The staff of Vice President Joe Biden have unearthed new information about his Irish roots with an eye to a trip there soon after the election.
The famously Irish Biden has received an open invitation from the Irish government to come to research his Louth and Mayo roots.
Obviously, Biden backers are hoping the 71-year-old will still be vice president and possibly a candidate for the White House himself in 2016.
”He’s very fit and looks great, I would not rule out the White House run in 2016 at all,” said a campaign source.
The vice president has stated to our sister publication Irish America magazine, “I see myself as an Irish Catholic. If we have a moral obligation to other parts of the world why don’t we have a moral obligation to Ireland? It’s part of our blood.”
So far the information the researchers have is:
GREAT-GRANDPARENTS:
James Finnegan:
Born ca. 1845. Probably from Ireland’s County Louth. Died March 1, 1895, Pennsylvania.
Catherine Roche:
Born ca. 1850. Probably from Ireland’s County Louth. Died April 4, 1886, Pennsylvania.
1900 census says she was born in Ireland, but a later census says she was born in New York.
GREAT-GREAT-GRANDPARENTS:
Patrick Blewitt:
Born ca. 1834, Rappagh, County Mayo.
Died ca. 1905, Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Catherine (‘Kate’) Scanlon:
Born ca. 1838, Rappagh, County Mayo.
Died ca. 1910.
Biden also discussed, with Irish America, the Finnegan family, who fled Ireland to avoid the Great Hunger. He said his great grandmother Finnegan was the only one who could read Gaelic, and she used to read letters from in Gaelic for those who could not read and she’d write back in Gaelic for them.
The Biden name appears to have come from a Huguenot family which has been traced to Liverpool in 1668. His father, a car salesman, insisted the name was Irish but Biden was never able to confirm that.
Biden was born in the Irish heartland of Scranton, Pennsylvania, one of the most Irish cities in America. There were already political genes in his DNA.
“Edward F. Blewett my grandmother’s father, was the first Irish Catholic state senator,” Biden recalled. “He was also the co-founder of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick in Scranton around 1908. There is still a plaque in existence in Scranton showing he was one of the founding members.”
Biden stated that he grew up in Scranton in “a predominantly Irish neighborhood and an overwhelmingly Irish parish. The centerpiece of life in Scranton was the church, the nuns, the priest the monsignor,” he recalled.
“Everybody had a sister who was a nun everybody had a brother a priest. Vocations were a big deal.”
His first Irish memories are of his Aunt Gertie when he went to his grandparents’ house.
“I’d go upstairs and lie on the bed and she’d come and scratch my back and say, ‘Now you remember Joey about the Black and Tans don’t you?’ She had never seen the Black and Tans, she had no notion of them, but she could recite chapter and verse about them.
“Obviously there were immigrants coming in who were able to talk about it and who had relatives back there. She was born in 1887. After she’d finish telling the stories I’d sit there or lie in bed and think at the slightest noise, ‘They’re coming up the stairs.’”
Biden confessed to hating Irish wakes, which were a constant when he was a child.
“I hated it, you know, everybody sitting around and drinking and the corpse in the next room ... there is something about the Irish that knows that to live is to be hurt, but we’re still not afraid to live.”
Biden has read Irish history extensively, and to this day his hero is Wolfe Tone leader of the 1798 Rebellion.
“Wolfe Tone is the embodiment of some of the things that I think are the noblest of all. He was a Protestant who formed the United Irishmen. He had nothing to gain on the face of it but he sought to relieve the oppression of the Catholics caused by the penal laws. He gave his life for the principle of civil rights for all people.
“I view him as an honorable figure. He was obviously passionate which I admire. He had the ability to make his own comfort secondary to the greater good.”
Biden found that when he moved to Delaware that the experience of the Irish there was very different to what he left behind in Scranton.
