I was born fighting. My mother's maiden name was Dempsey.
I'm descending from Flinns (non-Catholic) and Ferrells - hill people of West Virginia and eastern Kentucky. With a good mix of Irish Irish (Connors) and English (Pollard, Vaden, Cross)
"I was born fighting. My mother's maiden name was Dempsey."
I got you beat. My surname IS Dempsey and John Dempsey, my grandfather was allegedly kicked out of Ireland for...you guessed it,fighting (with someone who didn't want to fight with him!).
So there!