2009_IA_June_July.pdf - Irish America

4 IRISH AMERICA JUNE/JULY 2009

FEATURES

34 COCO ROCKS THE RUNWAYCoco Rocha, Irish dancer turned supermodel, speakswith Kara Rota.

38 LADY OF THE DANCE Maggie Revis talks about her career and touring aslead dancer in Lord of the Dance. By Tara Dougherty.

42 TUG O’ MY HEARTMcAllister Towing carries the family business intothe fourth generation. By Marian Betancourt.

46 SEA FEVER: AN IRISH SURFING ODYSSEY Dangerous waves off the Atlantic coastline are draw-ing surfers to Ireland. By Sharon Ní Chonchúir.

50 HOLYOKE’S IRISH HEARTSt. Patrick’s Day festivities in Holyoke, Massachusettsstir up the ghosts of Irish past. By Patricia Harty.

54 THE SWORD AND THE FLAGThomas Meagher, Fenian and Civil War general, isremembered at Notre Dame. By Patrick Griffin.

62 WILDE ON SHOWThe Morgan Library presents a new exhibit dedicatedto unraveling Oscar Wilde. By Cahir O’Doherty.

66 LET THE GREAT WORLD SPINAn excerpt from Colum McCann’s new book.

64 LAUGHTER,TEARS AND UNEXPECTED SCREAMSCahir O’Doherty reviews Conor McPherson’s mostrecent film The Eclipse.

68 VOICES OF CLARITYKara Rota interviews Christopher Kennedy Lawfordabout his book Moments of Clarity.

70 THE END OF IT, THE ENDMark Axelrod recalls a poignant final meeting withSamuel Beckett.

74 A TUNEFUL OF TRADITIONDaniel Neely and Don Meade revitalize traditional Irish music with the WSHSO. By Kate Overbeck.

IRISH AMERICAJune/July 2009 Vol. 24 No. 3

DEPARTMENTS

6 Letters 7 Contributors 8 Editor’s Note

10 News from Ireland14 Hibernia64 Spotlight

70 Books72 Music76 Roots78 Crossword80 Sláinte82 Photo Album

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THE OTHER EMERALD ISLE One place that you forgot tomention in your Global Irishissue – Hawaii.

Predating statehood, theannual St. Patrick’s DayParade in Waikiki has beenpresented by the Hawaiichapter of the Society of theFriends of St. Patrick (for-merly the Friendly Sons ofSt. Patrick) since March 17,1956, on the first anniver-sary of the Society’s charter.

Through the course of the year a num-ber of the members of the Societyworked to organize the event, but JimMurphy was the man in charge on paradeday. Early on, things seemed to be a bitchaotic but everything came together andat 12:00 noon the parade began.

“Somehow, we pulled order out ofchaos and were able to slot every groupin where they belonged and then, underthe flawless direction of Chuck Wall,merge the marching bands as theystreamed by the staging area. We alsoowe a lot to the Honolulu PoliceDepartment,” Murphy said.

A little after one o’clock the paradearrived at its terminus, Kapiolani BeachPark, after which participants and specta-tors, alike repaired to their favorite pubfor a pint or two and some great Irishmusic.

Almost every town has at least oneIrish pub. In Honolulu, halfway aroundthe world from the other Emerald Isle,you’ll find six – Kelly O’Neil’s, the IrishRose, O’Toole’s, Murphy’s, J.J. Dolan’sand Ferguson’s, and St. Paddy’s Day isthe biggest, most important day of theyear for the pubs and their patrons.

We went first to Kelly O’Neil’s inWaikiki for corned beef and Guinnessand then went on downtown for the St.Patrick’s Day block party on NuuananuAvenue. At 5:00 it was crowded. By10:00, when I left, you could hardlymake your way through the throngs.Thousands turned out for the parade andfor the block party – the majority of themdecked out in emerald green. For it does-n’t matter your last name or your ances-try, on St. Patrick’s Day we’re all Irish.

Along with the St. Patrick’s DayParade, the Society of the Friends of St.Patrick also holds its annual Emerald

Ball a week or so prior to the day of theparade. The Ball is a fundraiser for theSociety’s education fund, which awardsscholarships to high school students.

Information regarding the Society, aswell as a slide show of the 2009 St.Patrick’s Day events can be found at thewebsite: www.irishclubhawaii.com

Michael D. KerriganKane’ohe, Hawaii

PARADE NUMBERSCan you tell me how many marchers andspectators were there in this year’s St.Patrick’s Day parades in New York City,Boston and Chicago?

I’m a German student and I need thenumbers for my M.A. thesis “Being Irishfor one day: Irish cultural heritage in theUnited States and Great Britain.”

Janine HamannReceived by e-mail

Editor’s Note: Typically the NewYork City St. Patrick’s Day Paradeattracts around two million spectatorsand over 150,000 marchers. Chicago’sparade had 400,000 spectators this year.Boston normally draws about one mil-lion viewers. The South Boston parade,one of several smaller parades in Boston,held on March 15 this year, normallydraws a crowd of somewhere between400,000 and 900,000.

WIGS ON THE GREENPlease tell me where, why, or who start-ed the custom, the awful custom, of Irishdancers wearing those ugly and ridicu-lous-looking wigs! I grew up in Irelandand did Irish dancing, but I was neverever subjected to wearing a wig! I hadmy own hair, and I know all of thedancers I’ve seen over the years are notbald – so why the wigs?

My two granddaughters took Irishdancing for five years, and their mother(my daughter) stopped them dancingbecause of the horrendous wigs! I won-der if anyone out there agrees with me.

I love my Irish America magazine andlook forward to every issue.

Jean BurnsHammond, Indiana

Editor’s Note: The editor agrees thatwigs, costumes, glitter and fake tans areturning our beloved Irish dancing festi-vals into something verging on theridiculous. Let’s hear from the readers.

THE GLOBAL IRISHThe April/May “Global Irish” issue isbeautifully done – like a buffet. I foundmyself going back time and again to readones I had skipped over, and each time Iwas glad to have done so. The great rangeof Irish success is truly impressive, espe-cially the gracious stretch in the case ofFalmouth Kearney. Could you please tellhow your staff discovered [that Falmouthwas President Obama’s third great-grandfather]? For the past ten years Ihave tried to find out more about my owngreat-great-great-grandfather. The CelticCross monument that marks his grave inBaltimore’s Sacred Heart Cemetery sim-ply says: “Patrick Michael Conway,native Westport, Co. Mayo, born 1832,died March 13, 1892.”

I do know that he came to Baltimore in1852 and records show he had a wife,Bridget, and a saloon by 1862, severalchildren and a second saloon by 1872,and also a grocery store by 1882.

How do I find out who his parents wereand where he was born?

Carroll F.X. Conway Parkville, Maryland

Editor’s Note: Megan Smolenyak, whoresearched President Obama’s Irish roots,says that she “doesn’t have the luxury oftaking on individual clients.” There aremany good resources online, includingwww.nationalarchives.ie – which holds awide variety of records relevant to Irishgenealogy and local history.

Send letters to: Irish America, 875 Avenue of the Americas, Suite 2100,

NY NY 10001. Or [email protected]. Please include

name, address, and phone number. Letterswill be edited for length and clarity.

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St. Patrick’s Dayin Hawaii.

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SHARON NÍCHONCHÚIRis a regular contribu-tor to Irish America.She lives and worksin West Kerry,Ireland, and much of her writing is concerned with thechanging face of modern Irish culture.

{contributors}

CAHIR O’DOHERTY is arts editor ofThe Irish Voice. Born in Derry, he’s a graduate of the University of Ulster and

Yale University. Irisharts, culture, musicand politics are his abiding passions. He hopes you’ll be aregular “commenter”on his blog onIrishCentral.com.

TARADOUGHERTYis currently pursuing aB.A. in EnglishLiterature with focuseson Creative Writing andIrish Studies at NYU. Anative New Yorker, Tarais a second-generationIrish-American whotraces her Irish roots tocounties Roscommon,Galway and Kerry.

PATRICK GRIFFINis the Madden Hennebrychair in history at theUniversity of NotreDame. He has writtenbooks on Irish migrationto the American coloniesand the AmericanRevolution in its Atlanticcontext. He is curentlyworking on a biographyof Sir William Johnson,an Irish Catholic who wasadopted by the Mohawk.

KARA ROTA received her B.A. in May from SarahLawrence College in Bronxville, New York, and isthrilled to sign on as a new member of Irish America’seditorial staff.

Vol. 24 No. 3 • June / July 2009

Mortas Cine Pride In Our Heritage

IRISH AMERICA875 SIXTH AVENUE,

SUITE 2100, N.Y., NY 10001

TEL: 212-725-2993 FAX: 212-244-3344

E-MAIL: [email protected] WEB: http://www.irishamerica.com

Founding Publisher:Niall O’Dowd

Co-Founder/Editor-in-Chief:Patricia Harty

Vice President of Marketing:Turlough McConnell

Art Director:Marian Fairweather

Assistant Editors:Tara Dougherty

Kara Rota

Copy Editor:John Anderson

Advertising & Events Coordinator:

Kathleen Overbeck

Financial Controller:Kevin M. Mangan

Writer at Large:Bridget English

Irish America Magazine ISSN 0884-4240) © byIrish America Inc. Published bi-monthly. Mailingaddress: P.O. Box 1277, Bellmawr, NJ 08099-5277. Editorial office: 875 Sixth Avenue, Suite 2100, New York, NY 10001. Telephone:212 725-2993. Fax: 212-244-3344 E-mail:[email protected]. Subscription rate is $21.95for one year. Subscription orders: 1-800-582-6642. Subscription queries: 1-800-582-6642,(212) 725-2993, ext. 16. Periodicals postagepaid at New York and additional mailing offices.Postmaster please send address changes to IrishAmerica Magazine, P.O. Box 1277, Bellmawr, NJ 08099-5277. IRISH AMERICA IS PRINTEDIN THE U.S.A.

MARK AXELRODis a professor and for-mer Chair of Englishand ComparativeLiterature at ChapmanUniversity, California,and a multiple awardwinner for his screen-writing and fiction.

MARIAN BETANCOURTis a freelance writer living in New York.She has publishedmany books and arti-cles and previouslywrote about the MoranTugs for Irish America.

JUNE/JULY 2009 IRISH AMERICA 7

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Iwasn’t at the White House on St. Patrick’s Day. Despite lobbying all the muckety-mucks I knew, I nevermanaged to procure an invitation. (I guess I better start

courting the Chicago Irish – Hello? – didn’t you read thatfeature on the history of the Irish in Chicago just a coupleof issues ago?)

In truth, I enjoyed being in New York on the big day. I caught the Sisters of Charity 700-strong contingent walk-ing up Fifth Avenue (that was me shouting out to you, SisterPeggy), and that was something. The more I learn of thehistory of the Irish in America, the more respect I have forthe nuns who hauled the children of those early Irish immi-grants up on the first rung of the ladder and sent them onthe road to success.

I also traveled to Holyoke, Massachusetts, where Ireceived an award on behalf of Irish America and joined inthe St. Patrick celebrations on March 22. That too was awonderful experience.

I’m one of the lucky ones. As editor, I get to explore thegrand history of the Irish in this country every day, but itwas nice to connect the experience to a place. And if thereis a quintessential place called Irish America, Holyokewould be it.

The story of the Irish in America – the long hours in the

mills, the dangerous work digging the canals, the tenacityof ancestors whose refusal to quit forged a stepping stonefor future generations – all took place here in Holyoke.And today, though it is now home to the largest populationof Puerto Ricans outside Puerto Rico, it’s still Irish in itsheart. And it has one of the grandest parades in the country.

Holyoke’s hardscrabble roots made me think that ourgrand parades grew out of a desire to thumb our noses at themuckety-mucks. Separately we didn’t have much buttogether we were a force. So we washed our faces, put onour best suits and put on a show because that’s what gave usthe courage to go on.

We are at our best when our knowledge of our own storygives us understanding and empathy for others, and one ofthe things I liked about Holyoke was the diversity of theparade – the French Canadians, Latinos, and Shriners thatmarched. For though we have our own wonderful andunique experience, we know that others do too.

I also truly appreciated all of you readers who lined the parade route, and gave a shout out, especially the couplewho held up the Go Tipp[erary] sign.” Thank you for making me feel appreciated.

I love bringing the story of Irish America to you, but in truth, sometimes I feel like I’m just channeling the ancestors.

This time around it was Thomas “Meagher of the Sword.”As we were readying a piece for this issue on a bas-relief inWaterford honoring the great Fenian, Civil War General,and Governor of Montana, publisher Niall O’Dowd calledfrom Notre Dame (by the way, Notre Dame’s “ Fight Song”was composed in Holyoke!) to say he’d found Meagher’ssword (see Pg. 54), and, as we were going to press, I received a call from Montana about plans to unveil amemorial to General Meagher on June 28.

I hope you enjoy reading this issue as much as I enjoyedputting it together. Thanks, Carroll Conway, for calling theGlobal Irish issue (Apr./May) a buffet that you can return toagain and again (Letters Page). I too feel that a good maga-zine is like a good meal, easy to prepare when you have allthe right ingredients – and in the story of Irish America,those fixings are never in short supply.

God bless.

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Celebrating IrishHeritage in Holyoke

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“For generations, the Irish, along with so many other immigrant and ethnic

groups, came to America equipped often with nothing but their faith and an

unbending belief that success was possible for all who were willing to work for it.”

– Barack Obama, speaking at The White House on St. Patrick’s Day.

Senator John F. Kennedy and Jackie riding in the St. Patrick’sDay Parade in Holyoke, Massachusetts in 1958.

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HE government is facing asevere backlash at the pollswith the local authority andEuropean parliament elections

taking place in June. Fianna Fáil’s popu-larity has continued to plummet amid asteadily worsening economic situation.The government – made up of Fianna Fáiland its Green Party coalition partners –has also attracted additional criticism byclumsy handling of a number of sensitiveissues.

A serious drop in tax revenuehas created a critical shortfall instate finances, prompting thegovernment to introduce a so-called supplementary budget inMarch. Workers were hit byadditional taxes, aimed atbringing in much-needed rev-enue as well as impressing theEuropean Central Bank thatIreland is trying to steady itsrapidly ailing finances.

Public reaction was pre-dictably unfavorable, with par-ticular anger aroused by thescrapping of double welfarepayments traditionally paid at Christmas.Government departments also announcedcutbacks across the board, with educationand health services also hit. According toFinance Minister Brian Lenihan, everymajor state capital investment project isunder review as the economic situationdeteriorates.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen was also understrong pressure to cut the number of jun-ior ministers in his cabinet. He finallycaved in by reducing that complementfrom 20 to 15, but each junior ministerdemoted received a redundancy payoffworth about 50,000 euros, eliminating anycost saving.

In a time of widespread job losses, thegovernment’s willingness to reward itselfso generously has sparked public fury. Inhis budget speech Minister Lenihan alsopromised to discontinue a series of finan-cial bonuses awarded to long-serving TDs(parliamentary deputies). However, cut-ting these perks – which amount to 3,100

euros annual increments to TDs servingmore than seven years – has since stalledon legal argument on whether existingarrangements can be revoked for TDsalready in receipt of those increments.

And so a symbolic demonstration ofelected representatives sharing the reces-sionary pain backfired into anothershameful display of politicians simplylooking after themselves in a time ofnational emergency. The electorate has

taken notice, and candidates for the localand European elections are under intensefire over this issue.

Green Party leader John Gormleyadded to dissension within the coalitionby suggesting that TDs should voluntarilygive up the bonus. He was joined by fel-low Green, Minister for Energy EamonRyan, but senior Fianna Fáil TDs rejectedthe call for voluntary cuts and the politicalstalemate continues.

While the virtual collapse in state rev-enue – estimated at a loss of some 8 bil-lion euros this year in tax returns – hasforced the government’s hand, the world-wide crisis in financial markets has affect-ed Irish banks as much as, if not worsethan, seen everywhere else.

Irish banks have left themselvesexposed to a series of huge property-based loans gone bad in the economicdownturn. The state has provided billionsto recapitalize the banks – going further inthe case of Anglo-Irish Bank by actually

nationalizing it. However, the astronomically expensive

recapitalization move has failed to restoreconfidence in the banking sector. In a fur-ther measure, the government announcedit would set up the National AssetManagement Agency (NAMA) to try tobring banking debts under state control.“The whole purpose here is to providebetter market stability and transparency inrelation to the level of debts that are in the

banks,” Taoiseach Cowentold reporters.

It is intended that NAMAwill quarantine the toxic debtsof banks – estimated atalmost 90 billion euros – andadminister those bad loans ata premium to the banks thatissued them in the first place.

It remains to be explainedjust how NAMA will operate,but the proposed agency hasdrawn serious criticism frommany respected economists.An article in the Irish Timesco-signed by 20 leading com-mentators said NAMA was

the wrong option. The article suggestedthat the government should instead bemoving to nationalize Ireland’s biggestbanks, the Bank of Ireland and Allied IrishBank.

In response, economist Alan Ahearne,an advisor to the Finance Minister, coun-tered that nationalizing the banks wouldbe seen in the markets “as a sign that abank has failed completely.” He told aconference that NAMA would “helprepair banks’ balance sheets (and) get onwith their everyday business” of lendingso that setting it up means “the govern-ment is on the right track.”

However, the obstacles are increasingweekly, if not daily. Based on current fig-ures the IMF estimates it will cost about24 billion euros to stabilize the Irishbanks. This would amount to almost 14percent of the country’s Gross DomesticProduct (GDP), which would make it thelargest-scale bailout among 19 developedeconomies under study.

{news from ireland}By Frank Shouldice

Government FacesBacklash at Polls

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Taoiseach Brian Cowenand Minister Brian

Lenihan.


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Irishman Killed inBolivianShootout


DIPLOMATIC relations between

Dublin and La Paz were

strained following a shootout in the

city of Santa Cruz in which an Irish

citizen named Michael Dwyer was

killed. It remains unclear what the

25-year-old Tipperary man was doing

in Bolivia, but he was found in the

company of a group of men

described by the Bolivian authorities

as “a band of terrorist mercenaries.”

According to Bolivian security

forces, the three men killed

were part of a group plotting an

assassination of President Evo

Morales.A joint police/army

operation centered on a hotel in

Santa Cruz, and in a violent

30-minute shootout three men,

including Dwyer, were killed.Two

other men were arrested, and a

cache of captured weapons was

put on display afterwards.

News of Michael Dwyer’s death

was met with disbelief by his family

in the village of Ballinderry, Co.

Tipperary. His parents have

demanded explanations for exactly

what happened, but the Bolivian

authorities objected to inquiries

made by the Department of Foreign

Affairs in Dublin.The authorities

also resisted inquiries by the

Croatian and Hungarian consulates

about the other two fatalities.A

post-mortem was conducted in

Dublin when Dwyer’s body was

flown home. It was revealed that he

died from a single gunshot wound

to the chest but otherwise the

autopsy was inconclusive.

“They have no authority to ask

for an investigation,” retorted

President Morales.“It is very serious.

I could think that they [Ireland,

Croatia and Hungary] are the ones

who sent them [the mercenaries]

here to attack democracy.”

IRELAND’S rugby teamclinched its first Grand Slam in61 years with a pulsating victo-ry in Cardiff to achieve fivewins in a row in the Six Nations

championship. The Grand Slam, whichfor Ireland means beating Wales,England, Scotland, France and Italy inone season, seemed an unlikely ambi-tion for coach Declan Kidney who tookover at the end of 2008. Kidney discov-ered team morale at a very low ebb afterserious underachievement in the WorldCup, followed by championship per-formances far short of the potentialpromised under his predecessor EddieO’Sullivan.

However, O’Sullivan’s departure andKidney’s low-key managerial approachproved inspirational. The team gelledwith Munster and Leinster playersshowing more pride and unity in an Irishjersey than they had displayed for sometime.

The historic victory in Wales was a

monumental effort, although it took avery late drop-goal by out-half RonanO’Gara to give Ireland a 17-15 lead. Thedrama didn’t end there, however, andWales almost denied a historic day withan injury-time penalty from near thehalfway line. Stephen Jones’ penaltydropped just short of the posts and thefinal whistle sounded to the delight ofIrish players and fans, including Ulsterout-half Jackie Kyle, a veteran of the1948 team that last pulled off a GrandSlam.

Capping a magnificent season forIrish rugby, Munster talisman PaulO’Connell was named captain of theBritish and Irish Lions to tour SouthAfrica this summer. O’Connell succeedsBrian O’Driscoll as the Lions leader. Itwas in recognition of Ireland’s GrandSlam achievement that a record 14 Irishplayers were named to the 37-manLions touring squad. Wales provided 13players, England eight and Scotlandtwo.

Irish Rugby Claims Famous Victory

Ireland’s Brian O’Driscoll holds aloft the Six Nations’ trophy after his team beat Wales17-15. At right are Prince William and President Mary McAleese.

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{news from ireland}

CunninghamSentenced to 10 Years

News In Short

• ROY KEANE, former captain of the Irish internationalsoccer team, returned to club management with a surprisetakeover of English club Ipswich Town. Keane, whose internation-al career ended with a fractious split with Irish boss MickMcCarthy prior to the 2002 World Cup, first stepped into clubmanagement with former international teammate Niall Quinn atSunderland. After a very successful start he controversially quitthe club after clashing with the new owner. Having spent fivemonths away from the limelight, he has returned to the fray,announcing he would try to take Ipswich into the top league nextseason. . . .

• IRELAND’S brief flirtation with electronic voting offi-cially came to an end when Minister for the Environment JohnGormley announced that the electronic system purchased by thegovernment would be scrapped. The e-voting software, which wasdeemed too unreliable to introduce at national level, has cost thetaxpayer more than 51 million euros. “If you find at the end of theday that you cannot use machines, you clearly have to classify thatas wastage of money,” said the Minister. “Frankly, I did not createthis particular difficulty. I came into office and I had to deal withthis problem and now I am dealing with it.”. . .

