As much as we have almost everything about our favorite celebrities on the internet, there will always be some lesser-known facts about them. Well, in honor of the Irish holiday, St. Patrick’s Day, we’re interested in famous people who have Irish roots. The interesting thing is that these celebrities never hide their ethnicity- we just happen to miss it. Here are five famous people you didn’t know had Irish roots.
Rosario Dawson
Considering her physical features, you’d never have guessed Rosario Dawson was Irish. Interestingly, she doesn’t just have Irish roots; she is ‘more Irish than anything.’
Courtesy: Instagram
Dawson revealed in 2011 that, although she didn’t grow up with him, her biological father was Irish. When she visited Ireland in 2016, she revealed that her Irish ethnicity was why she traveled to the country.
Demi Lovato
While the realization of some celebs’ ancestry astonished us as fans, Demi Lovato’s Irish ethnicity surprised the singer. In 2017, they submitted DNA for testing- and the results showed their roots.
Courtesy: Instagram
The DNA results revealed that Lovato has British, Native American, Spanish, Scandinavian, and Irish roots. Although their link to the country is unknown, and they didn’t grow up there, they are definitely Irish biologically.
Olivia Wilde
Olivia Wilde isn’t just of Irish ancestry; the American actress and filmmaker is actively connected to the country. As a child, she spent summers in Ardmore, a fishing village in County Waterford, Ireland.
Courtesy: Instagram
Olivia’s grandfather, Claud Cockburn, was an Irish novelist, and her father, Andrew, moved from Ireland to Washington, D.C. to continue his journalism career. The filmmaker even chose her stage name, Wilde, because of the Irish poet Oscar Wilde.
Barack Obama
We all know Barack Obama has Hawaiian roots, but most people have no idea that he also has Irish heritage. The former president also didn’t know about his Irish roots until 2007, when he discovered his link to Moneygall in Ireland.
Courtesy: Huffpost
The former president’s great-great-grandfather, Falmouth Kearney, moved from Ireland to Liverpool before traveling to America in 1850. In 2011, Barack Obama visited his ancestor’s hometown, Moneygall, and sipped on Guinness with some of the town’s residents.
Christina Aguilera
Due to her Spanish-language albums, Christina Aguilera’s Ecuadorian roots are better known than her Irish ones. However, the celebrity has known and embraced her Irish heritage since she was a kid.
Courtesy: Instagram
Aguilera’s mother is Irish-American, so she has an Irish and Latin background. Her 2018 Instagram post, which she captioned, “Proud of my (Irish) roots” with an Irish flag, shows how much she embraces her Irish ethnicity.
