My husband is from Derry and we go to Ireland a few times a year and just got married there this summer. You will not be disappointed!!! I will make you an itinerary!!! Ireland and the Irish people truly are the best. It sounds corny, but the first time I visited, I really felt at home.
Derry is a very interesting city and, aside from the history, my wife was also excited to see the Derry Girls mural! We were there during that spell of unusually perfect weather this past August.
My ancestry goes back to County Cork and Dublin on both sides of my family. At a conference I met someone from Dublin. I told him my last name. He told me, "Yeah. There are plenty of them." But maybe it's like "Smith" and none of them are related.
Suggestion: if you don't want to go to Ireland, give Scotland a shot. My wife and I did 2 days in Edinburgh and 3 touring the Highlands and it absolutely hit the same vibe you describe.
One of my cringe core memories is at age 10ish telling my Irish grandmother I wanted to marry a McBride because I was obsessed with Sean Connery in Darby O'Gill and the Little People.
My own shameful confession: I’m a weeb for Russia.
Like you, I’ve been inexplicably obsessed with my target nation ever since I can remember. It reached the point where my parents hired an eccentric Ukrainian-American journalist to teach my elementary-school self Russian, leavened with lectures about how Putin was the new Stalin. (I was a pretty terrible student and didn’t learn much, alas!)
My Victorian Orphan Girl-phase equivalent involved pretending to be a dispossessed aristocrat living in the Soviet Union.
I actually had my own equivalent to your Ancestry.com story—just this year, I discovered that my Swedish-immigrant pair of great-great-grandparents were ethnically Swedish, but actually immigrated from Finland—and were therefore born and raised in the Russian Empire.
"Weebs have been stereotyped as neckbeardy, creepy, and cringey, but there may be benevolent weebs who truly just love Japanese pop culture."
I can understand the stereotype of weebs as being "neckbeardy, creepy and cringey", but I've not previously come across the idea that we are malevolent or that we don't actually love Japanese pop culture.
My experience is almost opposite of yours. I am largely Irish, and Ancestry confirms it. Both my grandfathers are Irish, one was born in Ireland and migrated to Australia. I didn't realize until I was in my 40's that I was Irish, and this is because my family was very dysfunctional, long before the term became popular. As a result, I never met my paternal grandfather, nor any of the dozens of my relatives, all with deep Irish roots, who literally lived and grew up within blocks of me. It was my wife of German descent and her interest in genealogy that got me thinking. So, this much I can say: I had red hair, my Australian mom had red hair, and my father's brother was called "Red" when he was growing up. I subsequently gave all three of my children Celtic first names (none weird). I discovered a love for Celtic music long before I discovered my Irish heritage. I suspect that I am Irish in ways that I'll never know, it having been secretly imbibed without my knowing it.
I can claim real Irish heritage (clearly documented going back to Ireland). It's only about 25%, but since it's my paternal grandfather's line I got to inherit his name. I'm 50% Chinese also (mother's side) so I don't actually look Irish. I look like an Asian dude with an Irish name.
But like you, when I hear the Irish music I tend to feel it deeply. At least I can claim a real genetic connection! My wife can only claim known Greek/Russian/English heritage but she swears she feels the same.
In my experience, real Irish people aren't much bothered about cultural appropriation. If you visited they'd probably just be happy that more people are visiting!
I think I'm about 33% according to Ancestry, and yet both my grandfathers are through and through Irish. Ireland has had a lot of people groups running through it, esp. English and English-like. As a result, I wouldn't be surprised if many people living in Ireland are not fully Irish. So, if you're "really" 25% Irish, that's pretty Irish in my book.
Yeah, I did one of those DNA tests and it came back with something like 24% literally from Ireland, which absolutely tracks with one grandparent being full Irish. Then something like 48% from China (with some assorted smaller percentages in southeast Asia, exactly what I'd expect from my mother's side), and the rest a general northern European mix (which tracks with my paternal grandmother being from a German/Dutch mutt family). No one in the family was lying about their background apparently!
À Weaibh
My husband is from Derry and we go to Ireland a few times a year and just got married there this summer. You will not be disappointed!!! I will make you an itinerary!!! Ireland and the Irish people truly are the best. It sounds corny, but the first time I visited, I really felt at home.
