47 Comments

• bunkerhill | Mar 22, 2013, 06:09 PM EDT

  What a beautiful tribute it is to a "tiny" island when an extraordinary person such as Canadian Astronaut Hadfield goes to the trouble of learning a few words in Gaelic and singing "Danny Boy." I am so impressed that Hadfield along with all the skills that enabled him to become an astronaut can also sing and play a guitar. God also blessed this man with kindness and affability. I think Irish Central should think about posting a clinical referral site for some of the posters on this site. Thank you so much Astronaut Hadfield.

• seanomelb | Mar 21, 2013, 06:57 PM EDT

  wounded brain the racist bigot. Your stupidity and ignorance is legendary. I gave yuo the figures on Gaelic speakers and you chose to ignore the facts . Another case of denial of the obvious by a bitter little Yank.

• WoundedKnee | Mar 21, 2013, 11:54 AM EDT

  Freeman: I see little point to any further exchanges with you. You lie when you speak of my " anti immigrant posts". I have never made an anti-immigrant post in my life--you're a liar and a fraud. I have of course posted on many occasions to discuss the economic and cultural catastrophe that Irish capitalists and corrupt politicians have visited on their country by promoting the importation of vast numbers of cheap labor and welfare sharks. But only a true moron would say as you do that I expected a settler in Ireland to speak Irish (that's the name of the language, you clown). Everyone, save for you and the other half of the dopey duo, seanomel, knows that foreign migrants in Ireland have made no attempt to learn the language or history of the country they are colonizing. They make as much effort to learn Irish ((that's still the name of the language, you clown) as your fellow bigot seanomel has made to learn any of the scores of aboriginal languages that settlers like him are killing off.

• Freeman | Mar 20, 2013, 07:31 PM EDT

  Please,please wounded knee, why can you not respond to my question.In one of your many anti immigrant posts you said and I quote you. "the guy that came to fix the window in my room could not speak a word of English" unquote.You said that this was your turning point against the foreign immigrants.Why would you be so upset at a foreign immigrant not able to speak English?Why were you not more so upset, that he did not speak to you in your native Gaelic.?.Have you forgotten what you said in your posts because of your drinking inhibitions ,or are you just plain racist.I believe the latter is an appropriate assumption,because of your mixed emotional rantings on this subject and your attempt to justify your racism,by hiding behind a respected ancient culture and the respected language of that culture. Racism has no hiding place for you or your likes Woundedknee

• seanomelb | Mar 20, 2013, 07:28 PM EDT

  Thats strange In Ireland we were thuught "Teanga na Gael" or "Gaelic" again woundedbrain what would you know you 're a yank. "An bhfuil aon Gaelic agat" would be the Question. Maybe wounded brain would say " An bhfuil aon Irish agat" LOL!!!

• WoundedKnee | Mar 20, 2013, 04:31 PM EDT

  Freeman: It's disgraceful that you have hijacked a celebration of this astronaut's respect for the Irish language with your fantasies and lies. You truly have nothing worthwhile to offer here. I realize that readers have little interest in your inanities, but for the record I will state that the claims you make about my interaction with some foreign migrant in Ireland (I still don't understand whether you say this person spoke English, didn't speak English, spoke Irish, didn't speak Irish) are nonsensical creations of your own weird imagination. Worse, you show your hatred for the Irish language (the name of the language is Irish, you idiot) by your vulgar reference to speakers of the language being "paranoid". The paranoid is actually you, Freeman, go back to the medication you were told to take. As to jacersagain, though his tone is rational--unlike the utter nutter Freeman--he is wrong in several respects. I do not "call myself George Dillon". In fact I suspect jacers is posting from Cuckoo Land, since it is years since I saw any posts from that particular source. Jacers's claim that I don't "get my Irish right" is also erroneous and false. The ludicrous aspect is that jacers, like 95% of Irish people, is as utterly incompetent to judge anyone's Irish as I would be to assess his Tagalog or Urdu.

• IrelandNorth | Mar 20, 2013, 04:31 PM EDT

  WoundedKnee! Gó ráibh maith agát faoí dó teachtaracht féin síos. Ró dheacharacht é a fhreaghracht, mar atá alán céisteanna faoin an ceist mór. Gách lá, san nuachtán na tuarscirt Éireann - The Irish News/Án Núachtán Éireannach, bhí bileóg abhain as Gaeilge, sé lá gach séachtain. Agús san The Irish Times/Ná Ammana Eireannach gach Dé Ceadaoin, bhí bileof mór as Gaeilge chomh maith. Focaíl amhain gách lá is seacht fócail gách séachtain. Seacht focail gách séachtain is timpeall triocha focail gach mhí. Agús tríocha fócail gach mhí is séasca cúig is trí ceád fócail gach blían.

