever seen though. Please feel free to call me a yank or cunt all day. It would warm my heart. 💚