This diary is from a post at Palin's Q&A + fun and has been diaried here with permission.
Simon Lathrop was asked to help boost Sarah Palin's credibility among the Irish by Sarah Palin's campaign.
He's a smart guy, saying that he doesn't want to be used as a pawn to further Sarah Palin's ambitions.
He is, however, gracious, and said that he would still have tea with her.
Spoof Warning: Niall O'Dowd of The Irish Central has commented: "yes it is a spoof, and we got hoodwinked at Irishcentral. they have done this before apparently and major media also picked it up" The comment can be seen at Palin's Q&a + fun.
Sarah Palin's Irish cousin, Simon Lathrop, a Church of Ireland pastor, is embarrassed by Sarah as we find from reading in The Irish Central,
"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," Lathrop said.
"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."
Lathrop does not intend to help his relative achieve her political ambitions.
Lathrop went on to tell the newspaper, "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.
Lathrop is gracious, however, and is willing to have tea with Palin.
Irish Central's article, Sarah Palin's cousin disowns her
They're trying to establish some credibility among Irish Americans, for "the campaign."
Update: A commenter at Irish Central has written:
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 ecclesiatical 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.
Note: The article is in the 'News' section of the magazine, not in 'entertainment,' 'politics,' etc. The article says the cousin is a "pastor," not a "rector," which is what the doubter is writing about. The article says that the cousin is living in the midlands. It doesn't say where he is serving or served. He may be retired, too -- religious figures often continue using their last title as an honorific, like "governor." Of course, it may be a hoax! But it's easier to comment on an article than it is to write a hoax. Anyway, now there is another "Palin Mystery" to be solved.
Update 2: The story has disappeared from The Irish Central and from ABC News.
It may well be a hoax! Perhaps The Irish Central has decided to check the facts. At the blog where this diary originated, it was noted that one of The Irish Central's commenters believed that the report originated at newsfromireland.com, a parody/spoof site. Until we learn otherwise, I'll add a "hoax" tag to the diary.