• SEVERANCE payments are expected to reach almostone billion pounds sterling for police officers whoquit service prior to the establishment of the PoliceService of Northern Ireland (PSNI). Under the PattenCommission a key proposal in setting up the 7,500-strong PSNI was an effort to recruit a greater number ofCatholic officers to the police force. Royal UlsterConstabulary (RUC) officers were offered generousterms to quit, and some 350 full-time officers and over500 part-time officers accepted the terms. DUP memberIan Paisley Jnr. hit out at what he saw as a severe drainon resources. “We have gaps in terms of prison service,courts service, youth justice and policing which amountsto over 600 million pounds and yet in the next year and ahalf we will have to pay almost half of that in severancepayments to get rid of skilled police officers.”

CORK businessman Ted Cunningham was sen-

tenced to 10 years on charges of laundering

over 3 million euros of the 26-million-pound

Northern Bank haul.The audacious robbery of the

Northern Bank in Belfast in December 2004 was one

of the largest bank raids ever to have taken place in

either Britain or Ireland.The scale of the haul

prompted the Northern Bank to withdraw from cir-

culation all its banknotes — valued at 300 million

pounds — and replace them with new legal tender. It

was a costly response, but it made the bulk of the

stolen money traceable and virtually useless.

The Provisional IRA was suspected of carrying out

the heist to provide a type of pension for former IRA

activists who had gone along with Sinn Féin’s cease-

fire strategy.The robbery even threatened the peace

process in Northern Ireland, with unionists demand-

ing proof that Sinn Féin was not involved. However,

the ringleaders behind the raid were never caught

and the peace process, though weakened, survived

the controversy.

Gardai (Irish police) monitored the financial mar-

kets for Northern Bank cash surfacing south of the

border.As they mounted surveillance they discovered

bundles of suspect cash being burnt by one individual

who feared being caught in possession of stolen

money A garda raid on Cunningham’s house in

Farran, Co. Cork then uncovered over 3 million

euros stashed around the property.

Cunningham, 60, was duly arrested and faced trial

at the Cork Circuit Criminal Court.After a hearing

that lasted 45 days he was convicted on all counts by

majority verdicts. Jurors did not accept Cunningham’s

explanation that the money was part of a deposit

paid by Bulgarians for a sand pit in Co. Offaly. His son

Timothy Cunningham, 33, pleaded guilty to a single

count of money laundering and received a suspended

three-year sentence.

Roy Keane, former captain of the Irishinternational soccer

team.

IA


THE VICE PRESIDENT: Mr.President, Michelle Obama, mywife Jill, Prime Minister [BrianCowen] and his wife Mary – all

of you, welcome to the White House. It’san honor to be here with two great leadersand to welcome the Taoiseach to celebratethe friendship between our two greatnations.

There’s an old Irish proverb – and youhave heard a million of them. And youknow we Irish make them up when there’sreally not one [laughter] thatsays, “There’s no strength with-out unity.” Today we celebratethe strength derived from theunity of Irish and American peo-ple that we’ve shared for cen-turies – actually, since the verybeginning.

We all know the importanceof St. Paddy’s Day in Irish his-tory, but today is a pretty signif-icant day in American history.It was on March 17, 1776, thatBritish forces, under the leader-ship of Sir William Howe,evacuated Boston during theRevolutionary War [applause] –something we Irish andAmericans share in common –and paving the way for thefuture victory of the Revolutionary War.

What some of you may know and manyof you may not know, is that the passwordof the day at General Washington’sencampment was “St. Patrick.”

St. Patrick’s Day has been entwined inAmerican history from our beginning,from our birth. So when Americans areall done up in Kelly green – and they’reengaging in revelry tonight – it’s likely theresult of a keen desire to know a great dealmore about the American Revolution – or

maybe not. [Laughter.] Maybe not.For me, of course, St. Patrick’s Day and

the Irishness it celebrates is inextricablytied to my character and to my personalhistory. My mother, Catherine EugeniaFinnegan Biden, who I went to see lastnight late in the hospital, was doing bettertoday and said, “Joey, why are you here?Aren’t you supposed to be at the WhiteHouse?” And as I left her bedside, Mr.President, she said, “Joey, where is yourgreen?” [Laughter.]

Now, they got me up at 2:30 a.m. in themorning to go see her, and she wonderedwhy I didn’t have my green on! Well,Mom, I got my green on tonight.

You know, the fact of the matter is,I think my mother, like all of our moth-ers, is the soul, spirit and essence ofwhat it means to be an Irish-American.She’s spiritual, she’s romantic, she hon-ors tradition and understands that thethickest of all substances is blood, andthe greatest of all virtues is courage.

She taught me and everyone who camethrough our door to believe that brav-ery lives in every one of our hearts, andwe should expect it to be summonedsomeday.

She taught us that failure at some pointis inevitable in everyone’s life, but giv-ing up is absolutely unforgivable.

It’s funny, I think she might havebeen tutoring Barack Obama on theside during this period [laughter]because he shares precisely that same

ethic. It’s an ethic that isn’tunique to us Irish, althoughhe has Irish blood, but it’sone we fully embrace as apeople.

It’s an ethic of toughnessand compassion, intellect andhumor, deep honor and adeeper commitment to thosearound us. And that’s thedefinition of my workingwith President BarackObama. That’s who he is.Come to think of it, maybe heshould put, as was said today,an apostrophe after the “O” inhis name. [Laughter.]

We were kidding insideabout how I would occasional-ly [do that] – and Michelle

even once introduced Jill as Jill O’Biden.[Laughter.]

Seriously, though, there’s another oldIrish proverb, and you know this one:“A friend’s eye is a good mirror.”

I hope this one is true, because when Ilook in the President’s eye, I sure likewhat I see reflecting back.

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s my honor tointroduce the President of the UnitedStates of America, my friend BarackObama. [Applause.]


PEOPLE | HERITAGE | EVENTS | ARTS | ENTERTAINMENT{hibernia}

Remarks by the President and the Vice President at the St. Patrick’s DayReception, held in The East Room, 7.30 p.m. March 17, 2009.

The White House onSt. Patrick’s Day

Vice President Joe Biden pictured with his mother CatherineEugenia Finnegan Biden at the DemocraticConvention, 2008.

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THE PRESIDENT: Well, goodevening, everybody. And wel-come to St. Patrick’s Day at theWhite House. [Applause.] I

notice that the Boston crowd is a littlerambunctious tonight. [Applause.] Howabout Chicago? [Applause.] That’s whatI’m talking about. [Laughter.]

It seems particularly fitting that we gath-er tonight in a house that was, after all,designed and built by an Irish architect.

We’ve had a wonderful day that beganby meeting with a strong friend of theUnited States, Taoiseach Brian Cowen,who presented us with a gift of shamrocksfrom the people of Ireland – a symbol ofthe enduring ties between our nations, anda reminder of the everlasting promise ofspring. And I’m so glad that we’ve gottena chance to know him and his lovely wifeMary, who’ve just been entirely gracioustoday. And we’re very grateful to them.As it turns out, the Taoiseach and I havesomething in common – I’ve mentionedthis in previous speeches – both he andmy great-great-great grandfather on mymother’s side hail from County Offaly.

And I’ve also had the pleasure of meet-ing First Minister Peter Robinson andDeputy First Minister Martin McGuinnessof Northern Ireland, two men who havestood together to chart a historic pathtowards peace. They are with us tonightand deserve an extraordinary round ofapplause. [Applause.]

And I’ve just met with Sir Hugh Orde,the Chief Constable of Northern Ireland’sPolice Service, who is leading the effortsto bring those responsible for the recent

violence to justice. Andwe are grateful for him.

All of us watched thisweek as the people ofNorthern Ireland andtheir leaders respondednothing short of hero-ically to those whowould challenge a hard-earned peace, and thethoughts and prayers ofAmericans everywherego out to the families ofthe fallen. And I wanteveryone listening toknow this: The United

States of America will always stand withthose who are working towards peace, andafter seeing former adversaries mourningand praying and working together, I havenever been more confident that thispeace will prevail.

Today serves as a solid reminder ofjust how deeply woven the tiesbetween our two nations are. Irishsignatures are on the founding docu-ments; Irish blood has been spilled onour battlefields; Irish sweat went intothe building of our greatest cities.Tens of millions of Americans nowtrace their roots back to that littleisland that has made such a largeimpact on America and on the world.

For generations, the Irish, along with somany other immigrant and ethnic groups,came to America equipped often withnothing but their faith and an unbendingbelief that success was possible for all whowere willing to work for it. That, after all,may be the reason that Americans identifyso strongly with the story of St. Patrick.It’s the story of believing in the unseen –and of making that belief a reality.

That’s what the Irish did. They strug-gled to create a place for themselves in adistant land, and with a commitment tofaith and family and hard work, theytransformed that land in the process. Andeven after all the generations of becomingand being Americans, their descendantshave never lost that enduring spirit thatinsists they proclaim themselves Irish still.

That same pride was embodied by a

man who once occupied this very house –a man who was only three generationsremoved from Ireland.

In the third year of his presidency, JohnF. Kennedy decided to make a trip to hisancestral home. One of his aides advisedagainst it, telling the President, “You’vegot all the Irish votes in the country thatyou’ll ever get.” [Laughter.] “If you go toIreland, people will say it’s just a pleasuretrip.”

And President Kennedy replied, “That’sexactly what I want, a pleasure trip toIreland.” [Laughter.]

And while there, he visited the port fromwhich his great-grandfather embarked forAmerica. And in an address to the Irishparliament and Ireland’s American-bornpresident, he reflected, as we all have fromtime to time, on the role chance plays overthe generations in determining who webecome.

I want to read a quote from him. “Ifthis nation had achieved its present polit-ical and economic stature a century ago,my great-grandfather might never haveleft New Ross, and I might, if fortunate,be sitting down there with you,”Kennedy said. “Of course, if your ownPresident had never left Brooklyn[Eamon de Valera, Ireland’s first presi-dent, was born in Brooklyn], he might bestanding up here instead of me.”[Laughter.]

It bears saying that if Patrick Kennedyhadn’t left County Wexford, or if ThomasFitzgerald hadn’t left County Limerick, theAmerican people might also have beendenied one of the finest public servants ofthis or any age – Sir Edward M. Kennedy.[Applause.] Teddy Kennedy wishes hecould be here tonight, but I guarantee thismuch: The very thought of all of you gath-ered here has his eyes smiling, and heexpects you to party. [Laughter.]

He has, as much as anyone, remindedus of what it means to be Irish – that nomatter what hardships may come, there isalways joy to be found in this life; and thatthrough hard work, tomorrow can bebetter than any day; that comfort is foundamidst faith and family, love and laughter,poetry and song.

And tonight, in this room with all of you,I’m reminded of the words of my favoritepoet, Yeats: “There are no strangers here –only friends you haven’t met yet.”

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, everybody.God bless you. [Applause.]

President Barack Obamaand Taoiseach Brian Cowenon the steps of the Capitolin Washington, March 17.

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Dublin native Colin Farrell is team-ing up with Irish-American screen-writer William Monahan for a newfilm, which seems to be an homageto a classic.

Farrell – who will be seen laterthis year subbing for Heath Ledger inthe dead actor’s final movie TheImaginarium of Dr. Parnassus – willstar in London Boulevard. The film,which also features Anna Friel andKeira Knightley, begs to be com-pared to the Hollywood classicSunset Boulevard, and not just because of the similar titles. Inthe 1950 classic, a down-and-out writer takes up with a for-mer Hollywood star. In London Boulevard, Farrell falls forKnightley, who plays a similarly reclusive, though presum-ably younger, actress. Farrell’s character is slightly differentfrom the one portrayed in Sunset by William Holden.Farrell’s character is an ex-con, while Holden was an aspiringscreenwriter.

London Boulevard will be directed by William Monahan,who won an Oscar for his screenplay of the Boston Irishfilm The Departed starring Jack Nicholson. Monahan willmake his directorial debut with London Boulevard, whichshould hit theaters in 2010.

One of the most inspirational true-life Irish-American stories is coming to the big screen later this year.

Back in 2001, just before St. Patrick’s Day, a woman bythe name of Betty Anne Waters was thrust into the limelightwhen her brother, Kenneth, had been declared innocent of agruesome crime for which he had been serving jail time.

It was Betty Anne, however, whose role in the saga wasmost fascinating. Though Betty Anne, at one point, haddropped out of high school, she was so convinced of herbrother’s innocence that sheworked her way through lawschool earning a degree so that

she could help free her wrongfullyconvicted brother.

The Waterses’ family saga –which took place in the Bostonarea – has now been made into afilm, which is expected to hit the-aters in the fall or winter.

Starring Hilary Swank, and cur-rently entitled Betty Anne Waters,the film will explore how KennethWaters became ensnared in thelegal system, and Betty’s role inhelping to free him.

Also starring are Melissa Leo, who earned an Oscar nom-ination for her role in last year’s indie immigration dramaFrozen River. The role of Kenneth Waters will be played bySam Rockwell.

After Kenneth was freed, Betty Anne gave many inter-views and talked at length about her Irish background (bothbrother and sister were interviewed by Irish America).

This is not the first time Hilary Swank (a two-time Oscarwinner in 1999 and 2004) has been linked to an Irish filmproject. She played spunky boxer Maggie Fitzgerald in ClintEastwood’s Million Dollar Baby and also starred in P.S., ILove You, based on the novel by Irish writer (and Bertie’sdaughter) Cecelia Ahern.

The Tribeca Film Festival recently swept into New YorkCity once again. The fest’s opening film was The Eclipse, thelatest project from prolific Irish scribe Conor McPherson.Best known for writing plays such as The Weir and TheSeafarer, McPherson is also an accomplished filmmaker.His screenwriting/directing credits include I Went Down,Endgame and The Actors.

The Eclipse (directed and written by McPherson and Irishwriter Billy Roche) is about a widower who has begun see-

ing mysterious things in his house.Things only get stranger when hemeets two authors who becomeinvolved in his life.

The film, which stars Irish veteranCiaran Hinds as well as IrishAmerican Aidan Quinn, is certainlygenerating buzz. Right before thefilm screened at Tribeca, Varietymagazine said that The Eclipse is “afilm of such seductive grace, humorand startling side trips into buttocks-clenching ghastliness that [audi-ences] won’t know what to make ofit (although it won’t keep them fromwanting to visit Ireland immediate-ly). … Ciaran Hinds and AidanQuinn are as good here as they’veever been.”

No word yet on when The Eclipsewill hit U.S. theaters.


{irish eye on hollywood}By Tom Deignan

Above: Colin Farrell, left, will star in LondonBoulevard, a remake of the classic Sunset Boulevard,which will be directed by William Monahan, right.

Right: Hilary Swank will star in a film abut how KennethWaters, pictured below with

his sister Betty Anne, was unjustly imprisoned, and how

Betty Anne helped to free him.

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Speaking of Aidan Quinn, he was a busy man at Tribeca.The Irish American – who has appeared in dozens of moviesincluding Michael Collins and This Is My Father – alsostarred in another Tribeca film, Handsome Harry, alongsideSteve Buscemi and Campbell Scott.

Handsome Harry is about a seemingly content man whosebest friend becomes ill, forcing both to confront uncomfort-able questions about their past. Handsome Harry should be intheaters later this year.

Liam Neeson, who is mourning the sudden loss of hiswife Natasha Richardson following a skiing accident inMarch, must be hoping that work will help the healingprocess.

Neeson has agreed to star, alongside Ralph Fiennes, inClash of the Titans, which will begin shooting soon in theUnited Kingdom.

Just as with the 1981 version of Clash of the Titans (whichfeatured acting legends Laurence Olivier, Claire Bloom andMaggie Smith, alongside Harry Hamlin and BurgessMeredith), this new Clash of the Titans will be about famouswarring gods of mythology. Early word is that Neeson willplay Zeus to Fiennes’ Hades.

Another actor struggling with loss, John Travolta – whoseson Jett died earlier this year following what is believed to bea seizure – will star alongside Irish heartthrob Jonathan RhysMeyers in From Paris With Love, set to be released early nextyear.

The thriller, to be directed by Pierre Morel, is about a youngembassy worker (Meyers) and a U.S. secret agent who are sentto Paris and can’t seem to stay out of each other’s way.

It is not director Morel’s first thriller starring an Irishman.He also directed Liam Neeson’s smash hit Taken.

On to cable TV news. One of the major cable networks isexpected to pick up a provocative, 10-hour mini-series aboutthe Kennedy family being produced by one of the creators ofthe smash TV hit 24.

Simply entitled The Kennedys, the mini-series is the brain-child of Joel Surnow, an outspoken Hollywood conservativewho has decided to put his own twist on one of America’s mostfamous liberal families.

According to publicity materials: “The Kennedys takes aninside look behind the secret doors of the White House, [and]the soiled and crooked steps it took to get there. It also tells thehistorical stories that are associated with the Kennedy era – theBay of Pigs, the Missile Crisis, the civil rights struggle, the

mob connection – each one told in the context of person-al, Kennedy-family dramas.”

Another producer, Michael Prupas, tried to play downthe notion that this would be some kind of hit job onIrish America’s royal family.

“This will be the most interesting family saga to bebrought to the screen in a very long time,” Prupas said.“It will be surprising, arresting and truthful ... withhuman drama at its core. The series is neither a hatchet

job nor a valentine.”

It is not often that the Irish immigrant experience finds itsway into a slasher/horror flick. But that’s just what happens indirector J.T. Petty’s The Burrowers, which is out on DVD now.

Set on the western U.S. frontier of the 1870s, the film fol-lows a group of settlers who are trying to simply survive.Among them is Irish immigrant Fergus Coffey (played by Irishactor Karl Geary), whose wife is presumed to have been mur-dered by Native Americans. As men ride out to seek revenge,only to vanish, it seems there may be something supernaturaland very deadly at work.

Finally, two new Irish documentaries are making the roundsat festivals. Scenes from a Parish, by documentary filmmakerJames Rutenbeck, recently premiered at the MassachusettsMuseum of Fine Arts. The film, produced over four years atSaint Patrick parish in Lawrence, Massachusetts, explores howa reliably Irish Catholic parish transforms as more and moreHispanics move in.

Meanwhile, Butte, America recently played close to home atMontana’s Emerson Center for the Performing Arts andCulture. The documentary (narrated by Gabriel Byrne)explores how the Irish and other immigrant families workedthe mines in the Montana town that gives the film its name.

Butte, America was produced and directed by Pam Roberts,a Montana native who spent nearly a decade making the film.Butte native Edwin Dobb, a descendant of Irish copper miners,co-wrote the script with Academy Award nominee EugeneCorr. Watch out for further screenings, including one atGlucksman Ireland House at NYU. IA

A scene from director J.T. Petty’s

The Burrowers.

Gabriel Byrne narrated Butte, America


18 IRISH AMERICA FEBRUARY/MARCH 2009

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It’s been 10 years now since HBOtook a chance on a little drama calledThe Sopranos and changed the faceof television. When The Sopranoshit the airwaves in 1999, no one

could have predicted that this offbeat dramaabout the mob and psychoanalysis wouldhave been the first of many great cable dra-mas to win prestigious awards and earn hugeratings.

But here’s another thing few people wouldhave predicted: that the Irish would come todominate critically acclaimed drama all overthe cable landscape.

Think about the best of therecent crop of dramas oncable: In Treatment, RescueMe, Brotherhood, The Tudors,even The Wire, which endedits glorious run last year.

All have Irish actors or dealexplicitly with Irish-Americancharacters or themes.

Perhaps most importantly,there is little in the way ofshallow or stereotypicalIrishness in these shows. Insome ways, the 2000s havebeen a high point in the exploration ofIrishness in pop culture.

That might have seemed unlikely a few yearsback when Rescue Me and The Wire hit FX andHBO respectively. These two shows featureclassic Irish-American male characters – thefirefighter (Denis Leary as Tommy Gavin) andthe cop (Dominic West as Jimmy McNulty).

Furthermore, both Gavin and McNulty havetime-tested Irish flaws – bad tempers, drinkingproblems, lapsed-Catholic guilt.

However, once these shows started gatheringsteam, they explored the dark, complex sides ofthe Irish experience in big cities, in a way thatseemed appropriate for the 21st century. ForTommy Gavin, it was dealing with life after somany of his fellow firefighters (many Irish-American) died on 9/11. For McNulty, it was the difficultiesof patrolling a city (Baltimore) where the Irish no longer rulethe streets or the government.

But the crusading McNulty kept the spirit of the Irish copalive. Among other things, whenever a cop retired (or died),all the cops would retire to a bar, get roaring drunk and sing.But they would not sing “Danny Boy.” Nope. They wouldsing Shane MacGowan and The Pogues’ “Body of anAmerican,” about a raucous Irish wake.

“There was uncles giving lectures / On ancient Irish histo-ry. / The men all started telling jokes. / And the women they

got frisky. / At five o’clock in the evening /Every b****rd there was piskey.”

Fittingly, the stars of Rescue Me – which ison FX Tuesday at 10 p.m. – and The Wireknew a thing or two about the Irish experi-ence in real life: both Leary and West are thesons of immigrant parents.

If The Wire and Rescue Me played withclassic Irish-American stereotypes, Show-time’s Brotherhood (Sundays at 8 p.m.) dugfar and deep into the conflicts inherent inthe Irish-American psyche: in the show, onebrother is a politician, the other a criminal.Both must contend with one of the toweringfemale characters in TV history, the boys’mother, brilliantly played by FionnulaFlanagan.

Of course, the lines between right andwrong, family and foe, are blurry. Like TheWire (not to mention Edwin O’Connor’snovel of 50 years earlier The Last Hurrah),Brotherhood explores the waning days ofIrish-American influence, and the lengths towhich the Irish will go to cling to whateverslice of power they continue holding on to.The fact that Brotherhood also has the whiffof real life (the Bulger brothers of Bostoncome to mind) gives the show even widerresonance.

Once Rescue Me, The Wire andBrotherhood proved that great drama couldbe made about characters who were notnamed Tony Soprano, executives beganturning to Irish-born talent. Gabriel Byrnetook on the challenging role of psychoana-lyst Paul Weston in HBO’s In Treatment.Based on an Israeli drama, the show’s ambi-tious first season aired every night of theweek, showcasing Dr. Weston’s fivepatients. The show now airs Sunday at 9p.m.

