My Irish ancestry

[boyla]

I class myself as English.

But am very proud to have an Irish heritage.

My mother was born here but her brothers and sisters were all born in Ireland.

I have family still in Ireland

They moved here nearly 50-60 years ago.

That makes me half Irish, and yes my grandma said feck all the bloody time.
And when I was younger I ate potatoes nearly every day

My grandfather on my fathers side was from Portsmouth, but I have a very Irish sounding surname, so you never know I could be even more Irish than I think.

[Andre]

[Beanz]

It is all a bit romantic to think that Irish heritage places you firmly in the place of the oppressed underdog with all the Celtic sentimentalism that goes with it. While I can understand your pride Mars in your Irish ancestry, I think Andre's post is a good example of where in a genuine effort to balance the argument the truth becomes a little obscured.

The song posted speaks of coming out and fighting like a man, something people backing the republican cause clearly did not do during the IRA's extended bombing campaign against civilians on British Soil. I can remember public bins being removed in London so extensive and real was the threat. Even reducing the great famine to a Potato famine engineered by the English is an oversimplification of what happened. The Irish landlords and the Catholic Church were also to blame and yet are rarely mentioned.

I live on the border of Cornwall where a few still insist to not be part of England and have more in common with the Irish and Welsh. Needless to say most of these were born in England in places like Swindon and just like the idea of being somehow more authentic and rootsy by claiming they are Celts. The fact is the English came from the same Celtic tribes as the Welsh, Scottish and Irish with equal measures of French Norman, Viking/Scandinavian and Roman ancestry.

My Grandmother on my fathers side was an Irish Romany Gypsy who married my Grandpop a Polish Jew who came to England and joined the RAF to fight in the war. My Other Grandparents were both Westcountry English and my Parents English. I am interested and proud of my ancestry but equally proud of being an Englishman with all that my country has given the world.

[Mars_ax]

It is all a bit romantic to think that Irish heritage places you firmly in the place of the oppressed underdog with all the Celtic sentimentalism that goes with it. While I can understand your pride Mars in your Irish ancestry, I think Andre's post is a good example of where in a genuine effort to balance the argument the truth becomes a little obscured.

The song posted speaks of coming out and fighting like a man, something people backing the republican cause clearly did not do during the IRA's extended bombing campaign against civilians on British Soil. I can remember public bins being removed in London so extensive and real was the threat. Even reducing the great famine to a Potato famine engineered by the English is an oversimplification of what happened. The Irish landlords and the Catholic Church were also to blame and yet are rarely mentioned.

I live on the border of Cornwall where a few still insist to not be part of England and have more in common with the Irish and Welsh. Needless to say most of these were born in England in places like Swindon and just like the idea of being somehow more authentic and rootsy by claiming they are Celts. The fact is the English came from the same Celtic tribes as the Welsh, Scottish and Irish with equal measures of French Norman, Viking/Scandinavian and Roman ancestry.

My Grandmother on my fathers side was an Irish Romany Gypsy who married my Grandpop a Polish Jew who came to England and joined the RAF to fight in the war. My Other Grandparents were both Westcountry English and my Parents English. I am interested and proud of my ancestry but equally proud of being an Englishman with all that my country has given the world.

Beanz, the older i've gotten the more I appreciate my Irish/English, European heritage, and i'm proud to say it's where I come from. Even though i'm an American, I still feel a close bond with my ancestry and the distant relatives still living in those countries. - A Band of Brothers as it were...

Cheers

[Master]

Tyson has some Irish in him, his middle name is Gerald, short for Fitzgerald. Fitz is a common nick name as well. The Irish get around everywhere.

[Andre]

It is all a bit romantic to think that Irish heritage places you firmly in the place of the oppressed underdog with all the Celtic sentimentalism that goes with it. While I can understand your pride Mars in your Irish ancestry, I think Andre's post is a good example of where in a genuine effort to balance the argument the truth becomes a little obscured.

The song posted speaks of coming out and fighting like a man, something people backing the republican cause clearly did not do during the IRA's extended bombing campaign against civilians on British Soil. I can remember public bins being removed in London so extensive and real was the threat. Even reducing the great famine to a Potato famine engineered by the English is an oversimplification of what happened. The Irish landlords and the Catholic Church were also to blame and yet are rarely mentioned.

I live on the border of Cornwall where a few still insist to not be part of England and have more in common with the Irish and Welsh. Needless to say most of these were born in England in places like Swindon and just like the idea of being somehow more authentic and rootsy by claiming they are Celts. The fact is the English came from the same Celtic tribes as the Welsh, Scottish and Irish with equal measures of French Norman, Viking/Scandinavian and Roman ancestry.

My Grandmother on my fathers side was an Irish Romany Gypsy who married my Grandpop a Polish Jew who came to England and joined the RAF to fight in the war. My Other Grandparents were both Westcountry English and my Parents English. I am interested and proud of my ancestry but equally proud of being an Englishman with all that my country has given the world.

Yes the original IRA and the reason behind their public backing through the mismanagement of the black tans is a far cry from the murderous revengeful pitiless bunch the IRA became.

I was born in England too by the way, with Maclannens for great grand parents.

Still its a great folk song with an amazing (is that a mandolin) lead break in the middle.

[Master]

Three dead bodies turn up at the mortuary, all with very big smiles
on their faces. The coroner calls the police to tell them his results after
the examination.
"First body: Frenchman, 60, died of heart failure whilst making
love to his mistress. Hence the enormous smile, Inspector", says the Coroner.
"Second body: "Scotsman, 25, won a thousand pounds on the lottery,
spent it all on whisky. Died of alcohol poisoning, hence the smile."
The Inspector asked, "What of the third body?"
"Ah," says the coroner, "this is the most unusual one. Paddy from
Belfast, 30, struck by lightning."

"Why is he smiling then?" inquires the Inspector.
"Thought he was having his picture taken."

[Fenster]

Three dead bodies turn up at the mortuary, all with very big smiles
on their faces. The coroner calls the police to tell them his results after
the examination.
"First body: Frenchman, 60, died of heart failure whilst making
love to his mistress. Hence the enormous smile, Inspector", says the Coroner.
"Second body: "Scotsman, 25, won a thousand pounds on the lottery,
spent it all on whisky. Died of alcohol poisoning, hence the smile."
The Inspector asked, "What of the third body?"
"Ah," says the coroner, "this is the most unusual one. Paddy from
Belfast, 30, struck by lightning."

"Why is he smiling then?" inquires the Inspector.
"Thought he was having his picture taken."

Racist.

I've reported you to the mod board.

[Master]

I was going to write that this is an example of racist jokes perpetuated by racists who stereotyped Irish people as fools and idiots.

[Mars_ax]

Three dead bodies turn up at the mortuary, all with very big smiles
on their faces. The coroner calls the police to tell them his results after
the examination.
"First body: Frenchman, 60, died of heart failure whilst making
love to his mistress. Hence the enormous smile, Inspector", says the Coroner.
"Second body: "Scotsman, 25, won a thousand pounds on the lottery,
spent it all on whisky. Died of alcohol poisoning, hence the smile."
The Inspector asked, "What of the third body?"
"Ah," says the coroner, "this is the most unusual one. Paddy from
Belfast, 30, struck by lightning."

"Why is he smiling then?" inquires the Inspector.
"Thought he was having his picture taken."

I e-mailed a copy of this to my wife and daughter, they thought it was hilarious.

BTW Andre, I also sent them the Youtube link for the Gaelic tune by Karen Matheson, great song.