NEW YORK BOSTON |#Popular: Irish Celebrity Gossip Irish Pubs Irish Festivals Irish Roots Irish Entertainment Offbeat Irish

Home Page > Blogs > News blogs > People and Politics > Will Newt Gingrich be the next Irish Catholic president?---New Republican frontrunner heads Romney, Obama in poll match ups

People and Politics by Patrick Roberts

Will Newt Gingrich be the next Irish Catholic president?---New Republican frontrunner heads Romney, Obama in poll match ups

Posted on Thursday, December 01, 2011 at 04:47 PM

Larger Text

E-mail

56 Comments

RSS

Archives

Newt Gingrich

Newt Gingrich has Irish roots and has visited the ancestral land looking for his Daugherty roots.

Now that he is suddenly the front runner for the Republican nomination, Gingrich will come under fierce scrutiny, but his Irish roots will surely be an advantage.

A Rasmussen Poll on Thursday had Gingrich easily leading Mitt Romney nationwide. It also showed he would beat President Obama in a match-up.

The fact that he is a converted Catholic would make him the second Irish Catholic in the White House , the other being JFK of course, if he won.

In 1998 Gingrich undertook a four day visit to Ireland North and South and visited the Inishowen section of Donegal where the Daugherty's came from. The name has various spellings there and is most commonly spelt as Doherty.
-----------------
READ MORE:
More news on Newt Gingrich from IrishCentral

Sneak Peek: Daniel Day- Lewis as Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg tipped biopic

Irish gangsters put a price of $27,000 on the head of Sunday World journalist, police and witness

-----------------
The name means 'The destroyer' a description that might prove all to apt for Mitt Romney and the other Republicans who are suddenly finding themselves in his slipstream.

Gingrich reveled in the name when he on his Irish visit.

"I've got Scottish MacPherson's in the family tree and they were the last of the Highland clans to concede to the English" said at the time. "my rebelliousness has deep roots."

As Speaker Gingrich always stressed his Irish roots and was an ever present at the St.Patrick's Day celebrations as well as hosting a speaker's lunch for the Irish Prime Minister at the time.

The Daughertys came to America from Donegal and settled in Pennsylvania.

Gingrich was born Lutheran, became a Southern Baptist but has recently converted to Catholicism because of the influence of his wife Callista who is active in her church choir in Washington DC.

He is also a huge fan of Pope Benedict.

"The moment that finally convinced me [to convert] was when Benedict XVI came here [to the United States] and Callista in the church choir sang for him at the vespers service and all the bishops in the country were there. As a spouse, I got to sit in the upper church and I very briefly saw [Benedict] and I was just struck with how happy he was and how fundamentally different he was from the news media's portrait of him. This guy's not a Rottweiler. He's a very loving, engaged, happy person." he told US News and World report

Like Obama, Gingrich came from very poor beginnings. His mother was just 16 and his father 19 and they broke up soon after he was born.

E-mail

56 Comments

15 - 56 | See all comments

OBPiper | Feb 24, 2012, 12:28 PM EST

I am surprised that he was born a MacPherson and got "Gingrich" from a stepfather. Google his ancestry and see for yourself.

Report abuse

seanomelbourne | Dec 07, 2011, 06:02 PM EST

I am happy to see my mispelling of Sacrament has made your day. you're welcome. Where is your Christian forgiveness when you refer to people with a different view to yours as wingnuts, you sanctimonious hypocrite.BTW I was educated by the christian brothers(in Dublin ireland) and they were magnificient educators. I was reared in a loving Catholic home in Ireland. I respect every ones right to be religious or an non-believer,and that is a little more Christianity than you dislay. I cannot find a post by Virginia to make further comment.I merely made a comment on baptism If I am incorrect please say so and please refrain from your sanctimonious drivvel

Report abuse

seanomelbourne | Dec 05, 2011, 06:01 PM EST

Baptism is a christian sacrement,I always understood that any christian can baptise anyone.An adulterer is an adulterer regardless of when he changed his christian faith.All marriages are recognised in the christian fold.

Report abuse

KatherineZ | Dec 04, 2011, 11:32 AM EST

thank you 'rpmschevy' :-) and yes they have seen it as a career & not a service! that's why they shouldn't be paid the amt. of money that they given themselves & their terms should be limited. @ lokionline - yes i do believe he can receive communion as his past marriages don't count in the eyes of the Catholic Church as he wasn't a baptized Catholic at the time of them & the divorces. now that he is considered a Catholic, i wonder if he confesses his sins. esp. his bigotry & bold face lies.

