Am I Irish? Northern Irish? British? Ulster Irish?

Surrounded by green beer and corned beef in Arizona, St Patrick's Day get's me thinking about my Irish identity

Yvonne Watterson in Arizona: 'I was born in Northern Ireland and own a British passport (to be on the safe side), as well as an Irish passport; my American permanent residency card clearly states Ireland as my country of birth; and my birth certificate states my birthplace as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.'

Yvonne Watterson in Arizona: 'I was born in Northern Ireland and own a British passport (to be on the safe side), as well as an Irish passport; my American permanent residency card clearly states Ireland as my country of birth; and my birth certificate states my birthplace as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.'

I am ambivalent about St Patrick’s Day, not sure what it is about March 17th that renders so many people Irish, or some version of it, that I do not recall from living the first 27 years of my life in Northern Ireland.

Everywhere I turn on Saturday, there will be Americans proclaiming their Irishness, some in T-shirts emblazoned with a command for everyone to kiss them, or a warning that they are falling-down drunk. Because they are Irish.

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