Most people who emigrated to America before the Irish economy strengthened were young adults. They grew up in Ireland, and their cultural identity remained strongly Irish, as most of them stayed within communities of ex-pat Irish. I experienced this extensively on both coasts of America in the late 80s.

Their experience would be very different to that of a very small child who was taken abroad with his parents,and whose formative cultural experiences were of the new culture, rather than the one he'd emigrated from.

In any case, many Irish people who returned to Ireland post-Celtic Tiger did have a substantial cutlure shock, as the country had changed a lot since they left - inward immigration, the cessation of violence in NI creating a new political landscape, a more technology and service-based economy, etc. It would take a lot of adjustment to come to terms with contemporary Ireland, rather than the one they'd left. I'd suggest that white pudding, sean nos and hurling would not necessarily be the tools of choice to help them to make that adjustment.