At the same time, but over on Showtime,Jonathan Rhys Meyers stars as King HenryVIII in the third season of The Tudors,which shows just how contemporary the tri-

als and tribulations of a 16th-century royal family can be.Interestingly, in June, yet another strong Irish-American

character will show up on cable. Edie Falco will star inShowtime’s Nurse Jackie, about a nurse coping with adversityat work and home. Initially, Falco’s name in the show wasJackie O’Hurley. Producers played up her tough Irish girlimage. But reports now suggest the character’s name hasbeen changed to Jackie Peyton.

Is the great Irish moment of cable over? Time will tell. Eitherway, it has produced some of the greatest moments of TVdrama ever.

How the Irish Took Over Cable TVBy Tom Deignan

Dominic West

EdieFalco

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Brotherhood



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With The Cambria, Irish playwrightand actor Donal O’Kelly’s recent

play at The Irish Arts Center inManhattan, he has stepped to the frontline of contemporary Irish playwrights. Infact, in terms of theatrical skill and the-matic ambition, he already has most ofhis contemporaries beaten.

O’Kelly’s subtle play about the African-American ex-slave and abolitionistFrederick Douglass’s voyage to Ireland in1845, starring Sorcha Fox, could easilyhave been a deadly dull sermon about theneed to protect universal human rights.But in O’Kelly’s hands it becomes some-thing rich and strange, an absorbing med-itation on what makes us human, whatconnects us to each otherand what tears us apart.

The production, direct-ed by Raymond Keane, isnimble and evocative,conjuring a ship on theopen seas and all the maleand female passengerswho populate it. Fox isespecially good at thesetransformations betweenroles, playing male andfemale characters so con-vincingly that you’reswept up by the storylinefrom start to finish.

The year is 1845, and the 30-year-oldfamed abolitionist Douglass is sailing forEurope aboard a ship called The Cambria,fleeing the hostile forces in the UnitedStates determined to halt his call for the endof slavery in the Southern states.

A former slave himself, Douglass knewthe fate that awaited him in America anddecided to take his abolitionist message toEurope to enlist its help. Visiting Irelandfor the first time, he was astonished toreceive a hero’s welcome from vastcrowds of sympathetic, long-sufferingIrish Catholics familiar with his careerand his recently published autobiography.

Daniel O’Connell himself arrives inCork – then known as Queenstown – towelcome Douglass at the dock. O’Kellyis aware of the potent overlaps betweenvarious strains of racial and religiousoppression, but he does not belabor hispoints, he simply lets them emerge, tooften devastating theatrical effect.

2009 seems to be the year for prodi-giously gifted Irish actresses (afterMaxine Linehan’s turn in Irish playwrightJacqueline McCarrick’s The MushroomPickers in February comes Fox’s turn inThe Cambria). Fox’s concentration, herphysical poise and her pitch-perfectaccent make her one of the most impres-sive Irish actors this reviewer has everseen.

Meanwhile, if Manhattan’s IrishRepertory Theatre never stages anotherproduction they should still be garlandedin olive leaves and paraded downBroadway for having the artistic staminato bring us what they are understatedlycalling the Yeats Project, a month-long

festival of all 26 rarely performed playswritten by Ireland’s greatest poet,William Butler Yeats.

Between them, directors CharlotteMoore and Ciaran O’Reilly have stagedno less than eight full productions ofYeats plays on the same stage in the samemonth with the same actors. “Project” ismuch too academic a word to describetheir achievement with this series ofplays, lectures and readings.

Featuring haunting original scores byRiverdance composer Bill Whelan, andboasting spellbinding choreography byBarry McNabb, all of the new produc-tions are thrilling to look at and have beenbrought vividly to life.

“Did that play of mine send out /Certain men the English shot?” won-dered Yeats toward the end of his longlife. He was contemplating the political-ly galvanizing response to one of hismost famous plays and it says a lot aboutYeats’s worldview that he was still in

any doubt about it. The fact is that his hard-hitting play

Cathleen Ni Houlihan is about as incendi-ary a piece of theater as you’ll ever wit-ness, and in the Irish Rep’s spirited newproduction Fiana Toibin is so captivatingin the title role that she’ll have you reach-ing for your pitchforks before she’s takenher final bow.

There’s no denying the beauty ofYeats’s language or the richness of histhemes and characterizations. In fact, hisskills as a writer and dramatist are so self-evident and multifaceted that at times theonly response they generate is nearspeechless awe.

In the utterly electrifying A Full Moon

in March, Amanda Quaid (last seen oppo-site Daniel Radcliffe in Equus onBroadway) gives a performance ofimmense power as the Irish Queen whocalls for the head of the swineherd whohas insulted her. Quaid’s work is accom-panied by music played and sung byWilliam Ward, Amanda Sprecher andJustin Stoney, in a performance that isnever less than magical.

In The Pot of Broth, Terry Donnellymatches the always-excellent PatrickFitzgerald head for head in this livelyIrish folk tale that looks as if it could havebeen written before Saint Patrick firstmade landfall in Ireland. Donnelly’sinstincts as a performer are matchless,and Fitzgerald is perfectly cast as her foil.

You can next catch Maxine Linehanchanneling Petula Clark in her one-woman show Who Am I? A Tribute toPetula Clark at The Laurie BeechmanTheater on 42 Street every Thursday inMay at 7 p.m. – By Cahir O’Doherty

Treading the Boards

Left to right: Donal O’Kelly and Sorcha Fox in a scene from The Cambria at The Irish Arts Center. PatrickFitzgerald and Terry Donnelly in The Pot of Broth by W.B. Yeats at The Irish Rep’s Yeats Project. Maxine Linehanstars in Who Am I?: A Tribute To Petula Clarke.

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A Historic Evening Irish American of the Year Dr. Kevin Cahill is presented a Waterford Crystal bowl by Irish Americafounding publisher Niall O’Dowd, Taoiseach Brian Cowen and editor-in-chief Patricia Harty.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen, Niall O’Dowd, IrishCentral’s director of operations,Joe Pennisi, and Irish America’s co-founder and editor Patricia Harty watch asthe Taoiseach presses the button to launch IrishCentral.com.

Publisher Niall O’Dowd and Martin McGuinness, Northern Ireland’sDeputy First Minister, present the Spirit of Ireland Award to Irishactress Roma Downey for her work with Operation Smile.

Irish Minister Michéal Martin, philanthropist ChuckFeeney, Taoiseach Brian Cowen and Helga Feeney.

Actress Vanessa Redgrave and Irish America‘s VicePresident of Marketing, Turlough McConnell.

Writer Maureen Dowd with Ciaran Staunton andIrish America publisher Niall O’Dowd.

Saluting the global Irish was the theme of Irish America’s annual celebration, which this year was held at the American Irish HistoricalSociety in New York on March 15. It was a night of stars, including IrishTaoiseach Brian Cowen, Northern Ireland’s Deputy First Minister MartinMcGuinness, actresses Vanessa Redgrave and Roma Downey, and suchnotables as philanthropist Chuck Feeney, Grand Marshal Mike Gibbons,and writers Maureen Dowd and Thomas Cahill. All were on hand toapplaud Irish American of the Year, Kevin Cahill, the renowned doctorwho also served as American Irish Historical Society president, and to witness the launch of IrishCentral.com by Irish America’s sister company.Irish-born actress Roma Downey received this year’s Spirit of IrelandAward for her work with Operation Smile.

Photos by Jimmy Poster and Nuala Purcell

Celebrating the Global Irish and the launch of IrishCentral.com

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TheAmericanIrishHistoricalSociety building on FifthAvenue,New York.

TOP: Niall O’Dowd,his daughter Alanna

and Senator ChuckSchumer.

RIGHT: MarkBurnett, his wife

Roma Downey, Amb.Elizabeth Frawley

and Operation Smilefounders Dr. William

and Kathy Magee

Chris Cahill, director of the AIHS, AmbassadorElizabeth Frawley Begley and Taoiseach Brian Cowen.

Robert O’Connell, sonof Emmett.

Mary O’Connor, sus-tainability consultant.

Brian Stack,ManagingDirector, CIETours, AnneMarie Stack,Geraldine andJoe Byrne,head ofTourismIreland NorthAmerica.

ABOVE: Patricia Harty picturedwith Mike Gibbons and his wife

Cynthia. Mike, who recently retiredfrom Estee Lauder after a long

career, served as Grand Marshal,New York City St. Patrick’s Day

Parade, 2009. He is president of the Ireland U.S. Council.

RIGHT: Emmett O’Connell, theBronx-born oilman and explorer.

The Washington Square Harp and Shamrock Orchestra. Left to right: Daniel Neely,Gail Neely, Linda Hood and Scott Spencer. Not pictured: Liz Kennedy, Liz Hanley andSuzanne Grossman.

Attracta Lyndon, head of the IrishBusiness Organization, and U.S.operations for Dan Dooley Rent-a-Car, with Taoiseach Brian Cowen.

Actress Vanessa Redgrave and Dr.Kevin Cahill, Irish American of theYear and the longtime president ofthe American Irish Historical Society.

Kieran, Eloise, and Irish America’scomptroller Kevin Mangan.

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Kentucky Derby winnerMine That Bird has afamous Irish ancestor or

two. He also has an Irish Disneyconnection, which means thatwhen the movie is made – andyou know there’s going to be amovie – perhaps we will see iton the Disney Channel. Here’sthe story:

Going on the theory that everygood horse has Irish bloodlines,I did a little investigation (okay,a lot of “mining”) into MineThat Bird’s, and sure enoughfound that “the Bird” is not justany little horse, but is thedescendant of a famous Irish ancestor called Birdcatcher.

Birdcatcher, known universally as Irish Birdcatcher, a chestnutcolt, was born on the Curragh in 1833, in the Brownstown studowned by Irish breeder George Knox. His sire was Sir Herculas,an Irish-bred stallion, and his dam was a small mare namedGuiccioli.

While Birdcatcher is considered to be Guiccioli and SirHerculas’s most important son, his full brother, stallion Faugh-a-Ballach, and sister Gramachree (1844) were no slackers when itcame to racing and passing on the bloodline. Gramachree’sgrandson Selim became the first winner of the Irish Derby in1866, while Faugh-a-Ballagh (“Faugh a Ballagh” is anIrish/Gaelic battle cry meaning “clear the way” which wasfamously used by the Irish Brigadein the American Civil War) becamethe first Irish-bred winner of anEnglish classic when he won the St.Leger of 1844.

More important in terms ofAmerican racing, Faugh-A-Ballagh,was sire to Leamington, who in turnbecame the leading sire in America,and whose son Iroquois was the firstAmerican-bred winner of an Englishclassic when he won the Derby andSt. Leger Stakes in 1881.

Birdcatcher, meanwhile, got off toa shaky start. He almost died of a res-piratory illness as a yearling, but herecovered and went on to a stellarracing career in Ireland and England.

He was also quite a stud. Hissons and daughters produced a lineof horses whose offspring are stillwinning races today, not least of all,

Mine That Bird.Chief among Birdcatcher’s

sons was The Baron (1842),known as “the slim and savage”due to his terrible temperament.

The Baron, a great racer, wasan even better sire.

He fathered Stockwell andRataplan out of the great marePocahontas, before beingshipped to France where hesired three winners of the Prixde Diane, including the filly LaToucques (1860), who also wonthe French St. Leger Stakes, thePrix du Jockey Club, and theGrosser Preis von Baden.

Stockwell won the Newmarket Stakes, Great Yorkshire Stakes,St. Leger Stakes, Grand Duke Michael Stakes, Newmarket St.Leger, and the Whip but it was as a sire that Stockwell truly foundhis calling.

He became known as The Emperor of Stallions, and sons,including Doncaster and the sire Bend Or, were great producers,as were his daughters. Some of the well-known descendants ofStockwell are the legendary Man o’ War, Phalaris, NorthernDancer and Nasrullah. According to some racing reports, over 70percent of stakes winning horses in the late 1990s descend fromPhalaris, through Northern Dancer (Mine that Bird’s great-great-grandfather), Nasrullah, Turn-To, and Raise a Native.

The story goes back to Ireland in 1978, when Storm Bird, theCanadian-bred horse sired by Northern Dancer, was brought backto Ireland to be trained by Vincent O’Brien. Storm Bird whobecame a champion in Ireland and England like his Irish ancestors,also went on to sire a daughter, Dear Birdy, who becameKentucky’s Broodmare of the Year (2004) having already givenbirth to Birdstone (2001), who in turn sired Mine That Bird (2006.)

And there you have it . . . From Birdcatcher to Mine ThatBird, and one of the most exciting races in the history of theKentucky Derby, when a 50-1 horse considered so not in therunning that Tom Durkin, probably the only time in his career,missed the call as Mine That Bird under jockey Calvin “Bo-Rail” Borel streaked along on the inside in a gallant ride to winby 6 3/4 lengths.

Oh, wait — the Disney connection!Birdcatcher came into the ownership of William Disney,

whose Lark Lodge was adjacent to Knox’s Brownstown Stud.(Perhaps George Knox thought the sickly yearling didn’t have afuture.) William Disney (not a very common name in Ireland)may, or may not, have been related to Arundel Elias Disney(b.1801), great-grandfather of Walt Disney, who left Ireland forAmerica in 1834.

– Patricia Harty

The Kentucky Derby WinnerHas an Irish Ancestor

FROM BIRDCATCHERTO MINE THAT BIRD:

Birdcatcher (Born: 1833)The Baron (1842)Stockwell (1849)Doncaster (1870)Bend Or (1877)

Bona Vista (1889)Cyllene (1895)

Polmelus (1902)Phalaris (1913)Pharos (1920)Nearco (1935)

Nearctic (1954)Northern Dancer (1961)

Storm Bird (1978)Dear Birdy (1987)Birdstone (2001)

Mine That Bird (2006)

NOTE: I “mined” this story from many sourceson the web; chief among

them was TBheritage.com

Mine That Bird has roots that go back to a famous Irish racehorse.

IrishBirdcatcher

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C lose friends of the overnightsinging sensation Susan Boylehave revealed the tragedybehind her TV success — and

pleaded with the British media to stopmaking her new life a nightmare.

Irishman Fred O’Neil, who has knownBoyle for 15 years, told Irish America inan exclusive interview that Susan quitsinging after the death of her Irish immi-grant mother Bridget in 2007.

“She would come on the phone to mein terrible tears and sobbing and say ‘Ican’t sing any more, I don’t want to sing,there’s nothing to sing for.’ It was a trag-ic time for her. She didn’t have a lotfinancially either; she was living a verybasic life. So her whole life now has beenturned around in a minute and a half,” hesaid.

“When I watched her performance onBritain’s Got Talent and saw her smilingI thought she deserves this because thedeath of her mother just devastated her.When you’re not married and you’re theyoungest child – her sisters and brothershad all moved away from home – reallyit was desperately hard for her.”

O’Neil has begged the tabloid press inBritain to leave his friend alone. “Thereason I’m talking to you is because herein Britain the press is following this otherline now,” O’Neil told Irish America.

“They’re kind of making a fool of her.They seem to be going out of their wayto print unflattering photos of Susan. Butthat’s not the artist that Susan is. Many ofthe photos I’ve seen don’t even look likeher. There’s no point in catapulting herinto stardom if all she’s going to be is anobject of derision.

“I think we should let the real Susanemerge, not the tabloid version. If we dothat we’ll see that she’s a gifted singer.”

O’Neil, who was born in NorthernIreland and now lives in Scotland, is avoice coach and first began working withSusan in 1996. “I feel that she’s getting

pushed and pulled so much and they’refoisting a false image on her. Susan willfeel very, very crushed by it and it wouldbe tragic if she had to take some time outto recover herself. But it’s a lot to weighon somebody. Obviously her family isthere to support her but she doesn’t havea lot of close friends. I know this. That isa concern.

“I have worked with thousands ofsingers in my career but I very rarelymeet female singers who are kind toother singers. That’s not usually whathappens. She’s a very generous person toher fellow performers. To this day if shecompliments me for one of my own per-formances I know that she’s 100 percentsincere,” he said.

Boyle, the youngest of nine in a fami-ly of Irish immigrants who now live inScotland, has spent many years develop-

ing her talent far from the public eye.And although her rise now looks unstop-pable, the truth is Susan comes from ahumble working-class background inBlackburn, Scotland.

The world’s media are now campedoutside her door, but the unemployed,unmarried (and unkissed) Boyle stilllives in the same small house where shegrew up and where she still sleeps in thesame room as when she was a girl.

Says O’Neil: “The underdog qualityof the story captures your imagination.But the woman I know – and I’m sayingthis strongly – is a sensitive, quiet andintelligent person who has a lot to givethe world. When she gets her hands onfame I think she won’t let go of it tooeasily.”

– By Cahir O’Doherty

For Susan Boyle,A Private Tragedy Has Finally

Led To SuccessSusan Boyle, whowowed audienceswhen she sang onBritain’s Got Talent.

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The second week of April certainly

brought some confusion to

Philadelphia residents as thou-

sands of young girls in bouncy wigs and

vendors with everything from Celtic t-

shirts to Irish sweets descended on the

Kimmel Centre of Performing Arts.The

39th Oireachtas Rince na Cruinne,

World Irish Dance Championships, was

held for the first time in North America

at the Kimmel Centre and the Marriott

Hotel in downtown Philadelphia.

Over 6,000 dancers came to compete,

all of whom qualified after winning top

places in regional and national competi-

tions. Dancers from Ireland, England,

Scotland,Wales, Canada, United States,

Mexico,Australia, New Zealand, Norway,

Germany, Poland, Russia, and South Africa

arrived to dance in a variety of cate-

gories of competition including solo

dances, team dances which included

upwards of eight dancers per team, and

drama which utilizes dance as a story-

telling tool.The dancers competed in

several styles based on the pace of the

music classified as reels, hornpipes, jigs,

slip jigs and traditional dances.

The event attracted over 20,000 fans in

addition to dancers. Fans included friends,

family and teachers but also a vast num-

ber of vendors who sold endless

amounts of Irish-themed commodities.

The opening ceremonies on April 5th

included a parade of flags repre-

senting all countries registered

with An Coimisiún le Rincí

Gaelacha (CLRG), the commis-

sion which organizes the compe-

tition. Philadelphia Mayor Michael

Nutter was in attendance.

The World Irish Dance

Championships commenced in

1970 in Colaiste Mhuire, Dublin.

This year marked the first

departure to North America for

the competition.The primary

sponsor of the event was

Chicago native Michael Flatley,

who in 1975 became the first

American to secure a World

Irish Dance title.

–Tara Dougherty

The World of Irish Dance

For more coverage of the World Championships go to www.irishcentral.com

World champion Heather Carr from County Mayo with Michael Flatley.

B illy Eliot, The Musical tops lists of Tony Awardfrontrunners with fifteen nominations, tying with2001’s The Producers for a record number. The

show’s nominations include best musical, best originalscore, best performance by a featured actor and actress ina musical, best direction, best choreography, best orches-trations, and best scenic, costume, lighting and sounddesign. Based on the 2000 British film, the musicalboasts a new score with music by Sir Elton John andbook and lyrics by the film’s screenplay writer, Lee Hall.The three young actors who share the onstage role ofBilly Elliot, including Irish America’s Top 100 honoreeTrent Kowalik, also share a nomination for this year’saward for best performance by a leading actor in a musi-cal. Kowalik, 14, who is a champion Irish dancer, toldCBS News, “This is where I want to be . . . It’s reallyinspiring for all the kids out there who want to start danc-ing.” The Tony Award winners will be announced June 7.

–Kara Rota

Trent Kowalikpictured with

Hillary Clinton atIrish America’s

Top 100 Awards,2007.

Billy Scores 15 Tony Nominations

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IA

For centuries, the commonly accepted illustration ofWilliam Shakespeare has been one of a balding, sternand rather lifeless subject, based on a black-and-whitewoodcut by Martin Droeshout and a marble bustwhich both emerged posthumously in the early 1620s

and until now were considered his most authentic images. All that changed when Alec Cobbe, Irish art restorer and heir

to the Cobbe family’s art collection, visited the NationalPortrait Gallery in London in 2006 and saw a painting that wasaccepted as a portrait done during Shakespeare’s life until itwas debunked about 70 years ago. Cobbe recognized it as acopy of a portrait in the collection he had inherited in the1980s, depicting a handsome and lifelike figure that had previ-ously never been identified as Shakespeare. The Cobbe originalportrait, by an unknown artist, has now been dated at around 1610,six years before Shakespeare’s death in 1616.

Mark Broch, curator of the Cobbe Collection, who has con-ducted comprehensive research on the painting over the pastthree years, said, “We feel especially convinced that the portraitis Shakespeare because it seems to have been the source for theengraving of 1623 by Martin Droeshout, which was published inthe First Folio by people who actually knew Shakespeare,which is why [the portrait] is such a fascinating discovery.”

The Cobbe family came into possession of the painting througha cousin’s marriage to the great-granddaughter of HenryWriothesley, the 3rd Earl of Southampton. The Earl,Shakespeare’s only literary patron, is believed to have commis-sioned the portrait.

In an interview with Irish America, Broch talked about CharlesCobbe (1686-1765), who emigrated from Hampshire to Ireland inthe beginning of the 18th century to pursue a career in the churchand eventually became the Archbishop of Dublin.

Dr. Cobbe built Newbridge House, an elegant Georgian mansionjust north of the city, where his descendants remain today, thoughthe house itself was acquired by the Irish state in 1985.

“There are many works by Irish artists in the collection, par-ticularly portraits by artists such as James Latham, and land-scapes by painters such as George Barrett,” said Broch, whowent on to explain why part of the collection had been sold off.“In 1839, Charles Cobbe, then owner of the house, sold valuablelandscapes by Meindert Hobbema [now in the National Gallery

of Art, Washington, D.C.] and Gaspard Dughet, in order to beable to build stone cottages for his tenants.”

Some skeptics have proposed that the Cobbe portrait might be ofSir Thomas Overbury, English poet and essayist who was alive inthe late 16th and early 17th century. Broch disputes this claim, say-ing that “all the evidence points to Shakespeare.”

