what exactly should my 'irishness' mean to me as an american anyway

[amorphous_constellation]

So you may not be aware of it , but we 'irish - americans' often seem obsessed with our 'irishness.' St. paddy's day and halo-ween , america is fastidious with these for example. People like to mention that they are 'irish' in conversations.

So I think a problem is, that although we spread far and wide around this rock, my experience in internet conversations with the real Irish is that they don't really like us , or recognize us. Frankly, depending on how the ancestry thing is brought up, I have gotten some vicious comments

So I guess we are people who unfortunately may not like each other

My hunch is that the real Irish don't like the american sort of association to alcohol , and sort of want to divorce themselves from that, so that's one thing

Maybe they have a way of looking at all this that consistent with they mythology , where peoples who move about seem required to constantly 'morph' into new things

Finally , I kind of wonder about Jim Morrison's sort of comparison of the Irish people to the Jewish people , where they seem to occupy a parallel quadrant of hardy survivors, though with the unfortunate caveat of being self - destructive, according to him. If that conception is commonly held by americans , one can see why the Irish would want to divorce themselves from it

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

My hunch is that the real Irish don't like the american sort of association to alcohol , and sort of want to divorce themselves from that, so that's one thing

That can't be it as Northern Europeans in general are known for their alcoholicism and obsession with drowning in beer and liquor, from Ireland to Russia.

As an aside, I've heard that black Africans rather look down on African-Americans and other descendants of enslaved Africans.

 

[Wandering Monk]

I have often wondered what it would be like returning to an ancestral homeland and sitting in the pews of their churches or cathedrals which they sat in. Also, finding their graves.

I would think that would give me a pretty profound sense of continuity and connection.

 

[Spirit of Light]

The only true Americans are the native Americans or American Indian groups if you like. So the rest of "Americans" actually comes from other part of the world. And maybe it would be good if people appreciated their heritage.

 

[sun rise]

Groups like to feel superior to other groups. It's the way most of the world operates.

 

[PureX]

In my family history being Irish mostly meant being alcoholics with wanderlust (the men) or being very hard and pragmatic (the women). But this reflects the more recent generations that left Ireland because of the very dire conditions there, and I am sure that had a bad effect on many of them.

To me all being Irish means is that I dare not drink alcohol, anymore. And I try to be grateful for the relative peace and prosperity that I have.

 

[BSM1]

My family dropped the 'O' in front of the last name a few generations back. Now my lineage just makes for an interesting story. BTW, we we're in a bar with a young friend of ours that seemed nervous. When I asked her what was wrong she was worried that she was the only 'mixed race' person in the place (you couldn't tell it actually). I told her I was mixed race, also. She was surprised until I told her I was Irish and human...hahaha...(are you laughing?).

 

[Polymath257]

The only true Americans are the native Americans or American Indian groups if you like. So the rest of "Americans" actually comes from other part of the world. And maybe it would be good if people appreciated their heritage.

Actually, the native americans came from someplace else also. It's just that they were the *first* to immigrate here.

 

[columbus]

Actually, the native americans came from someplace else also. It's just that they were the *first* to immigrate here.

But one could say the same about everyone from the Irish to the Chinese.

The difference is that there wasn't anybody living here when the native Americans moved in. The EuroChristians had to get rid of the locals.
Tom

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

My hunch is that the real Irish don't like the american sort of association to alcohol , and sort of want to divorce themselves from that, so that's one thing

Maybe what they don't like is being treated like a monolithic mass who all like and dislike the same things.

 

[Revoltingest]

The only true Americans are the native Americans or American Indian groups if you like.

Even they are immigrants...just earlier.
We conquered them fair & square, just
as every other group did where they live.
No one has some fundamental right to
land they're one. So it must be fought for.

No one's real estate title has
God's signature as the vendor.

 

[Spirit of Light]

Even they are immigrants...just earlier.
We conquered them fair & square, just
as every other group did where they live.
No one has some fundamental right to
land they're one. So it must be fought for.

No one's real estate title has
God's signature as the vendor.

And just as the white American has done for the entire time America has existed, Conquered anyone who was in their way.

 

[BSM1]

And just as the white American has done for the entire time America has existed, Conquered anyone who was in their way.

Except we tend to rebuild what we conquer to even better than it was...

 

[metis]

In Ireland, St. Patrick's Day is much more of a solemn day than it is here in the States. I've been to an Irish mass on that day and it was beautiful.

However, with that being said, I will be tipping a pint of Guinness on that day and thoroughly enjoying it, but probably just at home.

 

[Revoltingest]

And just as the white American has done for the entire time America has existed, Conquered anyone who was in their way.

I'll wager that everyone lives in a country wrested from some prior people.
The only difference between us all is how recent the conquering happened.
Your people did it to Neanderthals.
Passage of time doesn't erase your sin.
All we can do now is be as ethical as we're able.

 

[Spirit of Light]

Except we tend to rebuild what we conquer to even better than it was...

You do? Middle East comes to mind about somewhere that did not happen.

 

[Spirit of Light]

I'll wager that everyone lives in a country wrested from some prior people.
The only difference between us all is how recent the conquering happened.
Your people did it to Neanderthals.
Passage of time doesn't erase your sin.
All we can do now is be as ethical as we're able.

It is true that some fighting and conquering did happen in the Viking Era, but we had the heart to stop fighting others, and 99% of the people were fishermen or farmers all the time. 1250 was last time Viking in Norway fought a deadly battle

 

[Revoltingest]

It is true that some fighting and conquering did happen in the Viking Era, but we had the heart to stop fighting others, and 99% of the people were fishermen or farmers all the time. 1250 was last time Viking in Norway fought a deadly battle

I've watched the TV show, "Vikings".
Dang...you guys were almost as vicious & foul tempered as the Scots!

 

[Spirit of Light]

I've watched the TV show, "Vikings".
Dang...you guys were almost as vicious & foul tempered as the Scots!

Hehe those series are not showing the true viking way of life. Vikings were not as brutal as Tv and movies portray them to be, as i said 99% of the time they were fishing, farming or some was doing travel to sell things they made and to buy things they did not have.

 

[Revoltingest]

Hehe those series are not showing the true viking way of life. Vikings were not as brutal as Tv and movies portray them to be, as i said 99% of the time they were fishing, farming or some was doing travel to sell things they made and to buy things they did not have.

Who should I trust?
- A TV show by on a network despised by historians for fictionalizing history, or...
- A random (but handsome) guy on the internet.
I'm going with the writers spinning a good smelly, bloody, violent yarn.