April 21st 2022
Welcome Claire D Cronin, our new US Ambassador to Ireland!
I was honoured to sing for Ambassador Cronin, our new US Ambassador to Ireland, on 14 April, 2022 at our local Whitestown, Co Louth pub Lily Finnegan’s. Lily’s is a great little pub with a warm welcome and a fire in the hearth. It is a place for the community to meet and share news, to unwind after a day’s work, to share songs, or to celebrate holidays and loved ones. It is also the ancestral home of the Finnegan family whose immigration from Co Louth to America gave us President Biden. He visited Lily’s a few years back and his recently appointed Ambassador came along to honour his roots here. Ambassador Cronin came in the door like an old friend coming home. She fit right in. She chatted with everyone and I don’t think she would have left if she didn’t have a pressing appointment at the Embassy to get to.
Here is a video of me singing two songs that her father used to sing. I was not over the mess Covid made of my lungs, but I sang anyway. There was no way I was going to miss this special day. The US Ambassador spent an afternoon with us up the road in Lily’s! I am proud of the relationship between the US and Ireland. Long may it be nourished and preserved.
Link to video on YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/gKDn6TGdEt8