Ireland and Irish group interest thread

Discussion that relates to Ireland, the Irish people, Irish Culture, etc.

Scotland was Scotia Minor. SNICKER! It sure pissed my Granny off when I told her.

Great Idea - but will we have Protestant/Catholic sub-forums?

yeah it would be safe, because believe me I get passionate and I start saying shit that is admittingly harsh, like fuck hte british army :D.

and i grew up in the bronx! but i loved it. all the poor catholics have pictures of Martin Luther King on their walls. we inteviewed victims of human rights violations.

THat must have been a powerful experience I imagine, its so sad whats happened over there.

they started marching for their rights, and then boom bloody sunday.
i met gerry adam''s brother, dominic. and the pretty famous grandma whose face was shattered by plastic bullets coming in through her living room window.
you could always hear the helicopters in that neighborhood. it was so oppressed. i hope it's better now. it was pretty hard back then.

They made a movie that many argue was slanted about it.

footage and some people who were there talking about it. it was pretty shocking.
the soldiers patrolling knew every teenager in the neighborhood and would scare them by threatening to take them in for interrogation. they had a state of emergency there for 30 years, and with their own version of the patriot act they could question you for 4-5 days without giving a reason or lawyer when you turned 16. so they'd keep track and tell the kids the knew their birthday was coming up.

Those guys were like 17, most of the dead were and ya know somethin thats how old I am. Yep thats an apt comparsion, comparing it to the patriot act.

posted on the buildings and the helicopters and tanks rolling around all day long? most of the people stayed in their sad little slum all day because they'd be searched and harrassed if they tried to get into the city center. and then the people living in the city never go there, they didn't want to believe any of what we saw there, because it's a total media blakout. and they don't want to know.

My Irish Great Uncle was a Chaplain in WWII and endured a lot.

he never told me the really scary stuff that he told my brothers about. he tried to make light of it. but i could tell from the yelling in his sleep he had seen people get blown to bits just feet away. i thought it was so sweet he didn't want to me to know how awful it was. and we never asked him about the nightmares.

according to my dad it drove him to alcoholism, my dad himself is one too for unrelated reasons.

for this killing stuff. even though he knew it was as good a reason to go to war as there ever was.... it scared him for life. i know my dad was in north africa, france and germany. he was shot in the leg and almost shot dead instead of taken to the prison camp.
he used to show people his leg wound and joke i had taken a bite out. at least i know he had a good time in paris-- saw some action of another kind, from what i could tell. good for him. he deserved some fun for all the hell he went through.

very few are cut out for killing, one of the greatest tragedies of war is that its mostly kill or be killed.

i guess it's slightly less traumatic if your just dumping stuff out an airplane window.
yikes. it's disgusting what people are forced to do. i would be deserting sooo fast. i couldn't do it.

has told me that he would refuse his orders if given again.

It's good he was honest with himself and you about it. A lot of people have to stick to their guns once they have already been in deep shit. Kinda like some voters I know.

before the war.

i want to smack my brother and sister in law, because they voted for bush. if my nephews were ten years older- there's no way they would have done that. the politics of selfishness.
can you get an irish passport if it's a grandparent born there? i've always meant to get one.

Same thing with the drinking. He hung out in DC for eight weeks after returning stateside because he didn't think he could face his family...even though he had an infant son he had never laid eyes on.

I am only a quarter Irish and don't fit the sterotypes at all but I really love Ireland.

with some of the kindest, most compassionate people on earth. I wouldnt mind living there.

i have never been to the tourisy southern parts evrybody goes to.. kerry and all that in the south. i've been to donegal and roscommon and a few places in ulster.
both my parents were born in thatched roof cottages. they were pretty darned poor.

It was amazing and off the beaten path.

I know that many Irish Catholics were influeneced heavily by MLK.

I'm scraping all my paperwork together now for Irish citizenship. Not planning on leaving, just want to keep the option open.

and hey Ive considered it.

potato famine immigrants, loads of stories
love my heritage

very cool mix btw. I am also German, Slovak, and Slovene and I hear we're Russian too.

mixin it up makes it better.- you should see my off spring

1/2 Irish (the better half).

good idea!

I'm a huge Irish History buff. My wife is Irish and I'm Jewish, but I'm the one with interest in Irish politics and history. Go figure.

