Conan O'Brien had a fellow Irish American on his "Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend" podcast this week - US President Joe Biden.
During the podcast that was recorded at The White House, O’Brien told Biden that he always looks for points of commonality when conducting his series, “and being Irish is such a part of being who I am.”
“There’s so much of that that’s just in who I am, and it’s got to be a huge part of who you are, being Irish," O'Brien said to Biden.
Biden responded: “Well, it really is. But I think it’s because - think about it. The Irish, even once they got here and made it, they were still viewed as lesser because, if they were Catholic.
“My mother used to say, ‘Remember, Joey, the best drop of blood in you is Irish. Remember, you’re a Biden.’
“[I’m] thinking, who the hell’s a Biden? That’s not Irish, Biden’s not Irish.
“It’s all about principle and pride.”
I am a lifelong student of American history, so to be able to interview @Potus at the @WhiteHouse was a dream come true. Listen to this very special episode here: https://t.co/pfOk236hQr pic.twitter.com/X8Q4tDNi7u
— Conan O'Brien (@ConanOBrien) December 20, 2023
O’Brien agreed and said that his mother worked to instill in him and his family that they are “proper Irish, we are lace curtain Irish.”
He reflected - with a laugh - that despite his mother’s attempts to instill that they were “proper,” he “got into this business where I make a fool of myself.”
Biden - who noted that his mother was “100 percent Irish” and that his dad was “a quarter Irish" - continued: “They got in those coffin ships in the 1850s and they came leaving a sense of always being ridiculed and looked down on.
“There’s enormous pride in our literature. Whether you’re a farmer or a poet, there was always - there’s just something about ‘look, we know who we are, we know who we are’
“My mother used to always say, ‘Joey, never bow, never bend, never yield. Never.’”
O’Brien, a self-described “amateur presidential historian” went on to acknowledge that interviewing Biden was a “big moment” for him as he had never interviewed a sitting President.
You can watch President Joe Biden and Conan O'Brien's discuss their Irish roots here:
Both O'Brien and Biden frequently lean into their Irish roots in their careers.
O'Brien, whose paternal grandfather William O'Brien was from Co Cork and whose paternal grandmother Mary McCallion was from Co Donegal, has visited Ireland several times, as well as Irish American centers in the US. The Irish American funnyman once claimed his doctor was stunned to see his DNA showed he was "100% Irish."
Biden, meanwhile, is a bit further removed from his Irish ancestors. All eight of his great-great-grandparents on his mother’s side were born in Ireland during the first half of the 19th century; his great-grandfather, James Finnegan, emigrated from Co Louth as a child in 1850. On his father’s side, two great-grandparents were also born in Ireland.
Biden, too, has made several visits to Ireland, most recently this past spring when he visited Belfast, Co Louth, Dublin, and Co Mayo in an official capacity.
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