Ireland

US academic believes he is the first person to gain Irish citizenship based on DNA test

John Portmann (61) believes he is first to use modern technology to prove that he is entitled to an Irish passport

John Portmann (above) is one of the first people to be able to prove he qualifies for an Irish passport through DNA. His biological father was born in Dublin.
John Portmann (above) is one of the first people to be able to prove he qualifies for an Irish passport through DNA. His biological father was born in Dublin.
Ronan McGreevy
Sun Jul 21 2024 - 19:41

An academic in the United States who discovered his 100 per cent Irish ancestry following a DNA test has been awarded Irish citizenship.

John Portmann (61), who was adopted and unaware of his heritage, was granted an Irish passport after proving that his biological father Thomas Fitzgerald was from Dublin and his biological mother Térese Delahanty’s family was originally from Co Kilkenny.

Prof Portmann believes that he is the first person to gain Irish citizenship solely on the outcome of a DNA test.

Prof Portmann is a Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia and the author of several books. He was born on June 6th, 1963 in Phoenix, Arizona into the care of the Sisters of Mercy nuns in the city.

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At the time, the same stigma existed in relation to unmarried mother and illegitimacy in the United States as it did in Ireland. His mother, who grew up in a Catholic family in Minneapolis, came to Phoenix to have her child with the understanding that she would give it up for adoption.

Mr Portmann’s adoptive parents, Walter and Carol Portmann, told him and his two siblings from the earliest age that they had been adopted.

John Portmann (left) with his first cousin Ann and his partner Dan during a visit to Dublin last year.
John Portmann (left) with his first cousin Ann and his partner Dan during a visit to Dublin last year.

However, Mr Portmann only found out in 2019 when he did a DNA test on ancestry.com that he was 100 per cent Irish genetically. “I never had the faintest idea I was Irish. People assumed I was Scandinavian,” he said.

He employed some DNA detectives to research his background. “Adopted people keep hitting a wall as far as finding out about their real parents, and these detectives use their skills to find out who your parents are. It is incredible that the woman I employed could find the identity of my father.”

I want people to know how grateful I am to Ireland because Ireland has been very generous towards me

Tragically, his mother died in 2019 at the age of 90, just a few months before he got the report from ancestry.com. She never had any other children. His biological father died 14 years ago.

Mr Portmann then took a court case in Arizona – a state where children have a legal right to know and to recognise who their real parents are. In September 2020. the judge in the case, Fanny Steinlage, accepted the evidence that Thomas Fitzgerald and Térese Delahanty were his real parents.

He then presented the evidence to the Department of Foreign Affairs Passport Office in Dublin. It called in its own DNA experts, Ormond Quay Paternity Services, and verified that Thomas Fitzgerald was his biological father and therefore Mr Portmann was entitled to an Irish passport.

John Portmann (front) with Fr Paddy Greene SJ, rector of Belvedere College (middle) and John's partner Dan, at Belvedere College in Dublin, where John's grandfather taught for 30 years.
John Portmann (front) with Fr Paddy Greene SJ, rector of Belvedere College (middle) and John's partner Dan, at Belvedere College in Dublin, where John's grandfather taught for 30 years.

“Getting Ireland to accept me was difficult, because I didn’t have any papers at all because I was adopted,” he said.

“Ireland is not obliged to honour the rulings of other courts in other countries. The DNA evidence proved to be crucial.”

“Apparently in my case and for the first time ever, Ireland, decided to accept DNA evidence as proof of Irish blood instead of birth certificates.”

Prof Portmann decided to go public last week, and did so on the Adoption Rights Alliance Facebook page.

He visited Ireland for the first time in October last year and met some of his long-lost relatives. He also visited Belvedere College where his paternal grandfather had taught.

I never had the faintest idea I was Irish. People assumed I was Scandinavian

“I also want people to know how grateful I am to Ireland because Ireland has been very generous towards me.”

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) says it does not comment on individual cases, but confirmed that others had sought Irish citizenship through DNA.

It added: “The Passport Service may accept DNA evidence as part of the requirements to prove a person’s entitlement to Irish citizenship through an Irish parent.

Ronan McGreevy

Ronan McGreevy

Ronan McGreevy is a news reporter with The Irish Times