Right ? I completely understand your last line . I ' m Canadian , my family ' s been completely Canadian for more than a century , we had to go back to the early 1800 ' s to find anyone not born in North America . It was a pair of Scottish brothers , running from the law , that moved to Newfoundland and have been there ever since . It ' s a way of humanizing my ancestors , and giving my family a little bit more respect from myself . I mean , I feel like it might be something to do with the heritage of a lot of people from the Old World too . They might have family that served in the military in various wars , but besides that , their family lines just kind of fade out into obscurity after a couple hundred years , unless they ' re nobility . What ' s there to take pride in ? They take pride in the accomplishments of their country , not their ancestry . Us saying we ' re Irish would feel the same as if they said they ' re descended from our families too , it ' s kind of a kneejerk reaction to say , No you ' re not , you haven ' t earned that right ! When we say we ' re Irish or Dutch or Scottish , when we mean we have Irish or Dutch or Scottish heritage . In North America , if I tell you I ' m Irish with an obvious American accent , you and I both know I mean heritagewise . But for them , we might as well be showing them a fake Irish passport . And it kind of justifiably feels wrong to them .