How A DNA Test Led To An Irish Passport

Baby Thomas James Delehanty arrived into the world in 1963 Arizona.

A couple months later, having been adopted, he became John Edward Portmann.

In 2019, he decided to research his family tree.

Although he had long known he was adopted, he was shocked when the DNA test he took revealed his ancestry to be 100% Irish.

Intrigued, he hired DNA detectives to identify his birth parents. They discovered his biological father, Thomas Fitzgerald, was from Dublin and his biological mother Térese Delahanty’s family was originally from Kilkenny.

From there, John Portmann, now a Professor at the University of Virginia, took a court case in Arizona to have his birth parents legally recognized. He then presented the information to the Department of Foreign Affairs Passport Office in Dublin.

Sadly, both his birth parents had died by the time they were identified by Professor Portmann and, as his mother was unmarried and he had been taken in by the Sisters of Mercy nuns before being adopted, he had zero paperwork—making the DNA evidence crucial to his case.

Ultimately the Irish authorities decreed that based on his parentage he was legally entitled to an Irish passport which he is now the proud holder of.

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

The years I spent living in Ireland secured me my Irish passport. My son was granted his under jus soli (right of soil) as he was born there.

Jus soli was eliminated in Ireland after he was born because too many refugees were taking advantage of the system. Women would arrive in the country pregnant, apply for refugee status, have the baby, and then change their status to parent of an Irish child, which gave them an automatic right to stay in the country.

That’s how the United States works. A child born in the United States is a citizen automatically. However, the parents get no rights because of that like they would have in Ireland.

About 16% of the world’s countries, nearly all of them in the Western Hemisphere, grant jus soli citizenship. If a child is born in the territory of one of these countries, say, the United States, Argentina, Mexico, or Canada, boom, he or she is a citizen of that country.

Most of the rest of the world grants jus sanguinis citizenship. Rather than as a result of country of birth, jus sanguinis citizenship is passed through blood relation. That is, the parents’ citizenship(s) determines the child’s—which is how Professor Portmann got his Irish passport.

Many countries in the Old World extend jus sanguinis rights deeper into the bloodline, beyond parents. With these programs (usually referred to as citizenship-by-descent or ancestry programs), grandparents, great grandparents, and, in some cases, the deepest family roots you can dig up can qualify you for citizenship.

Ireland recognizes these far-flung sons and daughters with one of the best ancestral citizenship programs around. If any of your parents or grandparents were born in Ireland, congratulations, you’re entitled to Irish citizenship and an EU passport.

All you have to do is enter your birth into the Register of Foreign Births and apply for a passport. You may also be eligible through your great-grandparents, but only if your parent became an Irish citizen-by-descent before your birth.

For those who qualify, citizenship through ancestry is the easiest, quickest, and cheapest route to a second citizenship and passport.

But, if your family tree doesn’t have a branch leading to a second passport that doesn’t mean you can’t get one…

Exploring the ways in which you can obtain a second passport—a key part of any successful Plan B—is one of the topics I’ll be covering at my upcoming Offshore Wealth Summit taking place in Porto, Portugal, this Oct. 16-18.

If you’re looking to lose less to the taxman, prevent future hits to your nest egg, and grow wealth for your retirement, I look forward to seeing you there.

Stay diversified,

Lief Simon

Editor, Offshore Living Letter