“That is because they came over differently. The Dupont Company were sending ships back to Ireland and bringing back workers so the first people who did come did not do so as part of a famine. They were paternalistic, built their church for them. It was a different experience,” Biden said.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.Pittsburghkid | Jun 30, 2012, 01:46 PM EDT
Humility. When I fall into the sin of Pride about being Irish, then someone gives me Humility, and reminds me that Biden, Kerry, and the Kennedy's are all Irish. I regain my sense of dignity by reminding them that Reagan was Irish.
EphraimKibbey | Jun 30, 2012, 12:32 AM EDT
@Bythebay - "James" Finnegan was born circa 1845, the "Patrick" goes with the Blewitt b. circa 1834. My Great-Grandfather was born in Ireland in 1842 and his mother brought him and his brothers to the US in 1850 because the Great Hunger had ruined them. I would assume that they, like the Finnegans and the Roches stuck it out as long as they could and finally scraped together the money to buy their passage. I doubt that "to avoid the Great Hunger" requires them to have left before it started.
peterson | Jun 29, 2012, 06:53 PM EDT
pipermac52 you got that right !!
Bythebay | Jun 29, 2012, 11:48 AM EDT
Biden claims the Finnegan family fled Ireland to avoid the Famine. ????? Patrick Finnegan was born supposedly in ca 1845, Catherine Roche born ca 1850, she was born at the end of the Famine, he was born during the Famine. How did they emigrate to the US as a 5 year old and newborn? And anyone reporting this isn't the brightest bulb in the box either. The Famine was 1845-50.
Bythebay | Jun 29, 2012, 11:44 AM EDT
EphraimKibbey, you've also made an unsupportable assumption regarding noting country of birth/nationality. Information in the US census records isn't even guaranteed to be provided by the people listed or family members. If people weren't available when the census enumerator called for example a neighbor could have been asked. So the persecution complex is unfounded.
Bythebay | Jun 29, 2012, 11:20 AM EDT
EphraimKibbey, US census records, now available from 1790 to 1940, are only a guide to ancestral research there. Some information may be right, some wrong. That's why other detail research needs to be completed in civil and church records in the US to find exactly where in Ireland the emigrant originated. And there are 64,000 towns and townlands where they could have been born which you in the US also seem ignorant of.
Bythebay | Jun 29, 2012, 11:14 AM EDT
pilib04, if you think Irish birth, baptismal and marriage records are very easy to obtain if you've actually done proper, I repeat proper, research in the US for your emigrant ancestors. Clearly you're too thick to have done that. As far as finding records in Ireland they are very easy to find and get copies of. That's also true of Northern Ireland UK. You must be illiterate if you haven't been able to.
Bythebay | Jun 29, 2012, 11:04 AM EDT
erieshark, it's not a question of Catholic haters it's a question of constantly using Catholicism as some sort of honor when it isn't. Biden wrongly attempted to coerce the US Government by bringing the US Catholic Bishops into the White House in full violation of the separation of Church and State.
ciaradexy | Jun 29, 2012, 06:57 AM EDT
Pilib, youre talking crap. If YOU were irish or even lived in ireland then you'd know exactly where to get your birth cert from. They can be obtained from many places. The offices on Lombard St in Dublin being the most popular place and from the registration offices in castlebar in Mayo. Stop insulting Irish people with your stupidity. The only documents that we destroyed in fire were those kept in the 4 courts during the Civil war. get your info right or shut up.
irishpjk | Jun 28, 2012, 07:14 PM EDT
wtf
PiperMac52 | Jun 28, 2012, 05:36 PM EDT
Biden doesn't have a snowballs chance in hell of getting elected president. He has foot in mouth disease for one. As far as being Irish Catholic that would apply only in the cultural sense as he has many positions that are the antitheses of catholic teachings/doctrine, just as many of his Democratic cohorts.
borefield | Jun 28, 2012, 03:53 PM EDT
Erieshark! So that's what happened to Obama, Joe's wise counsel! Are you for real.
EphraimKibbey | Jun 28, 2012, 03:27 PM EDT
Correction - She herself would not have been listed in any of these just her country of origin as mentioned by her kids. If they knew her birth place to be Ireland in 1900 then they were concealing the fact later in life.
