NO! You are NOT Irish! History of a big myth in genealogy!

NO! You are NOT Irish! You aren’t a child of Erin, you don’t have the “Luck of the Irish”, and you can’t blame that temper of yours on Irish roots. When Americans are asked what their ethnicity is, millions of us list Irish first. Why is that? Where did this misconception come from? So, if you aren’t Irish, then what are you? In this video, I’ll explain my point, and a little about the migrations of Irish immigrants to America and why so many of us have been told incorrectly all our lives that we are Irish. By the way, you’re not Cherokee either, so be sure to see our video about that topic as well.

Before I get too deep in this video, I guess I need to state the obvious. Of course, some of you ARE Irish. Some of you, or your close ancestors were born there. Some of you have done your family trees and discovered your Irish ancestors names and maybe even where in Ireland that they came from. This video is not aimed at you, it is aimed at those that have been told that they are Irish, assumed it, or simply just wanted to be Irish. Hopefully by the end of this video you will have a deeper understanding of what you are and where your ancestors came from.

To better understand the chances of you having Irish roots, you not only need to know the story of your ancestors, but also when and where the Irish came to America. For the first century of settlement in the New World, hardly any Irish immigrated to America.

The next wave of Irish immigration was the time of the dreaded Irish Potato Famine. During the mid 1840s until the early 1850s hundreds of thousands of Irish left the shamrock shores of Ireland and immigrated all over the world, many of them to America, especially to the Boston area. By the mid 1850s the population of Boston was estimated to be about 25% Irish, with 85% of them being born in Ireland.

Another wave of Irish immigration happened in the 1880s due to economically hard times in Ireland. Many of these immigrants took jobs building the railroads that were quickly connecting the country. And some became coal miners, often in Western Pennsylvania, and other regions in Appalachia.

When I was a boy I asked my mom, where are we from, what are we? The first thing she mentioned was Irish, and I declared Saint Patrick’s Day as my favorite holiday. However, as I got older and did my research, I confirmed that I was Irish, but it was on my father’s side, not my mothers. Why did she think that she had Irish roots?

The fact is, my mother is mostly Scots-Irish, as is my father for that matter. However, the family stories that were passed down said that we were Irish, not Scots-Irish, why is that? What is the difference between Scots-Irish, and “regular Irish”?

I’ll sum up the Scots-Irish as fast as I possibly can. Beginning in the early 1600s, for many reasons, Great Britain, under the leadership of Kings James I, began to relocate many Lowland Scots, and some English that lived along the tumultuous border of Scotland and England. These people were mostly Protestant and had a warrior culture due almost continuous fighting in the region that they were from. They were relocated to Northern Ireland and became known as the Ulster Scots.

In the early 1700s this group of people were heavily recruited to settle in the back country of the British Colonies to serve as a buffer between the native tribes and the English settlements. Their hardy and warrior culture made them a perfect fit for their new home. Like every other ethnic group, the Scots-Irish did spread out all over the map, but they concentrated into Appalachia.

For centuries the Irish have been discriminated against in the British Empire. Their often refusal to assimilate into British society has caused them to be exploited and even enslaved. Many of us have never been told how the Irish were often thought of as a subspecies of humans and how businesses used to display “NINA signs” which were “Help Wanted, No Irish Need Apply”.

For some reason we as humans are attracted to what is often called the “Lost Cause”. It’s similar to why it’s said that many people want to relate to the Confederate States, Native American Tribes, Poor Hillbillies, or even the Civil Rights Movement for some. We have a longing and a desire to relate to those who struggled and overcame, more than we do to those that had it easier.

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[docsquish]

Haha. The first minute. You told me I’m not Irish, nor Cherokee. That made me laugh. My great grandfather came from Ireland and married a Cherokee. 😂

[rcewkyn]

I'm half Irish and half Scots, quite hard really, one part of me wants to get drunk and the other part doesn't want to pay for it.

[mtreuil]

I was told all of my life that we were French. Since we're Cajun, that made sense to me. Then I took a DNA test and found out there's also German, Spanish, and IRISH in my ancestry. It turns out, my 2nd great grandma on my dad's side was Irish from County Cork.

[righty-o]

My mom was born in Dublin, and I am the first generation born American in my family. I do not claim to be Irish. I am American of Irish descent. And proud of it 🍀🤘

[cindy]

I have an Irish last name. But in researching my ancestors and building my family tree, I found that most of my ancestors in that line were actually Scottish. They spent roughly a century in Ireland, during which time my great-something grandmother married an Irishman. Then some of them came to colonial America, settling in North Carolina. That's where we've been ever since, lol

[COUNTYGAINS]

i think a tonne of Americans look Irish and genetically are irish but for some reason living in Ireland irish people dont wanna say that americans are irish when they clearly are!! During rhe famine 1 million irish went to usa thats why you guys are irish!! i always defend the yanks here!! love from Galway, Ireland!

[gw]

What's remarkable about Americans is that they'll claim they're anything BUT English when describing their ancestry despite the fact their country was literally founded by Englishmen.

