The Ireland I now inhabit is one that these Irish contemporaries have helped to imagine. Votes: 4
Seamus HeaneyAustralia without the Irish would be unthinkable . . . unimaginable . . . unspeakable. Votes: 3
Paul KeatingI'm tri-racial: African-American, Native American and Euro - that's the Scotch-Irish part. Votes: 3
Alice WalkerMy dad's half-Lebanese, my mom is full Lebanese. I'm three-quarters Lebanese. Irish-Lebanese. Votes: 3
Tom ShadyacIrish Catholics are more interested in the rosary beads than in the rosary ... Votes: 3
Bernadette DevlinMy mother was Irish and she was superstitious, if you'll forgive the tautology. Votes: 3
Rosalind RussellI have always loved American poetry, which is very different from Irish poetry. Votes: 3
Eavan BolandI grew up in a very old-fashioned Roman Catholic, Italian-Irish family in Philly. Votes: 3
Bradley CooperHindered characters / seldom have mothers / in Irish stories, but they all have grandmothers. Votes: 3
Marianne MooreI'm half Scotch-Irish on both sides, and when I lose my temper-brother, I go. Votes: 3
S. J. PerelmanIrish Catholicism is very much founded on the stone of fear and of punishment. Votes: 3
Edna O'BrienI'm Irish. That means I'm Catholic. But, truth is, now I'm a retired Christian. Votes: 3
Peter O'TooleI'm Irish but I design something that is quintessentially English and I love hats. Votes: 3
Philip TreacyThe British Government and the Irish Government have accepted very clearly the Mitchell Report. Votes: 3
Dick SpringMy Irish passport makes me look like a chief of staff for the Provisional IRA. Votes: 3
Jack HigginsI think of myself as being Jewish and Irish, despite the fact that I'm English. Votes: 3
Daniel RadcliffeMy mom's Jewish and my dad's Irish Catholic alcoholic, so I whine on the inside. Votes: 3
Margaret SmithIt has always been my dream and ambition to introduce Irish dancing to the world. Votes: 3
Michael FlatleyI can't think of anything you might say about Irish people that is absolutely true. Votes: 3
Anne EnrightThe trouble with the Irish question always has been that it was an English question. Votes: 3
Katharine TynanWe Irish will never achieve anything; but we are the greatest talkers since the Greeks Votes: 3
Oscar WildeDo you know what Irish Alzheimer's is? It's when you forget everything but your grudges. Votes: 3
Dana GouldI'm really fortunate. I grew up in a wonderful household with great Irish Catholic parents. Votes: 3
Tim KaineI feel Irish-Americans are the forgotten minority group. Nobody else is making films about them. Votes: 3
Edward BurnsI worked the drive-through at McDonald's and tried out different accents - Italian, Russian, Irish. Votes: 3
James FrancoTo be Irish is to know that in the end the world will break your heart. Votes: 3
Daniel Patrick MoynihanI'm not a walking extra in a Chekhov play; I'm no Slavic gloom or Irish gloom. Votes: 3
Orson WellesLet everyone leave all the guns - British guns and Irish guns - outside the door. Votes: 3
Martin McGuinnessDid you know you can have an Irish abortion, but there is a 12 month waiting list? Votes: 3
Frank CarsonBut after being fired at once or twice, The ear becomes more Irish, and less nice. Votes: 3
Robert ByronThe Gay News critic wrote that I 'carried the lilt of the Irish without the brogue'. Votes: 3
Stephen FryThe Irish are the damnedest race. They put so much emphasis on so many wrong things. Votes: 3
Margaret MitchellMy kids are Irish; I want them to grow up playing Gaelic football and learning Irish. Votes: 3
Shane FilanI think it is fair to say that 2007 represents a turning point for the Irish economy. Votes: 3
Brian CowenYes, ruling by fooling, is a great British art with great Irish fools to practice on. Votes: 3
James ConnollyThere's no sense to being Irish unless you know the world's going to break your heart. Votes: 3
Thomas AdcockMy dad is Irish. I spent my childhood going back and forth between Ireland and America. Votes: 3
Olivia Wilde[On the Irish:] Strange race ... Don't know what they want, but want it like the devil. Votes: 3
Mary Roberts RinehartShort-term amnesia is not the worst affliction if you have an Irish flair for the sauce. Votes: 3
Norman MailerMy mother is Italian and my dad's Irish. In my family, we're expressive. Nobody holds back. Votes: 3
Kate WalshThe problem with being Irish... is having 'Riverdance' on your back. It's a burden at times. Votes: 3
Roddy DoyleThe Irish Government can no longer stand by and see innocent people injured and perhaps worse. Votes: 3
