Irish-American General retires – sings 'The Parting Glass'

MakeEmLaugh

Martin Dempsey, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the US, retired earlier this week after 41 year of service in the US military. He is 63 years old, and held the highest ranking military officer post since 2011.

At his retirement ceremony, he sang 'The Parting Glass'.

Did anyone see it?

Dempsey's grandparents were from Donegal, Roscommon, Mayo and Sligo respectively.

Some American sings a Scottish song?

Am I missing something?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

What exactly is your point? An American, whose Grandfather left Ireland over 90 years ago, retires and sings a Scottish traditional song at some stage. I don't get what you're aiming for here.

And the guy is American, not Irish American. He and his father were born in the USA. A third generation like that could claim at least 4 countries of origin for goodness fake.

Menas

I am outraged. He is off key.

kneemos

Fair splodge of grandkids.

RWCNT

Absolute tune in fairness.

Sunnyisland

Fair play to him and even though the song is a Scottish bard it is well known a sung for generations all over Ireland ,should we stop listening to the Clancy brothers and countless others when they made popular traditional songs that we're not originally from Ireland, And he is Irishamerican and is quite proud of that himself, cheeses some posters get upset over nothing these days or is it just when something or someone has Irish connections.

adocholiday

"and all the harm that e'er I done, alas it was to none but me"...

Being that high up in the US Military I'm sure there are a few million people in the middle east that might disagree with him there.

kneemos

He walks and talks like a boss.

Bet he got things done.

He's the fella who held up traffic in Dublin a year or so ago.

darkpagandeath

American General......

Fratton Fred

Irish when singing a song, American when bombing weddings

EmptyTree

It's only news if it's the song Joe McDonnell,.... And it's sung by John Delaney...

realies

realies wrote: »

Fair play to him and even though the song is a Scottish bard it is well known a sung for generations all over Ireland ,should we stop listening to the Clancy brothers and countless others when they made popular traditional songs that we're not originally from Ireland, And he is Irishamerican and is quite proud of that himself, cheeses some posters get upset over nothing these days or is it just when something or someone has Irish connections.

And some start touching themselves just because someone in a foreign country does something that may have some connection with us.

The search for validation in the most inane things is depressing.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Irish Grandfather goes to the US and marries an Italian woman, father is born in the US and grows up to marry a woman whose parents were Russian and Polish. Is the Grandson Irish American, Italian American, Polish American, Russian American? Come on! Where does it stop? Irish Grandfather could have been of Scottish settler origins as well.

This slavish need to claim anybody with any Irish connections is quite sad really.

darkpagandeath

Karlie Teeny Tongue wrote: »

Irish Grandfather goes to the US and marries an Italian woman, father is born in the US and grows up to marry a woman whose parents were Russian and Polish. Is the Grandson Irish American, Italian American, Polish American, Russian American? Come on! Where does it stop? Irish Grandfather could have been of Scottish settler origins as well.

This slavish need to claim anybody with any Irish connections is quite sad really.

Yeah there was not a real uptake of Certificate of Irish Heritage.

blinding

Kinda thought it was actually moving…...

Diddy Kong

Some general who is not Irish sings a song that's not Irish at his retirement, I'm similarly outraged, where do I go to protest!!

darkpagandeath

blinding wrote: »

Kinda thought it was actually moving…...

I'm sure the people under American Drone strikes think his singing is moving too.

tipptom

Fratton Fred wrote: »

Irish when singing a song, American when bombing weddings

English when getting awards,irish when they get in to trouble.

Son Of A Vidic

Fratton Fred wrote: »

Irish when singing a song, American when bombing weddings

Irish when runner up, British when winning an Oscar.

Diddy Kong

Diddy Kong wrote: »

Some general who is not Irish sings a song that's not Irish at his retirement, I'm similarly outraged, where do I go to protest!!

Not this thread.

This is the "celebrate some random guy singing a song that's got some connection to Ireland" thread.

It wouldn't even make the list of worst "foreigners love us" story on Joe.ie.

Banjo String

Big. Swinging. Mickey.