[KingKumari]

I’m a black man, my moms former life insurance agent was Irish with the full accent, he told me my last name which is Tullis was derived from Tully which he said was either Scottish or Irish which was interesting, after doing some research and talking to some older family members I found out my great grandfather was a “lily” white irish man by the the name of Charles Benjamin Tullis to my surprise, these are some of the people that I know with Scottish/Irish last names, McCorvey, McVay, McDonald, McDougal, McCalister, McKenzie, and McCormick, for the record they are all black, this can’t be just a coincidence, my cousin has red hair and freckles, his last name is Bailey, what gives??

[roberthuck]

I had the exact opposite experience. Growing up, I was always told we had no Irish ancestors. They were all from Germany or England. Turns out, I have two Irish ancestors after all.

[abanico_rodilla]

As far as being 100% Irish in Ireland you also need to keep in mind that there were Viking settlements on the East Coast of Ireland in the early Middle Ages (c.800AD), then there is the Norman (Norman-French aristocrats who also ruled England after conquering it in 1066) Invasion in 1169. They left a big legacy in surnames with the Fitz- prefix being thanks to them (and their version of French) and then you had the English Pale which was the English controlled area of East Ireland (including the Dublin area). The Pale would have had some English influence, including the introduction of English surnames (and DNA). Some Irish surnames were also Anglicised to 'fit in' to the English ascendancy. So, you had at least 3 peoples inputting their languages, cultures, surnames and above all genetics between about 800 - 1600 AD, before even the Protestant Plantations in the north began. How much genetic mixing went on between the Irish and: the Viking, Normans and English, is hard to say. Probably less as you went further west. It should be noted however that the Vikings were quite taken - and not fussy - in 'marrying' women from different cultures...they often raided and took as slaves/wives: English, Scots and Irish Women. Many ending up in Iceland!

[timothymurphy]

My father was an Irish immigrant.
Spoke Gaelic.
Pretty sure Im Irish.

[terrencerose]

I have a little Irish heritage. My wife’s family was born in America but I call them Irish. My wife is 98 precent. Her Father is 100 precent, did not know you could be. Her mom was 98 precent. I am sorry, they were born in America but they are Irish

[marymary]

Interesting. I’m British born of Irish parents, grandparents etc. I now live in Ireland. My husband is Irish born, he somehow claims he’s more Irish than I am. 🙄 Like its a competition. I obviously have a British accent, so when my husband has introduced me in Ireland to an Irish person, they may say “Oh, where about’s in England are you from?” My husband usually jumps saying “she’s Irish” and goes on to reel off my Irish heritage.☺️

[rickershomesteadahobbyfarm]

I have some Irish ancestors but I’m an American bc I wasn’t born in Ireland 😂. I was able to trace and validate a few places that my ancestors came from. 1 ancestor from the 1500s was listed as an Scott/Irish immigrant. I’m assuming that means he had a parent from Scotland and Ireland. I also verified some Swedish ancestors and German ancestors.

[forgottenboy]

I had the opposite experience! I was always told by my mom that we were super Polish and French as well as German! But my dad was super Irish, and our last name is incredibly Irish. Turns out I’m 55 percent Irish and like 30 percent for the rest of Europe. I swear that my dad knew something, my mom was disappointed hahaha

[thepenultimateninja]

A friend of a friend's family were all of Irish descent. They were very proud of this, and always made a huge deal of St Patrick's Day, and they were all covered in Leprechaun and lucky shamrock tattoos etc.
Anyway, they all decided to do one of those genetic test things, and it turned out they had zero Irish ancestry lol.
I feel a bit guilty laughing about it because they were actually really nice people, but it is kind of funny.
I don't know what happened after their discovery, because I moved to a different state shortly afterwards and lost touch with them.

[juliefreds]

I was told my ancestors came from Ireland during the potato famine. The men worked in the salt mines on the east coast until they settled in Michigan and that’s where most of our family lives today. When I had my DNA test done it showed that I’m nearly half Irish and the rest is German, Dutch and 8% East African. I was genuinely shocked by the last one because I’m blonde and as white as you can get!😂

[akoww]

This goes for so many people other than the Irish too. I worked with a woman who said she was African American and her family was brought here as slaves, then she did a DNA test while working on her family tree :P She found out her family came from Europe in the late eighteen hundreds. She was only a few percent African from what the test showed. she was able to find out that Her great"etc" grandparents came to America in 1897 lived in NYC their whole lives and had a successful business and had kids. My friend's grandmother moved to Florida in the 1960s with her daughter. come to find out it was her mother that told her that her family was bought here by slaves and she was African American. My mom told me I was German/Italian and after I took a DNA test myself I found out I was 60% Irish, 30% Scottish, and 10% random stuff " not German or Italian lol. Why do people need to lie to their kids like that?

[RobertJeffreyHill]

I was always told we were Irish-American growing up. It turns out, my mom’s family indeed were recent Irish Catholic immigrants to NYC. My father’s side, however, was Welsh and Scots-Irish who arrived in Appalachia pre-1776.

[DavidJSanz]

But… Scotts are originally an irish celtic tribe, that migrated from north of ireland, that is the reason why gaelic scotish and irish are closely related (goidelic languages) oposed to welsh (britonic language)