Ed Sheeran has responded to the backlash that’s followed him saying he “identifies culturally as Irish”.
The comments come around the same time that the pop star made a surprise appearance at a music and arts festival in Wexford town on Tuesday (August 5) – performing a handful of Irish folk songs and original tracks at The Sky And The Ground Pub.
The singer, who was brought up in Suffolk and has a dad from Belfast, had said before then on the Louis Theroux Podcast that he identifies as Irish, despite being born and raised in England.
“I class my culture as Irish. I think that’s what I grew up with,” he shared (via BBC). “We’d spend all of our holidays in Ireland. My first musical experiences were in Ireland, I grew up with trad music in the house. So I identify culturally as Irish, but I was obviously born and raised in Britain.”
“I don’t overthink it but I do feel like my culture is something that I’m really proud of and grew up with and want to express,” he added. “I feel like just because I was born in Britain doesn’t necessarily mean that I have to just be [British]… I don’t think there’s any rules to it. It should be how you feel and how you were raised and what you lean into.”
Now, he has responded to some who criticised him for the remarks, and shared that no one other than him can “say what my childhood was”.
“I feel like people are a bit like ‘gatekeepey’ sometimes,” he said during an appearance on The Tracy Clifford Show (via RTE). “I think it comes from Americans that are 1/16th Irish… I do understand it.”
“But also – 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… I grew up with it, therefore, it’s part of me,” he added.
“Therefore, I feel like it’s part of my culture and how can someone else tell me what is or isn’t how I feel?”
He also went on to share how he would spend large amounts of time in Ireland in his youth, which led to him forming a bond with the country and culture.
“It was summers, winters, autumns and springs. We came here every single break we got from school, we were here,” he said. “Then growing up and then travelling the world and experiencing different countries and cultures, having been so rooted here in my childhood. We never really did beach holidays, I mean, look at me. I don’t think my family wanted to sit on beaches and get fried to a crisp!”
At his recent surprise show this weekend, the ‘Shape Of You’ singer played alongside Irish bands including Amble, BIIRD, Beoga and Aaron Rowe, and also went outside the venue to ensure fans who couldn’t fit into the crowded space had a chance to hear him perform too.
The one and only Ed Sheeran made a surprise appearance at the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Wexford town on Tuesday night! 🤩
Ed performed to a packed-out Sky and The Ground pub alongside the likes of Amble, BIIRD, Beoga, and Aaron Rowe 🎻 pic.twitter.com/1wX7yu2HIf
— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) August 6, 2025
It added to the list of surprise gigs the singer has been making this year. In March, he performed a surprise acoustic set at a Boston pub to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, in April he played a surprise pop-up show at King’s Cross station in London to celebrate his new album ‘Play’, and in May he then played an impromptu show in Sheffield city centre alongside JME and freestyle rapper Maja M.
The performances are part of the campaign around ‘Play’, which sees Sheeran look to “connect on a more intimate level with his supporters”. It is due out on September 12 and you can pre-order it here.
