OPINION
/Yes, I have Irish citizenship. / No, I do not feel assimilated enough with the culture to consider myself Irish. / Yes, but not 100%. Like most Americans, I have other heritage as well. / Yes. My great grandparents were from County Cork and immigrated in the late 1800s. / Yes and no. At this point I have been here for 14 years, almost half of my life. I have never been an adult in America. / No, I don’t feel like I fit into Irish society and I feel American. Irish people also make it known that we are foreigners. / No. I think I only would if I was born in Ireland so even when I become a citizen I don’t know if I will call myself Irish. / Irish American - because I was born in the USA to Irish American parents and lived there until my 30s. / No. I’ve lived in Ireland during three different periods, and currently permanently here for the foreseeable future. But living here does not mean my cultural heritage (including accent, language use, likes, habits, etc.) changes, so no matter how long I’m here I’ll always be American. / No. I’m American and I’m not yet eligible. We missed the chance to have our daughter born into Irish citizenship by about 10 days and I’m a little bitter about it. / No. I only have a U.S. passport. / No, because I wasn’t born to Irish parents, nor in Ireland, nor grew up in the culture and customs. I was born and raised Texan and a Texan I will be until the day I die! / Yes, mother is from here and half my family is here from her side. / No. I’m not of Irish descent. / No, I still consider myself American although Ireland is my home and I sometimes feel I think more like the Irish than Americans. / I did before I moved here because it was in my heritage. Now that I live here I realize I am definitely not Irish! / No. I am very proud to be from the U.S. / No Irish heritage.
/ Although I have Irish citizenship now (naturalized), no. Given my different upbringing and accent, I don’t feel that I will ever be seen as Irish here. Being Irish feels like something you have to be born into (unlike being American, which I think anyone can be). / No, I hold a U.S. passport. / No. I’m not a citizen yet and feel like I’ll need to live here a lot longer (been here 7 years). Not having an Irish accent also plays a part. I do feel like I fit into the culture though. / Yes. I am Irish-American, of full Irish descent, so have always identified as Irish. Interestingly, I lived in Ireland for about 5 years before moving to Dublin. It was in Dublin that I was made to feel like an outsider/foreigner/ immigrant and that was when I started feeling more American than Irish or Irish-American. Now, I know that what I consider myself to be is not how I am seen. I have now settled on considering myself AmericanIrish. That may change as the clock continues to tick. / I do. I’m Irish citizen now, I have adopted the country as my own. / No, I’m an American with origins from Asia. / I’m still an American. I am very straight forward and can’t be one way to your face and another way behind your back like the Irish. / No, because I am not an Irish citizen. Even if I get citizenship in the future, I’m not sure if I’ll consider myself Irish. I think it would be more American-Irish. / I am Irish and I am American. I have dual citizenship and an Irish passport. / No, because I am American. As in I will never be seen by the Irish as being Irish no matter how long I live here. / Yes, because: a) I was raised in an Irish-American household b) My maternal grandparents were from Ireland c) My father’s side of the family emigrated to the U.S. around the time of the Irish Famine d) I obtained Irish nationality in 1992 through my maternal grandparents. Also, I have been coming to Ireland since 1986. / Yes. I live here, I work here, and my kid has an Irish accent. / No, born and raised in / Kind of. My mom was Irish
but had me over a decade after emigrating. So I’m American. I’m an immigrant but I’m not fully either of those things and “Irish” is as good a term as any to fill in the missing parts. / Ancestral yes but I would never refer to myself as Irish. / No. Even though I have citizenship, it still seems odd to refer to myself as Irish. / No, I have Irish heritage but I also am Greek, Swedish, and Cherokee Indian. I grew up in America so am American. / No, I still feel very tied to my family and friends in America and feel outside of Irish traditions/vernacular. / Yes, my great grandparents are from here so grew up with the Irish culture. / I have Irish citizenship, but I’m an American…just moved here in July at age 60. In America they think I’m Irish. / Sometimes. I’ve lived here for 19 years. / No. I am an American in Ireland. I do not have any ties to Irish family bloodlines besides being married to an Irishman and having our half Irish son. / Yes, as father is by birth. / Yes my parents were born in Ireland, so I am Irish. / No because I am not. I was born and raised in the U.S., so therefore am American. / No. I’ll always be American. / Yes. / No. I have been an expat here for 2 years. / I don’t consider myself American. I was born and raised in Alabama. I could never consider myself Irish. My children are half Alabamians and half Irish. I wish they remembered more of their time living in Alabama though. / No. I am a guest. / No. But when I'm in another country I'm starting to. / Yes. My parents were born here so it my heritage and I am raising my children here now. / Yes, well, at least 50/50. / No, only of Irish descent since I was born and raised in the U.S. / No not yet, but I suppose I will once I get citizenship. / No. Lived in U.S.A. ‘til age 37. Never took up citizenship here. No Irish ancestry. / I was born in America and my ethnicity is not Irish. I don’t think I’ll ever consider myself Irish. However, whenever we
ASK AN AMERICAN
do you consider yourself Irish?
50
