I think your granddaughters question is making many of us think hard about the reasons people want dual citizenship. My grandparents brought me up, when my mother died in childbirth and I was 1 1/2 years old. I listened to many tales of Ireland, that they had heard from their parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. I heard about the Shea's visiting Knock right before coming to America, in 1881 and stories going back many more generations. My grandfather told me he had few regrets,but one was not having been able to visit Ireland, before he died.. What he gave up to bring my sister and I up, I have been able to do several times I would have liked the dual citizenship to honor my grandparents and for the connection they gave me to Ireland. I feel connected with the beauty of Ireland, the sense of humor and friendliness of the people. Yes, there is a definite feeling of Irishness, one carried by generations of my family. Would they have ever left if my great great grandfather hadn't died from lung disease in Allihies, leading his family of many daughters without the means to keep living in Ireland? Would they have come to Fall River without so many others from Kitcatherine and Allihies having made the same journey before to welcome them? Those answers I don't know and wish I had asked.. I do know that my great grandparents still spoke Gaelic to each other in America and that love for all things Irish is still passed down to my grandchildren, as well. Any convenience is attached to Irish citizenship or an Irish passport, haven't even entered into my desire for dual ctizenship. I also realize many may not understand my connectedness,and that's understandable, too. I understand "foreigners" coming to the USA, legally, to escape famine, wars, etc. or because they ended up having more of their family here, then in their original country. I would not have a problem with them gaining American citizenship. I'd also understand,if African Americans wanted dual citizenship or American Indian descendents whose family were transported to the Carribean many years ago. There were many historical occurances which left people connected to their ancestors countries. There journey to find their original connections with "home" are often much more difficult then ours to Ireland.

I'll finally make this my last words on the subject. This has to be the best reply Ive had all day......... Thank you for taking the time to give my daughter your comments. Much appreciated. Slán. > From: Shamrockri1@aol.com > Date: Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:09:09 -0400 > To: beara@rootsweb.com > Subject: [BEARA] Citizenship > > I think your granddaughters question is making many of us think hard about > the reasons people > want dual citizenship. > > My grandparents brought me up, when my mother died in childbirth and I was > 1 1/2 years old. > I listened to many tales of Ireland, that they had heard from their > parents, grandparents, aunts > and uncles. I heard about the Shea's visiting Knock right before coming > to America, in 1881 > and stories going back many more generations. > > My grandfather told me he had few regrets,but one was not having been able > to visit Ireland, before he > died.. What he gave up to bring my sister and I up, I have been able to > do several times > I would have liked the dual citizenship to honor my grandparents and for > the connection they > gave me to Ireland. > > I feel connected with the beauty of Ireland, the sense of humor and > friendliness of the people. > Yes, there is a definite feeling of Irishness, one carried by generations > of my family. > > Would they have ever left if my great great grandfather hadn't died from > lung disease in Allihies, > leading his family of many daughters without the means to keep living in > Ireland? Would they > have come to Fall River without so many others from Kitcatherine and > Allihies having made the > same journey before to welcome them? Those answers I don't know and wish > I had asked.. > > I do know that my great grandparents still spoke Gaelic to each other in > America and that love > for all things Irish is still passed down to my grandchildren, as well. > > Any convenience is attached to Irish citizenship or an Irish passport, > haven't even entered > into my desire for dual ctizenship. > > I also realize many may not understand my connectedness,and that's > understandable, too. > > I understand "foreigners" coming to the USA, legally, to escape famine, > wars, etc. or because they > ended up having more of their family here, then in their original country. > I would not have a problem > with them gaining American citizenship. > > I'd also understand,if African Americans wanted dual citizenship or > American Indian descendents whose > family were transported to the Carribean many years ago. There were many > historical occurances > which left people connected to their ancestors countries. There journey > to find their original connections > with "home" are often much more difficult then ours to Ireland. > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to BEARA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message _________________________________________________________________ New Windows 7: Simplify what you do everyday. Find the right PC for you. http://windows.microsoft.com/shop