An Irish scholar and soldier serves in Afghanistan

Singing and teaching Irish songs to the Afghan army

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MOLLY MULDOON,

Irish Voice Reporter

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Sergeant Seamus O’Fianghusa

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Even during his down time in Afghanistan, O’Fianghusa turned to his Irish heritage to unwind. A talented singer, the sergeant enjoyed singing Clancy Brothers, Dubliners and Wolfe Tones songs during his brief moments of respite.

“When other guys were off in the down time playing cards and video games, I would be singing Irish songs,” he recalls.

It was occasions like that this that helped him stay connected to his heritage during his deployment.

“The music keeps me close to that seriously mystical part of our heritage that is deep in the soul.

So I never lost the language, it got better. I had my books and I was just able to use it,” he said.

When O’Fianghusa was granted two weeks leave during his year-long deployment last October, instead of heading back to the U.S. to see his parents he boarded a flight bound for Ireland.  He traveled to Gweedore where he has become a frequent visitor in recent years.

“I’ve got a lot of friends there,” says O’Fianghusa.

He also made the trip to Belfast where he took part in the Oireachtas, a traditional Irish singing competition. It was all a far cry from the mountainous terrain of Afghanistan.

“It’s really funny, I had to laugh. One minute I’m in central Asia covered in dirt and grime with a machine gun in my hand, next second I’m in the Gaeltacht in a small farming parish in Co. Donegal, and then next thing I’m on the stage singing Irish language songs in Belfast and then I’m back to Afghanistan. It was a great experience,” he reflected.

O’Fianghusa recalls one occasion during his deployment where he sang the national anthem of Donegal’s Torry Island for a group of Afghan soldiers.

“I am proud to say that I sang in Irish to the Afghans and they enjoyed it very much,” he recalls.

“We were working in partnership with the Afghan army, so they thought it would be a good idea if I did it.  There was one instance where we went to the Afghanistan battalion commander’s headquarters, and this was building bridges between them and us.  My platoon leader asked me to sing and the Afghans loved it and clapped.”

Since completing his deployment at the end of 2010, O’Fianghusa is enjoying spending precious time with his friends and family. He will more than likely be deployed at the end of this year with the famous New York Irish infantry, the Fighting 69th, a division he is very proud to be a part of.

When asked if a trip to Irish shores was on the horizon before then, grinning he said, “Between now and the end of the year I am most certainly going back to Ireland.”

Read more: Fine Gael’s proposal to make the Irish language optional at school is rejected - SEE POLL

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