There has been a flurry of searches of late on the blog for things concerning Palin and Ireland. A little digging led me to  the news that Irish Central, the online brainchild of Irish American Publisher Niall O’Dowd, had published an article on Palin’s Irish cousin.

The story said that Palin was being disowned by her Irish cousin, Rev. Simon Lathrop

The intensity of it got me curious and when I probed further I discovered that the people who are searching were connected to the Palin campaign,” he told the website.

They told me that they were trying to establish some Irish credentials for her in the build up to the campaign, but I have told them that I have no interest in being used as some sort of electoral pawn.�Lathrop does not intend to help his relative achieve her political ambitions, the site reports.

I wish the lady all the luck in the world, but if she is in favor of hunting and shooting and warmongering, then I for one will not be welcoming her and will not be encouraging the Irish to vote for her if she runs in 2012,” he said.

He added that he would be happy to have tea with Palin should she visit Ireland but his overtures to her would go no further than that.

A commenter on Irish Central smelled a rat and  chimed in with a bit of local knowledge

Leitrim would be Kilmore diocese – www.kilmore.anglican.org and Galway would be Tuam diocese – www.tuam.anglican.org Some old ‘parishes’ so-called were actually civic units of area and did not always correspond to modern ecclesiastical parishes. The CofI website is, as far as I know, complete and certainly each diocesan one would be. The Church of Ireland has fewer than 500 rectors in total, and I have not heard of this fellow, unless he has recently been appointed. There doesn’t seem to be any mention of him on the web apart from this news report, which seems a bit suspicious to me.

And soon enough Irish Central had to take the story down (cached here) and admit they had been spoofed.  Even ABC were taken in for a while.

It seems the story was taken from a satirical/spoof blog,  NewsfromIreland.com – Original post from 12/02/10 can be read below the Continue Reading button – reprinted as the site was down earlier.

Now of course if you are a relative of Sarah Palin and want to own or disown her please let me know 🙂 As of now it seems her only link to Ireland is the stopover in Shannon.

h/t Palin’s Q&A fun

Palin’s only Paddy is a peace-loving pastor (who hates hunting)

Campaign genealogists gutted to learn that relative is embarrassed about link to former Alaskan governor

BY DEIRDRE DELAHUNTY (newsfromireland.com)

A Church of Ireland pastor in the Midlands who publicly welcomed the election last year of Barack Obama and who has spoken out against blood sports and hunting could be the only living relative in Ireland of controversial republican candidate Sarah Palin.

Genealogists believed to be working on behalf of the former Alaskan governor’s campaign have been reportedly scouring Irish records in a bid to trace some Irish ancestry in the run up to a possible second run at the White House in 2012, but so far, all they have managed to unearth is a Midlands cleric who opposes almost everything Ms Palin stands for.

Rev. Simon Lathrop, rector of the parish of Killeshin and Duniry is a popular cleric in the remote Midlands parish in Leitrim, but he is less than impressed that he may be used as a token Irish cousin in a possible Palin White House bid.

The pastor, who has participated in anti-American rallies and who objected to the use of Shannon Airport in the rendering of prisoners, said that he was curious about the amount of attention he had been receiving from American genealogists in the last few months and admits that he never knew that he was related to the colourful Republican candidate.

“In the last few months, I have been inundated with calls from genealogists who said they were acting on behalf of an American family trying to trace their roots. However, the intensity of it got me curious and when I probed further I discovered that the people who are searching were connected to the Palin campaign.

“They told me that they were trying to establish some Irish credentials for her in the build up to the campaign, but I have told them that I have no interest in being used as some sort of electoral pawn.

“However I wish the lady all the luck in the world, but if she is in favour of hunting and shooting and warmongering, then I for one will not be welcoming her and will not be encouraging the Irish to vote for her if she runs in 2012,� he added.

“I do not agree with any of her policies on war, on the use of firearms, on the abuse of animals, so if she was hoping that her Irish connection would swing her votes in 2012 and is depending on me to help her, then I am afraid that she will be rather disappointed,� he said.

“Being a relation of Ms Palin is not something I will be climbing the steeple and declaring to the world,� he said, laughing.

The family link is traced back to the 15th century, when Rev Lathrop’s and Ms Palin’s ancestor, ironically also a Rev John Lathrop (also Lothrop), was deported to America from England.

Lathrop, a 1605 Cambridge University graduate who was ordained an Anglican priest in England but joined the dissenters against the Crown, heading a secret congregation in London. After he was caught and imprisoned, he was fortunate enough to be released on the condition that he and his family immediately leave for America.

He may have gotten off lucky because he came from a family with a noble background. His grandfather had married into the Aston family, whose pedigree includes Charlemagne and other European monarchs.

Ms Palin has become the subject of widespread scorn in the US last week after being seen referring to notes scribbled on her hand during a major speech. Video footage showed Mrs Palin — who frequently criticizes President Obama’s use of the teleprompter — glancing down at the palm of her left hand on which the words “energy�, “budget cuts�, “tax� and “lift American spirits� had been written in ink

Ms Palin will make two high-profile, big-ticket appearances in Central Florida during the next month — but she doesn’t want any media coverage and has barred the broadcast media. The former Alaskan governor, ex-vice-presidential candidate and author has banned all video and sound recordings of her upcoming speeches in Daytona Beach and at the Lincoln Day dinner of the Orange County Republican Committee.

Rev Lathrop said that he has not had any formal contact from the candidate herself or her direct family, and said that while she would be welcome to call for tea if she ever came to Ireland, that would be as far as he would get involved.

The Reverend lives with his wife Alice and their children Godfrey and Gwendolyn at the rectory in Duniry.