Being Irish was a big thing for me, particularly growing up in Chicago.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Being Irish is very much a part of who I am. I take it everywhere with me.
Growing up, I was brought up around Irish music, Irish traditions.
I had quite a scattered childhood. I was Irish in London, because I had my secondary school education there. I never really fitted anywhere. I didn't feel it was a negative thing, and I was never made to feel different - I just knew I was.
My dad is Irish. I spent my childhood going back and forth between Ireland and America.
I don't really go around feeling very Irish at all. I don't go to Irish pubs. I've lived so many places, and I'm still so curious about the bigger world. It's grand to be alive in a time when mobility is so accessible.
My father was totally Irish, and so I went to Ireland once. I found it to be very much like New York, for it was a beautiful country, and both the women and men were good-looking.
Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, the color of my skin and my rather peculiar background as an Ethiopian immigrant delineated the border of my life and friendships. I learned quickly how to stand alone.
I grew up in a little village in the west of Ireland.
I couldn't fit in the Irish community in New York. I was never one of the boys because they would talk about baseball or basketball, and I knew nothing about it.
My parents were both first-generation Irish Catholics raised in Brooklyn.