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Reply 1
You are half Irish as your mother was completely Irish by blood.
Reply 2
Well she isn't Irish by birth, making you one quarter via her parents. (Depends whether you broadly define being Irish by being of Irish decent or define it by region of birth)
No, blood doesn't change due to location.
Reply 4
From what you've said, I would say you are 1/4 irish.

Assuming your grandparents (dads side) were english, it kinda cancels some of the Irish in you out. So basically I think of it like this:

(Grandparents of your dad)
100% english
(Your dad)
100% english (as he was born in england)

(Grand parents of your mum)
100% irish
(Your mum)
50% Irish 50% english (as she was born in england)

(You)
75% English, 25% Irish

In honesty, what I just said could be wrong. Not totally clear on the laws regarding where you are born. But I think it has an impact, since if you are born in England, you are legally a British citizen, I think?
i'd definitely say half irish.

although everyone argues whether lineage or birthplace counts. i definitely think its lineage
Reply 6
anna_disraeli
I recently found out who my biological parents are and my 'mum' was born in england but both her parents were irish. my 'dad' is just english, i think. so yeah biologically am i half irish or does it not count cos she was born in england?



Do you look irish? I am half irish and I am endowed with a forehead that could very well double up as a chalkboard :biggrin:
Reply 7
I think you're probably technically a quarter Irish, but if you're wanting opinions so you can then drop the fact that you're ''Irish'' into conversations, then please don't. No-one (unless they are born, bred, and 'blooded' Irish) escapes from this without looking like a douche.
Where is everyone getting a quarter from? Half of their grandparents were Irish.

I'm actually in exactly the same position. We're ethnically half Irish, but we (and your biological mum and my dad) are English in every other way. So... it's only relevant when talking about ethnicities.
Where you are born doesn't count. My mum was born in India and lived there for two years, but she is completely white and her parents were from English and Scottish descent, so to call her part Indian because she was born there would be ridiculous. You are half Irish.
Reply 10
Isn't everyone partly Irish? Everyone I seem to meet find believes they have Irish in them, I'm yet to visit Mongolia but I'm sure there is someone in a Mongolian village who sees himself as Irish.
People are confusing themselves because there are two ways to be English or Irish, culturally and ethnically. You can't mix them up and create percentages like that because they are different concepts, they do not describe the same thing. Being born and brought up in England makes you culturally English. Having Irish ancestors makes you part ethnically Irish. You can be 100% English culturally while being 50% Irish ethnically.

tomfb
Isn't everyone partly Irish? Everyone I seem to meet find believes they have Irish in them, I'm yet to visit Mongolia but I'm sure there is someone in a Mongolian village who sees himself as Irish.


You will find that in Britian, yes, because there were a lot of Irish immigrants to Britain.
anna_disraeli
I recently found out who my biological parents are and my 'mum' was born in england but both her parents were irish. my 'dad' is just english, i think. so yeah biologically am i half irish or does it not count cos she was born in england?


that's awful news. my condolences.
Reply 13
nolongerhearthemusic
People are confusing themselves because there are two ways to be English or Irish, culturally and ethnically. You can't mix them up and create percentages like that because they are different concepts, they do not describe the same thing. Being born and brought up in England makes you culturally English. Having Irish ancestors makes you part ethnically Irish. You can be 100% English culturally while being 50% Irish ethnically.



You will find that in Britian, yes, because there were a lot of Irish immigrants to Britain.

not even culture

nationality fits better
Adonis
not even culture

nationality fits better


Doesn't work with "English" though as it's not a nationality.
Wesssty
Well she isn't Irish by birth, making you one quarter via her parents. (Depends whether you broadly define being Irish by being of Irish decent or define it by region of birth)

FTstudies
From what you've said, I would say you are 1/4 irish.

in_vogue
I think you're probably technically a quarter Irish


What? You're all completely wrong. Place of birth has nothing to do with it. His mother is 100% Irish because both of her parents were. Therefore, the OP is 50% (half) Irish.
My mother was born in England, but her mother was Irish and her father was Scottish. She may live here, but she's not English at all.
Reply 16
by some people's logic

I am a white boy :rolleyes:
Reply 17
Antonia87
What? You're all completely wrong. Place of birth has nothing to do with it. His mother is 100% Irish because both of her parents were. Therefore, the OP is 50% (half) Irish.
My mother was born in England, but her mother was Irish and her father was Scottish. She may live here, but she's not English at all.

So you're saying that if someone was born in England, and have parents who were born in England, but grandparents who were from Pakistan, it makes them Pakistani and in no way English?
Reply 18
Yeah, I would say you are half Irish, but its a hard one.. I'm half Swiss, as my mother was born in Switzerland, to Swiss parents, but I hadn't really thought about if she was born in England. I think I agree that blood doesn't change due to location.
Reply 19
Antonia87
What? You're all completely wrong. Place of birth has nothing to do with it. His mother is 100% Irish because both of her parents were. Therefore, the OP is 50% (half) Irish.
My mother was born in England, but her mother was Irish and her father was Scottish. She may live here, but she's not English at all.

My brother would always say he is 100% Irish despite having an English mother, because he was born in Ireland, he grew up and lives in Ireland, his dad is Irish. His mother may be English, but he doesn't sound English, he has no experience of England bar the occasional holiday, no cultural attachment to England, no link whatsoever except my mother's birth there. Therefore, he would say he is partially of English descent, but views himself as Irish. (I just asked him :biggrin: ).

I think us English just see being English as boring and mundane, which is why we grasp at whatever vague ancestral straws we can. My mum is half Scottish, but always considered herself English, as it is what she became through being born there and growing up there. Her father's blood has nothing to do with who she is. Equally, I would never claim to be a quarter Scottish because it just sounds...a bit ridiculous.

Well - now you know my whole family history :rolleyes: I think another issue is that the cultures and genetics of England/Scotland/Wales/Ireland are so similar, it sounds less anal to say ''I'm half German, half English'' than it does to say ''I'm half Welsh, half English''.

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