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What we call here in the States "Scots-Irish" or "Scotch Irish" are the descendants of Presbyterians who left Ireland a generation or so after the Plantation of Ulster and relocated to the Americas (caught between England on the one hand, and justifiably pissed off Irish Catholics on the other, they decided that discretion was the better part of valor and got the hell out of Dodge). They would have been Presbyterians, at least initially (my ancestors seem to have become Baptists within a generation of hitting Alabama), and would likely have spoken Ulster Scots.
That said, hereabouts the line between "Scotch Irish" and simply "Irish" has blurred considerably, and a person of Scotch Irish descent is as likely to self-identify simply as "Irish" or "Scottish" as anything. Also, not knowing that the term refers to a specific group of people, people of mixed Scottish and Irish heritage sometimes mistakenly use the term "Scotch Irish."
I guess it all depends on how authentic you want it, and what matters most to you about your heritage. In my case, I found out that my people were part of the 18th century Scotch Irish migration to Georgia long, long, after I fell in love with Irish traditional music, the Irish language, and Gaelic history and culture, so other than briefly thinking "isn't that interesting...I probably do have relatives somewhere in Ireland after all," I figured that they probably weren't interested in meeting a Catholic-turned-Anglican, Irish-speaking relative, and the feeling was probably mutual.
Redwolf
Last edited by Redwolf on March 08 2010, 5:41 AM, edited 1 time in total.
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