Introduction
My mother always insisted she was descended from the high kings of Tara.

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Discovering Your Irish Heritage
Whether you were brought up immersed in Irish traditions or have only recently discovered your ancestors from the Emerald Isle, you're probably already familiar with some aspects of your Irish heritage. You'd have to be living under a rock to not have encountered St. Patrick's Day, Irish dancing, and "the little fella"—the leprechaun. You'll also know that being Irish has a certain cultural cachet, in part because of Irish-Americans' classic underdog backstory of overcoming the odds in the face of prejudice, abuse, and extreme poverty, and partly because of the community's reputation for being big-hearted and charming.