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Tenor Frank Patterson Tapes Inspired North Korean Officials to Learn “Danny Boy”

IrishCentral-The late Irish American tenor Frank Patterson sang for the Pope but he never realized he also did for North Korean political leaders. State officials in the “Hermit Kingdom” learned to sing Danny Boy in English from a recording of Danny Boy sung by Patterson, which was provided by an Irish diplomat. The diplomat, who was not named, is using a Dublin auction house to sell off numerous unwanted gifts he collected during his career. A 12 piece cutlery set from North Korea was a gift to the Irish United Nations official who is now selling off his unwanted memorabilia from his time in office. The Irish Times newspaper reports that the diplomat was in Pyongyang, the capital of the communist state, on a ‘mission-impossible’ to promote tourism. He received a gift from his hosts of cutlery cased in a drab, faux-leather plastic and cardboard box and contains 12 settings. In return, the Irish diplomat, according to the Irish Times, allegedly ‘delighted’ his hosts by giving them ‘two cassette tapes of tenor Frank Patterson’. The tapes resulted in the North Korean officials learning to sing Danny Boy in English.