• jacersagain | Mar 20, 2013, 03:56 PM EDT

  (...more for Freeman and now for others too) While we native Irish living in the Republic of Ireland would like to say to the foreign immigrants “Thanks for helping out during the boom years when we needed you to help with our exploding economy but now we would kindlyask (instead of ferociously shouting our heads off at you, which we should really do), would you please go back home?” I’m sick of seeing people sending my tax-payments out of my country back to their familes in their own countries. I can’t go into a supermarket these days or my local grocery store, never mind a hotel or a McDonald’s, without hearing foreign assistants working in these places speaking bad stilted English, never mind trying to sing ‘Danny Boy’ or learn to speak Irish as well as Georgie Boy writes it.

• jacersagain | Mar 20, 2013, 03:49 PM EDT

  (...more for Freeman) Georgie Boy, our ICentral “pet” name for Wou’knee (though some ppl have degenerated themselves with their choices of new ‘pet’ names for Georgie) - rightly complains of the overload of foreign immigrants who stayed on here in Ireland after the boom, mostly to avail of the exceptionally generous Social Welfare (SW) payments that they’re entitled to as unemployed EU citizens but the costs of that to the comparatively tiny Irish Exchequer is phenomenal. Many East Europeans are also defrauding the Irish Exchequer with SW claims... When air flights over Europe were stopped for a few weeks because of the volcanic eruption in Iceland, 45,000 fewer SW claims were made in each of the weeks of the flight stoppage; the fraudsters would fly into Ireland using cheap Ryanair flights from their countries to collect the SW payments and fly home the same day with Irish taxpayer’s cash in their pockets. (BTW – a lot of ‘Norn’ Irish also defrauded our Welfare system until they were caught by cross-border checks. Many still do manage to defraud us... (more...)

• jacersagain | Mar 20, 2013, 03:34 PM EDT

  @ Freeman – Wounded Knee is an American who also calls himself George Dillon on IrishCentral who visits Ireland often, has Irish roots and Irish relations in Ireland and has bothered to learn how to speak and write Ireland’s native language. He doesn’t always get his Irish right but certainly right enough to be understood by those of us Irish natives still with a lot of Irish in us despite lack of practice and our failure to use it as our national vernacular. During the Celtic Boom years in Ireland, many foreign people came to work here, mostly Polish people (250,000 still resident here), Latvians, Romanians, Bulgarians, Brazilians and a whack load of Muslim people from different countries, especially from Britain, Pakistan and some African countries. (More...)

• seanomelb | Mar 19, 2013, 06:09 PM EDT

  Woundebrain this is the 120th anniversary of the "modern Irish language and the official figures are 1.7 million for 26 counties and .2 million fot the 6 counties and a breakdown region is availble. You sit in your trailer and pontificate about matters on which you are ill-informed. AS for the demise of most(not all) of all Koori languages. Please do not refer to Australians first people as Aboriginal thye proper term is "Koori".It's akin to refering to an Irish person as a PADDY or usingthe "N" word.I don't expect an insular yank like you to know this.

• Freeman | Mar 19, 2013, 05:15 PM EDT

  Woundedknee, please read my post.You stated that you were disappointed that the immigrant worker DID NOT respond to you in the English language and this incident set you on your anti immigrant course.Why would you be so mad at an immigrant worker not conversing with you in English,rather than the Gaelic language that you are profoundly paranoid about.That,s all. You need to clarify if you are of English or Irish heritage,you cannot be both, especially by someone like you, of intense cultural rationale

• WoundedKnee | Mar 19, 2013, 05:04 PM EDT

  IrelandNorth: Tá mé ag ceapadh nár thuig tú i gceart an méid a bhí á rá agam faoin Ghaeilge. Ní dhearna mé tagairt ar bith do mhuintir na hÉireann agus mé ag caint faoi dhaoine i dtíortha eile a bhfuil cumas Gaeilge acu. An rud suimiúl, dar liom, ná go bhfuil daoine sa tSeapáin, sa Rúis, san Airgintín agus go deimhin anseo i SAM a bfhuil Gaeilge acu. Ach níl aon fhianaise ann, agus dar ndóigh ní raibh mo dhuine seanomel in ann fianaise dá laghad a chur ar fáil, chun a theaspáint go bhfuil suim ag lucht inimirce in Éirinn sa teanga nó go bhfuil siad á foghlaim. Is cuma liom faoi sin, sin a rogha féin. An rud nach dtaitníonn liom ná an fhimínteacht a bhíonn ar siúl ag na hEireannaigh faoin cheist seo. Cén fáth go mbeadh spéis ag na heachtrannaigh sa teanga, nuair nach bhfuil puinn suime ag na Gaeil féin inti?

