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The incognito Irish: Surprising stars with Irish roots

By
KENNETH HAYNES,
IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Monday, November 2, 2009, 12:04 PM
Updated Monday, November 2, 2009, 1:25 PM

 

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Robert De Niro: "You talkin' to me" Irish
Robert De Niro: "You talkin' to me" Irish

Surprise! They're Irish!

Some celebrities are obviously Irish - think Conan O'Brien,  Denis Leary and Maureen Dowd, while others, like President Obama, are a little harder to spot.

These undercover Irishmen and women may not “look the part,” but that doesn’t mean they’re any less Irish than a pale redhead with freckles.

We present to you the IrishCentral top 10 list of the incognito Irish:

 

1. Chuck Norris

The world famous Chuck Norris is usually thought of as an American badass who delivers a mean roundhouse kick to people’s faces. The Texas Ranger is the son of Wilma (née Scarberry) and Ray Norris, both of whom are of Irish and Cherokee Native American descent. In fact, Norris’ paternal grandfather was an emigrant from Ireland.

 

2. Christina Aguilera

This genie in a bottle got lots of attention for her Latin name. According to her Irish American mother: "A lot of people get all in a fuss about Christina wanting to explore her Latin side and not mentioning her Irish side much, but that's only logical," Shelly Kearns told Irish America magazine. "She has no need to go exploring her Irish heritage because she has always known it."

 

3. Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp has enthused about his Irish heritage to Irish newspapers in the past. Depp’s Irish roots come from his mother, Betty Sue Palmer. He is very curious about his Irish side, and once said: “I’d really like to [trace Irish roots], because there’s a part of me that says, hey, I might be related to Phil Lynott or someone great like that.”

 

4. Jerry Garcia

Jerry Garcia's name doesn’t sound too Irish, but his ancestry his actually composed of Spanish, Irish and Swedish. The Grateful Dead legend was born August 1, 1942 to Jose Ramon "Joe" Garcia and Ruth Marie "Bobbie" (née Clifford) Garcia.

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3 Comments

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Posted by shidoobe on Apr 30, 2010, 10:24 AM EDT
Ali? Deniro? SLAINTE'
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Posted by phearne on Apr 19, 2010, 04:10 PM EDT
My mother's maiden name was Caldwell,my father's last name was Hearne. I was surprised to learn through our genealogy that Hearne was Irish not English and Mother's father was Irish not Scot.Our first ancestor on the Hearne side was first recorded in Ireland in the 1400's.Little is known about the background of my mother's father,except he arrived on a riverboat in Arkansas,USA when he was thirteen.
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Posted by Rebelforce on Nov 05, 2009, 05:51 PM EST
Derek Jeter.....mother's maidan name Connors. Alfred Hitchcock.....mother's name Emma Jane Whalen. Charles Laughton.....mother's name Elizabeth Conlon.
 


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