I have a prob with religion since every calamity seems to come down to people who (m) have an overweening desire to project their religion onto others...can you see it here and now, can you see it throughout history? Look back and look forward, it's all the same, I wish that we would get over the Protestant, Catholic, Islam, etc. If there's one thing I have done, it's been the research amonsgt all the religions..and I came up with NOTHING. We keep wondering where we came from and what our purpose here on Earth is..well, I haven't gotten any answers, have you?

I am too tired to carry on the research so please do let me know if you come up with something that us work-drudges can relate to...I sure could use the infusion...

XXXOOO

:hi: btw though, how's your bro
Many Irish Nationalists including Charles Stewart Parnell, Theobold Wolfetone, and people who wanted Civil Rights like Ivan Cooper were Protestants. It's more about class I think honestly from what I know, many of the lower class members were Catholics but you often hear more about Protestant Nationalist Republicans (not like our republicans, they want to be with the Irish republic is how that term gets its name) than Catholic Unionists who want to be loyal with Britain.

in all of the north, thanks to william of orange so those catholics were basically treated like serfs in their own homeland for hundreds of years. they still do not have equal opportunity there. you pretty much have to be a protestant to get a good job in Ulster.
in the rest of Ireland, before it had independence, it was a similar story. Lots of laws enacted to keep the Irish poor. And then with the famine, the Brits had all the food in the world and tried to hide that fact for years. Basically, it's their last colony, and they haven't quite let go yet.

That's the key and the source of the resentment. The underclass is looking for equal economic opportunity and equal representation. This is a scenario that continues to be repeated throughout the world, but has gone on far too long in the North. In the Republic, at least at the times I've visited, things are perfectly fine, and the violence far away.:shrug:

i'm in!

Saw them in L.A. a month or so ago and they are awesome. Incredibly talented and an extremely good looking family. They were fun; if you ever get a chance, go see them.

I'm trying to learn the Irish language (and a few others). I'm an American Mutt, more Irish than anything though.

We just email it to Skinner right, someone else write it, I am too tired to.

My dad was a a full blood.

...If you were a Jew then I'd light your Menorah,
Excuse me senora, I got rhymes for ya,
Are you a whore-a,
Or are you a lady,
Is it 'Erica Boyer' or 'Marcia Brady'?
Let me know hon,
the deed'll get done,
Just assume the position,
I take my rod and I go fishin'...

My ancestors were slautered by the union jack invaders so lets talk.

-Technowitch
"Irish gal as far back as the family lines go..."

My mother was a fire breathing red headed Irish woman and I should add liked a wee bit or a taste of some fine scotch. At least that is how I remember her. Her family life was a mess but thats another story, about the hard luck, hard drinking Irish in America. She definitely had pluck, GRHS-RIP.

I'd be interested if anyone wants to go home to the old sod, or wants to share expenses to do so for awhile. I really need to do this, sometime in my life time.

My Irish great-great-grandfather landed in New York in 1864. I've got copies of his naturalization papers (where he gives up his loyalty to Queen Victoria and all that). I'm trying to piece together his story and that of the other Irish immigrants in the family.

I'm also interested in the Troubles (my cousin lived in the north, his father ran guns to the IRA, and my best friend went to Sinn Fein's office in Belfast long before Gerry Adams got his visa). Count me in.

so there's some other stuff flowing in these here veins.

I'm half Irish. Maternal grandmother and fraternal ggrandfather were immigrants. Fraternal ggrandmother's family came during the famine.

I would love to spend some time in Ireland. Been trying to do some genealogy - which is difficult from this side of the ocean.

You must have known that I'd be on board.:-)

:hi:

I am never aware of anything, LOL! But, if you need help, I'm around.:hi:

We, those are interested in the great republic of Ireland wish to start a group to discuss Irish issues, Irish culture, etc, what have you.

helping make the Republic a reality. The Republic isn't the Republic until the 6 counties are joined with the 26. 26+6=1

how could I have forgotten. Yes!

Sorry I don't get to the Lounge much.

Being of Irish ancestry (100%) I'm very much interested in a group like this.

Slainte!

Was reading your article on that rat Ian Paisley earlier, :grr: how I loathe that loser.

my great-great grandfather came over from Cork in 1849.

