11/22/2009 11:45 AM

Sarah Palin, in her new book 'Going Rogue,' talks about her Irish Catholic mother and the fact that she was raised in that faith before leaving it for more-conservative denominations. Palin's mother was Sarah Sheeran, whose grandparents came from Roscommon in Ireland.

But the biggest Irish controversy for Palin surrounds her claim on the campaign with John McCain that Ireland was one of the countries she visited overseas.

This goes back to an answer given to Politco during the campaign in 2008, when a spokeswoman said that Palin had been abroad in Germany, Kuwait and Ireland.

However, it turned out that Palin's stopover in Ireland was a refuelling stop in Shannon Airport en route to military installations in Germany and Kuwait.

Democrats and left-wing bloggers jumped on the Palin statement and accused her of buffing up her foreign policy resume. Palin, through a spokesperson, denied doing so and the matter became quite controversial for several days.

What do you think? Does a refuelling stop in Ireland constitute a visit?