Boasting a youthful and ruddy complexion, fine and glamorousclothes and flattering auburn beard, the figure in the Cobbe portraitis described by Professor Stanley Wells, chairman of theShakespeare Birthplace Trust, as a “pinup.” Indeed, this new rep-resentation of the bard has more in common with Ralph Fiennes’dreamy portrayal in 1998’s Shakespeare in Love than it does withthe 1620’s depictions.

And what might this new portrait tell us about Shakespeare’s lifeand the mysteries of his legacy?

Broch proposes that “the new portrait changes the general per-ception of Shakespeare, because it shows him as a friendly, atten-tive, successful and quite wealthy man, which is slightly differentfrom the general idea of Shakespeare as a rather romantic, poorplaywright. In fact the new portrait fits very well with what we actu-ally know about Shakespeare: he was a rich man, his father hadbeen a mayor of Stratford-upon-Avon, and Shakespeare owned thesecond largest house in town and land; his will is that of a present-day millionaire.”

The Cobbe portrait went on display for the public at TheShakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-Upon-Avon on April23, Shakespeare’s birthday, and continues through September 6,in the exhibit “Shakespeare Found: A Life Portrait.”

– Kara Rota

The only painting of Shakespeare done during his lifetime belongs to an Irishman.

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T he Smithsonian’s NationalMuseum of American Historyopened Abraham Lincoln’spocket watch this past March,

and discovered a secretly engraved mes-sage that turned an unsubstantiated familystory into a confirmed historical event.

Jonathan Dillon, a watchmaker whoimmigrated to Washington, D.C. fromWaterford, Ireland, repaired Lincoln’sgold watch in 1861 and engraved the fol-lowing words on the underside of thewatch movement:

Jonathan Dillon April 13- 1861 FortSumpter was attacked by the rebels on

the above date. J Dillon.

April 13-1861 Washington thankGod we have a government.

Jonth Dillon.

Dillon passed down the storyof engraving his pro-Union senti-ments in Lincoln’s timepiece tohis descendants, and his great-great-grandson Douglas Stiles, alawyer from Illinois, recentlydiscovered an article in The NewYork Times from April 1906 inwhich the story is recounted.

Then 84, Dillon told of writingthe inscription after the owner ofM.W. Galt & Company, thePennsylvania Avenue watch shopin Washington, D.C., rushedupstairs to announce that the firstshot had been fired and the warwas underway. “At the moment Ihad in my hand AbrahamLincoln’s watch, which I had beenrepairing,” Dillon recounted.

The watch was bequeathed tothe Smithsonian by a great-grandson of Lincoln’s in 1958, but afterStiles brought the curators’ attention tothe 1906 article, the museum enlisted thehelp of George Thomas, a master watch-maker from Maryland, who opened thewatch using magnifying glasses, a stronglight and minuscule instruments in anevent open to the public. “It’s a momentof discovery, and you can only discoverthings once. We wanted to share it,” said

Harry Rubenstein, curator of theSmithsonian’s “Abraham Lincoln: AnExtraordinary Life” exhibition.

In the 1906 article, Dillon recalled hisinscription as reading, “The first gun isfired. Slavery is dead. Thank God we

have a President who at leastwill try.” This description wasnot entirely accurate, butmuseum director Brent D.Glass was unsurprised thatDillon did not mention slav-ery in the actual engraving.

“In 1861 the preservation ofthe union was the key issue,and the abolition of slaverycame later,” said Glass.Dillon’s inscription also mis-dates the opening shot of theCivil War, which was actuallyfired on April 12, and mis-spells Sumter. Still, the mes-sage is clear.

“It has that hopeful soundthat the union will hold togeth-er, the country will go on,”

said Rubenstein. “That Lincoln carriedthis hopeful message in his pocket unbe-knownst to him – it casts you back.”

Two other inscriptions were also foundon the back of the watch movement. Onereads “LE Grofs Sept 1864 Wash DC”and was probably added by anotherwatchmaker doing a repair. The other,“Jeff Davis,” may have been intended asa rejoinder to Dillon’s pro-Union inscrip-tions, as Jefferson Davis was the presi-dent of the rebel Confederacy.

According to Thomas, the timepiecewas made in Liverpool but the case wascrafted in America. He said that thewatch, reportedly the only watch thatLincoln owned, was in perfect conditionand looked as if it had not been wornvery much. While the watch is unable tobe wound after hundreds of years of nouse, it will be reassembled and availablefor viewing at the museum with a photo-graph and transcription of the engraving.

Stiles claimed that the story of Dillon’s“graffitti” had been told to him in the1970’s by a great-uncle, and his attentionreturned to it last year when an Irishcousin recounted the story as well. Therevelation of the inscription lends a newcredibility to generational tales andemphasizes the importance of oral histo-ry, persistent as it is in the Irish-Americantradition.

– Kara Rota

TOP: Dillon’s message revealed. CENTER: Douglas Stiles examines his great-great-grandfather’s engraving inLincoln’s watch. ABOVE: Jonathan Dillon(far right) at a family wedding.

Lincoln’s Watch HoldsMessage from Irishman

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St. Patrick’s Day is always an impor-tant day for the Irish in New Yorkand the 2009 St. Patrick’s Day

Parade was a very special one for theSisters of Charity. Not only was it the firsttime that they marched in their own con-gregational contingent, but the 248thparade was dedicated to the Sisters inrecognition of their “200 years of dedicat-ed service to the Poor of New York City.”

It’s a description that encapsulates theenormous impact and profound effectthat the Sisters of Charity missions havehad on so many lives.

For two centuries, four thousandSisters have served Irish andother immigrants and theirdescendants, caring for orphansand the elderly, teaching youngpeople, and providing job train-ing to the poor. Their missionshave supported families, nursedthe sick, educated leaders, andalways nurtured the Catholicfaith.

It all began in 1809 whenElizabeth Ann Seton, a New York

widow and convert, founded the Sistersof Charity in Emmetsburg, Maryland.The Sisters of Charity’s mission in NewYork began in 1817, when Mother Setonsent three Sisters to care for orphanedimmigrant children in St. Patrick’sOrphan Asylum.

Since then the Sisters of Charity haveestablished over 286 foundations, fromNew York State, New Jersey, Connecticut,Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, NorthCarolina to the Bahamas and Guatemala.

“When planning started for the St.Patrick’s Day event,” explains ChristineHaggerty, the Director of External

Communications, whose idea of theSisters marching behind their own ban-ner was presented to the parade officialsby Bill Hurley, director of development,“the goal was to find 200 willing tomarch behind the Sisters’ banner – oneperson for each year since the foundingof the Sisters of Charity. On the big day,over 700 turned out!”

After joining NYC’s Mayor MichaelBloomberg for a 7:00 a.m. breakfast,Sister Dorothy Metz, President of theCongregation, and Sister Donna Dodge,her assistant, joined other Sisters at St.Patrick’s Cathedral for the 8:30 Liturgy,where Cardinal Edward Egan was theprincipal celebrant.

“Then it was down to 44th Streetwhere the Sisters of Charity contingentformed to march up Fifth Avenue,”describes Christine. “The block was fullof Sisters and their associates, familymembers and friends.” Colleagues fromhealth and child care and housing min-istries also attended.

“Our community also invited othercongregations in the Sistersof Charity Federation as wellas the Daughters of Charityof Albany, New York, andeven some Sisters out ofLeavenworth, Kansas, andGreensburg, Pennsylvania,who wanted to be part of thisunique event.”

Three teams of Sisterstook turns carrying the 10-foot banner, one of whomwas Sister Peggy McEntee,

who has been immortalized on stage andscreen by the playwright and screen-writer John Patrick Shanley when hededicated his 2005 Pulitzer Prize-win-ning play, Doubt: A Parable, to her. Hewrote in the Playbill, “This play is dedi-cated to the many orders of Catholic nunswho devoted their lives to serving othersin hospitals, schools and retirementhomes. Though they have been muchmaligned and ridiculed, who among ushas been so generous?”

Such words of conviction and sinceri-ty on behalf of the Bronx-born play-wright came from personal experience:Shanley had never forgotten his first-grade teacher, Sister James (now SisterPeggy), a Sister of Charity, who hadstrongly influenced him by her attentivekindness and generous spirit.

He not only based a character of his

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THE SISTERS OF CHARITY

Still Special AfterAll These Years

TOP: Three teams of Sisters took turns carrying the 10-foot wide banner during the parade.Pictured here, Sisters Carol Barnes, Mary Ann Daly, Kathryn Byrnes and Karen Helfensteinwho took the first shift. ABOVE: Kathleen Skinner, and Sister Peggy McEntee.

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play on his former teacher, he also hiredher to consult on the movie version ofDoubt when they were filming on loca-tion at the College of Mount St. Vincentin the Bronx, one of the many institu-tions founded by the Sisters of Charity.Amy Adams won an Oscar nomination

for her performance as Sister James. “I loved marching in the parade,”

recalls Sister Peggy, who had justreturned from Hollywood where she rep-resented John Patrick in accepting theaward for Doubt as best picture from theCatholic in Media Association. “I made

it to the end,” she said cheerfully. “Itmade me feel young.”

Three other Sisters had the honor of rep-resenting the first three Sisters of Charitywho were sent by Mother Seton to NewYork in 1817. Wearing the traditionalhabit, Sisters Dominica Rocchio, AliceDarragh and Jane Iannucelli all marched ina row behind the banner, pleased to repre-sent those pioneer Sisters Felicité Brady,Cecilia O’Conway and Rose White.

“As they passed the Cathedral, CardinalEgan and other bishops came into FifthAvenue to greet the Sisters,” describesChristine Haggerty. “During the day theCardinal told Catholic New York,‘Nothing could have made me happierthan to learn that the St. Patrick’s DayMass and Parade would honor, in a veryspecial way, our beloved Sisters ofCharity. The work they have done is noth-ing short of heroic, and we could neverthank them enough.’”

– Marilyn Cole Lownes

Sisters Dominica Rocchio, Alice Darragh and Jane Iannucelli dressed in the traditional habit,representing the first three Sisters sent to New York in 1817 by Mother Seton to care fororphans: Sisters Felicité Brady, Cecilia O’Conway and Rose White.

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THOSE WE LOSTJustice Daniel J. O’Hern

New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Daniel J.

O’Hern died at age 78 on April 1. His family

cited the cause as metastatic melanoma of the

brain. O’Hern was an associate justice of the court

from 1981 to 2000, including 14 years serving

under Chief Justice Robert N.Wilentz.The Wilentz

court received acclaim and criticism for their

groundbreaking and often liberal rulings. Justice

O’Hern authored 231 majority opinions that played

integral roles in defining state policies on issues

including homelessness, law enforcement and the

death penalty. O’Hern graduated from Fordham

College in 1951, then spent three years serving in the U.S.

Navy.After his graduation from Harvard Law School in 1957,

O’Hern spent time as a clerk for Justice William J. Brennan Jr.

of the United States Supreme Court, and was a councilman

and mayor of his hometown, Red Bank, New Jersey. O’Hern

was appointed commissioner of New Jersey’s Environmental

Protection Department in 1978 and named to the state’s

Supreme Court in 1981. He is survived by his wife of 50 years,

Barbara, three sons, two daughters, two sisters, a brother and

eight grandchildren.

Sister Dorothy Ann Kelly

Sister Dorothy Ann Kelly died March 27 of a heart attack

on the way to a hospital near her home in an Ursuline

convent in New Rochelle, New York. She was 79. Born in the

Bronx in 1929, Sister Dorothy Ann was the president of the

College of New

Rochelle from 1972 to

1997, during which time

the college transformed

from the small first

Catholic school for

women in New York

into a college with

seven branches in the

New York area and

over 6,500 students.

Sister Dorothy Ann was

instrumental in opening

the College of New Rochelle’s School of New Resources,

which provides night and weekend classes to meet the needs

of working people in the New York area.The college also

added a graduate school and a nursing school during her pres-

idency.Aside from her momentous impact on the College of

New Rochelle, Sister Dorothy Ann made history as the first

woman to head the Commission on Independent Colleges and

Universities in 1978 and the first woman to lead the National

Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in 1987.

A 1951 graduate of the College of New Rochelle, she became

a history professor there after joining the Ursuline Order. She

graduated with a master’s degree from the Catholic University

of America in 1958 and earned a doctorate from the

University of Notre Dame in 1970. She worked to bring peace

to Northern Ireland during her service as U.S. director of the

Peace People. Sister Dorothy Ann is survived by her brother,

Walter. – Kara Rota

Sister Dorothy AnnKelly (left) andSister Regina Kehoepictured at aNational Committeeon American ForeignPolicy dinner withWillliam Flynn.

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I1961, President Kennedy challenged the nation to land

a man on the Moon and return him safely to earth

before the end of the decade.Appealing to the spirit of

adventure, to patriotic pride and to the cause of freedom, his

words ignited one of the greatest technological mobilizations

in U.S. history. Eight years later, on July 20, 1969, two

American astronauts landed on the Moon’s surface.

The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library Museum in

Boston opened its new exhibit Moon Shot – JFK and Space

Exploration on May 16 to mark the 40th anniversary of the

realization of John F. Kennedy’s presidential dream. Open

until the spring of 2010, Moon Shot includes original docu-

ments, images and artifacts from the first successful moon

landing, achieved by Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin,

Jr. Drawing on the collections of the National Archives –

Southwest Region, the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space

Center, the Kennedy Presidential Library and NASA, the

exhibit features a Mercury space suit, President Kennedy’s

original one-page memo to Vice President Johnson in 1961

that led to the launch of the lunar mission, and three NASA

prototype drawings of gear that have never been visible to

the public until now.Also on display are pages from President

Kennedy’s 1961 address to Congress, in which he requested

funds for the space exploration mission with the words,“in a

very real sense, it will not be one man going to the moon –

if we make this judgment affirmatively, it will be an entire

nation. For all of us must work to put him there.”

– Kara Rota

Moon ShotExhibition Marks 40th Anniversary of Moon Landing

For more information, call (866) JFK-1960 or visit www.jfklibrary.org.

Cape Canaveral, Florida, February 20, 1962: President Kennedy inspects theMercury launch vehicle (above), and the Mercury capsule (right) withAstronaut Col. John Glenn, the first American to orbit the earth.

Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin on the moon, July 20, 1969, photograph by Neil Armstrong.

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QuoteUnquote

“I inwardly replied to Him: ‘Go away, Lord. I’m not your man. My Spanish islousy and my English not much better. ... The Yankees and Mets over theCardinals and Brewers? Forget it!’ Yet He had his sandal in the door and wouldnot let me shut Him out as I heard the whisper of the one who says, ‘Timothy, benot afraid. My grace is sufficient. Never do I invite one to a task without givinghim/her the strength to do it.’”

Archbishop Timothy Dolan speaking of his appointment to the New York Archdiocese at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on April 14th. – Catholic News Service

“We are hollowed out – all of us – by greed and by people whopursued short termism – people whothought they could get huge returnon money with no productivity…We had a banking and a financialculture that we know now had avalue system that actually stood in stark contrast to the value systems of the Irish people… They are the people who, like everything else in life, they’ve been left to pick up the pieces…”

President Mary McAleese speaking aboutthe downturn in the Irish economy on The

Today Show on St. Patrick’s Day.

“American by birth.Irish by the grace

of God.”Courtney Kennedy, daughter of Robert and Ethel

Kennedy, became the first recent Kennedy toreceive her Irish citizenship since her forefather

Patrick Kennedy left Wexford in the 1840s. On the phone to Irish America, she recalled the

above inscription that her husband Paul Hillwrote in her copy of his book, Stolen Years.

Courtney and Paul’s American-born daughter,Saoirse, also holds dual citizenship, which means

she could run for President in either country. “That means I could vote for her

in both countries,” laughed Courtney.

“It was kind ofbrave for him tosay what every-body’s been think-ing. It’s interestingthat he said it ashe’s leaving.”

Rev. Thomas J. Reese, a Jesuitauthor commenting on New

York’s Cardinal Edward Egan’scomments that the celibacyissue “has to be looked at.”

– The New York Times

“I’m just a meat and pota-toes kind of guy. I’m justa little Irish boy. Meat andpotatoes, every meal.”

Matt Ryan, quarterback ofthe Atlanta Falcons. The 23-

year-old Philadelphia-areanative signed a $72 million

contract with the team. – The Atlanta Journal-

Constitution

“I think we’redone here. I’dlike to see youback here in

six months fora cleaning.”

David Letterman told Fox’s BillO’Reilly he thinks of him “as a

goon,” on The Late ShowMarch 31. The two squared off

on politics, the Fox networkand much more, but ended in

laughs. – The Daily News

“. . . for I know that thefamily is the answer as wepray for Ireland and wepray for our own nation ata time of serious andunexpected difficulties andchallenges. May we findour way outside of thecurrent troubles the waythe Irish did, with faithand family and courage.”

Cardinal Edward Egan addressing the faithful on

St. Patrick’s Day at St. Patrick’sCathedral, New York City.

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WEDDINGEthel’s FirstGrandchild Weds

Maeve Kennedy Townsend, 29-year-old granddaughter ofEthel and Robert F. Kennedy and daughter of Kathleen

Kennedy Townsend, was wed March 21 to law student and judi-cial clerk David McKean, 27. Their flirtation began in 2003,when McKean took a summer internship at California DemocratDianne Feinstein’s office where Townsend worked. A year later,on the urging of McKean’s mother, the pair went to a baseballgame together and their relationship escalated to a romance soonafter. Sharing a keen commitment to social justice and a love oftravel (Townsend, who spent a year in Ireland studying at TrinityCollege, joined the Peace Corps and worked in Mozambiqueafter graduating from college), Townsend and McKean spenttime together in Southeast Asia when McKean taught English inChina in 2004. Their endearing website maeveanddave.comrelates the story of their trip to Tiffany’s to go ring shopping lastMarch, with no particular engagement date in mind. Trying onthe ring in the parking lot, Townsend ran away with it, entreat-ing McKean to “Just ask me now!” He did.

The wedding took place at the Women’s National DemocraticClub in Washington, D.C. Tables were adorned with greenapples for centerpieces, Cat Stevens was on the soundtrack, andEthel Kennedy declared that she was “thrilled” about the union.Kennedy family friend and Massachusetts District Court judgeJames H. Wexler officiated. Townsend matched her gown, anItalian-designed strapless silk and organza number, withsparkling sneakers. On the maeveanddave.com “What to Wear”guide, guests were advised that “sequins probably shouldn’t beyour go-to outfit” but “skinny ties are still in.” –Kara Rota

GRADUATIONLiz Leaves Harvard

Liz Murray, inspirational speaker whose story was made into amovie starring Thora Birch in 2003, graduates this June with a

degree in psychology from Harvard University. Born in theBronx, New York to parents who were both addicts, Murraybecame homeless at age 15 after her mother died of AIDS and herfather moved into a homeless shelter. After graduating from theHumanities Preparatory Academy in Manhattan in only two yearsdespite the lack of a stable home and her responsibilities support-ing her sister, Murray won a scholarship from The New YorkTimes and began attending Harvard in the fall of 2000. In 2003,she took a leave of absence to take care of her father, who passedaway in 2006 after battling AIDS. Murray returned to Harvard inMay 2008 and hopes after her graduation this summer to makefilms, publish a memoir and perhaps attend graduate school.

BIRTHDAYHeaney Celebrates

Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney cele-brated his 70th birthday with a pub-

lic ceremony in Dublin at the RoyalHospital, Kilmainham. The modest

Derry man told the audience he was “unusually blessed” inhis life and was indebted to poetry as a means of interpret-ing and articulating life’s experience.

“We should keep our feet on the ground to signify thatnothing is beneath us,” he said. “But we should also lift up oureyes to say nothing is beyond us.” RTE, the national broadcast-er, also marked the occasion with a series of recordings ofHeaney’s works over the Easter weekend. – Frank Shouldice

BIRTHGunnar Price Conboy

It’s a boy for Carolina Hurricanesplayer Tim Conboy and his wife

Sheena. The couple welcomed sonGunnar Price Conboy on Thursday,April 3rd at 8:20 p.m. — while hisdad’s team was beating the New YorkRangers 4-2! Gunnar weighed in at 9 lbs., 2 oz. Tim, 27, explainsthat both he and Sheena are of Irish descent and that Gunnar means“bold warrior.” “A little bit like I play, kind of,” he joked.

PASSING

Farewell, Natasha

The world mourned Natasha Richardson, wife of LiamNeeson and mother to his sons, twins Liam and Michael, 13,

and Daniel, 12. Natasha, who died on March 18, of a braininjury received while skiing in Canada, was waked at theAmerican Irish Historical Society building in New York City,where her husband is a member of the board.

Vanessa Redgrave, the actress’s mother, attended Irish America’slaunch of its Global Irish issue and website IrishCentral.com at the

A.I.H.S. building on March 15. In a sad irony,IrishCentral broke the news of her daughter’s acci-dent the following evening.

There are no words to offer at a time like this –only the hope the family found some small conso-lation in that place that holds so much of our his-tory, and in the knowledge that we come from apeople who know how to pick themselves up andkeep on keeping on. – Patricia Harty

{milestones}CO

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Natasha Richardson, her husband, Liam Neeson, and editor Patricia Hartypictured at Irish America’s Top 100 Awards, 1996.

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Irish-Canadian CocoRocha is bringing back

self-esteem, DIY makeupand the allure of the

American supermodel.By Kara Rota

Irish Canadian CocoRocha is bringing back

self-esteem, DIY makeupand the allure of the

American supermodel.By Kara Rota

S


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he looks, if possible, even more modelesque in person, althoughthis might have something to do with the high-heeled lace-upBalenciaga boots she’s wearing (along with an Urban Outfitterstop, Marni belt, vintage gold lamé purse and a skort that oncebelonged to her mother). When I sit down with Irish CanadianCoco Rocha, who has taken the fashion world by storm before

turning twenty-one with an unforgettable face, modish look andvivid persona, I’m struck by her openness and eloquence.