Report abuse

MegK311 | Dec 03, 2011, 04:51 PM EST

I like Newt and I dislike all the rubbish posted about him here. He is a very intelligent man and I think he has what it takes to run this country. Don't beleve all the rubbish the liberal media prints about conservative candidates. Of course he is not perfect but neither are you or I. At the moment we have an inexperienced community organizer running this country and anybody would do a better job. If Obama is Irish then I will accept Newt as Part Irish. BTW I was born in Ireland.

Report abuse

stmungo | Dec 03, 2011, 11:44 AM EST

He'll say anything and connect himself to any people ,sect or religion to get himself elected. He's a cheat when it comes to marriage and people would be fools to vote for him. He's not Irish he's a descendant of the british who took over our land.

Report abuse

Pittsburghkid | Dec 03, 2011, 11:36 AM EST

Like Obama enough said.

Report abuse

Pittsburghkid | Dec 03, 2011, 09:21 AM EST

It is ludicrous to call Gingrich an Irish Catholic. He is an American who may have had some Irish ancestors - amongst others - multiple generations ago. On this site we seem to be forever trying to validate our ethnicity. It is almost laughable. As for being president, I certainly hope not. This guy is first and foremost an academic and belongs in that world of make believe - to be allowed out of his cloistered domain twice a day for food and water and then quickly returned. He utterly lacks the temperament which the Oval Office demands. Newt is a loose canon - and if that 3am call did come we have no idea what his response might be.

Report abuse

gobdawpaddy | Dec 03, 2011, 08:07 AM EST

I'm beginning to think that if they could find a connection, the Irish would claim Cheetah as one of their own.

Report abuse

warlocks | Dec 03, 2011, 01:37 AM EST

GINGRICH ! I wouldn't vote for him as Dog Catcher he's a criminal he stole Funds that was to go to the poor. we don't need another crook in washington its filled with them already in our Government. Remember he got canned when he was Speaker of the House. as for being a Catholic & Divorced i can't hold that against him.Jack Kennedy was Married & Divorced before he Married Jackie. and he was married in Catholic Church at a Mass. seems like the Church looks the other way when ITS Politics or Money. im my parish there are 7 that i know of that are Divorced and were remarried in the catholic Church and still go to communion the priest knows. but has never refused them. 3 of them are in local Politics. and 2 are very well off and help the church in Funding. its the same old story it pays to be in the know. ---BS walks and Money Talks !

Report abuse

lokionline | Dec 02, 2011, 10:30 PM EST

We recently had a bad definition of 'Gombeen' offered up in these pages. Now if you want a good example of a Gombeen Man...

Report abuse

oaklongan | Dec 02, 2011, 10:23 PM EST

Thomas Paine: "THESE ARE THE TIMES THAT TRY MEN'S SOULS" ...IF they have one. DOES Newt? What's BECOME of the GOP with the lineup of the outright looney to outright thieves? Seagreen commenter: We're concerned for our Republic, for sure...joeg2828. Yes. And MANY of the other commenters. Amen

Report abuse

lokionline | Dec 02, 2011, 10:22 PM EST

So as a divorced Catholic does Newt get communion at his church? I'm curious.

Report abuse

caramia | Dec 02, 2011, 08:02 PM EST

Jackie Battley, Newt Gingrich's "dying wife", is very much alive and well. She is a personal friend of mind. I can't believe the hatred and venom I read here. If you're going to spew it, at least have your facts straight. She was the one who asked for a divorce, not the other way around. Newt may not be a 'perfect' human being, but are any of you? He does, in fact, understand what America needs at this moment. If you'd take the time to listen to him, you'd understand that. IF you're capable of understanding anything besides your blind hatred of ANY conservative viewpoint. November 2012 will tell the story of what a majority of Americans believe and want for this country. I'm sure of that.

Report abuse

AlunPalmer | Dec 02, 2011, 07:03 PM EST

Seagreen, don't worry about the bill, because O'Bama will veto it. He has promised to do that, and needs to be held to it. It still has to go through reconcilliation, so if they have any sense they will take that bit out to avoid the veto and get funds for the military.

Report abuse