• antoman | Mar 19, 2013, 04:51 PM EDT

  Wounded knee my ar*se. Wounded in the head more like.

• WoundedKnee | Mar 19, 2013, 04:48 PM EDT

  Freeman--What are you smoking? Sounds like you're hallucinating. I objected to a migrant worker speaking English to me? What, I wanted him to speak Russian or Urdu? You sound like a complete fool.

• Freeman | Mar 19, 2013, 04:27 PM EDT

  If I recall correctly, from a previous post, Woundedknee berated a foreign immigrant for not conversing in English to him, in a hotel in Dublin,Ireland.He stated ,that it was because of this engagement or non engagement, with this foreign immigrant, that led him down the path of revolution against foreign immigrants. I would have thought that woundedknee would want to be spoken to in his native Irish language,thus preserving his culture,rather than trying to engage the foreign immigrant in the English language.It would there fore seem to me ,that wounded knee is quite unsure of his heritage and confused about his culture as well,be it English or Gaelic.

• Willie Frazer | Mar 19, 2013, 01:32 PM EDT

  This is a lovely wee song a think, and as a loyal presbiterian I am very proud that it was written by a man from my BELOVED ULSTER.God give rest to this man.

• IrelandNorth | Mar 19, 2013, 11:52 AM EDT

  Wounded Knee! If there are more Irish speaking Irish outside of Ireland it may be because there are more Irish people outside of Ireland than are in it. But you are right about foreign nationals, who are here to learn English not Irish. Hence, the mushrooming of TEFL schools here, and their [ab]use of public library facilities, ie pushing and shoving etc. Chattering and gnattering amongst themselves and disturbing serious scholars like me, complaints to library staff about which are frowned on for fear of political incorrectness. Búala bós to Cmdr Hadfield, an officer and a gentleman. Young Irish may now realise that it's [Fionn Mac] Cool to bí ag labhairt an Gaeilge go minic léis a cháirde.

• WoundedKnee | Mar 19, 2013, 11:15 AM EDT

  This discussion has been derailed by people such as seanomel and jamilm making uttely nonsensical claims to "refute" what I pointed out--that this astronaut gentleman, a Canadian who I believe has never lived in Ireland or studied Irish formally, has given evidence of possessing a better knowledge of that language than seanomel, antoman and 90% of the people in Ireland. I commend and admire Mr Hadfield.

• WoundedKnee | Mar 19, 2013, 11:08 AM EDT

  Seanomel wants us to believe that foreign settlers in Ireland have shown interest in the Irish language. Of course, he hasn't been able to provide the slightest evidence for that preposterous claim. The fact is, seanomel, that foreign settlers have shown as much interest in Irish as you have shown in Alawa, Amarag, Andajin and all the many scores of Australian Aboriginal languages that have perished at the hands of foreign settlers such as you.

• WoundedKnee | Mar 19, 2013, 11:00 AM EDT

  seanomel: "1.9 million people speak Irish". Thanks for making me snort over my morning coffee! Almost two million people speak Irish, yet you'll hear Polish, Russian, Mandarin, Cantonese, Mongolian, Rumanian, Swahili, Lingala, Tagalog, Arabic,Latvian, Lithuanian etc. etc. on the streets of Dublin and other Irish cities.... But you won't hear Irish! Is everyone whispering in Irish, seanomel--is that why no can hear the language being spoken in Ireland? And what's this nonsense about "overseas born and first generation offsprings that are learning Irish"? There is absolutely no evidence--and I notice seanomel doesn't offer any--that foreign migrants have the slightest interest in Irish, or indeed Irish history or culture generally. In fact I'd bet my Easter Egg money that there are far more non-Irish speakers of Irish outside of Ireland than within it. In my own case, I knew some very good Irish speakers during the years I lived in Manhattan. Folks who had no connection with Ireland, but were interested in languages. And countries like Japan and Russia have quite a good little tradition of Irish language studies. But the striking thing is that the foreign migrants IN IRELAND have shown no interest in the language whatsoever. As regards their "offspring" if the children are attending Irish schools they have to learn Irish. That's not a choice on their part, so seanomel is talking nonsense by mentioning these. But there is a choice if the child arrives as a settler in Ireland after the age of 12, I think. S/he may take Irish, or claim an exemption from studying it. Guess which choice ALL the young foreign settlers make!

