Irish citizenship

dailyheights

So we were out with some friends last night, and they said it's unbelievably easy to claim Irish citizenship, if you really wanted to. Is this true? Could you walk into a public office in Dublin and say, "hey, kiss me, I'm half-Irish!"

whyfi

i've heard the same thing, but i have to admit that i'm fuzzy on the details... i think that it not only comes down to what percentage of your ancestry is irish, but also the number of generations removed...

on a related note, i once spent st patty's day with, among others, a co-ed irish judo team... in paris... despite my having a very irish last name, they afforded me no more irishness than they did my friend of german ancestry... i found it strange- we, in america, seem to identify with, at least in part, the origins and ethnic makeup of our parents, grandparents, great- and great-great grandparents... but everyone else in the world just sees us as americans. not that there's anything wrong with that...

daveb

From what I've been told from a friend who fooled around with trying to get it, your need at least a great-grandparent that was an Irish citizen and you're good to go. He was going to do it, but after he found out that to retain his US citizenship he's be paying taxes for two countries, he gave up. Granted, this is all secondhand from him, so may not be entirely correct.

ana.log

from http://workabroad.monster.com/articles/dual/

"Ireland is famously generous with citizenship. Because of the potato famine and the devastating poverty it caused, many left Ireland with the hopes of, at least, staying alive. Today, Ireland's lenient citizenship laws are mainly for the purpose of allowing descendants of these emigrants to return to their homeland.

Most simply, the policy is that anyone who has a grandparent born in Ireland is eligible for Irish citizenship. In addition, you could be eligible for Irish citizenship if you have a great-grandparent born in Ireland, as long as your parent registers at the Foreign Birth Register."

anonymous

It's easy to get citizenship but not that easy. I did it when I was in college bc I was going to live abroad in Europe that year. You have to have either a parent or grandparent be born in Ireland. Then you need to show not only your birth certificate but your parent or grandparent's as well as their marriage certificate. Some of these items may be harder for you to get your hands on if they are deceased. Aside from that it's just paperwork to be filled out. And you must do it all at the Irish embassy in the city nearest to you.

daveb

Subject: Re: Irish citizenship

guest wrote: It's easy to get citizenship but not that easy. I did it when I was in college bc I was going to live abroad in Europe that year. You have to have either a parent or grandparent be born in Ireland. Then you need to show not only your birth certificate but your parent or grandparent's as well as their marriage certificate. Some of these items may be harder for you to get your hands on if they are deceased. Aside from that it's just paperwork to be filled out. And you must do it all at the Irish embassy in the city nearest to you.

...and you must be wearing tinfoil pants with a saran wrap turban. If not, forget it. 8)