You’re born in one country. But your parents come from a different one. So what does that make you?
Written and performed by Declan Duffy who, having performed in local amateur theatre, and hundreds of gigs as a musician, and taken the role of Musical Director on a number of shows, was told by a theatre manager that he should write a one-man show.
Never having considered it, he asked himself:
“About what?” …before answering “About what I know” …and realising he had so much he needed to say about growing up in the pubs of Irish London, learning that his parents had one accent while he and his sister had another, that they were being raised in two different cultures, and that identity is a complex concept. Am I British? Or am I Irish? And how do I find out? By creating ‘Call Yourself An Irishman?’
And what if the two countries in question share a profound and complex history, one of conquest and subjugation, of resistance and rebellion? But which happen to be closest neighbours across the Irish Sea, and have grown to a mutual understanding, and (a sometimes uneasy) co-existence?
Where do you find your identity? How do you define yourself? Are you British? Or are you Irish? Or don’t you know?
Join Declan Duffy as he attempts to make some good sense out of it all.
He’ll consider the history of Irish migration to Britain, the difficulties encountered by the people who made that journey, and how all of it has influenced us, their descendants, in our consideration of who we are, what we are. There’ll be some songs, of course, and a few laughs, as we attempt to answer the question of how many boxes you technically have to tick in order to confidently state: I am Irish (sort of).
Brockley Jack Studio Theatre, 410 Brockley Road, London, SE4 2DH from Thursday 29 to Saturday 31 January 2026 at 7.30pm
Booking and full details: www.brockleyjack.co.uk
Check out the trailer: https://generationirish.net/
