Instinct is stronger than upbringing. In the English form above, this proverb gives the nod to nature over nurture. You are your genes.
Heredity overcomes education.
Dr. Henry Higgins never had a chance with Eliza Doolittle. Briseann an d chas tr sh ile an chait. Hertitage is stronger than upbringing. For the Irish diaspora, this could mean that one's Irish roots provide a greater part of one's identity than the land in which one was raised. You may be an Irish American, but you are more Irish than American.