Robert Deniro and Tom Cruise aren’t the only celebrities with Irish roots. Black celebrities from across the diaspora including politicians, actors, authors, beauty queens and singers have backgrounds connected to the sunny peninsula.
Some are Irish natives while others are second and third immigrants but they’ve each shared their backgrounds with their fans to give them a clearer picture of who they are and where they come from.
01
Samantha Mumba
The award-winning singer-songwriter was born and raised in Dublin.
02
Ruth Negga
The actress who stole our hearts in Loving has an Ethiopian father and an Irish mother.
03
Fionnghuala O’Reilly
O’Reilly became the first mixed race woman to represent Ireland in the Miss Universe pageant in 2019.
04
Emma Dabiri
The sports anchor has a Black father and an Irish and Italian mother who have been married for nearly fifty years.
05
Layla Flaherty
The Desperate Scousewives star has a Jamaican father and an Irish mother.
06
Sage Steele
Sports broadcaster Sage Steele has a Black father and an Irish and Italian mother.
07
Shemar Moore
The S.W.A.T actor’s first name is actually a blend of the names of his Black father and Irish and French-Canadian mother.
08
Mariah Carey
The legendary biracial singer framed her Irish mother’s family crest in the home she purchased her after making it big in the music industry.
09
Charli Baltimore
The fiery emcee has a father of German and Irish descent who inspired one of her tattoos.
10
Barack Obama
The heritage of our forever Head of State inspired the folk song “There’s No One as Irish as Barack O’Bama,” by the band Hardy Drew and the Nancy Boys.
11
Jennifer Beals
The actress who made us all wish we were welding dancers and art world bosses has a Black father and an Irish-American mother.
12
Rosario Dawson
Dawson rejects the label of “biracial,” and chooses to embrace every heritage in her background. In 2013 she tweeted, “I’m not biracial. I’m half Puerto Rican/Afro Cuban & half Irish/Native Indian.”
13
Rae Dawn Chong
Actress Rae Dawn Chong’s famous father Tommy Chong is of Chinese and Scottish-Irish descent while her mother is Black Canadian.