MakeEmLaugh

Yes, The Parting Glass is a Scottish song. Danny Boy is an English song.

But both have close associations with Ireland.

That's why The Parting Glass was the last song sung at President Michael D. Higgins' visit to the UK last year, by Glen Hansard, Imelda May, Paul Brady and others.

I don't take pride in the achievements of other people (nor do I feel ashamed at the behaviour of other people).

I just found this a touching rendition of a well-known song.

As for whether Martin Dempsey should or shouldn't be identified as "Irish-America", according to RTÉ, all four of his grandparents are from Ireland, and he spent childhood summers there.

That makes him eligible for Irish citizenship. If he got an Irish passport, would you still go red in the face saying he's not Irish?

Honestly, the states into which some people work themselves up when it comes to those outside of Ireland identifying as Irish... calm down, folks!

Martial9

Karlie Teeny Tongue wrote: »

Irish Grandfather goes to the US and marries an Italian woman, father is born in the US and grows up to marry a woman whose parents were Russian and Polish. Is the Grandson Irish American, Italian American, Polish American, Russian American? Come on! Where does it stop? Irish Grandfather could have been of Scottish settler origins as well.

This slavish need to claim anybody with any Irish connections is quite sad really.

He can claim Irish citizenship quite easily through an Irish born grandparent.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Martial9 wrote: »

He can claim Irish citizenship quite easily through an Irish born grandparent.

But the point is, he didn't.

MakeEmLaugh

Karlie Teeny Tongue wrote: »

But the point is, he didn't.

MARTIN DEMPSEY: “I'm 100 percent Irish, through and through. Maternally and paternally. My heritage runs from Donegal, Roscommon, Sligo and Mayo. My wife is 100 percent Irish. She's a Sullivan. Her family are from Cork and Kerry. And we're very proud of it. I grew up with grandparents who had emigrated from Ireland, and they were good enough to let me understand my roots, and I'm trying to do the same with my children and grandchildren.

For several summers in a row, from the time I was about 7 through 12 or so, I would come to spend the entire summer in Ireland, and go to school with my cousins and learn to speak a little Gaelic, none of which I've retained.“

IRISH INTERNET COMMENTERS: “ARRRRGH! HE'S NOT IRISH! ONLY THE PEOPLE I DEEM TO BE IRISH ARE IRISH! DESPITE ME HAVING NO CONNECTION WHATSOEVER TO DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE!“

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I'll accept that he is of Irish decent but he is American.

Menas

Karlie Teeny Tongue wrote: »

I'll accept that he is of Irish decent but he is American.

About as american and Christian as Obama himself.

Paramite Pie

tipptom wrote: »

English when getting awards,irish when they get in to trouble.

Ah yes, even GAA teams are now winning the All-English Championship according to Sky Sports!! They can't even give us that!!:P

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/video-all-england-champions-dublin-sky-sports-in-blunder-of-the-decade-31573376.html

TheLastMohican

Karlie Teeny Tongue wrote: »

What exactly is your point? An American, whose Grandfather left Ireland over 90 years ago, retires and sings a Scottish traditional song at some stage. I don't get what you're aiming for here.

And the guy is American, not Irish American. He and his father were born in the USA. A third generation like that could claim at least 4 countries of origin for goodness fake.

Karlie Teeny Tongue - old boy! You obviously don't understand why Americans call themselves Irish, Scots, Jewish, German, English, Greek, Finnish, Russian etc.

I live 2 hours west of Boston and have about 150 work colleagues. One other Irish person, one British born - the rest American born. But most of them will identify with the country that their forefathers came from. Around here Finnish, German and Scots are predominant. Some are Heinz 57 and they will smilingly call themselves mutts. Yet, if there is a drop of Irish blood in there most will say Irish. OK, some still live in The Quiet Man mode but lots of them with no known living relatives in Ireland visit there just to touch base with the land of their ancestors. Friends of ours and about 80 others descended on Listowel a few months ago, so that their niece could marry in the same church as her grandmother and great grandmother. All had a ball and I know of six of that group (who were never in Ireland before) that are returning to Kerry in November purely because of the friendliness that they found there.
So you see, there is something special or mystical about Ireland. It may be b/s, romanticism gone haywire or because Irish people seem happier ....... I don't know, but it is a fact.