• IrelandNorth | Mar 19, 2013, 04:57 AM EDT

  Wounded Knee! I don't doubt your genuine concern for the preservation of the Irish language. Yes, our children are under even more pressure of anglophone culturism than we were, but Iris hhas survived centuries of colonialism. I'm perfectly optomistic about its survival. There are many Irish state agencies beavering away behind the scenes ensuring its continuence. We can best insure is existenc by relearning it and using it ourselves as often as possible. So, ná bí brón ort - bí sásta! Ís téanga alainn é!

• IrelandNorth | Mar 19, 2013, 04:51 AM EDT

  "Oh [Christie] Boy, the earth the earth is [wob-bli-n']. From cen-tur-ies of in-dust-rial poll-ut-ion ...!" I like this guys dress sense. Bottle green géansaí with khaki bríste, mutually complimentary. And irrestible dickie bow. Looks like a cuddly little inter-galactic Darby O'Gill. Faith 'n begorragh. 'tis in outer space that you be. Top o' da milkly way tee ya, Christy me boyo! Seriously though, this guys a class act. The very best of Irish luck to him and his.

• seanomelb | Mar 18, 2013, 11:45 PM EDT

  Considering the resurgence in gaelic,what foresight the chinese have. Chinese investment in Ireland is welcomed by the government and eeconomists.Your post smacks of the usual American bigotry.

• jacersagain | Mar 18, 2013, 10:31 PM EDT

  Seano @ 05.23pm EDT - you missed adding that most of the regurgence (sic) of spoken Irish is from the interest of Chinese people, born out of their love of Riverdance, in dominating countries that are not of their own to “Empire-ise”. The Chinese are doing to Ireland what they continually do in Africa and other places that you and I know well. They’re planning, with the help of eejits in the local County Council, to set up a hub in the midlands of Ireland, around Athlone, to pursue their objectives. Fortunately or unfortunately, the Chinese don’t know that Irish is hardly spoken around Athlone; so they are going to have a language/communication problem once they invade and settle in the land that you and I love. I wonder what Danny Boy sounds like, sung in Chinese...?

• jacersagain | Mar 18, 2013, 09:18 PM EDT

  Thanks to antoman for gr8t laughs but I think he’s off cue this St. Patrick’s Day’s Irish long holiday weekend except for his comment about Mr. Hadfield’s astrosong contribution (is that a first? Who sang the first astrosong?) to us Irish people’s (and his daughter in Ireland’s) celebrations of St. Patrick’s contributions to the spread of true Christianity. The very song that Astro Hadfield chose to sing on this festive Irish occasion, sings of a longing to be back with whomever one loves (e.g. #‘back in the med-oh-ow’#; cue: a meadow doesn’t exist in space), a very appropriate song from him to us from a lonely space (me hat’s graciously lifted off me brow to Hadfield on that. May he make it back from space to greet his daughter kindly and her prayers for him to be saved from all harm). As for yez all complaining about Wou’knee, I happen to agree with much of what he says, even his own-called “wacist” comments with all their truths. He rarely posts mistaken comments and I rarely post to disagree with him. I’d gladly have a chat with him over a pint of Guinness, Murphy’s or Corkonian Guinnurphy's in antoman’s favourite bar.

• 89west | Mar 18, 2013, 08:52 PM EDT

  Someone mention they watched the NYC St. Patrick's Day Parade on TV. They had to be kidding; the Irish man and woman presenters went on with their incessant gibberish, non stop and when they shut up, they would pan the cameras to someone on the street hawking something or other and when that was finished, it was time for a commercial break. I don't know about others but I tuned in to watch the folks marching up the avenue and not to look at someone hogging the camera. I'll know better the next time, to see the parade in person.

• Smyrnian | Mar 18, 2013, 06:55 PM EDT

  Nice job and thank you! Fine man!

• seanomelb | Mar 18, 2013, 06:23 PM EDT

  Good old woundebrain with his silly polls again. the latest figures on Irish speakers are!! now take note woundedbrain!! 1.9 million people speak Irish and when broken down by area Falls RD/Divit flats have the highest concentration of speakers in the country.There has been resurgence in learning the language over the past two years. Another figure you might not like is the overseas born and first generation offsprings that are learning Irish. I know with your bigoted view this will not fit-in with your narrow mindness.Another figure I would like to quote you is 119,000 Irish speakers in the occupied six countiesand some are protestant to boot.take your idiot remerks elsewhere before you are laughed off the site.