Discovered at the young age of fourteen by agent Charles Stuart, Coco(born Mikhaila Rocha on September 10, 1988) had never considered model-ing or fashion as particular interests before Stuart approached her after see-ing her perform in an Irish dance competition. She initially told him that shewasn’t interested, but Stuart, whose daughter also did Irish dance, persisted.“He would come to every competition, or he would have some lady come upto me and say, you know, ‘He is legit, try it!’ So a year later I decided to doit, see what it was like — and now here I am today. If it weren’t for my Irishdancing, I wouldn’t be modeling.” Coco can attribute both her dancing,which she practiced for twelve years, and her looks to her Irish ancestry. “Mymom’s half Irish and my dad’s half Irish. We don’t know much about mymom’s side but my dad’s mom came from Belfast and married my grandfa-ther, who was from Wales.” Her grandparents later moved their family toCanada.

Born in Toronto, Ontario, Coco grew up in Richmond, British Columbia.She has two siblings, and her parents are both in the airline industry. Cocosays her parents are supportive of her career, if a bit out of touch. “For thelongest time my dad didn’t quite understand. He’s like, ‘So what are youdoing? Are you known?’ I’m like, ‘Yes, I’m modeling now, people knowwhat I do.’ He’s still a little bit, ‘What’s going on?’ My mom, though, she’shere a lot so she sees it all firsthand.”

Her lack of fluency in high-end designers before modeling has helpedCoco to create a unique personal style, especially indebted to a great love ofvintage clothes. “I didn’t know anything about fashion. You would see me inthe biggest sweater with jeans or the tightest elastic pants. Not nice clothes.My mom took me a lot to consignment stores when I was younger and I neverreally got to go to fancy high-class stores so … vintage was like a step up.You can always find one thing that no one else has, which is nice. To wearthings from the 1800s to the 20s and 30s is kind of amazing.”

The breakthrough moment of her career took place during Jean PaulGaultier’s fall 2007 show inspired by the Scottish Highlands, which Cocoopened and closed by Irish dancing down the runway. Vogue called it the“Coco moment,” and suggested that it marked her status as a genuine super-model. “It was exciting. When you usually dance, you dance in front of a

Rocks the Runway

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Coco, who famously performed an Irish dance on

Jean Paul Gaultier’s runway, has been featuredregularly on Vogue covers around the world. She has

also modeled for Chanel, among other top designers.


crowd that has no clue who you are, soyou can mess up, fall down, be exhaust-ed and no one will really know in the endwhat you did. But [at the Gaultier show,]I was really nervous because everyoneknew what my name was, and if I fellover and everyone was laughing, it defi-nitely would have hit everyone’s radar.… I don’t think I’ll ever have a peak likethat in a show. My grandma went nuts. Imean, at shows usually, all you have todo is walk, so I don’t get nervous, butthat was a bit maddening.”

Besides setting herself apart throughfashion and Irish dance, Coco has earneda reputation as an outspoken model thatisn’t afraid to let her personality shineunderneath the clothes. “In the industrynow, models are [expected] to be seenand not heard, and I think there’s a few ofus that are kind of wanting to push theenvelope a little bit more and trying toget models back to what they used to be.We want to be out there so people knowmodels are also role models too. It’s notjust the singers, the actresses, thedancers, et cetera. Models can be peopletoo. But the only way to do that is to kindof step up and keep doing new things thatno one has thought of, from new web-sites to new blogs, a newscast, doingspeeches, talking to kids, it kind of opensa new headline every time: ‘Oh, a modelhasn’t done this before, a model hasn’tdone that before.’ So I think it’s alwaysbeing the new fresh person, which ishard because everything’s been donebefore. It’s just redoing it in a differentway.” Lately Coco has been speaking atschools about issues including bodyimage and self-esteem, and is making a

trip to Canada to help with a cousin’scancer charity. In the past, parents andteachers have been wary of spokesmod-els who seem to preach self-esteem inempty language without addressing theconsequences of their industry’s focus onphysical appearance, but it’s obvious that

this is an issue genuinely important toCoco. “I think models have that huge sayon self-esteem, because we were the girlsthat were nobodies in school and nowhave become the models. I think thatevery girl has a really sad story: nobodyliked her, everybody hated her, and thenonce you do become a model, how thingschange.”

Speaking about the pressure to be thinin this industry, Coco expresses concernabout models that resort to any and allmethods of maintaining low bodyweight, but also emphasizes that notevery designer wants the anorexic look.“When you start off you have to have acertain body type. I mean, that’s why weget [recruited] so young. Your body has-n’t even gotten to that peak yet. So whenyou start aging and your body is chang-ing, people want it to stop, they don’twant that happening. … You can’t pleaseeveryone. If Client A and Client B wanttwo different girls, are you somehowgoing to get both of them? No. If youdon’t want me today, someone will wantme tomorrow.”

For the last few years, it seems every-one has wanted Coco: she has doneadvertising campaigns with Balenciaga,Calvin Klein, Lanvin, Dolce & Gabbanaand The Gap, and appeared on the coversof Vogue and Elle, among others. With a

consistent and star-stud-ded six-year career, Cocois a bit of a throwback at atime when America isintroduced to their newest“Top Model” each seasonon reality television. SaysCoco on this phenomenon

Left: Coco hasbeen dancingfor years withEire Born, adance groupfrom hernativeCanada.



of disposable models, “I think to be asupermodel is to stay in your own genre,to be 100 percent in everything in thatspecific area. If you need TV and all thatto make you great — then it tells youright there how good of a model youprobably are. But for the Heidi Klumsand the Tyra Bankses, who have shows,those were girls who were already bornand bred as supermodels and then wentinto new things. But girls of my genera-tion, who aren’t really successful andthen go off and become these huge things— I would say it’s more a celebritymodel in the aspect of TV than a super-model.”

Coco herself has plenty of plans forwhen and if she decides to retire frommodeling. “I love the arts — drawing,acting, performing, dancing, all that sortof thing. Because I’ve been so lucky tobe in this industry, I kind of have a backdoor to everything. Everything is at mydisposal right now. I don’t need to go toschool for arts and fashion, I’ve learnedit. So I would like to stay in the industry— if that means photography, styling,editing, I don’t know. Right now this ismy chance to kind of broaden out andfeel everything and see what it’s like, andthen we’ll see. I never plan tomorrowbecause I don’t even know what I’mdoing today.” She has planned minimal-ly for the near future, including a trip to

Australia and a first visit to Ireland thissummer. “I might see family that I’venever met, and I’m very outdoorsy andsporty so I want to actually bike alongone of the coasts.”

For now, Coco is busy with New Yorkevents and updating her new blog, ohso-coco.blogspot.com, whose contentranges from updates on her friend’s cat tomusings about returning to an era wheremodels did their own hair and makeup.“We learn all the tricks, things to do withour hair, what looks best. You see a lot ofgirls backstage getting their hair andmakeup done, and then you see them goin a corner and fix their makeup because

they don’t like somethingabout their eyes or whatever.You know your [own] face bet-ter than anyone. I notice moreand more that the makeupartists will let some girls dotheir makeup. It’s kind offunny to watch that come backseepingly, but maybe one day.”

“As for the blog, I knowsometimes it’s a little —” she

pauses, laughs, and decides to be blunt,“a lot about me, but I think people don’trealize that we do things. People are like,‘What, you play soccer? What, you go toHome Depot?’ I don’t know. They’relike, ‘Why would you? Why aren’t yousitting on a pedestal?’ Like, we live a lifetoo. It’s not all glam.” She is so person-able and so real that for a minute Ibelieve her, but then she’s off to IsaacMizrahi, where there will be interviewerswaiting for her to choose a dress for thenext week’s Met Ball and trying to soakup some of Coco’s captivating magnet-ism as she floats ten miles (or at least afew inches) above the world.

Above and left: For two days inOctober, Coco shared her loveof dance with students atChildren’s Aid’s Mirabal SistersCampus and East HarlemCenter. She is pictured herewith Eire Born, the Canadiandance group, who demonstrat-ed two dances for the children.

“If it weren’t for my Irish dancing, I wouldn’t be modeling.”

IA



Ladyof theDance

MaggieRevis, thefemale lead inMichaelFlatley’sThe Lordof theDance,talks toTaraDougherty

IA.Dancer.qxd 5/6/09 4:06 PM Page 38

aggie Revis, nativeto Putnam Valley,New York, took tothe stage in Belgiumthis past winter forher debut as thefemale lead dancer

in Michael Flatley’s The Lord of theDance. Born into a family of competitvedancers, Maggie began her dance careerat the age of three and secured her firstwin at the Mid-Atlantic AmericanOireachtas (Regional) DanceCompetition in Philadelphia by the ageof six. She continued to compete until2004 when she traveled to England freshout of college to begin rehearsals as adancer in Flatley’s Celtic Tiger. Nowfive years into her professional career,Maggie shines as the star in Lord of theDance, which since its premiere per-formance in 1996 has enjoyed the high-est success rate of any professional Irishdance touring company. The thrillinglydramatic show filled with Irish danceand music, based on a folklore story ofgood and evil, was created by MichaelFlatley to follow up the Riverdance phe-nomenon. The initial inspiration for theshow was an a cappella dance Flatleyenvisioned during his time withRiverdance which would later becomethe new show’s finale “Planet Ireland.”

Irish America sat down with Maggiein her hometown in Putnam County,after just wrapping up her European tour.In a house complete with an array ofCeltic music and a practice stage in thebasement, courtesy of Maggie’s father,Fred of German descent, the Revises’Irish step-dancing roots are undeniable.Maggie’s mother, Cathy, started her owndance school at a young age whichwould be Maggie’s second home and herintroduction into the world of step-danc-ing.

“My mother growing up was anincredible Irish dancer, and when shebecame a dancing teacher and judge itwas only natural for her kids to follow inher footsteps. … People who havewatched me dance say I have her samestyle and stage presence,” Maggie said.

Growing up in her mother’s danceschool, Maggie, her sister Katie, and

brother Freddy (though he may deny itnow) embraced step-dancing immediate-ly. “My sister and I were always veryactive and loved Irish music, so wewould just come to class and dance aboutwith the other kids.” When Cathy soldher school to focus on a nursing career,Maggie’s training fell into the hands ofKevin Broesler, who took over theschool. “That was when I started to com-pete. It became my after-school sport.Some people played soccer, I dancedevery day.”

Kevin Broesler described Maggie as“an inspiration” in his Irish dance class-es. “She was a great competitor and anenjoyable student. All the dancers in myclass looked up to her.” Maggie dancedfor Kevin’s school throughout her com-petitive career.

Tracing her Irish roots back to CountyGalway, the second-generation Irish-

American made her first trip to Ireland atthe age of twelve when she competed forthe first of many times in the All-Irelandand World Championships.

“In those early days of trips to Ireland,it was not just about going to compete. Itwas about meeting our relatives, eatingtons of the amazing ice cream, andexploring the castles and ruins that wewould pass along the road.” Since thoseearly years, Maggie has continued tovisit Ireland to see family and friends,and while she has become very familiar

with the sites and the peo-ple, she will not get behindthe wheel on Irish roads. “Iwill never feel comfort-able driving on the narrowroads or on the round-abouts ever again. I stillwon’t rent a car!”

Maggie’s grandmother,Nellie Spencer, now 92years old, was born inGalway and immigrated tothe United States bringingwith her a passion for Irishculture which she made

sure to instill in her daughter and grand-children. “They didn’t have competitiveIrish dancing when [my grandmother]was young,” Maggie said. “It was justmandatory that they learned basic stepsand ceilis. Even now I don’t think mygrandmother at ninety-two could dance afull, choreographed step but she knowsthe basic posture and rhythms, and her


TOP: Lord of theDance lead dancers

Adam McSharry,Cherie Butler, and

Don McCarron pictured backstage

with Maggie on her first night danc-

ing as Saoirse. RIGHT: Maggie with

her grandmotherNellie Spencer andher mother Cathy.Both women were

influential inMaggie’s career

choice.

M



gracefulness in dancing is something Iwould like to say she passed downthrough her daughter. She saw me per-form with Michael Flatley at MadisonSquare Garden and she tearfully braggedabout how she ‘started it all,’ and she isso right.”

While her older sister Katie eventuallyleft Irish dance for a career in competi-tive gymnastics and her brothers Freddyand Danny focused their energy on soc-cer, Maggie continued to pursue dancecompetitively for close to two decades.In 2003, she reclaimed the title she heldat six years old at the OireachtasRegional Dance Competition in the sen-ior ladies category. It was the followingyear when Maggie would achieve hercareer goal and win the North AmericanChampionship.

“I was just graduating from college atthe time and finding the space, time anddiscipline to practice was difficult. But Imade a promise to myself that I wouldnot retire from competitive dancing untilI claimed that title, and I did it,” Maggiesaid. “I think by that time, after compet-ing for so many years, I knew that danc-ing was something that I genuinely lovedto do, and when you love to do some-thing that much, you perform better.”

Not long after her success at the NorthAmerican Championship, Maggie retiredfrom competitive dance but found shewas not quite ready to hang up her shoes.“You realize that it’s a part of who youare. I think that’s what really started mythinking about going professional.”

After graduating from LoyolaUniversity in Baltimore, Maggie went toEngland to begin rehearsals for MichaelFlatley’s production Celtic Tiger,inspired by the economic boom inIreland. Touring with the show broughtMaggie to unfamiliar places, performingeverywhere from Budapest to Londonand also reunited her with some familiarfaces. The cast included dancers from allover the world whom Maggie hadencountered in various competitionsearly in her career. With the new adven-ture of touring and the competitive heatbehind them, the cast was able to bondand form a family.

“I like the fact that I am now goodfriends with so many dancers that I used

to watch in competition,” Maggie said.After a successful run with Celtic Tiger,

Maggie joined the touring troupe for Lordof the Dance. “I first started dancing withLord of the Dance two years ago and Imade it a career goal to audition for lead.I did not stop smiling during the audition,which I think helped me a lot.” Surpassingthe goal of just auditioning, Maggie land-ed the coveted part of Saoirse. She sharesthe role with three other dancers, TraceySmith McCarron, Siobhan Connolly andLouise Hayden, and plays opposite themale lead, a role played rotationally byCiaran Connolly, Jason Gorman and DonMcCarron. Newest to the role of Saoirse,Maggie will dance primarily in matineeperformances in the upcoming NorthAmerican tour.

“It was a dream come true, cheesy asit may sound. I worked really hard lead-ing up to the audition, and my cast mateswere so helpful and supportive through-out the whole process.”

While competitive Irish step-dancinginvolves its fair share of theatrics, boun-cy wigs and intricate costumes included,Flatley’s shows utilize an entirely newstyle, unnatural at first for most competi-tive dancers. “For a long time my dance

captains had to remind me to loosen upand perform for the audience more. Ittook me a while to get used to movingmy arms and my upper body while danc-ing, something which traditional Irishdancing forbids.” After years of posturetraining and frozen arms, the dancers inLord of the Dance have to embrace a newskill of maintaining their lightning-fastfootwork and high leaps with upper bodychoreography. “I like to think I am betterat it now, but there is always room forimprovement.”

“I was on cloud nine the whole day ofthe first performance. I love the music Idanced my solos to, I love the costumes Igot to wear, and I love the other lead per-formers that I danced with. It is truly ablessing to be able to say that I reachedthe epitome of an Irish dancing career.My mother still looks at the pictures fromthat first performance every day.”

Performing as Saoirse for the first timeon the European leg of her troupe’s tour,Maggie was unable to share that experi-ence with her family back in the States.She looks forward to her upcomingNorth American tour which will provideher the opportunity to perform through-out the United States this spring.

“It is truly a blessing to be able to say that I reached the epitome of an Irishdancing career. My mother still looks at the pictures from that first performance every day.”

Touring with Lord of the Dancehas allowed Maggie, picturedhere on safari in South Africa,

to see the world.

IA



hen Brian McAllisterwas coming of age inthe 1950s all he caredabout was playingbasketball and chas-ing girls. However,over the years, hebecame the heart andsoul of the business

his Irish ancestors built and he foughthard to keep it from sinking out of thehands of future generations. TodayMcAllister Towing and TransportationCo., Inc. is one of the nation’s largesttowing companies with operations inports all over the East Coast and PuertoRico. Captain Brian McAllister, now 76,directs the action from his corner office atthe tip of Manhattan overlooking the har-bor where so much of his family’s historyhappened. Working with him are two sonsand three nephews steering future genera-tions along in the family trade.

The First Generation

The story began in 1864 whenJames McAllister left Cushendall,County Antrim, to come to New

York, then the largest Irish city in theworld. His brothers Daniel and Williamsoon joined him. Along with many otherIrish families, such as the Morans, theyfound their calling in the water traffic ofNew York Harbor. Indeed there were somany tug boats in New York Harbor, theywere known collectively as the IrishNavy. James began with a single-saillighter (a vessel that moves cargobetween pier and ship) and called itGreenpoint Lighterage Company afterthe Brooklyn neighborhood where he hadsettled. Expanding into towing,McAllister’s first tug boat began operat-ing in 1876 while the Brooklyn Bridgewas being built.

James had four sons and six daughters

in his first marriage and all the sons grewup working in the business, along with anassortment of cousins and other relatives.One day in 1899, his oldest son, James P.(known as Captain Jim) stormed out ofGreenpoint Lighterage to go into busi-ness for himself around the corner fromhis father and uncles, but the family soonreunited to form McAllister Brothers andmove to new offices at South Streetalong Manhattan’s East River waterfront.In 1909 they acquired the Starin fleet ofexcursion steamboats with regular runsto Coney Island, the Statue of Libertyand Bear Mountain. When James died in1916 he left the towing and lighter busi-ness to his sons from his first marriageand the steamboat business to his twobrothers. After James’s first wife died, heremarried and had three more children,though none of them became involved inthe business.

Captain Jim, who was Brian’s grandfa-

A.J. McAllister III, with his wife Vicky, son A.J. IV, and daughter Brooklyn christen a new tug in his daughter’s honorin October 1999. Captain Brian McAllister looks on.

Tug o’My

By Marian Betancourt

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ther, was always finding ways to pro-mote the company and in 1914 offeredthe tug JP McAllister to Harry Houdini.The famous escape artist had himselfhandcuffed and sealed into a packingcase and tossed into the harbor near theBattery. Miraculously, a few minuteslater, he surfaced, free of the packingcrate and his handcuffs.

Another story that has gone down infamily lore is the visit of Eamon deValera to New York. It began in 1922,when New York’s mayor Jimmy Walkercalled Captain Jim to see if he couldpick up de Valera who had arrived bysteamer in Hoboken to do some fundraising in Manhattan for the Irish cause.The captain sent his son Anthony, then22, along to escort de Valera. More than30 years later when Anthony and hiswife passed by Parliament House on avisit to Dublin, he asked the guard toextend his compliments to the prime

minister. To his astonishment, de Valeraremembered him and asked McAllisterand his wife to come around later for avisit.

During World War I, Captain Jim fittedout tugs for crossing the Atlantic duringthe war and was put in charge of theUnited States Army’s floating equip-ment. (During World War II, McAllistertransported all the Army’s explosivesthrough New York Harbor.) Captain Jimwas described by one family member asthe sparkplug who kept the companyexpanding into new ventures. He lived tosee the business triple in size and thenget hit so hard by the Great Depressionthey were down to only one running tug.In 1935 Captain Jim died at 66. WhenBrian asked what caused his grandfatherto die so young, his father told him hedied of a broken heart.

Fortunately, all of the McAllistershad large families. Captain Jim had 10

children including three sons, AnthonyJ. (Brian’s father), James P. II, andGerard, who, along with a few cousins,kept the business afloat. Although somedaughters did work in the companyoffices from time to time, they were notgiven ownership. By the end of WorldWar II, Brian’s dad and his two uncleshad 35 tugs running, even though theywere mostly worn out wooden steamtugs. They got through the Depressionbut at that time, Brian recalled, therewas not enough work for everybody soonly the smartest and hardest workerssurvived. The family built the companyback up in the 40s and 50s and wereoperating 50 tugs in six ports. “AfterWorld War II, Moran had sealed up 70percent of the ship business in the har-bor. That was enormous,” Brian said.“McAllister had maybe 15 percent.” Hesaid they were all highly competitiveand engaged in price wars.

MCALLISTER TOWING CARRIES FAMILY BUSINESSINTO THIRD CENTURY

The first “double” christening of McAllister

tugs Andrew andRosemary took place in

October 2008 at theSouth Street Seaport.

A family photo taken in the early 1940s shows Brian McAllister at right in the first row next to his brothers Donal and Bruce. From left inmiddle row: Anthony, J. Jr., Marjorie (mom), Anthony J. Sr. (dad) holding Michael. From left in top row are Eileen, Patrice, and Marjorie.

Heart

Photos courtesy of McAllister Towing

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The FourthGeneration on

the Brink

Brian was born on Christmas Dayin 1932, one of eight children,and grew up in his grandfather’s

house on Albemarle Road, near ProspectPark in Brooklyn. His father Anthonywould take all the boys to the shipyard.“I was scared to death on the boats,”Brian said. When he was 12 or 13, andworking as a summer deckhand on a tug,he recalls his fright watching the verytricky task of maneuvering one ship froma line of three and then moving anothership into the same slot. He told the pilothe was scared and was sent to the engineroom. “I was happier down there,” hesaid, because he didn’t have to watchwhat was going on. Despite Brian’salleged lack of interest in learning, hegraduated from the State University ofNew York (SUNY) Maritime College atFort Schuyler in 1956 with a bachelor’sdegree in maritime engineering, but thefamily business was not calling him yet.

“The third generation had an agree-ment that only two sons from eachbranch of the family could work in thebusiness, so I went into the Navy for twoyears.” He came out in 1958 as aLieutenant JG and got a job with theAmerican Express Isbrandtsen Line,making a lot of money. “I loved it,” hesaid, but by then also realized he wasspending too much time away and askedhis father for a job on the tugs. Anthonywas able to get Brian a job as tug captain

and eventually pilot. By the mid-1960sBrian had extensive seagoing experienceand was promoted to the office.

