# 'Danny Boy' and Saying an 'Ave' **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 3, 2021, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danny-boy-and-saying-an-ave/951833 "2021-10-03T21:38:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2021, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danny-boy-and-saying-an-ave/951833/21 "2021-10-04T15:50:35Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Though now that I think of it, “glen” is a word I associate more with Scotland than Ireland. I do associate it more with Scotland, but “glen” is used in Irish placenames, too, and the word for “valley” in Irish is “gleann.” > **[Category:Glens of Ireland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Glens_of_Ireland)** > > Glens of Ireland. > This category has only the following subcategory. > The following 4 pages are in this category, out of 4 total. This list may not reflect recent changes. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2021, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danny-boy-and-saying-an-ave/951833/22 "2021-10-04T15:57:01Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I do associate it more with Scotland, but “glen” is used in Irish placenames, too, and the word for “valley” in Irish is “gleann.” Cool - that’s my lesson for the day! ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2021, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danny-boy-and-saying-an-ave/951833/23 "2021-10-04T16:01:14Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > If the author was indeed an Englishman who never lived in any part of Ireland, well, our own Stephen Foster is another example of such cultural appropriation (in fact, a rather worse one, though supposedly Foster was actually an abolitionist). The man was as white as I am, and spent far less of his time in the South. The wiki article tells of his Irish sister in law, so he certainly had a connection with Ireland (as many of us Brits do). And whilst I certainly think it most likely that he was writing it as a deliberate reference to Ireland, and that there’s no suggestion he was personally Catholic, it’s also worth noting that certain sections of the Church of England lean very Catholic in practice and doctrine (aka ‘High Church’). My father attended such a church in the 1930s, and said they actually spoke latin. He can still recite various Catholic creeds, despite being baptised CofE. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2021, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danny-boy-and-saying-an-ave/951833/24 "2021-10-04T16:22:52Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > > [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > > > If the author was indeed an Englishman who never lived in any part of Ireland, well, our own Stephen Foster is another example of such cultural appropriation (in fact, a rather worse one, though supposedly Foster was actually an abolitionist). The man was as white as I am, and spent far less of his time in the South. > > The wiki article tells of his Irish sister in law, so he certainly had a connection with Ireland (as many of us Brits do). > > And whilst I certainly think it most likely that he was writing it as a deliberate reference to Ireland, and that there’s no suggestion he was personally Catholic, it’s also worth noting that certain sections of the Church of England lean very Catholic in practice and doctrine (aka ‘High Church’). My father attended such a church in the 1930s, and said they actually spoke latin. He can still recite various Catholic creeds, despite being baptised CofE. The documentary I linked to above mentions all of that. He received the sheet music from that relative in America. There had been multiple unsuccessful attempts at writing lyrics for the tune. The author specifically wrote the song for the Irish. Really the documentary is worth watching. It’s short and has some really good performances including a very young Sinaed Oconnor ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2021, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danny-boy-and-saying-an-ave/951833/25 "2021-10-04T16:57:24Z")
I’ve been the cantor for a number of Catholic funeral Masses where that was the recessional hymn. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2021, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danny-boy-and-saying-an-ave/951833/26 "2021-10-04T17:25:13Z")
Anyone who watches the nighttime soap _ **Heartbeat** _ (set in Yorkshire) should remember when Gina and Phil named their premature baby “Daniel” and sang “Danny Boy” to him softly as he slowly slipped away. Jeez, that was a depressing episode! 😢 I haven’t had a chance to check out the links above, but I recall reading somewhere that the lyrics were written for a son who did not return from WWI. Is my memory still good? ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2021, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danny-boy-and-saying-an-ave/951833/27 "2021-10-04T18:05:28Z")
Written before the war, it seems. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2021, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danny-boy-and-saying-an-ave/951833/28 "2021-10-04T18:14:42Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Anyone who watches the nighttime soap _ **Heartbeat** _ (set in Yorkshire) should remember when Gina and Phil named their premature baby “Daniel” and sang “Danny Boy” to him softly as he slowly slipped away. > > Jeez, that was a depressing episode! 😢 > > I haven’t had a chance to check out the links above, but I recall reading somewhere that the lyrics were written for a son who did not return from WWI. Is my memory still good? It was written in 1913 by an Englishman (lyrics only). He was a prolific songwriter at the time but this is the only one that is still known popularly. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2021, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danny-boy-and-saying-an-ave/951833/29 "2021-10-04T18:15:57Z")
Aha! As my dad always said, you learn something new every day! 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danny-boy-and-saying-an-ave/951833.md?page=1)