:shrug:

you cna post if you like though.

:shrug:

It made me think about the line in Braveheart about the Scots and the Irish being one of the same people.

It don't bother me about not being welcome to join. :hug:

and ya they are the same, though the Scots should have stayed catholic.

That's ok i really don't want to be in a group but if i were to choose one it would be the I don't fit in with anyone else's group group.

Your message thread brought the movie Braveheart to mind. Most of us are mixed mutts and you don't have to worry the Irish Half of me won't join because the Scots half wont let it. Then again you might have to divvy the group up into two parts the orange and the green. :hug:

My ancestry on my mother's side is Scottish. Count me in as an active participant.

Scots are fine with me. I didnt know you were Scots though.

but I dont know how to.

Your mission statement sounds fine to me. If you want to include the reunification of Ireland in it, that's up to you. I have always supported this, but so did Eamon de Valera, a hero of mine, but this was back in the 1920's. He was never able to accomplish it. I'm in, but that's all we need on DU, another forum as contentious as I/P, LOL!:hi:

Just saw this thread....

Can we be ...um.... republican with a small "r" in this group????

You know what I mean...

;) and :hi:

thats the best kind of republicanism :D,

I can be considered first generation American. My mother was born in Ireland.

All my grandparents came from Ireland in the early 1900s and were stereotypical immigrants .... a policeman, a stonemason, a seamstress.

I'd like to get an Irish passport. I am qualified, but the difficulty is proving it. There was a large fire in the registry in Dublin in the 1920s, and many records were destroyed. Without a birth certificate, it's a problem.

My sister and brother-in-law were in Ireland last year, and could find no records of either birth, or christening in the local churches where my mother was born.

I just got back from Ireland last Friday night, 11-19.

McKagues from County Cavan...went to Canada and part of us ended up in US..They were probably originally from the Isle of Skye and emigrated to Ireland as part of the Protestantization of Northern Ireland....

dads family were O'Neills and Carrolls from Killarney..don't know O'Neills came as a group in mid 1800's..but the Carroll one left secretly at about age 20...

All were protestants...

Right by the sea and so very green. But this is also the home of the black Irish, Spaniards, really. Could your family have descended from them? That would be very interesting and provide a different perspective, as well as the fact that they were Protestant. From my perspective, we are all in this together, and share a common interest and heritage. I would hate for this group to become contentious. We all have more in common, especially since we belong to DU, than than anything that could divide us. I used to believe that my family also came from the North, though they were Catholic, but have since found out that my Dad was mistaken.:shrug:

sounds like black irish doesn't it?...my grandma was 1/2 Irish and her eyes would turn almost black when she got angry...she was also tall and slender(5'9)...and methodist....(my dads mom)

on the other hand my mothers father was also 1/2 Irish and he was small (5'7) and fair complexion and hair...with greyish blue eyes...

My grandfather was 100% Irish, but my grandmother was Dutch. My Dad had the very dark hair and light eyes, the only one in the family who inherited the Irish looks. He had a blonde sister and two blond brothers, and they used to joke that his real Dad must have been the iceman. But I know the truth and so did my grandparents.:-)

My Dad inherited height from his mother, since his Irish Dad was also not tall. He was tall and slender, the most handsome of the bunch, IMHO.:D

It's very interesting how these things play out. Your grandma had the black Irish coloring, but was tall and your grandfather was fair, rare in Ireland, because most Irishmen are not tall. My grandfather was around 5' 6", though very handsome. My mother is Polish and I inherited this coloring, very fair. I was an anomaly when I visited Ireland, despite my heritage. And even most of my cousins, on the Irish side, are blonde. You never know, but it is very interesting to examine this, and to look back and remember.:-)

And I'd be very happy to share the websites that she uses with anyone who is interested. I have never done this before, except for accessing the Ellis Island website, so I am a complete novice.:shrug:

btw check yer inbox.

And I'm checking right now. Sorry it's so late.:shrug:

on edit: I'm post #100 on this thread!!!:wow:

My mother still has relatives in Donegal. My daughter went to visit
them a couple of years ago and loved the place.

I'm Irish on my mother's side and 50% Irish on my father's side.

Tiocfaidh ár lá (Our day will come)