70 million people outside of Ireland claim Irish heritage

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Shaun and I in Ireland

• WATCH: Shaun Micallef’s Origin Odyssey with me Tuesday October 8 / 7.30pm on SBS or catch up on SBS OnDemand

Origin Odyssey with Shaun Micallef

Mark October 8 in your diaries – my episode of Shaun Micallef’s Origin Odyssey is airing on SBS at 7.30pm. You can also catch up on SBS OnDemand. 

What’s the show?

Shaun Micallef takes six comedians to places of their origin. It’s Who Do You Think You Are meets The Trip (kind of).

Earlier this year my manager – I know I’m one of those people now that say’s “my manager” well he said to me “Do you want to do a new travel show with Shaun Micallef and discover more about your family heritage?” An easy yes from me!

Plot twist, we don’t go to Malaysia or China…

I have Irish DNA. My mum’s white you guys. I know, I look at least ¾ Asian. I guess the obvious choice is to go to dad’s side of the family but the producers were thinking – let’s go to Ireland. It even surprised me because on dad’s side there are some really good stories (hello Season 2). However I’ve been lucky enough to discover that side of my family with my dad so this felt like a good opportunity to learn more about mum’s family history – with professional historians, a camera crew to record everything and some business class flights.

My hesitation with doing mum’s side of the family? 

Well, it’s been so long since my mum’s family migrated from Ireland to Australia. It was 1862 – a terrible time in a long list of terrible times for Ireland … think potato famine and colonisation. And I thought, gosh it feels like a bit of a stretch. But I’m so glad I did do this side of the family because I have some thoughts. These are my takeaways:

We all come from somewhere

Unless you’re an Indigenous Australian you have come from somewhere else and very recently in the grand scheme of Australia. People have lived here for 60,000 years and white settlers maybe 250 of those? So not long at all. I think my family’s Irish heritage will resonate with a lot of Australians and hopefully it serves as a bit of  a reminder that we came from somewhere else and benefited from land that wasn’t ours … looking at you Pauline. 

The Irish are everywhere

There’s a reason you can find an Irish pub everywhere. They have a great history of migration mostly entwined with their great history of being oppressed mostly by the British. I went to the Emigration Museum in Dublin whilst I was there – a really fascinating place and big recommend as it gave me a lot of context for what I was filming. This figure stuck with me – 70 million people outside of Ireland claim Irish heritage and this includes Barack Obama, popstar Rhianna and me Lizzy Hoo. 

I’m as Irish as I am Chinese

I wouldn’t say my palette is but my DNA is. Well according to official dna I’m half Irish, 1/4 Thai and 1/4 Chinese. Too much to go into here. My dad’s family left China and moved to Malaysia around the same time my mum’s family left Ireland and moved to Australia. I can pass as Chinese – the name helps so does the face but if I tell people I’m part Irish, people are a little confused. 

Did I feel like I had a deep sense of connection to Ireland?

Hmmm not really. Perhaps if it was my own mother that had moved from Ireland I would have. I also think it’s because I grew up in a country with a lot of second- and third-hand Irish culture. I grew up Catholic, my mum has a dark sense of humour and growing up in Brisbane I was surrounded by Irish names – we all know a Kelly, Tiernan or an O’Halloran. Hang out in County Coogee in Sydney you’re basically in Ireland. 

However, there is a juicy story about my family in the town my mum’s family came from – Ennistymon, Clare and I’m starting to realise how important that moment was in the bigger picture of Ireland; the independent Ireland that we see today. 

I’m appreciating the trip now more than I did at the time…

During filming I was finding out so much about my family I knew it would take time to process and figure out what it all meant. At the time I think I was trying too hard to find a connection.

Today’s Ireland fascinates me and understanding its history, of which my family was a part of, is making me see Ireland in a different way. It’s not just a place of funny people with funny dancing, who like to drink and have a laugh, it’s a country that’s gone through so much – famine, colonisation, genocide… there’s a reason there’s a Palestinian flag outside the Irish parliament. They’re fighting the good fight. They get it. They’ve been there before. I’ve also been listening to The Blind Boy podcast and I saw the movie Kneecap the other day and it was a real insight into how Ireland is reclaiming its identity. Perhaps that’s what I’m doing? 

The mixed race experience: chuckles* a complex ever evolving thought process. Going to Ireland wasn’t like going to Malaysia for the first time. Admittedly I was very young when I went to Malaysia for the first time but I distinctly remember thinking ohhhh this country and the people it all makes sense. This is why I do the things I do. People here look like me, they talk like my dad and they eat the foods I eat. Growing up in a white country and returning to a white country doesn’t really have the same immediate impact. 

It’s been 6 months since my trip to Ireland with comedy legend Shaun Micaleff and whilst I may not have felt a deep connection then I am starting to appreciate one now.

This article written by an actual journalists sums it up best