I am not much on saying things like, "I am Irish-American" etc. etc....just proud to be American at all.
But, the Jessup name used to be Jessop, and all of my kinfolk came from the Irish hills on top of a place called "Jessop Mountain." Rough bunch! They came over to America just a bit before the pilgrims made their landing, but the Jessop's settled in western North Carolina way back then....and many of them remain there now!
One of them obviously changed our name to have a "u" instead of an "o", and come to find out, we actually had a Revolutionary War minuteman in the line...
My dad used to wear this shirt that said, "You can always tell and Irish man, but you can't tell 'em much!"
Great stuff...
Daniel JessupLancaster, California
aka "The Hot Rod Reverend" 
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com