What is the difference between the Scots and the Irish? (live in, rated)

[hdwell]

Well I know the obvious answer to that one-(Scots are Scots; Irish are Irish). But really, down here in the American South where I'm from people use the two words interchangeably. Since a lot of us don't know our ancestry well, we say what is most comfortable to us; either Scottish, Irish, or the hyphenated Scot-Irish. Since I don't know all my ancestry either I've heard a combination of all three. So my question is Really is there any big difference?

[west_end_don]

The Scots are Scots. The Irish are Irish.
Scots-Irish is a term sometimes used to describe Ulster Scots i.e. the decendants of mainly Scots soliders and settlers who live in Northern Ireland. They are the backbone of the Protestant (loyalist) community of Northern Ireland.
Many of them migrated to North America due to the conflicts arising from their settlement there.
It could also just mean a mix of Irish and Scot background too.
Both countries share Celtic heritage and have much in common.

Other posters: Please no flaming. Just trying to help. No politics please.

[Ulster_Loyal]

Originally Posted by hdwell

Well I know the obvious answer to that one-(Scots are Scots; Irish are Irish). But really, down here in the American South where I'm from people use the two words interchangeably. Since a lot of us don't know our ancestry well, we say what is most comfortable to us; either Scottish, Irish, or the hyphenated Scot-Irish. Since I don't know all my ancestry either I've heard a combination of all three. So my question is Really is there any big difference?

There was once an Irish tribe called the ''Scotti'' by the Romans, they moved to Scotland in god knows what year.

The Irish are descended from Vikings, Normans, English,Scottish, Welsh, Flemish, and of course ''Native Irish'' so they say.

The Scots-Irish ( sigh)

Are descended from lowland Scots, English, welsh, French protestants, German Protestants. and Flemish settlers.

WHY the term Irish is used for the ^ is beyond belief most of you Americans who claim to be Scots-Irish (sigh) have little or no Irish blood.
Most of the settlers to ulster who then moved onto America in the 1700's only stayed in Ulster for 1 or 2 Generations.

The Scots are decended from Pict, Viking, ( hence the names ,Hansen, Fergusson) Anglo-Saxons, ( hence the very English sounding Surnames. Jackson, Hastings, Smith, Matthews,) AND of course Celts. Hence ( Mc- Mac)

To answer your question, yes, there are some differences.

[Peachysiren]

Scottish people are from Scotland and are Irish.
Irish people are from Ireland and are Irish.
- It's pretty much like Canadians and Americans.
Not much of a difference except for the fact that they are from two different countries.

They also have different accents.

[Lindsey_Mcfarren]

On my Mothers side, our ancestors came from Ireland, their name was Mcferrin and they were Catholic.

[hdwell]

Rep point for ya, Ulster. I didn't want to start a war over this (see second post, "no flaming") . Yes, I've heard there was a bit of rivalry going on btw the Scots and the Irish. But I find both as well as the English and Welch facinating people. Wouldn't want to offend anyone on this board or any country's citizenry.

One day my hope would be to visit England, Scotland and Ireland including northern Ireland and Wales. Some of my ancestors I have heard were from Scotland or Ulster (Carmichael and Gordon) . I am growing more interested in this kind of stuff (geneology) now that I am older and can think straight.LOL

Oh, I don't think ancestry knowledge will change anything, but I would like my daughter to know and she could pass it on to her children.

[BrianH]

Whats the for "Native Irish"

[Ulster_Loyal]

Originally Posted by BrianH

Whats the for "Native Irish"

1: the is no such thing as a native Irishman, nor is there such thing as a Native Englishman. it's all to do with being ''ignorant '' of your heritage.

What happend to all those English settlers in southern Ireland ,or those who came from Wales, and those who came via flanders? did they just vanish? or did they become IRISH?

[AnthonyB]

Originally Posted by Ulster_Loyal

The Scots-Irish ( sigh)

Are descended from lowland Scots, English, welsh, French protestants, German Protestants. and Flemish settlers.

WHY the term Irish is used for the ^ is beyond belief most of you Americans who claim to be Scots-Irish (sigh) have little or no Irish blood.
Most of the settlers to ulster who then moved onto America in the 1700's only stayed in Ulster for 1 or 2 Generations.

The Scots are decended from Pict, Viking, ( hence the names ,Hansen, Fergusson) Anglo-Saxons, ( hence the very English sounding Surnames. Jackson, Hastings, Smith, Matthews,) AND of course Celts. Hence ( Mc- Mac)

To answer your question, yes, there are some differences.

I'd say that is a fair description. As a Scot I never even heard the term "Scots-Irish" until I moved to the States.

As an aside, the Scots and the Irish generally get on fairly well in my experience, joined by our Celtic background and mutual dislike of the English.

[Jaggy001]

Originally Posted by hdwell

Rep point for ya, Ulster. I didn't want to start a war over this (see second post, "no flaming") . Yes, I've heard there was a bit of rivalry going on btw the Scots and the Irish. But I find both as well as the English and Welch facinating people. Wouldn't want to offend anyone on this board or any country's citizenry.

One day my hope would be to visit England, Scotland and Ireland including northern Ireland and Wales. Some of my ancestors I have heard were from Scotland or Ulster (Carmichael and Gordon) . I am growing more interested in this kind of stuff (geneology) now that I am older and can think straight.LOL

Oh, I don't think ancestry knowledge will change anything, but I would like my daughter to know and she could pass it on to her children.

I don't think there is any real rivalry between the Scots and the Irish. What we do have is the "plastic paddy" syndrome where you have Scots of Irish origin who are trying to be more Irish than the Irish and like to see themselves as an oppressed minority.

As to geneology, that is very easy to do in the UK and much of it can be done remote. Civil registration started in 1837 and the first census was in 1841. So it is pretty easy to get back to around 1800. After that, you need to look at parish records but for the most part they all exist. One of the benefits of never having been invaded!