How Many of Us are Irish?

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Sat Sep 20, 2003 11:19 am

One thing I'm curious to know. How many of us are Irish?

No, I'm not asking how many of us have Irish ancesters or relatives so please don't turn this into a hommage to grandma thread. Almost all of us have Irish relatives I suspect, or at least some of our best friends have Irish relatives.

I don't have any clear definition in mind but if you were born and raised for at least a few years in Ireland or you are, or have been, a permanent resident then that would clearly count.

Jerry Freeman · Post by **Jerry Freeman** » Sat Sep 20, 2003 11:24 am

I have no claim to being Irish or of Irish heritage, but Ralph always used to reminisce about the old days back on the Emerald Isle.

skh · Post by **skh** » Sat Sep 20, 2003 11:28 am

Do a poll.

Sonja (not Irish at all)

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Sat Sep 20, 2003 11:42 am

skh wrote:Do a poll.

Sonja (not Irish at all)

I thought of that Sonja. But my guess is that we'll be able to count genuine candidates so easily it won't be necessary. I think that if I'm wrong about that it will prove to be because there are more Irish lurkers than we might suspect. It would be nice were that to prove true. So we still don't have a single one?

Jerry Freeman · Post by **Jerry Freeman** » Sat Sep 20, 2003 11:46 am

Ahem. Ralph doesn't count?

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Sat Sep 20, 2003 12:30 pm

Jerry Freeman wrote:Ahem. Ralph doesn't count?

Well, perhaps if you have his birth certificate.

RonKiley · Post by **RonKiley** » Sat Sep 20, 2003 12:34 pm

I spent 10 days there. Does that count?

Ron

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Sat Sep 20, 2003 12:43 pm

RonKiley wrote:I spent 10 days there. Does that count?

Ron

Only if they were very formative days I think Ron. If we start dragging out our grandmas, aunts and cousins we'll end up with a thread longer than the cutie pie behemoth. That mightn't be a bad idea but it wasn't what I was wondering. I already know that probably more than half of us have Irish ancestry, at least in part.

callybeg · Post by **callybeg** » Sat Sep 20, 2003 12:52 pm

I am Irish - my mother was from Dungiven, a little village in a hanging valley in the Sperrin mountains near Derry. My Dad is from Dublin. Although born in England (my parents went on honeymoon in England, shortly after getting married, and I made an early appearance, showing either my parents inability to count, or the fact that I am a miraculous conception)we then returned as a family to Ireland, where I spent the first three and a half years.

Unfortunately we had then to beat a hasty exit back to England, when me poor Da, not blessed in political astuteness, befriended an English soldier who was homesick for his wife and kid. This didn't go down well at my Dad's local (he couldn't figure out what all the Northerners got so hett up about) and after the house got fire-bombed he decided to get us all out of dodge. We used to go back most holidays, mainly to the south in the early years, increasingly back to the North when my Mum's relatives learned to forgive the Southern plonker who nearly got their wee Ann widowed and her kiddies fatherless. My Dad still can't figure out what all the fuss is about, but what can you expect from a Dubliner? (My partner has just unsportingly pointed out that the comment about Dubliners comes across as racist. Perhaps if everyone else in the Emerald Isle forgot what we were so hett up about it would be a better country. Here's hoping...)

anniemcu · Post by **anniemcu** » Sat Sep 20, 2003 12:56 pm

...(hic)... "Irish I wash in Dixie... (hic)... away, away...(hic, ooof!)

Rando7 · Post by **Rando7** » Sat Sep 20, 2003 1:16 pm

Jerry Freeman wrote:Ahem. Ralph doesn't count?

For some of us, the memories of Ralph are just too painful. Poor little guy, he'd probably give his right paw for just another taste of peanut butter.

Post by **Nanohedron** » Sat Sep 20, 2003 1:24 pm

*sobs*

Jerry Freeman · Post by **Jerry Freeman** » Sat Sep 20, 2003 1:54 pm

Sorry, Wombat.

With any luck, you'll be getting your thread back before too much longer.

trisha · Post by **trisha** » Sat Sep 20, 2003 1:57 pm

Nope, not a bit of me. These threads always make me smile - how the Americans have a tendency to go back to their 1/8 Nationalities three generations back. Well, maybe I'm 1/8 three generations back too...I wonder?

Trisha

callybeg · Post by **callybeg** » Sat Sep 20, 2003 2:31 pm

One possiblity is that it doesn't matter one way or the other what nationality any of us are. Samuel Johnson said in the first ever dictionary (written by an Englishman - damn!) that Patriotism was the last refuge of a scoundrel. I can't say I am proud of being born Irish, any more than I am proud of being female, or five foot ten, or short sighted. I'm just born with a certain set of characteristics, that I live with and make the most of, the same as anyone else. It pisses me off when people say that they are "proud to be American/Irish/Chinese or whatever." Would we say "I'm proud to have blue eyes" or "I'm proud to have curly hair?" Unless we are responsible for something about ourselves, like learning how to play an instrument really well, or educating young people, or being kind and generous to our family and friends then we don't really have a lot to be proud of.

This is not to say that it isn't an interesting topic to see how many people on this site are Irish or not. It is interesting to see how far a cultural oddity like Itrad whistling can move outside its original perameters (is that spelt right?). You don't have to be Irish to play the whistle after all, any more than you have to be Japanese to do karate. The world we live in is blurring its edges, and we can all share in other cultures and learn from them.

One thing, you mightn't have so many Irish people as you would expect on this site, because if they're in Ireland they get all the whistling support needed down the local pub. This website is a great structure for those of us who don't have such a network. I don't care what nationality we all are - keep on whistling!

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How Many of Us are Irish?

How Many of Us are Irish?

How many of us are Irish?

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