Keeping It All in the Family

By the 1970s, Brian said his dadwas not in good health and onlythree of the eight kids (Brian,

Anthony, Jr., and Bruce) were in the busi-ness. “My uncles didn’t have all their kidsin the business,” he added. (There arenow close to one thousand descendantsfrom the original James McAllister, but

most of them drifted away from the fami-ly business into other areas. Those in thebusiness today are descended fromCaptain Jim and his sons.)

Brian realized his father was gettingclose to selling the business for $20 mil-lion, part of which was stock in aCanadian company. “I was a fairlyaggressive guy, although I didn’t knowmuch about finance,” he admitted.Nevertheless, he convinced his brothersand cousins to put up $3,000 each andform a corporation to buy the company.“My father said, ‘You’ll never make it.You have no reserves to fall back on.’” Ittook four years to close the deal, but in

LEFT: James McAllister. RIGHT: The fourth, fifth and sixth generations of McAllisters pose for a family photo at the double christening of theRosemary and the Andrew in 2008.

Buckley McAllister and his wife Beth with daughter Janet christen the Janet McAllister in2001. A few months later, the Janet and the entire McAllister fleet joined all the tugs in NewYork Harbor to rescue people escaping from downtown New York on September 11th.

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1974 the fourth generation bought thedomestic company from the third gener-ation for $15 million. Other pieces of thebusiness went to various siblings andcousins. Brian invited a Harvard MBA tohelp with the financial arrangements andcome aboard as a partner. The companyexpanded into the oil business. The out-side partner wanted to sell the tug busi-ness, but Brian wanted to hold onto thecompany’s heritage. This resulted in alawsuit for control and in 1998 the com-pany was divided with the partner takingthe oil business and Brian keeping thetowing and ferry business. The settle-ment was made one day before the com-

pany was to be auctioned off. “My sonshelped put a settlement together,” Briansaid, “and the partner gave in.”

With Brian at the helm as owner andpresident of McAllister Towing, and fivemembers of the fifth generation at workin the company, the family is keeping thebusiness on track. Brian “Buckley”McAllister, 41, Brian’s oldest son, is vicepresident and general counsel. He is agraduate of the University of California’sHastings College of Law. Eric, 39, grad-uated from New York University with adegree in economics and is the vice pres-ident, chief financial officer and treasur-er. Their combined knowledge and

expertise in finance and law helped Brianhang onto the business. Anthony J. (A.J.)McAllister III, 52, the son of Brian’sbrother Anthony, Jr., is vice president ofsales. He, like Brian, graduated fromSUNY Maritime at Fort Schuyler and isa licensed tug master and docking pilot.Andrew McAllister, 36, is the son ofBrian’s younger brother Michael. He hasan MBA from New York University andis vice president. He also leads the com-pany’s information technology depart-ment. Jeffrey McAllister, 53, son ofBrian’s cousin James, is the company’ssenior docking pilot in New York Harbor.

Although he doesn’t play basketballanymore, Brian is a vigorous man whoplays golf and tennis whenever he can.He also likes to walk to work from theManhattan apartment he shares with hiswife of 42 years, the former RosemaryOwens, who taught math at the UnitedNations International School in NewYork. They met at a birthday party forBrian’s father. Rosemary was hisyounger brother’s date!

Today, nearly 150 years after Jamesarrived from Cushendall, McAllister isstill not as big as Moran TowingCompany, but unlike Moran, the compa-ny is still in the family. Will the sixthgeneration carry on the family trade? It’stoo soon to tell, but if it’s any incentive,they all have had tug- boats named forthem.

Marian Betancourt has written about the Moran Towing Company

for Irish America.

LEFT: The tug Rowan helps bring the Intrepid Sea Air and Space Museum back to its berth on the Hudson after repair work in Staten Island.TOP RIGHT: The William McAllister. BOTTOM RIGHT: Brian in the wheelhouse.

A painting by Oswald Brett depicts South Street around the time James McAllister went into business.

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Surfing. The very wordbrings to mind golden sun-sets over tropical locations.The palm trees of Hawaii.The warm seas and roaringwaves of Australia andCalifornia. Certainly not

the cold and choppy waters of the IrishAtlantic.

And yet Ireland is now emerging asone of the new frontiers of the surfingworld. This island perched at the edge ofEurope, one of the first land masses to bepummeled by the turbulent Atlantic, hasa growing community of surfers whoextol what Ireland has to offer.

“People are surprised to learn that thereis surfing in Ireland,” laughs EaskeyBritton, the Irish and British surfingchampion who hails from Donegal.“They think the water is full of icebergs.”

Ian Johnson, a South African surferand surfboard shaper who now lives inCounty Clare, couldn’t agree more.“There’s such a difference betweenIreland and South Africa,” he says. “It’seasy to get into surfing in South Africa.Here you freeze your proverbials off!”

Despite these obvious disadvantagesto surfing in Ireland, these surfers – bothof whom have spent time surfing in well-known hotspots such as Tahiti and

Hawaii – choose to live and surf inIreland. Why is this?

The answer to this question is at theheart of a fascinating documentary calledSea Fever: An Irish Surf Odyssey.Filmed over the course of two years byfirst-time filmmaker Ken O’Sullivan, itcaptures Irish surfing throughout the sea-sons and chronicles the development of asurfing culture in Ireland over the past 40years.

Ken, who is originally from Clare, hadworked abroad for many years. When hemoved back to Lahinch six years ago, hewas taken aback by the changes that hadbeen wrought on the area.

SEA FEVER:An Irish

Surf Odyssey

Ireland, with 3,000 miles of open Atlantic to the West, offers some of the best surf conditions in the world. Sea Fever, a documentary,covers the history of Irish surfing from the early 1960s to the present.

Story by Sharon Ní Chonchúir.

SEA FEVER:An Irish

Surf Odyssey

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“I was more aware of my environmentwhen I came back,” he remembers. “Iwas struck by the beauty of the place andamazed by the boom in surfing. The pas-sion of the surfers interested me too.They live to surf and build their livesaround it. They surf every day and con-stantly push themselves to ride new

waves.”He started to film some of Irish surf-

ing’s biggest risk takers – the surferswho ride Ireland’s most famous bigwave, Aileen’s just off the Cliffs ofMoher. This wave was first discoveredby photographer Mickey Smith and agroup of Australian bodyboarders in2004 and was first surfed the followingyear.

“Many people who visit the Cliffs ofMoher are unaware of what happensthere,” says Ken O’Sullivan. His filmcaptures the action as it unfolds.Aileen’s, one of the world’s most formi-dable waves, starts to roll in from theAtlantic. As the swells approach Ireland,they hit a narrow shelf of land. The waverears up to 50 foot in height and offerssurfers a challenging ride right up to thedramatic 700-foot-high cliffs.

Easkey Britton, the first woman to surfthe wave, describes it as “addictive.With the cliffs rising up in front of youand a big mountain of white water com-ing up behind you, you just want to do itagain and agin”.

Sea Fever documents the history ofthis wave and the enthusiasm of thosewho surf it. It also travels back in timeto explore the development of surfing inIreland, a culture that is merely a fewdecades old.

Rod Bennett, who has been living inIreland for 21 years, first visited thecountry in 1973. “Friends told me aboutthe surfing and the Guinness so I came totry it for myself,” he recalls. “I spentthree weeks traveling from Waterford toClare, surfing along the way. I didn’tmeet one single surfer.”

Unbeknownst to Rod, there were somesurfing enthusiasts in Ireland at that time.The young Kevin Cavey had seen a pic-ture of a surfer in Reader’s Digest andwas inspired to try it for himself. Heordered a board from Cornwall, placedan ad in the Irish Independent askingothers if they were interested and in 1965organized a “surfari” to the west ofIreland.

The sufari included stops in Sligo andDonegal, where the surfers met theBritton brothers. Together, they startedoff a tradition of surfing in the NorthWest of Ireland.

The film has archival footage which


Sea Feverdocuments the

history ofAileen’s wave

and the enthusiasm of

those who surf it.It also travels

back in time toexplore the

development of surfing in

Ireland, a culturethat is merely a

few decades old.

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Above: Catching a wave offThe Cliffs of Moher, Co. Clare

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expresses the pioneering spirit ofthe time. Viewers are shownimages of young men racing joy-fully into the sea, lugging rudi-mentary surfboards.

Easkey Britton is the secondgeneration of the Britton familyto become passionate about surf-ing. In the film, she recountshow her father and his brotherslearned to surf.

Her grandmother brought backsurfboards from California,intending to use them as decora-tions in her Donegal guesthouse.“My dad and his brothers pad-dled on them when they wereyoung,” says Easkey. “But itwasn’t until they saw a visitorstand on them that they realizedwhat they were really for. Beforelong, they were up on the boardsand it all progressed from there.My nana probably regrets it now. We’vegot salty blood because of her.”

So salty that Easkey was named afterher parents’ favorite surf break off theWest Coast of Ireland. The name derivesfrom the Irish word for fish (iasc), makingit particularly apt for a surfing champion.

Within a few years, Kevin Cavey andthe Britton brothers were competing inEuropean surfing competitions. Thisbrought Ireland to the attention of theinternational surfing community and in1972, it was chosen as the host country forthe European Surfing Championship.

Unfortunately, the surf was disappoint-ing on the day of the championship. Thewaves were small. The swells were calm.There was no challenge. It wasn’t untilthe day after that surfers got the opportu-nity to experience the thrills of surfingIrish style.

“It was epic,” says Mike Wingfield, amember of the English Surf Squad of thetime. “It was overhead, glassy and per-fect. Nobody could get out of the water.”

That year could be seen as a turningpoint in Irish surfing. Ireland was now afeature on the international surfing map.However, the number of surfers remainedlow – a mere two to three thousand people– until the boom of recent years.

Ian Johnson has surfed every day fordecades. Until five or six years ago, hewas usually alone on the ocean. “Now, Ican’t even get parking close to the beach,”he says with a smile.

The Irish Surfing Association claimsthat at least 70,000 people have surfed inIreland once or more. It’s this jump that

prompted Ken O’Sullivan to make hisdocumentary.

It’s also what pushed the most enthusi-astic surfers to conquer Aileen’s.Traditional surfing spots were becomingcrowded. They had to discover new fron-tiers.

John McCarthy, another Irish surfingchampion, was the first to surf Aileen’s,along with Dave Blunt. They were part ofa group that developed a new techniquewhereby a jet ski pulls the surfer who ison a specially adapted board. The speedof the jet ski allows the surfer to get aheadof the swell. He then lets go of the towrope and slides across the wave.

Saul Harvey, a local surfer, initiallythought Aileen’s surfers were mad. “Youlook at the huge cliffs and the powerfulwave and you think they haven’t a hope,”he says.

He has since been won over and evensurfed the wave himself. He describes itas like “standing in an elevator when all ofa sudden, the floor drops from underneathyou.”

Aileen’s wave is but one example of themany challenges Ireland has to offersurfers. As John McCarthy, the first tosurf Aileen’s, says, “the best thing abouttraveling is coming back to Ireland withthe skills to surf better waves and realiz-ing that the waves in Ireland are some ofthe best in the world”.

Surfers are now visiting Ireland fromother countries, surfers such as the seven-time world champion Kelly Slater whohas spent time here conquering ourwaves. And surfers such as the people

interviewed for this documentary, whoselives are dictated by weather charts, oceanswells and the next wave.

“Our only problem is the Irish weath-er,” says Ian Johnson. “It’s diabolical. Itdoesn’t stay the same for ten minutes.”

In typically optimistic surfer fashion,he can also see the positive side of this.“Ireland is small and its weather is vari-able so you can usually travel to find theperfect offshore waves,” he says.“Bundoran, Lahinch and Kerry can bethree completely different worlds.”

No matter what the weather, Irishsurfers will always surf. In fact, the worsethe weather, the more of them take to thewaves. In 2006, thousands traveled to theWest Coast to catch the frenzied wavesthat resulted from Hurricane Gordonwreaking havoc over the Atlantic.

This is what Irish surfing is all about.As Mickey Smith says, “Friendships,experiences and the opportunities to pushmyself and my surfing. I’ll always begrateful to the Emerald Isle for that.”

Or perhaps it’s how pioneer KevinCavey explains it. “You’re tingling withthe forces of nature when you emergefrom the sea. Surfing brings us back toour roots. That’s why it’s catching on.”

With enthusiasts such as the characterscaptured in this film, Irish surfing looks setto grow and grow. “Our secret is finallyout,” says director Ken O’Sullivan.

For more information, visitwww.seafever.ie.

For DVD information visitwww.SeaFeverMovie.com

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The coldchoppywaters of theAtlantic arenot for theweak-hearted.

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t its heart, Holyoke, Massachusetts, is still IrelandParish, which is what it was known as back in the1800s when immigrants, mainly from the Irish-speaking area of Dingle, Co. Kerry, settled there andfound employment working on the dam and canal

system, in the paper manufacturing plants and textile mills. It was a tough existence but they survived, and today in this

area of Massachusetts on the banks of the Connecticut River,their descendants are more likely to be judges, politicians,teachers and doctors than blue-collar workers. But the struggleof those early immigrants is not forgotten, and the pride thatHolyokers hold in their Irish roots is evident, especially on St.Patrick’s Day.

Depending on the weather, and who is doing the talking, theparade status varies between being numberone or two worldwide. According to some,the city of 40,000 people draws upwards of350,000 spectators from Boston, the neigh-boring townlands of Springfield andChicopee, and as far away as Chicago.

This year’s parade took place on Sunday,March 22. The weather was crisp andsunny and a sense of fun prevailed.Families held parties on sloping front yardsand cheers rang out from porches and side-walks to the marchers along the 2.6-mileroute. The feeling is a little more MardiGras than Hibernian with some 40 march-ing bands and as many floats taking part.This year, for instance, the Grand Colleenfloat featured giant ice cream cones and achocolate box, and the HawthorneCaballeros led off the parade with pulsingmusic and Latin-inspired costumes – anod, perhaps, to the large Puerto Ricanpopulation that now call Holyoke home.

The parade is nothing if not inclusive. The PhiladelphiaMummers with their brilliant costumes and accordion and banjomusic liven up the crowd, while the Second Marine Aircraft WingBand strike a reflective note as they call to mind the tradition ofIrish-Americans in the Armed Forces, and today’s young men andwomen who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Canadians, Poles, and Puerto Ricans all immigrated toHolyoke in large numbers, but none so large as the original Irishsettlers who are still prominent in the running of the city and the

parade. The celebrations run over several days and keepthe 250-strong Parade Committee busy all year planningevents such as the Colleen Pageant, 10k Road Race,Bishop’s Mass, J.F.K. Award Dinner (John F. Kennedyand his wife Jackie were guests of honor at the 1958 inau-gural dinner), and the Mayor’s Breakfast, at which yours trulywas presented with this year’s Ambassador Award.

I first heard of Holyoke from the late, great Eoin McKiernan,who penned The Last Word column for Irish America for manyyears. Eoin was the first Ambassador Award recipient in 1992and became an ardent fan of Holyoke, promoting the paradewhenever he could. But it was at the urging of Ciaran O’Reillyand Charlotte Moore, founders of New York’s Irish RepertoryTheatre who served as last year’s Ambassadors, that I finally

made the trip. I’m glad I did.I arrived in Holyoke, three and a half

hours north of New York City, at noon-time on Saturday, just as the 10k road racewas ending. I had barely put a foot downwhen I was met by a welcoming party ofFred Sullivan and Jack O’Neill, who soonhad me off and running to a whirlwind ofengagements.

As we went along, Fred, a labor lawyerwith offices in New York and Holyoke,and Jack, a pharmacist of long standing,filled me in on the city’s colorful history.

IRELAND PARISHHolyoke was known as Ireland Parish

back in the 1800s, when it was a way station on the road between Springfieldand Northampton – a place for weary trav-elers to refresh themselves at one of thetaverns in the area. The first post office,

called “Ireland,” was established on June 3, 1822. Another postoffice called Ireland Depot was opened on February 26, 1847.

By that time, Boston entrepreneurs had seen the potential ofthe broad plain and the 57-foot drop in the Connecticut River atSouth Hadley Falls, and devised a plan to dam the river and turnthe area into America’s first planned industrial city.

Irish workers began construction on the dam, which was com-pleted on November 16, 1848. (There’s an old saying, “To builda canal all you need is a pick, a shovel, a wheelbarrow and an

PATRICIA HARTY was honored at the St. Patrick’s Day festivities in Holyoke,

Massachusetts, and decided that if there is a place called Irish America, this could be it.

Sgt. Daniel M. Clark, former United StatesMarine, known as “The Singing Trooper,” isjoined by Patricia Harty for a verse of “It’s aLong Way to Tipperary.”

A

Irish HeartHolyoke’s

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Irishman.”) The wooden structure proved nomatch for the mighty river and less than a dayafter it opened the dam was swept away to thefamous words, “Dam gone to hell by way ofWillimansett.” Undeterred, construction began ona second dam. This time engineers put an apron inplace for support, and the dam held.

One of the laborers on the dam was Irish immi-grant Daniel O’Connell who died soon afterwardsin a cholera epidemic. His son, also Daniel, awater boy on the same river project, became thefamily’s sole support. Daniel went on to foundDaniel O’Connell & Sons Contractors which isstill in operation today.

“Of course, lives were lost,” Bob Loughrey,uncle of Joe Loughrey, J.F.K. Award recipient,said of the building of the dam and the four and ahalf miles of canals that followed.

Bob’s grandmother, Margaret Friel fromBuncrana, Donegal, was fourteen when she arrivedin Holyoke in 1878. She found work in the mills,which sprang up once the dam was in place, andlater as a domestic in the house of William Skinnerwhose Skinner Silk Mills had thousands of workers.A woman of great fortitude and family loyalty,Margaret saved her money, returned to Ireland, col-lected her parents, her four brothers and sisters, anew husband, Constantine Loughrey, and brought them all backto Holyoke.

LIVING CONDITIONSThe new opportunities in Holyoke soon began to attract otherimmigrant groups, particularly French Canadians and Polishworkers. The mill owners provided housing close to their factories“so that there would be no excuse for them being late for theirtwelve-hour shifts,” Bob says.

The tenements and row houses provided were often small andcrowded. According to one 1875 report by the state’s Bureau ofStatistics of Labor: “Holyoke has more and worse large tenement

houses than any manufacturing town of textile fab-rics in the state. One large block, four storieshigh, has 18 tenements with 90 rooms, occupiedby nearly two hundred people; and yet there areonly two, three-feet doorways on the front, andnone on the back. Our agents visited some tene-ments having bedrooms into which neither airnor light could penetrate, as there were no win-dows and no means of ventilation.”

Not only were the living conditions harsh, butthe wages were poor – many families were in suchdire straits that young children were forced intothe workforce. The census of 1880 shows “only”700 minors between the ages of 10 and 16 yearsemployed in the mills. The following year that fig-ure rose to 1,501.

DILLON’S BLOCKIn 1875, work began on a new building, a

huge complex at Maple and Hampden streets,and when it was completed many of the Irishmoved there. Built by two brothers fromBallyduff, Co. Kerry, “Dillon’s Block” was oftenreferred to as “Dillon’s Baby Factory” because somany of Holyoke’s new citizens were born there.

One of those citizens was Joseph Loughrey,the eldest of Margaret and Constantine’s twelve

children. “My father and two of his sisters were born in Dillon’sBlock, and then the family moved to a house. He was one oftwelve, one died in infancy and two died with flu when theywere three and four,” Bob says.

He tells me that his father, Joseph, had wanted to go to col-lege but the family situation didn’t allow for it. “He was verygood at mathematics and he wanted to complete his schoolingbut his mother asked him to get a job so that he could help out.He agreed, but made her promise that with his help his foursisters would get an education and she kept that promise.”

Joseph became a successful businessman and made sure thathis own children went to college. Bob became a schoolteacher,another brother became a college professor, another had a

Left: Aran sweaters and red-haired children, a com-mon sight along the parade route. Above: GrandColleen Ashley Tucker and her court (Caitlin O’Neil,Alexandra Grass, Bridget O’Leary Sullivan andKaleigh Clark) are pictured with J.F.K Award recipientand Holyoke native, Joseph Loughrey. Below: A young colleen takes in the parade. Bottom:Deborah Loughrey.PHOTOS: IRENE MCLAUGHLIN NARISSI

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successful career as a salesman. His sisters also had careers. The belief in education and also some of the grit and determi-

nation of Margaret Friel carried down to her great-grandson, alsocalled Joe, who received this year’s J.F.K. Award. The oldest ofeight children, Joe (one of Irish America’s Business 100) recent-ly retired as Vice Chairman of Cummins, the world’s largest inde-pendent diesel engine manufacturer, after a 35-year career.

CHURCH & SCHOOLIt was hard not to think of Margaret Friel and that generation ofimmigrants as we assembled in St. Jerome’s Church for theBishop’s Mass on the eve of the parade. St. Jerome’s was therock on which the future of those youngIrish pioneers was built.

Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell, a Bronxman, con-celebrated Mass with FatherFrancis Sullivan, parish priest, and FatherCullen, a Welsh priest of Irish stock whocame to Holyoke on a visit a few years agoand decided that he had found his calling.

Back in the day, it was Father PatrickHarkins who for 44 years not only lookedafter his community’s spiritual needs butsaw that the children were educated aswell.

In 1868, Harkins invited the Sisters ofNotre Dame to open a school for girls.Nineteen Sisters took care of 509 students.In 1872, Father Harkins opened a schoolfor boys. The Sisters of Providence tookcharge of the school in 1876, and also, at Father Harkins’ urg-ing, established an institution of charity, a hospital and anOrphans’ Home in Holyoke.

Harkins, the good nuns and other clergy saw to it that the children of immigrants were well prepared to take their place ascitizens of America – good Catholic citizens.

“On my father’s side, he had three first cousins who were

priests – Father Sullivan, Father George Friel, and FatherCharles Friel. On my mother’s side, six were priests and threewere nuns. And even in my generation you had a huge amountof Irish that became priests and nuns,” Bob Loughrey says.

