Citizens by descent — but not in law

UNDER nationality law from 1956 anyone with an Irish great-grandparent, grandparent or parent was eligible for citizenship by descent.

This simply entailed getting records showing your link to Ireland and filling out an application with the Irish consulate. Once that was done, you were an Irish citizen.

However, in 1984 the law was changed and members of the Irish diaspora whose closest link to Ireland was a great-grandparent no longer qualified for citizenship by descent.