Introducing citizenship

If you have a parent or grandparent who was born on Irish soil, it is definitely worth it to consider dual citizenship. If it is your parent who was born in Ireland, but you were born elsewhere, you already are an Irish citizen and only need to fill out the paperwork.

However, if you are like me, my parents were both born outside of Ireland--but I still had that Irish grandmother. This is where you can receive citizenship through decent. You do this by adding your birth to the Foreign Births Register in Ireland.

Once you are an Irish citizen, your children will be entitled to Irish citizenship (but only if they weren't born when you registered). Then they, too, can register into the Foreign Births Register before having children and succeed in maintaining citizenship through the generations.

The effort can take awhile--you have to dig up birth certificates and wedding certificates for each generation. For your Irish grandparent, this can mean that you have to purchase documents from Ireland and have them mailed to you. Once you submit your application, it can take 4-12 months before you receive your citizenship in the mail. It is worth the effort, because if you allow a generation to pass without getting citizenship, your family loses the right to claim citizenship.

The website http://www.inis.gov.ie guides you on how to fill out your paperwork and begin the process of becoming a citizen.

How I fell in love with traveling to Europe

When I was a sophomore in college I saw a flyer hanging on the walls of the English building. It advertised three full weeks in Dublin, Ireland. I tore it off the wall and stuffed it in my backpack. I went to Ireland the following summer and have been going back every year since. 

Those three weeks painted a real picture of what Dublin was like, and I became enchanted with everything that was and is Irish culture. With the course I took that first time, I was able to visit a local television studio, TV3, have a personal tour of the General Post Office (GPO), and attend classes at Dublin City University (DCU). Above all else, I was free to explore all that Ireland was, and hop on RyanAir--an incredibly cheap flight--and travel to any one of the neighboring countries. 

I flew back to America after my first trip knowing that I was going to return to study abroad for a semester at the same university. I immediately began working on finding a company to sponsor me and enroll for the following semester at DCU. As I worked on this task, I discovered that I could also apply for Irish citizenship. All that one needs to become an Irish citizen--which includes European Union citizenship--was a parent or grandparent who was born on Irish soil. I had two grandparents born in Ireland I was ecstatic. 

When I studied abroad, I unnecessarily purchased a work permit, waited over 7 hours to obtain a GNIB card (the equivalent to a green card in the US) figured out how to obtain a PPS number, found a job,  and learned how to live within a new culture comfortably. 

There are so many things I wish I could have known before heading over to the old sod those first couple times. So, I'm going to do my best to help people confidently make the move or take a visit to Ireland!

My first trip to Ireland, 2013.

An Introduction

This blog is going to follow the tradition of Americans with Irish heritage. Beyond small strands of Irish running in one's blood, this blog is specifically for those with Irish blood reaching back no later than one's grandparents. These lucky Americans are able to claim Irish citizenship--and beyond that EU citizenship. Want to live in France? Done. Italy? See you there. Ireland? Let's go tomorrow. How do you do this? Is it hard? Do I qualify? What would I want with Irish/EU citizenship? I'm going to explore that for you.


On an individual level, I am one of these lucky Americans with Irish grandparents. I am an Irish citizen who has lived in Ireland and want to make that transition easier for anyone considering the option short or long term. Currently on American soil, but always traveling to Ireland, and a goal of living there permanently--I'm the perfect virtual travel buddy. Pack up your suitcase heart and let's get back to the old sod together!