EphraimKibbey | Jun 28, 2012, 03:14 PM EDT
The U. S. Census asks children to give the State (or Country, if not the US) of birth for both of their parents. The fact that she was listed as born in New York in the 1900 U. S. Census but was listed as born in Ireland in the 1880 U. S. Census and earlier does not mean that she, personally, was listed at all in 1900 just that her children said that N. Y. was where their mother was born. Obviously she would have known best where she was born so the 1880 Ireland birth place is correct. The New York mistake may have been lack of knowledge on the children’s part or may have shown that they were trying to separate themselves from their Irish heritage. Being Irish or of Irish descent has not always been as popular as it is now. Look at the way Hispanics are treated here now and you will see just how the Irish were treated here a few generations back. By the way, the 1890 U. S. Census was almost totally destroyed by fire so it can’t be checked.
connemaragirl | Jun 28, 2012, 02:28 PM EDT
There is no one who can compete with George Bush when it comes to gaffes,a genius you say, go away Please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
erieshark | Jun 28, 2012, 02:13 PM EDT
Is this web site being overtaken by Irish Catholic haters? Joe Biden is a wonderful family man, he raised his sons alone after his wife and daughter died tragically in a car accident. He has been a great and wise counsel to President Obama. As for the research, I have been to County Louth and found it impossible to trace family ancestry. Most of the records are in parishes. The Irish people will love Joe Biden, he has the same humor and spirit you find when you explore Ireland by-ways.
borefield | Jun 28, 2012, 02:07 PM EDT
He considers himself an Irish Catholic but supports abortion, his grandmother died around 1866 but was counted in the 1900 census ? He will be fit to run for President in 2016? I thought things were mixed up now. I guess I don't know when I am well off. Stupid for sure
Murph46 | Jun 28, 2012, 01:11 PM EDT
Louth=it should be mouth his total gaffes make George Bush 43 look like a freakin genius!
manhattan | Jun 28, 2012, 01:08 PM EDT
Do any of you below ever, ever say anything good about anyone? What the heck did Joe Biden ever do to cause these nasty attacks. Whatever your politics are ,Joe Biden has worked most of his adult life in the service of his country. What have any of you done for anyone in your miserable lives?
pilib04 | Jun 28, 2012, 12:32 PM EDT
Bythebay, lighten up would you please? If you lived in Ireland you would know that birth, baptismal and marriage documents are not that easy to obtain. Particularly in Mayo. Can't speak for Louth. Mayo, Armagh, Down, Leitrim and Sligo all have issues when it comes to proper record keeping. Church and State are very spotty particularly before 1850. It is totally hit or miss. No science involved. Some churches have records for every other decade. "Oh, those were destroyed in a fire" seems to be the most popular response. Often times the place of birth is from the British census and that document is not very helpful if you want to go beyond county.
Porickseantuny | Jun 28, 2012, 10:25 AM EDT
Catherine Roche died 1886 included in 1900 census?
Porickseantuny | Jun 28, 2012, 10:20 AM EDT
Great example of voter fraud. Says Catherine Roche died in 1886 but was in the 1900 census. No wonder his ancestor was elected.
Seansouth | Jun 28, 2012, 10:05 AM EDT
Gawd help us, This man makes the village idiot look like a genius
Bythebay | Jun 28, 2012, 10:04 AM EDT
Finnegan and Roche "probably" born in Louth?? Come'on, Biden staffers, that's the best you can do?? Research is obviously not their forte which isn't surprising. No wonder he's such a dimwit.
dev4 | Jun 28, 2012, 09:52 AM EDT
another welfare bum never worked a day in his life.
ciaradexy | Jun 28, 2012, 08:33 AM EDT
And stupid Americans will vote for this man because of this.
bogsidebunny | Jun 28, 2012, 07:46 AM EDT
The lineage may be accurate, but please President Obama keep that blithering moron away from Ireland. We have too many of the "home-grown" variety here already!