Tom Grennan's 'Irish citizenship test' fails on two questions we all should know

Irish Daily Mirror

17 hours ago

Singer Tom Grennan has never been shy to say he is proud to be half-Irish – and he even has the initials 'OY' tattooed on his knuckles which represent the car reg for Offaly.
His father is from Ballycumber, County Offaly and growing up Tom spent summers, Christmases and half-terms in Ireland where he would stay at his granny's house. Long-term pal Roman Kemp put his Irish knowledge to the test for BBC Sounds, but two easy questions let him down.
Roman told the Little Bit Of Love performer: "Obviously, you've got an Irish passport, so you must know a lot about Ireland? So a citizenship test would be a good thing to do. And who best to give you a citizen test than your own father?'
Roman then played voice notes from Tom's dad whose first question was a no brainer. He asked: 'Right boys, imagine you're in Gav's Inn in Ballycumber ordering a pint of Guinness and next thing you want a packet of crisps, what crisps would you get?'
Quick off the mark, Tom, 30, was correct with Tayto, before Roman observed: 'Your dad is the most Irish person I have ever heard. Mate, I'm not joking, he could have been Father Ted.'
His next question was about the meaning behind the word 'jacks', which of course, Tom was able to answer as the toilet. However, Tom's knowledge failed him on two questions most of us will know the answer to.
His dad asked: 'I'm looking for a river running through Dublin, can you give me the name of it?' Tom, having never heard of the Liffey, said he had 'no idea' and even claimed he 'barely knew' the river flowing through London (River Thames).
And he joked: 'My dad didn't know that. My mum would have told him.' His answers went from bad to worse when his dad then asked what you are meant to do when visiting the famous Blarney Stone in Cork.
Tom guessed that you had to 'rub it for good luck' before being told that people kissed the stone. However, despite the two wrong answers, Tom, who is from Bedford, showed his appreciation and knowledge for Irish sports.
Asked who Barry Nash was and what his sport was, Tom said: 'Hurling is the fastest grass sport in the world and one of the most brutal as well.
'Barry Nash is a man from Limerick and I think they won the All Ireland like five or six times.' Asked whether he watched hurling, he replied: 'Yeah mate, it is sick. I watch hurling and a bit of Gaelic as well.'
Tom is going back on tour in September and on the 13th of that month he will perform at Dublin's 3Arena. And speaking to RTE in 2022, he expressed his sentiment for the country, saying: 'It's a place that means a lot to me and I do feel at home here.
'I feel a connection with Ireland. More now that my music is doing OK here. I've just got this extended family now, which is mad. At gigs here, the Irish lot know that I am one of them. There's a family connection for sure.'