Education and the church became the stepping stones to futuresuccess for the Irish in Holyoke and in other places acrossAmerica. “At least 80 percent of elementary school teachers inHolyoke were Irish girls. My aunt Florence and Ellen Walshwere schoolteachers. The school door was open to them whereother places were not,” Bob says.

That tradition continues. The Irish still have a presence in theschool system, as they do in the political life of Holyoke. Thisyear’s parade grand marshal Chris Patton Zacoc, an educator in

Holyoke’s public schools for 35 years, wasthe subject of Amongst Schoolchildren, abestselling book by Tracy Kidder, whospent a year monitoring Patton in her class-room.

THE HUMORAt the mass, the bishop can barely containhimself when the organ acts up and everybeautifully sung hymn ends on a longmournful note because of trapped air in thepipes. Grinning, he thanks the choir “andthe leprechaun in the organ.”

At the J.F.K. Award dinner, humorabounds as Mayor Mike Sullivan, who inan alternative universe would be a stand-upcomedian, gives a good old-fashioned rib-

bing to honoree Joe Loughrey, a boyhood pal. Meanwhile, mysister Honora, friend Irene, and I enjoy sitting around the dinnertable with Kateri Walsh, who chairs the AmbassadorCommittee, her husband Dan, a former Marine, and sons Chris,Daniel and Bennett.

Chris regales us with stories of his trip to Ireland as Danieltries to get a word in on the finer points of Irish culture, and

Clockwise: Keeping an eyeon the parade; a youngMummer, Honora Harty,and Jack O’Neill; MayorMike Sullivan presentsPatricia Harty with a cita-tion at the Ambassador’sBreakfast; Kateri and DanWalsh and their seven chil-dren: Front row: Kateri,Marylee, Laura and DanielIV. Back row: Michael’swife Jessica, Michael,Christopher, and Bennettwith their parents.

Judge Anne Gibbons, who was the ParadeGrand Marshal in 2008.

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Bennett, a lieutenant colonel, just back from his third tour inIraq, tells us what the Shannon stop-off means to the Americantroops coming and going to Afghanistan and Iraq.

Kateri, who was honored with this year’s George E.O’Connell Award for her parade committee work, says she is“never happier” than when she has all her seven children togeth-er. They would all join her the following morning at theMayor’s Breakfast and later on the parade route.

THE MAYOR & THE AWARDThe Mayor’s Breakfast, where I receive my Ambassador’sAward, is at the Yankee Peddler, which despite its name has adistinct Southern feel. The main dining hall is a beautiful roomwith a magnificent chandelier from the old Metropolitan Hotelin New York City, and a balcony where the Grand ColleenAshley Tucker and her entourage hang out. The Mummersentertain, the Marine band plays, and Sgt. Dan Clark sings “It’sa Long Way to Tipperary,” just for me.

I was welcomed by David Pinsky who represents Tighe &Bond, sponsors of the Ambassador Award (James Tighe was anIrish immigrant to Holyoke who worked on the Hydroelectricdam which replaced the wooden structure in 1900. Tighe wenton to become city engineer in 1911). I received several cita-tions from city and state representatives, and numerous gifts,and I am moved by the experience and at the same time worriedabout what I will say when my turn comes to speak.

Luckily, Mayor Mike Sullivan does the introductions. Anative son, who has been mayor for 10 years, Sullivan is pas-sionate about Holyoke and prized for his sense of humor. He haseveryone laughing so hard that I begin to relax. I realize, not forthe first time, that in Holyoke, I am amongst my own. And so, Iproudly accept the Ambassador’s Award on behalf of all theIrish immigrants who went before me.

The mayor has Kerry and Mayo roots: “My grandmotherBridget Kennedy was from Slea Head, and my grandfatherMichael Sullivan was from Brandon Mountain. On my mother’sside, my grandmother Una Lavelle was from Belmullet, Co.Mayo, and my grandfather Nicholas O’Neill was from Cahirciven,Co. Kerry,” he writes in response to a follow-up e-mail I sentrequesting more information on his family background. “As asecond-generation Irishman, I loved sitting off to the sidewhen I was young to hear stories ofglory, tragedy and opinion spun withthick brogues that were only translatedthrough tumblers of Four Feathers orSeagram’s Seven.

“My Nana Sullivan was the only oneI knew who was sweet and fierce withequal measure in all matters. She wouldapproach the local butcher with praise,asking about his family, his wife, hisnew car and then when he would revealthe price of hamburger she would useall that against him in an instant. ‘Nowonder your flock are going to collegeand you are driving a new car – with theprice of meat in this store it’s a wonderyou don’t have a chauffeeeeeur,’ shewould exclaim. It was a great lesson in

politics. She also cared for me and my youngest sister whilemy mother was at work. I ended up having to go to speechclass when I began elementary school because I would say‘ba-a-ll’ and ‘ca-a-ll’ instead of ball and call, or ‘windell’ forwindow, or, as everyone in Holyoke still says, ‘pa-day-da’ forpotato. The therapy broke my brogue.”

THE GIFTSHolyokers really take phrase “Irish hospi-tality” to new heights. Prized among themany gifts I received are a tartan scarf(Holyoke has its own tartan designed byGerald Healy), a shillelagh, an Irish shawlfrom Cooper’s, and an autographed pictureof Don Larsen’s perfect game.

I don’t know if Don Larsen, the Yankeepitcher who threw the no-hitter in 1956World Series between the New YorkYankees and Brooklyn Dodgers, had anyIrish roots, but his autographed photo,given to me by Dan Walsh, now has prideof place in my office. It is a reminder thatsometimes miracles do happen, or maybe,in the case of those Irish immigrants toHolyoke, miracles didn’t so much happenas they were made.


A historic photo of the dam construction in 1847.

Window to the Past“Patrick Garvey, son of Daniel and Ellen (Moran) Garvey,

was born in County Kerry, Ireland, and there resided until

the year 1847, when he emigrated to the United States and

located in Holyoke, Massachusetts where he spent the

remainder of his days. He assisted in building the first dam

and during that period acquired the title ‘Bully’ not for any

pugnacious tendencies displayed by him. He was a man of

large build and great strength, and upon seeing two men fail

in placing a large stone in its proper place he went to the

rescue and unaided placed it on the scaffolding.The man in

charge of the work said, ‘Bully for you’ and Mr. Garvey was

ever afterward known by that appellation. He was a man of

genial disposition, always ready to assist a neighbor and

friend, and was honored and respected accordingly. His wife,

Elizabeth (Donnelly) Garvey, bore him seven children: Mary,

Ellen, John, Daniel, Patrick H.,Thomas J., Michael.”

– The Encyclopedia of Biography

A sign attesting to my Tipperary roots. I wasdelighted by the many call-outs along theparade route from Irish America readers. IA

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Notre Dame is a wonderful placeto teach Irish-American history.The topic fascinates students,many of whom take great pride

in their Irish heritage. The place alsostands as a living monument to the rags-to-riches narrative that animates much ofIrish-American identity. For many Irish-Americans, the nickname “the FightingIrish” epitomizes the mythic story thatmany believe defines the group. Once aterm of derision, “fighting Irish” nowresonates as a point of pride.

Notre Dame also holds surprises.When I was preparing a lecture onEamon De Valera’s visit to the universityduring his 1919 American tour, I discov-ered that on the stop he viewed the CivilWar sword of Thomas Francis Meagher.Known as a leader of the failed YoungIrelander rising of 1848, Meagher cham-pioned a republican movement thatsought to free Ireland by any means nec-essary. For his efforts, “Meagher of theSword,” as he is remembered in Ireland,escaped the hangman’s noose only to beexiled in Van Diemen’s Land.Eventually, he was smuggled on board aship, reaching San Francisco to a tumul-tuous welcome, before making his wayto New York. Here, in the wake of BullRun, he would found the famous IrishBrigade.

Meagher saw no contradiction in fight-ing for the Stars and Stripes and fightingfor Ireland. He believed, as did famineimmigrants, that the cause of Americanfreedom was Ireland’s as well. Like theUnited Irish émigrés who flocked toAmerican cities in the 1790s, Meagherbelieved that the true republican was athome in both nations. After the war,General Meagher became first territorialgovernor of Montana, a place awash inIrish immigrants. Senator Thomas Walshof Montana presented the sword to theuniversity in 1914.

So when De Valera laid eyes on thatsword at Notre Dame a little more thanfifty years after Meagher had brandishedit in battle, he was gesturing toward whathe regarded as a vital relationshipbetween Irish and American freedom,

one that the American-born De Valeraepitomized. When he visited places likeNotre Dame, he was traveling asPresident of the Irish Republic fightingfor its freedom. But he was also journey-ing through his homeland – a differentcountry, to be sure, but one that Irishmenand women had fought for. In manyways, as he was touring the country toraise funds and the visibility of the Irishcause for independence, he came lookingfor America to repay a debt for freedomthat the United States owed to Ireland.Americans were happy to pay, none moreso than the jubilant students at NotreDame. So moved was he by his time atNotre Dame that De Valera considered itthe high point of his American tour.Although no one knows the exact originsof the nickname “the Fighting Irish” –

Above: General ThomasFrancis Meagher, who wasknown as “Meagher of theSword.”

Left: Bertie Ahern, on hisfarewell visit as Taoiseach in 2007, presents one ofMeagher’s swords to theCongressional “Friends ofIreland,” on Capitol Hill.Pictured are Senator EdwardKennedy and CongressmanRichie Neal.

Irish-American history is uncovered at Notre Dame BY PATRICK GRIFFIN

The Sword

FlagAND THE

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perhaps newspapermen coined the term,maybe anti-Catholic bigots, or studentsthemselves in reference to Meagher’smen and the Fighting 69th of World WarI – it is no mere coincidence that the termgained general currency in the 1919 foot-ball season in the wake of De Valera’svisit. He was, after all, the most celebrat-ed fighting Irishman in America at thetime.

I was astonished to learn that NotreDame owned the sword of “Meagher ofthe Sword.” But I could not find it.Eventually I did. It lay stored in a graybox on the sixth floor of the library’sarchives. Archivists were not to beblamed; rather, it seemed the signifi-cance of the sword had somehow gonemissing. Notre Dame, after all, was moreIrish-American – with an emphasis onAmerican – than Irish by the turn of thetwenty-first century. I found more. NotreDame also owned a flag of the famedIrish Brigade.

Like the sword, the flag was nowhereto be found. I later discovered that it hadbeen exhibited from time to time but washeld for the moment in an off-campusstorage facility. The flag, referred to asthe Second Irish Colors, was made byTiffany and Co. in 1862 and presented toMeagher by a group of merchants fromNew York. On it is emblazoned the nameof one of the regiments of the IrishBrigade: the New York 63rd. Along withthe famed 69th, which would gain furtherrenown in the First World War as “theFighting Irish,” the brigade comprisedNew York’s 88th, as well as regimentsfrom Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. Bythe time the Second Colors were commis-sioned, the first flag had been shreddedbut never surrendered in some of thebloodiest fighting of the Civil War. TheIrish Brigade had distinguished itself inthe Peninsula Campaign, and the greenflag came to be feared by rebels. In fact,after only a few months, Meagher’s menearned the reputation as the shock troopsof the Army of the Potomac, leadingAbraham Lincoln to visit Meagher’scamp and kiss the Second Colors.

The brigade went on to win fame – andcourt death – at Antietam and Fredericks-burg. Here, on one afternoon it lost almosttwo-thirds of its men. By the time thebrigade fought on the second day atGettysburg in the Wheatfield, it was a shellof itself.

The flag of the 63rd was to be used forceremonial purposes, such as when theremnants of the brigade marched in theGrand Review in Washington followingthe North’s victory in the war and in NewYork during St. Patrick’s Day.

Father William Corby, Holy Crosspriest, chaplain to the Irish Brigade, andeventually President of the University ofNotre Dame, secured the flag for the uni-versity. He hoped all the flags of thebrigade would find a home at NotreDame because of its connection to thebrigade, its central location, and its grow-ing stature within Irish America. DeValera also viewed this flag as he touredNotre Dame.

Like the sword, the flag also speaks to

the real and durable connections betweenIreland and America. In June 1963, whenJohn F. Kennedy made his triumphal tourof Ireland – where he was first welcomedby President De Valera – he formallyaddressed the Dail in Leinster House.Here, he presented the Irish Parliamentwith the Second Irish (Tiffany) colors ofthe Fighting 69th. An exact replica ofNotre Dame’s flag, the colors Kennedypresented adorn the walls of LeinsterHouse to this day. Kennedy gave the flagto the Irish in grateful recognition for allthey had done for the cause of Americanfreedom, a history that Kennedy was

eager to recount. He knew that one thirdof the Continental Army underWashington was Irish, leading a Britishcommander to lament “we have lostAmerica through the Irish.” Kennedy alsoknew of the exploits of the Irish Brigade.

In his address to the Dail, he regaledTDs with the role Meagher had played inAmerican history. He also talked of anideal of “freedom” that united Ireland,America, and the Western world.Visiting Ireland just after he made his tripto Berlin, where he famously announced“Ich bin ein Berliner,” Kennedy declaredthat the people behind the wall shouldremember the “Boys of Wexford,” whohad fought for freedom in 1798.

The bonds that both the flag and sword

represented were not lost on Kennedy.The great-grandson of eight famine immi-grants, Kennedy joked that if Ireland hadnot had to fight for its freedom, he – iflucky – might be sitting with his audiencein the Dail, and if De Valera had never leftNew York, he – not Kennedy – might beaddressing the Dail as president of theUnited States. Like De Valera had a gener-ation earlier, Kennedy had traveled theocean as a self-proclaimed apostle of liber-ty. The flag, then, suggested the continuingsignificance of the bonds between Irelandand America, nations that had helped eachother become free and that now, according

General Thomas Francis Meagher, known as Meagher of the Sword. He was a Fenian, ACivil War General and later, Governor of Montana.

{history}

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to Kennedy, faced a common Communistthreat.

The story does not end here. Last year,as the outgoing Taoiseach Bertie Ahernmade his farewell trip to Washington, hepresented the Congressional “Friends ofIreland” cohort with one of Meagher’sIrish swords. This sword belonged to thecity of Waterford, Meagher’s hometown.Ahern handed the sword first to SenatorTed Kennedy. In doing so he was recog-nizing the role Kennedy had played in thepeace process as well as Notre Dame’sFighting Irish history. Without Americansupport, Ahern argued, the Good FridayAgreement would have never come to be.Just as they had in the days of De Valera’strip, Americans had once more come tothe aid of the Irish. But Ahern also point-ed to the past when Ted’s brother had pre-sented the Irish with one of his nation’streasures.

Ahern saw the presentation as closing anhistorical circle. An American flag decorat-ed with Irish symbols would hang inIreland’s Leinster House. And an Irishsword with American echoes would gracethe halls of the American capitol. Ahern’sgift restored balance to the past, ending achapter. His gesture, of course, says a greatdeal more. It also speaks to the continuingand evolving significance of Ireland in theAmerican story and of America in the Irishstory, a transatlantic experience defined bythe gift-giving of presidents and taoiseachs,the sacrifices of ordinary men and women,and the viability of Irish-American historyat places like Notre Dame.

56 IRISH AMERICA AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2008

Waterford City Council Councillors with thebronze bust of Meagher at the WaterfordMuseum of Treasures. Below: Eamon deValera on a visit to Notre Dame in 1919.

Civil War General Thomas Francis Meagher, Irish nationalist, lawyer, and recruiter

of Irish immigrants whose fiery public speeches earned him the title “Meagher

of the Sword,” recently returned to his birthplace of Waterford City, Ireland in

the form of a bronze bas-relief bust, donated by the Hibernians in the U.S. and installed

on the exterior wall of the famous Waterford Museum of Treasures on Merchants Quay.

General Meagher was born in Waterford in 1823 and joined the Young Ireland

Movement, which was dedicated to securing Irish independence by armed insurrection.As

a result of his involvement in the 1848 rebellion, Meagher and other rebel leaders were

sentenced to death, but Queen Victoria commuted the sentences to life in exile in the

Australian penal colony in Tasmania. In 1855, after a daring escape, Meagher traveled to

New York City and enjoyed a hero’s welcome.There he became a lawyer and a popular

public speaker and established newspapers for the Irish immigrant community.

At the start of the Civil War, Meagher recruited Irish immigrants for New York’s

Fighting 69th, the nucleus of the Irish Brigade, and was made a general by President

Lincoln. In September 1862, Meagher was leading a fierce charge against Confederate

forces in the Battle of Antietam at Bloody Lane when his horse was shot from beneath

him. Three months later, he was wounded in the Battle of Fredericksburg. The Irish

Brigade was largely decimated, but Meagher survived the war.

When the Civil War ended, President Andrew Johnson sent Meagher to serve as the

acting Governor of Montana Territory. In the summer of 1867, at age 44,Governor Thomas

Meagher fell from a riverboat and drowned in the Missouri river.His body was never found.

Many claim he was murdered due to his outspoken tendencies, either by Montana political

enemies, a Confederate soldier from the war, or Native Americans.

In 1997, the Irish Cultural Society erected the Civil War Irish Brigade Monument at

Antietam National Battlefield. Waterford City

officials asked the Society to make a replica of

the monument’s bust, featuring General

Meagher, to remain in Waterford. Sculptor Ron

Tunison created a bronze duplicate of the bas-

relief bust from the original mold of the

Antietam monument, shipped by Air Lingus to

Ireland and installed at the Waterford Museum

of Treasures.

Jack O’Brien, president of the Irish Cultural

Society and Historian for the Ancient Order of

Hibernians in Washington, D.C., explained that

the bust “will be the beginning point of the

Meagher Trail, which will take visitors to vari-

ous places in Waterford City associated with

the life of this Irish patriot and American hero.” The trail will pass Meagher’s birthplace,

the house where he was arrested by the British in July 1848, and the Wolf Tone Club

where he flew the Irish tricolor flag for the first time after returning home with it from

France where he had served as a delegate for the Young Irelanders. The tricolor was

adopted as Ireland’s national flag upon independence in 1921.

“Everyone who has seen the bust has been absolutely amazed at how impressive a

piece of sculpture it is,” wrote Museum Director Eamonn McEneaney. “It is a real work

of art and will be a most handsome addition to his native city that he loved so well.”

Down the street, a new equestrian statue of Thomas Francis Meagher proudly stands in

tribute to this noble Irish and American patriot, revolutionary, orator, journalist, general,

and politician, a proud son of Ireland. A formal dedication ceremony of the Waterford

monument will be held in 2010. Meanwhile, as we went to press, we received news that

on June 28, another original bronze monument to Meagher by artist Ron Herron will be

unveiled and dedicated by the Helena Hibernians in Fort Benton, Montana, where

Meagher served as governor and later boarded the riverboat on which he died. – K.R.

General MeagherReturns Home

IA

SOURCES FOR THIS ESSAY: PETER LYSY, BLUE FOR THE UNION AND GREEN FOR IRELAND (SOUTH BEND, IN, 2001); MURRAY SPERBER,SHAKE DOWN THE THUNDER:THE CREATION OF NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL (BLOOMINGTON, IN, 2002); DAVE HANNIGAN, DEVALERA INAMERICA:THE REBEL PRESIDENT'S 1919 CAMPAIGN (OXFORD, 2000); DAVID CALLAGHAN,THOMAS FRANCIS MEAGHER AND THE IRISHBRIGADE (LONDON, 2006);AND MAURICE HENNESSY, I'LL COME BACK IN THE SPRINGTIME: JOHN F. KENNEDY AND THE IRISH (LONDON,1967). ON BERTIE AHERN'S VISIT, SEE IRISH INDEPENDENT, 4 MAY 2008.

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ESY

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ith the recent publication of the first vol-ume of Beckett’s letters I started to recallthe last time I met Beckett in Paris in 1988.We first met in April, 1985. It had beenthree years since our meeting at the café inthe Hotel PLM. At noon. Noon being the

time he had suggested. The suggested hour. At the time, therewas the usual feeling one gets upon meeting one’s hero. Of sorts.Heroes coming in all sorts of sizes. Genres. Modes of discourse.Our first meeting was all that I hadn’t expected it to be: chatty,informal, with an air of melodious, yet melancholy, music to it.Yet, in its own way, it was sacrosanct. And so I looked forwardto our next meeting, our last meeting. At the café of his choice,the PLM; at the time of his choice, noon.

I had primed myself by seeing En Attendant Godot severalnights earlier in case one needed priming for such a meetingsince my anxieties were much less pronounced than they werethree years earlier. By now we had corresponded, almost calledeach other by first names, knew where each other lived. He hadeven consented to reading some blather I had written eventhough he couldn’t read much by then. Blather is all it was.Can’t remember what I had sent him.

I was early. Always early. One waits for Beckett, if onerespects time. If one respects Beckett. It is also a kindnessafforded to greatness. My time seemed expendable. I started tosmooth my hair, tapped my fingers on the marble table, wouldhave smoked had I allowed myself to do it. In between stillanother hair stroke, still another tapping finger, I saw him walkin and begin to look around. Gone were the grey greatcoat andthe blue sweater now replaced with a knee-length, navy bluecoat and an orange stocking cap. Tennies.

I walked across the room and tapped his shoulder.“Mr. Beckett.”“Mr. Axelrod,” he said as he turned.

Beckett had chosen a booth, in a corner of thecafé, away from the window, beneath a coat rack.He removed a small, yellow cigar box and placedit on the table. Weathered hands, bent from thefabric of so many rigid pens. What I noticed thistime that I hadn’t noticed three years earlier werethe lines in his face. The creases, deep, curvilin-ear, like furrows that had swallowed certainsecrets and kept them irretrievably harbored.

“The weather’s been so bad,” I said, “How do

you manage? Morocco?”A place he said he visited, at times, when Paris got too cold.“My cottage,” he said, some miles outside Paris. In what direc-

tion he didn’t say. A reclusive habitat, no doubt. Doubt neededfor reclusion. We ordered coffees: a café noir for him, a cafécrème for me. He seemed much thinner to me. Not a sickly thin,but an aged one, one that seemed to brook the onset of deliques-cence. Deathlike, it seemed to me. I quickly discounted the idea.

