Conan O’Brien shares emotional reaction to Irish Immigration on The Jimmy Kimmel show

Conan O'Brien shared a personal experience from a recent trip to Ireland, revealing how his great-grandfather's story altered his perspective on immigration. He detailed the journey during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! ahead of his role hosting the Academy Awards.

As part of his HBO Max travel series, Conan O'Brien Must Go, the comedian visited the site of his great-grandfather Thomas O'Brien's former home near the Galbally Mountains. The Brookline native, initially planned a segment full of gags and props. However, upon arrival, he explained that the experience became unexpectedly emotional.

"I’m not someone who wears my emotions on my sleeve, but I got emotional," said O’Brien. "It was very powerful."

He explained that the site was a very small plot of land where his great-grandfather lived as a tenant farmer. Faced with poverty and unable to sustain a life there, he made the choice to leave for America.

“I have incredible empathy for people who have immigrated to another country," O'Brien stated. "It takes an entire lifetime to go to a country where, often, people don’t speak the language... They have to spend their entire lives just getting things started for the next generation; it’s a whole lifetime that you’re feeding into this process. People leave not because they think, ‘Hey, I just want to go have fun in America.’ They leave because they have to.”

Watch the interview below: