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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
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| 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.
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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.
See more: Newt Gingrich, US Presidential Race, US Politics, Right-wing, Irish American, GOP
59 Comments
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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
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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.
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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.
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rpmschevy | Dec 03, 2011, 07:02 PM EST
KatherineZ great post. I just read an excellent article, Constitutional Amendment, if Congress fails in its most basic and key job, budgeting, then they cannot run for re-election. I think if we were a Democracy, that we could have 90 plus % of knowledgeable people agree to this amendment. But it will never happen because these people see this as a career rather than a service.
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rpmschevy | Dec 03, 2011, 06:59 PM EST
Hey bcoc he wants poor kids to get a job and learn about responsibility. And what is wrong with cleaning toilets? What is wrong with being a Janitor? If someone is evil, sure seems like your post provides a prime example of someone who is.
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rpmschevy | Dec 03, 2011, 06:54 PM EST
Hey arain maybe read he and his wife's articles and books and then you can make comments with facts
"the patron saint of hypocrisy, adultery, and hatred for the poor"
What about the Kennedy's or yes you forgot Mr Clinton haven't you?
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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.
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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.
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Pittsburghkid | Dec 03, 2011, 11:36 AM EST
Like Obama enough said.
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TomSwinford | 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.
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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.
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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 !
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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...
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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
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