• seanomelb | Mar 18, 2013, 06:11 PM EDT

  I hope he sang it twice.One for each side of the international date line.

• IrelandNorth | Mar 18, 2013, 05:03 PM EDT

  Wounded Knee! Ábair as Gaeilge é! Cén fáth nách raibh tú ag leabhairt as Gaeilge. Níl aon dó gnothach féin cád atá a rá aon daoine éile. Tá dó craoí an crua ar fád. Mar a dúirt Joe Kelsall síos - tóg bóg é, agus bí ag eisteacht le Radio na Gaeltacht nó ag feachaint ar Telefís na Gaeilge! PS The native language of America is Oglala or Shoshonee Sioux, Paiute, Mescalero Apache, Ojibway, Navajo, etc. Christ the Redeemer in Rio wasn't green with envy. Anyway, this guy Hadfield proves that scientists have personality. If he keeps this up, he would win the next Irish presidential election hands down. Great guy!

• oaklongan | Mar 18, 2013, 04:35 PM EDT

  (Apologies for the all capital letters..didn't know cap-lock key was ON...)

• oaklongan | Mar 18, 2013, 04:29 PM EDT

  FANTASTIC! CHRIS HADFIELD, ASTRONAUT! WATCHED THE THUNDERS LAST NIGHT ON PBS (myself)! LOVE VAN MORRISON AND MEMORIZED HIS SONG "MOONDANCE" WHEN HE FIRST RELEASED IT. FOR SOME STRANGE REASON I CAN SING THIS FAST SONG.. IT'S DEFINITELY JAZZ IN RHYTHM AND TONE (Ive been a jazz fan since age 17...not common for a baby boomer) MY DAUGHTER MOLLI WAS BORN ON AUGUST 31st...VAN MORRISON'S BIRTHDAY... DOUBLE GOOD LUCK !! THIS JUST MAKES SAINT PATRICK'S DAY SO HEARTWARMING...

• bunkerhill | Mar 18, 2013, 04:28 PM EDT

  We are beginning to question some of the posters on Irish Central. They are truly such a negative group, so very different from the Irish families we knew and loved, who did indeed pass on a tremendous love of Ireland and it's history. We don't understand why so many IC articles bring out such extreme negativity when even this past St. Patrick's day shows the love so many Irish descendants and their friends around the world share for the tiny island of Ireland. Something is wrong with this picture. Are these posters really Irish?

• WoundedKnee | Mar 18, 2013, 04:06 PM EDT

  Antoman: you always struck me as the dunce of the class, the guy who is unable to offer any rational comment on anything, so instead prefers to act as the class fool. Some folks laugh with him, more laugh at him, but the majority are just embarrassed by the fool in the corner. I have to admit I have not devoted much time to studying your myriad posts, but I would bet a hundred bucks that you have never actually advanced an opinion, an insight or an analysis of anything in any of them. In the current case, you appear to be angry that I pointed out that after ten or more years "learning" Irish , you're not able to scratch two words together in the language. But maybe I was harsh on you. Maybe you know ten words of Irish. That would be the equivalent of learning one word a year. Sounds about right in your case.

• WoundedKnee | Mar 18, 2013, 04:00 PM EDT

  Patricia: You may need psychiatric help, judging by that weird message of yours. OK, you don't speak Irish and don't care whether the language lives or dies. That's entirely your prerogative. But such an ignorant attack on someone who does care about this ancient language sounds like some kind of passive-aggressive thing on your part. Silence would be your best policy--it doesn't reveal your ignorance.

• PatriciaMarya | Mar 18, 2013, 02:58 PM EDT

  I sent out the article via email to my brother Daniel before I read the comments, it seemed so nice. And then I read the comments before I exited and feel that Wounded Knee needs to work on his Social Awareness skills so that he can get rid of some of his free-floating anger. Fabulous expert on PBS right now, Dr. Rudy Tanzi who has written a book on "Super Brain" along with Deeprak Chopra. I suggest that WK try to learn these wonderous skills and stop stewing in his angry juices; not good for the digestion as well as the BP level.

