Talk:Matthew McConaughey

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Unfortunately, the person who insists that Matthew McConaughey is Irish and not "Scotch-Irish" doesn't understand the subject of Irish surnames, British settlement in Ireland (especially the "planting" of Ulster), and emigration patterns to the American South. The province of Ulster was heavily settled by Scottish and English settlers who displaced the native Irish. These settlers brought with them their surnames, one of which was McConaughey. The McConaugheys are originally found in Scotland and are a branch of the Robertsons, descending from "Fat Duncan" Robertson, who lived at the time of Robert the Bruce. McConaughey is derived from the Gaelic MacDhonnchaidh, meaning "son of Duncan". Some McConaugheys settled in Ulster and established the name there, and some of these McConaugheys later settled in America, as part of the influx of settlers known as the "Scotch-Irish". Scotch-Irish settlers differed from native Irish settlers in that the former were usually Protestant and often settled in rural (especially southern) locales, while the latter were mainly Roman Catholic and tended to settle in larger cities of the north (e.g. Boston & New York). Matthew McConaughey is from a southern, Protestant family. (Indeed, Catholics were very rare in the U.S. South until rather recently.) There is no indication that Matthew McConaughey or any immediate ancestors have been Roman Catholic, as one would expect in a purely Irish family. McConaughey's mother is a McCabe, also a name that originated in Scotland, but was taken to Ireland at a very early period and became more hibernicized than McConaughey. Sources: Edward MacLysaght's "The Surnames of Ireland", and George Black's "The Surnames of Scotland".

He's not Irish, or Scotch-Irish, he is AMERICAN. Was he born in Ireland? THEN HE IS NOT IRISH!! It is highly offensive, especially to the Irish, to state you are of a certain nationality when you, nor any family, were born in another country. An ancestor from 300 years ago does NOT count! Americans need to realise this and quit making such ludricous claims.Paul75 12:31, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

The proper term is "Irish-American," and that only for those whose Irish-born ancestors are no more than three or four generations back. An exception would be someone who still notably identifies with the country of his ancestors even after more than four (or so) generations of American nationality. The children of Caroline Kennedy or Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. would probably not be considered Irish-American unless they expressed a felt identification with their Irish great-grandparents' culture. 66.108.4.183 20:35, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

Yes indeed. I changed it from "Scotch-Irish" to "Irish" because the source cited says Irish, not Scotch-Irish. I agree with the first poster that he almost certainly is of Scotch-Irish descent (i.e. his name, being Protestant, etc.) but we would need a source that says so specifically on Matthew McCounaghey, not on his surname. I also removed the Roman Catholic category, because he was raised a Protestant and as far as I know never converted to Catholicism, and the Irish-American category, because the source cited only says that he has some Irish ancestry, not that he is Irish-American (and as you've said above, it's not the exact same thing) Mad Jack 08:16, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

However, "Scotch-Irish" as a term has been around for many years in the United States and describes particular waves of ethnic migration, probably from the early 1800's on. The response above decrying the ethnocentrism of the term is in itself ethnocentric since apparently it would deny a term that has been in existence for over a century. I agree it is inaccurate as a modern term, however. Perhaps a "Scotch-Irish" article could be worked on from a historical perspective. 69.109.163.218 08:57, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

Well, what I was saying was really that the source cited said that McConaughey has "Irish" ancestry without specifying "Scotch-Irish", so we can't put Scotch-Irish unless we have a source.... Mad Jack 09:02, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

Understood. Half the time I'm talking I haven't bothered to read the text I'm pontificating on. I was about to say that classically the "Scotch-Irish' settled the Apalachians and similar places and were "hill" or "backwoods" types, were ethnically identifiable and separate for a while. They're probably a big part of the reason our fighting forces were so effective in so many wars. Don't know if they ever spoke Celtic over here in the US. Their legacy is still with us. [edit:] Of course, I'm speaking from a western US perspective where alot of people have come to from the South. A website claims the Scotch-Irish went to Pennsylvania in large numbers. Not unlike the spirit world, they're all around us. ;-)

Phthalobrew 09:13, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

Sorry, I don't really understand proper protocol here, but I thought the people editing this page should know there seems to be some vandalism on the biography. According to the writing his mother was a nickel prostitute? And there's a section created (with no text though) entitled sexual preference. I don't know enough to fix it so I'm hoping someone else can go back and take out the rude parts. 71.221.205.151 09:25, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

Additionally, Matthew McConaughey has abnormality short arms. Due to this props on movies sets have to be designed as to not highlight his deformity and he has been denied certain roles because of the money necessary to digitally correct his appearance on film. Also his aformentioned bongos had to be custom made for his stubby apendegages.[6]