Riddle101

Meh, I don't care if he's American. If he's proud of his Irish roots, then why begrudge him for it. Americans seem to take pride in their heritage to the point where, they would still consider themselves Irish or Italian, even if it was just their grandparents who were from another country. Also the song is Scottish, but the song is also seen as an Irish traditional song over here too, due to it's popularity. Lovely song though, all things considered.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

TheLastMohican wrote: »

Srameen - old boy! You obviously don't understand why Americans call themselves Irish, Scots, Jewish, German, English, Greek, Finnish, Russian etc.

I live 2 hours west of Boston and have about 150 work colleagues. One other Irish person, one British born - the rest American born. But most of them will identify with the country that their forefathers came from. Around here Finnish, German and Scots are predominant. Some are Heinz 57 and they will smilingly call themselves mutts. Yet, if there is a drop of Irish blood in there most will say Irish. OK, some still live in The Quiet Man mode but lots of them with no known living relatives in Ireland visit there just to touch base with the land of their ancestors. Friends of ours and about 80 others descended on Listowel a few months ago, so that their niece could marry in the same church as her grandmother and great grandmother. All had a ball and I know of six of that group (who were never in Ireland before) that are returning to Kerry in November purely because of the friendliness that they found there.
So you see, there is something special or mystical about Ireland. It may be b/s, romanticism gone haywire or because Irish people seem happier ....... I don't know, but it is a fact.

Oh, I'm well aware of how it goes. I lived there for a couple of years while on a project. I have a brother and his wife over there and his kids and grandkids are American. Likewise my wife's brother has a family out there over 40 years. But it is romanticism gone mad. I think it stems from some deep lack of national identity or culture in some way. Sure, it's a relatively new country but after more than 200 years it's time they identified with their own culture and nation.

TheLastMohican

Karlie Teeny Tongue wrote: »

Oh, I'm well aware of how it goes. I lived there for a couple of years while on a project. I have a brother and his wife over there and his kids and grandkids are American. Likewise my wife's brother has a family out there over 40 years. But it is romanticism gone mad. I think it stems from some deep lack of national identity or culture in some way. Sure, it's a relatively new country but after more than 200 years it's time they identified with their own culture and nation.

Of course it stems from lack of cultural identity. But it hurts nobody and if it makes them happy - so be it.
I regularly get people, who have asked for advice on building projects, say after I've explained things to them - "Just keep talking. I love the sound of your accent"! At first I found it funny, I still do, but now I understand why.

kneemos

TheLastMohican wrote: »

Srameen - old boy! You obviously don't understand why Americans call themselves Irish, Scots, Jewish, German, English, Greek, Finnish, Russian etc.

I live 2 hours west of Boston and have about 150 work colleagues. One other Irish person, one British born - the rest American born. But most of them will identify with the country that their forefathers came from. Around here Finnish, German and Scots are predominant. Some are Heinz 57 and they will smilingly call themselves mutts. Yet, if there is a drop of Irish blood in there most will say Irish. OK, some still live in The Quiet Man mode but lots of them with no known living relatives in Ireland visit there just to touch base with the land of their ancestors. Friends of ours and about 80 others descended on Listowel a few months ago, so that their niece could marry in the same church as her grandmother and great grandmother. All had a ball and I know of six of that group (who were never in Ireland before) that are returning to Kerry in November purely because of the friendliness that they found there.
So you see, there is something special or mystical about Ireland. It may be b/s, romanticism gone haywire or because Irish people seem happier ....... I don't know, but it is a fact.

They have an identity crisis. Maybe it's too big or too young to identify with.

Buona Fortuna

blinding wrote: »

Kinda thought it was actually moving…...

My bowels moved

TheLastMohican

Buona Fortuna wrote: »

My bowels moved

It's OK. The nursing home staff will clean up.