• bunkerhill | Mar 18, 2013, 01:51 PM EDT

  What a wonderful St. Patrick's day. The NYC parade was magnificent and was on TV from 11am to 3pm. There were so many great bands including one from Spain and two from Canada. We think Astronaut Hadfield is great and seems to be full of fun. The Empire State Building was lit in Green light, along with the Sydney Opera House, the Christ statue in Rio de Janero, a huge site in South Africa and a few more which we heard about but didn't see. All in all, it was just great.

• antoman | Mar 18, 2013, 12:36 PM EDT

  @woundedknee- Give the trolling a rest. You give your fellow Americans a bad name, particularly those in Illinois where you claim to be from. This 'projecting' you do on this site is not entertaining to anyone and merely suggests you have issues which we get a peek of each time you leave a post. You are an open jar of worms and the lid needs to be found before you have an embolism. Now then. Pour yourself another pint of warm vegetable oil, only this time sip it slowly.

• WoundedKnee | Mar 18, 2013, 12:06 PM EDT

  jamilem: Who appointed you as the thought police here? I'll make any comment I see fit on Irish matters, and certainly won't be silenced by thought (thoughtless, more accurate) such as you. My only criteria are to express myself cogently and to stick to facts, not to dumb down my posts for readers such as you. And it is most certainly a fact--tho you're probably to ignorant to know this--that the great majority of Irish people are unable to string two words of Irish together. This after ten or twelve years "learning" the language! To compare Irish people's knowledge of Irish to American people's command of their native language is little short of astounding. What, do you think American people are unable to say a phrase in English such as "Ireland is beautiful"???? You're nuts. I guess you think Irish is English spoken with a brogue. I'd have failed a third grade student for inanities such as are contained in your post.

• WoundedKnee | Mar 18, 2013, 11:56 AM EDT

  Joe Kelsall: Dump post. It never occurred to you that I could have an Irish passport. I do. Not that it's difficult to get one! And your ancedote is plain stupid. Of course people all over the world confuse British and Irish. Why wouldn't they? What makes the Irish different? As regards "genuflecting to the USA" what kind of an insane remark is that? Who asked anyone to genuflect to the USA? (Though you seem to expect people to genuflect to the Oirish!).

• Joe Kelsall | Mar 18, 2013, 11:22 AM EDT

  Woundedknee - An interesting point displaying a hint of anti Irishness. From whence derived this jealousy? I will make you a wager. In my extensive travels throughout the World AND the Middle East; Palestine, Lebanon, Lybia, Jordan, Morocco, Egypt, etc. I have ALWAYS been welcomed with an IRISH passport. Would you like to bring your USA passport and see how your passport is treated; I'll tell you- with contempt. I was checking into a French hotel along with some Brits; the receptionist was ignorant of the differencee between a UK passport and an Irish one; she said " They're all the same". At which, the hotel manager interjected, and said " Ah, NON, il y a une grande difference" The World has long since ceased genuflecting to the USA. 'Tog go bog E'

• antoman | Mar 18, 2013, 10:44 AM EDT

  @woundedknee- Still wounded and harping on about Irish this and Irish that. To ease your bitterness at not being Irish or of Irish descent. I suggest you listen to me sing Danny Boy while knocking back a pint of warm vegetable oil. As for your wounded knee. Leave it fester, fall off and escape. Its not like you are using it anyway.

• jamieLM | Mar 18, 2013, 10:41 AM EDT

  @WK, as an American, why is it your business to attack people in Ireland on their Irish language skills? What are you, the Irish language police? You're so critical of the Irish people's language skills when it's none of your business. No one asked you to be the judge and jury of the Irish language fluency of everyone in Ireland. There are plenty of people in America who can't speak grammatically correct English after spending "at least 10 years learning the language." Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. I'd rather spend a day with antoman than 5 min. with you and your arrogant, judgmental attitude. You aren't exactly perfect, either.

• WoundedKnee | Mar 18, 2013, 10:12 AM EDT

  This guy knows a few words of Irish, apparently. He was able to tweet "Tá Éire go hálainn" a few weeks back when he orbited over Ireland. That's more Irish than 90% of the Irish could work up--including antoman below--and most of them have spent at least ten years "learning" the language!

• cillowen | Mar 18, 2013, 09:36 AM EDT

  while on youtube check out channel 10killowen for Danny Boy

• antoman | Mar 18, 2013, 08:49 AM EDT

  Very nice gesture from Commander Hadfield. Love the picture accompanying the article. Check out my own version of Danny Boy. On Youtube type in antoman11 and go through the few video's I have posted and check out my version of Danny Boy. You will also find a novel video I shot of Cork from the top deck of a bus.