The Squirrel Chronicles

I am an Irish lass. Well, half an irish lass. The rest of me is an Italian mama.
Anyway, today, I am posting an ode to my dad, who is the most Irish man alive. My dad is very intelligent, and spends a lot of time reading about history, and then coercing me to read the same books. I am more of a trashy novel type girl, so he wastes a lot of time. As a result, my dad knows EVERYTHING about Ireland...culture, history, language, economy, ecology, etc. He becomes very excitable and at times, bombastic when the topic of Ireland comes up in conversation.
Which brings us to Christmas of 2000, when my Italian cousin Char brought home her IRISH fiancee to Christmas dinner. His last name was O'Brien. Even better, BOTH his parents are IRISH! And they actually LIVE in the homeland! The moment my dad heard this information, the poor guy was in for it. He immediately found himself being bombarded with questions from my dad
'What county are your parents from?"
'What township?"
"What pub did your great great grandparents frequent while living there?'
"Yes, and about how many chickens and cows did they have on their farm?"
The best question comes next....
"What is your mother's maiden name?"
The answer, my friends, was HOARE.
Say this out loud to yourself.
Sounds like WHORE!!!!!
All the rest of us at the party held our breath...and my dad said (OUT LOUD):

"Oh yes! The Hoare's of Ireland!! I know them well!"