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Conference tallis::celt

Title:Celt Notefile
Moderator:TALLIS::DARCY
Created:Wed Feb 19 1986
Last Modified:Tue Jun 03 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1632
Total number of notes:20523

305.0. "Define *really* Irish, Please :^)" by CYCLPS::DRISCOLL () Mon Dec 07 1987 23:05




               --<  REALLY  IRISH  AMERICAN >---
RE .10 

     Despite having Irish parents and being brought up in an 
Irish neighborhood in Boston there's a great deal of difference 
between being 'really Irish' and Irish American. Studying in Ireland a 
few years ago I had a chance to observe this difference. 


One striking difference I observed was in the views and beliefs of 
the Irish people I met. Although many of our values and beliefs have a common 
root, the American experience has shaped and redefined them.   Not
to recognize this would be to suggest that Ireland and America have 
identical cultures. 


I agree with Mr. Darby that Irish Americans are a culturally 
distinct group in the US, but we are different from the Irish.
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name		DateLines
305.1Give the man in the bed more Porter....RTOEU1::RDELANEYCaith Siar � agus n� lig aniar �Tue Dec 08 1987 03:457
    
    And there was I thinking I was the only one.........
    
    Mind you, it'd be easier if replies to notes were kept within the
    same conference !! 
    
    	- Blob ;-)
305.2I agree/here's my viewsDPDMAI::OREILLYMy wife and dog are more Irish!Tue Dec 08 1987 12:5732
    Re: .0
    
    What a great experience, to have studied in Ireland.
    
    I want to echo some of what you mentioned about being raised in
    an Irish neighborhood with Irish parent in South Boston.\
    
    My wife and I both were raised in the midwest where there is a
    significant Irish-American population although not as much as Boston.
    When someone would comment, "O'Reilly, what a lovely Irish name",
    it was a great compliment.
    
    Now that I live in Dallas you're lucky if someone (native) with
    a name like "O'Reilly" would even know that it's Irish! When I first
    moved here I was the only O'Reilly in the tele. book (1982).  Now
    there's about 25, which points out the general pop. migration north
    to south that happened in the late 70's/early 80's.
    
    So, I consider myself American with distant relatives that once
    lived in Ireland.  I'm very proud of that connection.  Everyone
    in the world knows of that Irish Spirit-determination, humor (twinkle
    in the eye), guilt, etc.  It was my great-great grandfather (John
    J. O'Reilly) that was born in Ireland.
    
    Also, my mother's side is basically English (but since we were more
    intrigued with the IRISH, we didn't research her side), so that
    makes me half Irish American, several generations removed.  So,
    just try to take my last name away from me--I even complain about
    "Reillys" who never replaced the "O" after having it "removed" when
    they entered the states!
    
    JO'R
305.3SUPER::HENDRICKSThe only way out is throughThu Dec 17 1987 08:5624
>        So, I consider myself American with distant relatives that once
>    lived in Ireland.  I'm very proud of that connection.  
>    It was my great-great grandfather (John J. O'Reilly) that was born 
>    in Ireland.
 
    Ditto for me!  (Although for me, it was my great grandfather John
    J. O'Reilly's *parents* who were born in Ireland...one of these days
    we are going to have to try and find out if we are cousins!)
    
    I am very pleased and proud to be 1/4 Irish, but do not feel I quite
    qualify for calling myself "Irish American". My dad was in the "junior
    executive" track at work, and felt (during the 1950s) that he had to
    de-emphasize being Irish to be taken seriously in the corporate world.
    (With blond hair, green eyes, and a Dutch surname, it wasn't hard.)  It
    also meant that until I got interested in genealogy as a teenager, I
    never heard much about it.  It was a great joy to me to discover how
    much I loved Celtic music and stories.  But I still feel like a
    bit of a guest here.
    
    If I had gotten the O'Reilly surname as my cousins did, I think
    I would have had a much stronger identification with being
    Irish-American as a child.  
    
    Holly