Jack LynchMy mother is Irish, my father is black and Venezuelan, and me - I'm tan, I guess. Votes: 3
Mariah CareyI own a lot of my house, because I'm Irish and from people who never owned anything. Votes: 3
Dan SavageIn the spirit of the Irish people, Osama bin Laden, you can kiss my royal Irish ass! Votes: 3
Mike MoranI'm not Irish. Just because I have red hair doesn't mean I'm a lucky charm, you know? Votes: 3
Rebecca MaderMy dad lives in Sicily, so I'm half Italian and half Irish - it's a fiery combination. Votes: 3
Nico MirallegroMy dad lives in Sicily, so I'm half Italian and half Irish - it's a fiery combination. Votes: 3
NicoI had a very happy childhood, which is unsuitable if you're going to be an Irish writer. Votes: 3
Maeve BinchyI'm Irish on St. Patrick's Day. I'm Italian on Columbus Day. I'm a New Yorker every day. Votes: 3
Tamara TunieI am Irish by race but the English have condemned me to talk the language of Shakespeare. Votes: 3
Oscar WildeThe Irish people will only be free, when they own everything from the plough to the stars Votes: 3
James ConnollyAnd I'm a Catholic, from an Irish Catholic family, and we know plenty of stuff about guilt. Votes: 3
Bob GuntonWhen you are lying drunk at the airport you're Irish. When you win an Oscar you're British. Votes: 3
Brenda FrickerIn Ireland, it's been like U2 and The Cranberries, which is rock, but you know they're Irish. Votes: 3
Caroline CorrI like Irish pubs, except for all the loud music and drinking, and people acting like idiots. Votes: 3
Dov DavidoffIrish people have a trick of over-statement, at which one ceases to wince as one grows older. Votes: 3
Katharine TynanMy only counsel to Ireland is that in order to become deeply Irish, she must become European. Votes: 3
Tom KettleThe Irish are great for their tunes, but all their lovesongs are sad and their warsongs happy. Votes: 3
Colum McCannWe Irish are born dreamers; sometimes we never wake up at all, and then we're counted failures. Votes: 3
Katherine Cecil ThurstonFar in foreign fields from Dunkirk to Belgrade Lie the soldiers and chiefs of the Irish Brigade. Votes: 3
Thomas DavisI grew up in a world that was clannish - old Tasmanian-Irish families with big extended families. Votes: 3
Richard FlanaganI'm 100 percent Irish by birth, grew up Italian, and yet I constantly get cast as playing Jewish. Votes: 3
Heather MatarazzoThe Local Paper here asked that me books be banned........THE HIGHEST PRAISE for an Irish writer. Votes: 3
Ken BruenYou're an actor who's Irish, not an Irish actor. And you shouldn't be limited by your extraction. Votes: 3
Cillian MurphyI come from the tradition of a big Irish family that loves to sing. I love to perform. Votes: 3
Robbie WilliamsIt is not blood that makes you Irish but a willingness to be part of the Irish Nation. Votes: 3
Thomas DavisLove is a rainbow of emotion. My favorite part is the pot of gold and the Irish midget. Votes: 3
Jarod KintzI cannot shy away from controversy. I don't know if it's my Irish blood, but I love it. Votes: 3
Gina McCarthyI like Guinness, and that will make anyone Irish. That and soda bread, and I'm good to go. Votes: 3
Peter RiegertI'll also tell you that to no less extent my mom, who was the daughter of Irish immigrants. Votes: 3
Mike PenceThe Irish do not want anyone to wish them well; they want everyone to wish their enemies ill. Votes: 3
Harold NicolsonI have a difficult time doing an Irish accent; even now, it kind of fades slowly into Scottish. Votes: 3
Robin WilliamsI am the indoctrinated child of two lapsed Irish Catholics. Which is to say: I am not religious. Votes: 3
Meghan O'RourkeI'm Irish, so I'm messing all the time. Which means, I'm having a laugh. I'm always making jokes. Votes: 3
Saoirse RonanA lot of Irish people perform. They perform in drawing rooms. They sing songs and they play piano. Votes: 3
Fiona ShawI am Michael, and I am part English, Irish, German, and Scottish, sort of a virtual United Nations. Votes: 3
Michael ScottI am who I am: an Irish Catholic kid, working class from Long Island. And I made it big. Votes: 3
Bill O'ReillyWell, I did go to Irish dancing lessons as a kid, but I was slapped and never went again. Votes: 3
Andrea CorrI have often heard it said that the Irish are too ready to forgive. It is a noble failing. Votes: 3
Katharine TynanBut let's just say, I'm Irish. I grew up in the 1950s. Religion had a very tight iron fist. Votes: 3
Liam NeesonIf I'd wanted this place to fill up with every fat Irish rose that passes by, I'd've said so. Votes: 3
