As a wise woman once said "I was born in hospital, dun't make me a doctor" where you're *from* is about so much more than geography.

It strikes me more and more that St Paddy's day is a celebration of 'wanting to be Oirish' (as you say, you can't get it from reading a book or listening to a song) rather than a celebration of or by the Irish. Why are there no Welsh wanabees waving leeks on St Davids?