Derry is a very interesting city and, aside from the history, my wife was also excited to see the Derry Girls mural! We were there during that spell of unusually perfect weather this past August.
My ancestry goes back to County Cork and Dublin on both sides of my family. At a conference I met someone from Dublin. I told him my last name. He told me, "Yeah. There are plenty of them." But maybe it's like "Smith" and none of them are related.
I think you should go to Ireland CHH, it will be good for you. European people usually find Americans very charming in my experience.
Suggestion: if you don't want to go to Ireland, give Scotland a shot. My wife and I did 2 days in Edinburgh and 3 touring the Highlands and it absolutely hit the same vibe you describe.
One of my cringe core memories is at age 10ish telling my Irish grandmother I wanted to marry a McBride because I was obsessed with Sean Connery in Darby O'Gill and the Little People.
My own shameful confession: I’m a weeb for Russia.
Like you, I’ve been inexplicably obsessed with my target nation ever since I can remember. It reached the point where my parents hired an eccentric Ukrainian-American journalist to teach my elementary-school self Russian, leavened with lectures about how Putin was the new Stalin. (I was a pretty terrible student and didn’t learn much, alas!)
My Victorian Orphan Girl-phase equivalent involved pretending to be a dispossessed aristocrat living in the Soviet Union.
I actually had my own equivalent to your Ancestry.com story—just this year, I discovered that my Swedish-immigrant pair of great-great-grandparents were ethnically Swedish, but actually immigrated from Finland—and were therefore born and raised in the Russian Empire.
Did you ever read Ulysses?
"Weebs have been stereotyped as neckbeardy, creepy, and cringey, but there may be benevolent weebs who truly just love Japanese pop culture."
I can understand the stereotype of weebs as being "neckbeardy, creepy and cringey", but I've not previously come across the idea that we are malevolent or that we don't actually love Japanese pop culture.
My experience is almost opposite of yours. I am largely Irish, and Ancestry confirms it. Both my grandfathers are Irish, one was born in Ireland and migrated to Australia. I didn't realize until I was in my 40's that I was Irish, and this is because my family was very dysfunctional, long before the term became popular. As a result, I never met my paternal grandfather, nor any of the dozens of my relatives, all with deep Irish roots, who literally lived and grew up within blocks of me. It was my wife of German descent and her interest in genealogy that got me thinking. So, this much I can say: I had red hair, my Australian mom had red hair, and my father's brother was called "Red" when he was growing up. I subsequently gave all three of my children Celtic first names (none weird). I discovered a love for Celtic music long before I discovered my Irish heritage. I suspect that I am Irish in ways that I'll never know, it having been secretly imbibed without my knowing it.
I can claim real Irish heritage (clearly documented going back to Ireland). It's only about 25%, but since it's my paternal grandfather's line I got to inherit his name. I'm 50% Chinese also (mother's side) so I don't actually look Irish. I look like an Asian dude with an Irish name.
But like you, when I hear the Irish music I tend to feel it deeply. At least I can claim a real genetic connection! My wife can only claim known Greek/Russian/English heritage but she swears she feels the same.
In my experience, real Irish people aren't much bothered about cultural appropriation. If you visited they'd probably just be happy that more people are visiting!
I think I'm about 33% according to Ancestry, and yet both my grandfathers are through and through Irish. Ireland has had a lot of people groups running through it, esp. English and English-like. As a result, I wouldn't be surprised if many people living in Ireland are not fully Irish. So, if you're "really" 25% Irish, that's pretty Irish in my book.
Yeah, I did one of those DNA tests and it came back with something like 24% literally from Ireland, which absolutely tracks with one grandparent being full Irish. Then something like 48% from China (with some assorted smaller percentages in southeast Asia, exactly what I'd expect from my mother's side), and the rest a general northern European mix (which tracks with my paternal grandmother being from a German/Dutch mutt family). No one in the family was lying about their background apparently!
Should also say that even though it quickly became cringe from being overplayed, Riverdance was legit great.
(Lord of the Dance was always cringe.)