So, yet another self-identified (family identified) Irish American here. Much like @anon61833566, my family too made a traditional Irish American meal (from my father’s side, as that’s the Irish side) - not nearly as elaborate as theirs - but we did corned beef, potatoes and cabbage, and I’ve added a version of Irish soda bread to that meal every year. We’re lucky enough to know where that side of the family came from - my great, great grandfather came from Co. Kerry during the period the lesser famine and I suspect that we could probably find distant cousins there, if we spent time looking - my aunt did a bit in some of the times she spent in Ireland as an educator for first responders.
Much of that side of the family is catholic (my sister and I weren’t raised in the church for reasons). My mother’s side is Scottish and English heritage, my dad’s mother was English, french, and Scottish heritage… meaning there isn’t much “Irish” blood in my veins, but it’s much less about that and more about identity, community, and shared culture than anything else. My family on that side kept a strong Irish identity through the years, and I do too, despite the fact that I’m far removed from immigration. it’s not like the Irish are the only people in American to do this - many peoples do this and consider themselves a diaspora, in part because (as we well know right now from our modern political landscape) immigrants are often looked down upon and embracing the family heritage is a means of building up communal and social ties against that. And of course Irish Americans have also participated themselves in the denigration of other ethnicities in American history - the Chinese on the railroads for example.
So, am I Irish - well, no. But to say that some idea of being Irish doesn’t inform my identity, because of my family would be wrong to say as well.
That’s basically what I make - flour, baking soda/powder, salt, butter, buttermilk, and egg thrown together, baked for 45 minutes or so, and it tastes great with my corned beef and cabbage (which I can smell cooking away right now.
