De Gaulle in Eire
His mother had French, Irish, Scottish, Fleming, and German ancestry
He was also influenced by his uncle, also called Charles de Gaulle, who was a historian and passionate Celticist who wrote books and pamphlets advocating the union of the Welsh, Scots, Irish and Bretons into one people.
I chose Ireland, where a branch of my family, the McCartan, originates, and where I never had a chance to set foot. My grandmother on my father's side, Mrs. Maillot, furthermore published, among many other books, an acclaimed biography of Daniel O'Connell.
Hence my first visit abroad as a simple French citizen was to Ireland. Your country brought everything I needed. The quietness, the beauty, the forty shades of green (I counted even more of them, in the ring of Kerry alone!), a noble, proud, friendly People.
I was invited by President Eamon de Valera in Aras an Uachtarain, in Phoenix Park, for my last couple of nights in Ireland. Your president, who was fighting for Freedom in the GPO just while I was fighting the Verdun battle, in the cursed spring of 1916, impressed me with the force of his vision, despite the fact he had lost sight. As old soldiers, both having known the horrors of combat and the weight of hate, we understood each other and felt a strong sense of fraternity. The two of us drank (secretly!) to reunited Ireland.
http://www.dialogus2.org/enGAUL/imirish.html