Ed Sheeran via Associated Press<\/span><\/p>\n Between his hit song Galway Girl, his clear affinity for <\/span>traditional Irish music<\/span><\/a> and his ability to <\/span>\u201csplit the G\u201d<\/span><\/a> in a pint of Guinness, <\/span>Ed Sheeran<\/span><\/a> has made no secret of his appreciation for Irish culture over the years.<\/span><\/p>\n The Shape Of You singer opened up about his Irish roots while speaking on <\/span>The Louis Theroux Podcast<\/span><\/a>\u00a0earlier in the summer, explaining how he sees himself as \u201cculturally\u201d Irish, despite<\/span> being born in the UK.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI class my culture as Irish. I think that\u2019s what I grew up with,\u201d he shared. \u201cWe\u2019d spend all of our holidays in Ireland. My first musical experiences were in Ireland, I grew up with trad music in the house.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo, I identify culturally as Irish, but I was obviously born and raised in Britain.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n However, it seems not everyone took too kindly to those remarks, with an ensuing backlash including accusations of being <\/span>\u201cplastic paddy\u201d<\/span><\/a>, a derogatory term often attributed to people several generations down the line in the Irish diaspora.<\/span><\/p>\n The Nancy Mulligan singer was raised in Suffolk, but his dad is from Belfast, and he spent lots of time in Ireland during his childhood.<\/span><\/p>\n Opening up about some of the criticism he received while speaking on The Tracy Clifford Show on <\/span>RT\u00c9<\/span><\/a>, the four-time Grammy winner reiterated that his upbringing was steeped in Irish culture.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI feel like people are a bit like \u2018gatekeepey\u2019 sometimes,\u201d he explained. \u201cI think it comes from Americans that are 1\/16th Irish… I do understand it.<\/span><\/p>\n He added: <\/span>\u201cBut also \u2013 no one can tell me what my childhood was, or what the culture that I grew up with, or the music I grew up with, or the humour I grew up with, or the movies I grew up [were]\u2026 I grew up with it, therefore, it\u2019s part of me.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cTherefore, I feel like it\u2019s part of my culture and how can someone else tell me what is or isn\u2019t how I feel?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Ed\u2019s comments come after he posted an <\/span>initial reaction<\/span><\/a> to his Instagram Story in June aimed at \u201canyone with an opinion after what I said about my heritage\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMy dad is Irish. My family is Irish. I have an Irish passport,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThe culture I was brought up around is Irish.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n He continued: \u201cThe first music I learnt was Irish. [Just because] I was born somewhere else doesn\u2019t change my culture, I can be allowed to feel a connection to a place half my family is from.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Elaborating about his Irish background while speaking with Louis, Ed said his culture is \u201csomething that I\u2019m really proud of and grew up with and want to express\u201d, before adding: \u201cI feel like just because I was born in Britain doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that I have to just be [British], there\u2019s loads of people I know that are half this or quarter this.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Just this week, Ed <\/span>surprised fans with a performance in an Irish pub<\/span><\/a> during a music and arts festival in Wexford.<\/span><\/p>\nREAD MORE:<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n