I'm a mixture of Irish and Northern Irish but first generation born in England.

Our parents and grandparents tease and joke about us being English, so that we reject the national identity where we are born and have to fight to be seen as Irish and become part of the family.

I grew up in an Irish and Scottish area of my city and everyone I grew up had the same teasing and they also are proud of their heritage and have a loyalty to the old countries.

So your not wrong at all, especially when the migration comes in like a flood and they live with people like themselves they retain their ways and culture.