What do you call a person who loves the Tin Whistle (both to play and to listen), loves the Irish language, loves the Guinness, and doesn’t have a bit of Celtic, let alone Irish ancestry?
Lucky?
Interested (and occassionally drunk, depending on HOW MUCH you like that Guinness).
Seriously, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Lots of people are interested in cultures that they’re not personally descended from.
Hey, whatever lights your candle!
Steven
Yank. 
ah - but if you have any European heritage, you may have some Celtic in you. They moved through most of Europe before getting to the coast (I love Gallician music - and I know I probably spelled that incorrectly).
All of my “background” is Black Forest area of Germany, but who’s to say that some Celt didn’t like the area thousands of years ago and stayed there???
Missy
I dunno. I might be 1/32 Irish if that, but I still like the music. I don’t think it really matters. I also have an interest in Japanese pop culture, but I know for a fact that I’m not even remotely Japanese. I’ve known a few Japanese people and none of them seemed offended by my interest in Anime and such, most of them were amused by it if anything.
Though I don’t know all branches of my ancestery thoroughly, I’d feel awfully silly calling myself “Irish” (what Celtic ancestry I can prove is Welsh - but I’d feel just as silly calling myself “Welsh”). I’m an American, and my family has been here long enough (and intermarried enough) that I’ve probably got most countries in northern and western Europe somewhere in the family tree. I wasn’t aware that I had to produce a certified genealogical certificate before I could appreciate a body of music or literature.
I like Irish music. And I play it, however badly. I certainly don’t try to dictate what The Music is or isn’t. If someone wants to, they’re free to do so (and I’m free to ignore them if I disagree). Yes, it’s worth preserving - but it’s a living tradition, and it evolves over time. The “tradition” is somehat self-referential; it’s what the majority of traditional musicians accept as traditional.
Consider the instruments added to “the tradition” in the last couple of centuries - flute, button accordion, concertina, bouzouki, and our beloved tinwhistle. Go back a century more, and add the pipes to the list - apparently, the bellows-blown (rather than mouth-blown) pipes appeared in the early 18th century. Or the music itself - reels go back only a couple of centuries, and probably were brought in from Scotland.
Didn’t mean to write a screed - sorry! - but this “If you aren’t X you can’t possibly understand it” sillyness, whether in music, politics, or religion, annoys me.
Dana (who, truth be known, loves both the pure drop and Flook)
Celtophile?
Ants beat me to it! Yep, you’re a Celtophile.
Celtophilius:
An Irish paramecium?
Cultured from an Irish sock?
Actually, that looks bacterial.
I’d call him/her a Tin-whistle-loving-Irish-language-loving Guiness lover I suppose. The rest doesn’t matter . I fall in that category too.
~nash
Late for breakfast - after all that guiness! 
naw…protozoal. (so the paramecium guess isn’t too far off.)
bacteria have no flagellae, do they?
pommy
Bacteria can have flagellea, it was the naked (non-nucleate) DNA that clued me in that it was bacterial.
Well Rod, you’ve proven once again that bs can only take one so far…there’s always someone who knows enough to catch you!
Where in Wisconsin do you hail??? I am in the Northwoods…close to Crivitz!! Maybe we can have a mini-session sometime!! I am of Irish descent..and LOVE Irish music, Guinness…all things Irish as well.
You can’t control what you fall in love with!! I also love Native American music..although I am not of that descent.
Go for it! That’s what life’s all about…following our bliss!
Welcome!
Nancymae
www.nmpatterson.com
My ancestry is mostly Italian and Cape Verde, and some Scottish and English by way of Canada. So basically, I’m an American.
I’ve always felt a pull toward Irish music. Can’t explain what it is, but it hits some chords in me. [/quote]