J. D. SalingerThe Irish gave the bagpipes to the Scotts as a joke, but the Scotts haven't seen the joke yet. Votes: 3
Oliver HerfordI'm not sure if a grinning Irish guy who is speechless for 45 seconds is going to make good TV. Votes: 3
Brian F. O'ByrneA well-off plastic surgeon can suffer just as much as an Irish lad who has been abused or whatever. Votes: 3
William NicholsonI was freelancing for years in Cork and around. I also wrote freelance pieces for 'The Irish Times.' Votes: 3
Kevin BarryThe Irish are the only men who know how to cry for the dirty polluted blood of all the world. Votes: 3
Norman MailerYa see I'm Irish, but I'm not a leprechaun. You wanna fight, then step up and we'll get it on! Votes: 3
EverlastThere was an Irish space program to go to the sun. They went at night so they didn't get burnt. Votes: 3
Frank CarsonI had to have some balls to be Irish Catholic in South London. Most of that time I spent fighting. Votes: 3
Pierce BrosnanI love Ireland. I'll always be 100pc Irish. I get really excited when I go to Sligo; it's my home. Votes: 3
Shane FilanI'm hugely proud of being Irish. And I don't even know what that means. I just know that it's true. Votes: 3
Domhnall GleesonI grew up in an Irish Catholic family, and I think they force you to watch every James Cagney movie. Votes: 3
Jimmy FallonAm I the Irish comedian with half a finger? No, I'm the Irish comedian with nine and a half fingers. Votes: 3
Dave AllenThat's the Irish all over -- they treat a joke as a serious thing and a serious thing as a joke. Votes: 3
Sean O'CaseyIt seems to me you do not care what banality a man expresses so long as he expresses it in Irish. Votes: 3
James JoyceI'm a product of my Irish culture, and I could no more lose that than I could my sense of identity. Votes: 3
Gabriel ByrneMy Irish mate told me, if you file down the edges of a 50 pence piece, you can use it as a 10p. Votes: 3
Frank CarsonI'm half-Irish, half-Dutch, and I was born in Belgium. If I was a dog, I'd be in a hell of a mess! Votes: 3
Audrey HepburnBeing Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy. Votes: 6 William Butler Yeats
I had to have some balls to be Irish Catholic in South London. Most of that time I spent fighting. Votes: 4 Pierce Brosnan
Many nations use language simply to convey information, but it's different in Ireland. With most conversational exchanges you get an 'added extra' like the free little biscuit you sometimes get with a cappuccino in a fancy coffee place. Votes: 1 Marian Keyes
I grew up in a very old-fashioned Roman Catholic, Italian-Irish family in Philly. Votes: 2 Bradley Cooper
It is a most disgraceful shame the way in which Irishmen are brought up. They are ashamed of their language, institutions, and of everything Irish. Votes: 3 Douglas Hyde
I read mostly Irish, African, Japanese, South American, and African writers. You can count on Scandinavian literature for a certain kind of darkness, a modern mythic style. Votes: 1 Chris Abani
I think Paul McGuinness and U2 created the Irish music industry. It certainly wasn't there before that. Votes: 2 Van Morrison
They won't break me because the desire for freedom, and the freedom of the Irish people, is in my heart. The day will dawn when all the people of Ireland will have the desire for freedom to show. It is then that we will see the rising of the moon. Votes: 2 Bobby Sands
In Northern Ireland, helicopters are not usually used to promote poetry. Votes: 1 Seamus Heaney
Irish poets, learn your trade, sing whatever is well made, scorn the sort now growing up all out of shape from toe to top. Votes: 1 William Butler Yeats
Both sides of my family had come from Ireland in the 19th century for the same reason: There was nothing to eat over there. Since then, I've tried to make up for the potato famine by making the potato the only vegetable that passes these lips. Votes: 1 Art Donovan
The British don't runaway from terrorism. We have had 30-odd years of terrorism in our own country from the Irish Republican Army. We're used to it. Votes: 2 John Major
Nationalism of the Irish type is often regarded as reactionary. With the World Revolution and the Classless Society waiting for the midwife, why take a torch to the stable to assist at the birth of a puppy? Even if the puppy is pedigree. On this question I am unable to make up my mind. Votes: 1 Louis MacNeice
I don't buy into the idea that an Irish writer should write about Ireland, or a gay writer should write about being gay. Votes: 1 John Boyne