“How’s the writing going?” I asked. A legitimate question ofone writer to another regardless of the legitimate disparity in ourtalents.

Not well, he said, as he fiddled with his cigars.“Writer’s block,” I said as a jest to me, to him, but he answered

that it had never lasted so long. Then he looked at me with asmile that masqueraded nothing. A realization that the Muse wasfinally eluding him and he said, all things come to an end. AndI realized that anything I said or did after that comment wouldnever alter the fabric of that day, nor my life, nor his, nor anyother life that had been or is or will be touched by his prose, bythe supple salience of his prose which breathes across the page.I had often thought of myself as fairly facile in conversation.Able to pick up and move in any direction. But I suddenly foundmyself unable to think of anything to say that would liquidate thevacuum of the moment. Fortunately, the coffees came. A caf-feinated respite.

I remembered reading, that morning, on the Metro, an articlein the now defunct Paris magazine, Passion, titled “Les l00 PoidsLourds Des Lettres” with a picture of a certain Regine Deforges,a writer unknown to me, on the cover. The blurb beneath the titleread ““Un hit-parade des l00 personnes-editeurs, écrivains,et...poètes-qui constituent le Tout-Paris des lettres.” The articlecertainly piqued my interest since I wondered in what categorythey had ensconced Beckett since such natives as Michel Butorand Maurice Blanchot and Claude Simon and Nathalie Sarrautewere included as were exiles such as Milan Kundera. But thoughI looked and looked and looked again, Beckett was missing.Some poseurs were there, yes; some Beckett, was not. And so Isaid to him, ‘You’ve been living in Paris for all these many years

and yet they haven’t included you among their‘dinosaures des lettres Francaises.’ You live inFrance, you speak and write in French, yet they did-n’t include you. Why do you think they did that?”

At first he looked puzzled by the exclusion, butthen, with another smile, merely said, it’s okay, I for-give them. Maybe it was because he still thought ofhimself as Irish even after living fifty years in Franceor maybe it was because the redacteur en chef hadn’tedited the copy or perhaps the staff had thought himdead. At any rate, I didn’t forgive them.

“But when were you last in Ireland?” I asked.

Mark Axelrod recalls a poignant final lunch with

Samuel Beckett.

The End of It, the End:A Last Meeting with Beckett

W

Mark Axelrod

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Sixty-eight, he said, for a funeral. And then in a transitionthat wouldn’t have been a stain upon his craft, he said his moth-er was dead, and his brother was dead, and Blin was dead andso was Jack Yeats. And one could see the furrowed frown in hisforehead as he held his hand to his head, thinking, perhapsrepeating thoughts, or losing them, within the confines of time,time in the Vaucluse, Rousillon, with his wife, with others, timewith Watt. The furrowed frown. Through some set of verbalperambulations he came to talk of his early work, how he could-n’t make it as a teacher since he felt he knew no more than hisstudents. A last ditch writer, he called himself. No one took hiswork, no one looked at it. No one till Lindon, till JerômeLindon took his work. Without reservations. How fortunate hewas, he said, to have found him, and how lucky he was to havefound Roger Blin. And John Calder. How lucky I was, herepeated. How lucky he was. How lucky they were I thought,but he would have never said that. Never.

It’s somewhat difficult to reconstruct the scene, seen so manyyears ago now, two decades on, now after his centenary. I tendto think of how that meeting ended. Of what things I took awaywith me the last time I met Beckett. And I vividly remembertwo moments: first was his response to my simple-minded ques-tion: “What are you planning to write next?” acknowledgedwith the sublimely succinct answer, “All things come to anend.” With that statement there was nothing more to be said,nothing less. No symbols where none intended. It was over.One needed no redacteur to understand that, and yet hearing thewords come from him rendered me depressed and sullen, ren-

dered the day depressed and sullen. At the end of thatchat, I suggested that, perhaps, he needed to go, toleave, to do whatever he needed to do since I didn’twant to take up any more of his time. He nodded,picked up his glasses, paid for the coffees and we bothheaded for the door.

The other moment was more sanguine. I recalledfrom our first meeting that he smoked Dutch cigars.Small ones. Small ones that came in a yellow card-board box the brand of which escapes me. Hollandstokjes or something of the sort. The ones he placed onthe table when he arrived. As it was nearing his birth-day, I had bought several boxes of those cigars to giveto him as a present, as a gift and before he walked outof the café I told him I had something for him. Iremoved the crudely wrapped cigars from my leatherbag, crudely wrapped as only I could crudely wrapthem and handed the cigars to Beckett. He unwrappedthe paper and when he saw they were the same cigarshe smoked he looked at me with a look that was bothperplexing and grateful, a look that would have sug-gested that what I had given him was a gift beyond all

measure, a gift that was speechlessly invaluable. He asked mehow I knew; I said I merely remembered.

And so they stayed a little while, Mr. Beckett and Mr. Axelrodlooking at each other with Mr. Beckett’s hand on Mr. Axelrod’sshoulder, looking straight before him, at nothing in particular,and then Mr. Beckett thanked Mr. Axelrod, stuffed the boxes inhis coat, bid Mr. Axelrod a safe trip home, shook his hand andleft. A left turn, a right turn and he was gone though the sky,falling to the buildings, and the buildings falling to the river,made as pretty a picture, in the afternoon light, as a man couldhope to meet with, on a waning day in April.

But the day wasn’t over for me. What I could not fathom wasthe line “All things come to an end.” Depressed and sullen dis-course. One fathoms such a line from a dictionary of well-wornphrases perhaps, but not in the context of someone of Beckett’sliterary station.

I recall I left the café, ambled, turning down aleatory alleysuntil I eventually found myself walking along the Seine, some-where along the Seine, perhaps near the Hotel Lauzun, perhapsnot, it didn’t really matter, repeating the line, the same line hespoke not that long ago, “All things come to an end.” The windpicked up. I couldn’t light my Dutch cigars. “No symbolswhere none intended.” How prescient he was. Fewer than twoyears later he was gone.

Mark Axelrod is a professor and former Chair of English and Comparative Literature at Chapman University,

California. He is a multiple award winner for his work.

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In April, The Letters of SamuelBeckett: 1929-1940, the first of apromised three volumes of person-al writings from the literary giant

was published. It includes a wide col-lection from Beckett’s letters whichtrace his development as a writer, ulti-mately leading to his leadership in themodernist and later postmodernistmovements. In this work the writer isdiscovered to not only live up to hiswitty and irreverent reputation but alsoreveals his somewhat obliging air.

Through the trials of post-World War IEurope and the imminent Nazi invasion,Beckett’s writings from Paris explorethe mindset of a man unafraid of doomsof the modern world.

Beckett’s letters will delight fanseager for more of his unbridled opinionson a broad range of topics. He is unfor-giving in his criticism of established

writers, calling T.S. Eliota “nice man” and a “badpoet.” The letters leavereaders with a securesense of Beckett’s voiceand an enlightened lookinto his process anddevelopment as a writer.

Joseph O’Neill,author of Netherland who recentlyreviewed the book for The New YorkTimes, valued the complexity these let-ters lent to the character of Beckett. “He

alternates between self-laceration andcockiness. He is profoundly alienated,not least because he inhabits a world ofrejection slips, indefinite longings,extreme aesthetic sensitivity and (in thewords of a friend) ‘passionatenihilism.’”

Filled with historical notes andchronological clarifications, the volume

is packed with additional informationprovided by editors Martha DowFehsenfeld and Lois More Overbeck.

The letters are presented withcontextual notes withdetailed introductions andexplanations which grantreaders further insight intothe playwright and novelist.

O’Neil concluded in hisreview, “The knowledge ofwhat lay ahead for Beckett— the writing of the playsand the great prose fiction —makes one very impatient forthe further volumes of letters,almost as if Beckett were inactual correspondence with

oneself.”In a lovely coincidence, Beckett is

being remembered on Broadway with arevival of Waiting for Godot by theRoundabout Theater Company atStudio 54 in New York. The productionattracted heavy-hitters of the actingworld Nathan Lane, John Glover, BillIrwin and John Goodman.

It has been over 50 years since theplay premiered in New York to con-fused audiences and disappointingreviews. The play had previously strug-gled to find a place in London aftergrappling with censorship.

Beckett told Peter Woodthorpe in1994 of Godot, “My play wasn’t writtenfor this box. My play was written forsmall men locked in a big space. Hereyou’re all too big for the place.”

Waiting for Godot only lasted 59 per-formances during its first run 53 yearsago in New York. It was revived the fol-lowing year for less than a week. Yet, ithas survived the test of time in the liter-ary world and is enthralling audiences onBroadway today. Directed by AnthonyPage, the play will run through July 5.

These two revivals of the voice ofBeckett coinciding with one another areserendipitous for followers of the writer.Each grant readers and theatergoers withan even more detailed glance into theBeckett who was born in Foxrock,Dublin, traveled the world, and settled inParis, where his voice would transformmodernist literature.

Reviving BeckettAs the end of this year will bring the 20th anniversaryof Samuel Beckett’s death, the literary and theaterworld has come together to pay homage tothe late writer, making 2009 a year of remembrance for the author. By Tara Dougherty

Bill Irwin, JohnGoodman andNathan Lane,

and John Glover(far left) inWaiting for

Godot.

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Expensively dressed, impeccably man-nered and gifted with a voice so beguil-ing his contemporaries marveled athim, Oscar (Fingal O’Flaherty Wills)Wilde was also one of the wittiest menof his age. Even today, just to hear hisname is to anticipate delight. That’s

why his cult, which began in his own lifetime, showsno signs of ever diminishing.

This month, in an exhibition that seems calculated toattract every Oscar Wilde enthusiast in America, theMorgan Library and Museum in Manhattan will exhib-it a selection of the Irish writer’s most important man-uscripts and letters. But this isn’t just another stuffymuseum piece featuring a more than usually com-pelling Irish writer. This time the Morgan can boast ofa dramatic first: the whereabouts of this beautifullybound collection was unknown to scholars for over halfa century.

Bequeathed to the library in December 2008, the cur-rent collection comprises nine manuscripts of Wilde’spoems and prose pieces and featuring four importantletters that illuminate the life and work of the dramatist,aesthete, wit, and self-proclaimed “lord of language,”making the exhibition one of the most important illus-trations of the breath and scope of Wilde’s artisticachievements to be seen in America this decade.

The Morgan Library, one of the most beautiful privatelibraries in the world, is the perfect venue to appreciate Wilde’sart and life. Totaling at just over fifty handwritten pages, theexpertly crafted red-leather-bound volume of some of Wilde’smost important manuscripts and letters went on public exhibi-tion on April 17, 2009 and can be seen until to August 9, 2009,as part of the Morgan’s exhibition Recent Acquisitions, whichwill highlight important additions to the institution’s holdings inthe last five years.

Why does Wilde still matter? Because the sheer force ofWilde’s all-electric personality jolted Victorian society out of itscomplacency, a remarkable achievement, and each time theythought they had the measure of him he increased the voltage.Wilde was a depth charge, a modernist dressed like a romanticin a faux romantic age. The Morgan’s exhibition will demon-

strate that there’s much more to Wilde’s legacy than fancy knee-britches and verbal pyrotechnics.

Of special note in the new exhibition is the earliest survivingletter from Wilde to his aristocratic lover Lord Alfred Douglas,known as “Bosie.” Written in Wilde’s distinctive rounded letter-ing, it shows how smitten he really was with the whey-faced,flaxen haired youth. “I should awfully like to go with you some-where where it is hot and colored,” Wilde writes, in a blatantattempt to arouse Douglas, but for a modern reader it producesa burst of knowing laughter. The overheated prose demonstratesWilde’s growing obsession; it is also a kind of unknowing dressrehearsal for what was to follow - Wilde set out to conquer butwas himself harpooned.

It’s harder from our own standpoint in time to remember this,but Wilde’s improbable affair with the English upper crust wasonce thoroughly requited. Physically exotic to look at (one

Wilde on ShowAn exhibition at theMorgan Library

attracts Oscar Wildeenthusiasts.

By Cahir O’Doherty

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observer once compared him an Aztec), hail-ing from an unfashionable colonial backwaterand yet somehow a better speaker than all ofhis contemporaries, Wilde had an emigrant’sskill of beating the locals at their own game. Anoutsider who became the ultimate insider, hedined with royalty and male prostitutes in thesame evening, until Victorian society asked himto choose, and when he refused to, they pounced.

But Wilde was modern in a way that Londonsociety had never seen. He made the Prince ofWales laugh, he delighted rent boys; he knewevery palace and quite a few of the back alleys ofVictorian London and he saw no distinctionbetween them. “It is absurd to divide people intogood and bad,” he once wrote. “People are either charming ortedious.” That was precisely the sort of crack calculated toenrage the moral scolds who had disapproved of him going allthe way back to his college days in Oxford. But it also betrayedWilde’s democratic spirit, because for all his social climbing, hewas never a snob.

In a marvelous letter on display in the current exhibitionWilde writes to one admiring reader, a Mr. Bernulf Clegg, whohas asked him to outline his philosophy of art. Wilde’s answeris so indulgent and delightful you can almost hear him respond-ing in his own voice:

“My Dear Sir, art is useless because its aim is only to create amood. It is not meant to instruct or to influence action in any way.A work of art is useless as a flower is useless. A flower bloomsfor its own joy. We gain a moment of joy by looking at it. That isall that there is to be said about our relation to flowers.”

Like James Joyce, who understood Wilde’s challenge to hiscontemporaries much better than most, Wilde held his own(brightly polished) mirror up to the cruelty lurking behind thethrone of the British Empire, frequently enraging the people hemost wanted to court. And the greatest tragedy of his all tooshort life is that Wilde was not given time to reconcile his ownwarring impulses in his art.

For proof of his conflicted attitude toward the Victorians youjust have to look at the larger-than-life names he gave most ofhis characters: Algernon Moncrieff,Gwendolyn Fairfax, Miss Laetitia Prism,Lady Augusta Bracknell, Lord HenryWotton, Basil Hallward, Dorian Gray. Thisis the writer-as-costume-maker, becausefor Wilde the lords and ladies of Englishsociety were as unreal and exotic as thecaliphs of Baghdad. His gently mockingstage names are part of a consistent patternin his art, a satirical undermusic, a Celticnote that is rarely remarked upon, becauselike so many of his best jokes they onlyregister with those who can actually hearthem.

All his life Wilde’s suspicion of authori-ty, and his half playful half serious desireto unmask hypocrisy, particularly when itcame wrapped in the garb of English impe-rialism, keeps breaking out, even when he

knows it would be wiser to saynothing. It’s a distinctly Irish reflex,

that satirical feint and jab, and Wilde couldn’thelp himself; his own divided nature was overwhelming, hegenuinely wanted to trounce the thing he loved.

As he had already powerfully demonstrated in plays like AWoman of No Importance and the poem The Ballad of ReadingGaol, the man who achieved lasting fame as a sort of high browhumorist was also was on his way to becoming a tragedian ofreal stature, but his trailblazing path was cut short when EdwardCarson’s shadow fell across it.

There’s a terrible clanging irony in the fact that it was EdwardCarson, of all people, who sealed Wilde’s fate. At TrinityCollege Dublin, where they were exact contemporaries, Carsonwas continually runner up to Wilde’s first prize in every aca-demic contest the two entered. Wilde was the son of the fieryIrish nationalist poet Speranza (Lady Jane Wilde). Carson wasraised in a staunch Presbyterian home and would later sign thefamous so-called blood covenant that would divide Ireland as itmoved toward Home Rule. Wilde was an artistic genius, Carsonwas a shrewd prosecutor.

Wilde died penniless and alone in a third rate Paris hotel in1900, and in May of that same year Carson was appointedSolicitor-General for England and received a knighthood.England has always rewarded its gate keepers: Carson is one ofthe few non-royals to have been given a state funeral by theUnited Kingdom, the funeral taking place at St. Anne’sCathedral in Belfast in 1935.

In America, where another version of the same Puritan legacythat Wilde pushed back against in his art andlife still rules, he has been continually mis-prized by writers and academics who shouldknow better. But to this day there many herewho are still tempted to see his reputation asa wit as a sort of proof of his light weightachievements. That’s why Declan Kiely, thecurator of the current exhibition at theMorgan, and an Irish Studies scholar, shouldbe thanked for his sensitivity and insight inprogramming this unmissable show. Thebusiness of rescuing Wilde from the shortsighted and clumsy hands he fell into(including Bosie’s, who destroyed most ofhis letters) is still ongoing.

The Morgan Library and Museumis located at 225 Madison Avenue

in New York City.

Wilde’s original love letters to his aristocratic lover Lord AlfredDouglas, known as “Bosie.”

Sir EdwardCarson

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{spotlight}

The Eclipse, a new film basedon a creative collaborationbetween Irish playwrightsBilly Roche and ConorMcPherson, had its premiere

at the Tribeca Film Festival in April.McPherson, 39, adapted the screenplayfrom a short story originally written byRoche, adding his own trade-mark supernatural elements andalso directing the finished script.

The resulting film is a singu-lar work. Among its consider-able strengths are its intimatesense of place (the film is set ata literary festival in Cobh,County Cork) and the luminouscamera work, which evokes theverdant beauty of the Irish land-scape in frame after frame.

But there are other aspects ofthe film that, it has to be said,startled the premiere audience.It’s unusual for a film thatexplores how the shadow ofgrief can haunt a family, to havea hissing black-eyed corpse turnup out of nowhere to attack theprotagonist. These unexpectedand increasingly disturbing hor-ror scenes had the audiencejumping out of their seats, thengiggling nervously, then won-dering if that was the point.

McPherson’s previous ven-tures into filmmaking – a formathe obviously loves – have not met withuniversal acclaim, and indeed the processof getting them made led him to wonderif they were ultimately worth the effort.Particularly when you contrast their coolreception with the plaudits he regularlywins on Broadway.

“Because of my previous experiences I

wasn o tsureif I would ever make another film, to behonest,” he recently told Irish America.“So I took a long time to decide what oneI wanted to do. I decided if I were evergoing to, it would be something I put my

soul into and could absolutely stand over.That’s really where I am now with TheEclipse.”

The Eclipse was a labor of love for allinvolved, he says. With a paltry two mil-lion euros budget, which in film fundingis less than nothing, and with its top-flight Irish cast (including Ciaran Hinds,

Jim Norton and Aidan Quinn) participat-ing for very little, it still took McPhersonand Roche five years to get from the firstdraft to the shooting stage.

“The reason it took so long was becausefirst of all we were filming inIreland, and that’s just not thatinteresting to the big moneypeople in London andHollywood. They want to knowwho’s starring in it, and so ifyou’re not really part of thatcommercial world and youdon’t want to be, it can gettricky. But the great advantagefor me, because we were com-pletely under the radar, was thatwe had total freedom.”

McPherson’s last foray intofilmmaking was what he calls“a sort of Hollywood experi-ence.” The 2003 film TheActors, starring Michael Caine,“got developed throughDreamWorks and then endedup at Miramax and it took anawful lot of time to get throughthe people who have to beresponsible because they’repaying for it. I realized that’snot the way I work best. I’mnot great at the big committeemeetings. You can very easily

get knocked off course.”The immediacy of playwriting had

spoiled McPherson. He had no patiencefor the nonstop distractions that accom-pany trying to get a new script financedand filmed. “Plays are very much awriter’s medium and if you’re a goodwriter you can get your play on and it will

A new film by two Irish playwrights is the hit of the Tribeca Film Festival.

Cahir O’Doherty reports.

Laughter,Tears and Unexpected

Screams

ConorMcPherson,playwright,sceenwriter,and director,whose film The Eclipsewas the hit of Tribeca.

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happen. It’s not such a huge financial bigdeal trying to get the money to do it.When I first started doing plays we start-ed performing them in rooms over pubs,you know? I always had that very kind ofcan-do attitude, you know? So what if theAbbey Theatre doesn’t want to do myplay, we’ll do my play, you know? Thatwas always the way it was.”

Although the plot of The Eclipse wasconceived by Roche, the supernatural ele-ments that give the new film its occasion-ally eerie atmosphere were introduced byMcPherson. Based in and around an Irishliterary festival, the film follows Michael(Ciaran Hinds), a widowed teacher whoworks as a volunteer. To his surprise hefinds himself becoming increasinglyobsessed with a woman writer participat-ing in the festival.

Says McPherson: “I introduced asupernatural element into TheEclipse because that’s where I felt Iwould comfortably know where theheart of the film was. In a way it wasa mixture of our two writing worldscolliding in a nice way.”

The final edit of the film was com-pleted just in time for the debutscreening at Tribeca, as the anxiousplaywright and director told the festi-val audience before it unspooled. ButMcPherson needn’t have worried, themajority of the audience memberswere already familiar with his stagework and The Eclipse was one of the

most anticipated new films at the festival.Featuring a sad-eyed and deeply affect-

ing central performance from CiaranHinds (which confirms he’s one the mostintuitive and gifted Irish actors of his gen-eration), McPherson’s story takes its timeto unravel, and for once that’s one of thefilm’s greatest strengths. Atmosphere andfinely observed character details create asurprising degree of reality, helping us toroot for Hinds’ character, a recently wid-owed father of two.

The tenderness with which McPhersonaddresses issues of parental love, inex-pressible grief, and the fledgling hopethat life could one day get better again areso remarkable that when the supernaturalelements are introduced they become sojarring that you’re left reeling.

It’s as if a very highbrow version ofTerms of Endearment had been acciden-

tally cross edited with scenes from Nightof the Living Dead, with all the laughsand cathartic screams that implies. Forexample, we see very little of JimNorton’s character for most of the film(the man who later becomes a terrifyingzombie) except to learn that he lives in arest home and that he’s aggrieved thatCiaran Hinds’s character has forgotten tobring him to the literary festival to hear areading. So when Norton returns as aparticularly terrifying undead ghoul,we’re left wondering why he’s scaringthe wits out of Hinds (and of course, us).Ghostly hands reach out of wardrobesand even from the ground to hold andhorrify. But all the while we’re wonder-ing why, and no satisfactory answer isever forthcoming.

It’s hard, in the end, to classify whichgenre The Eclipse actually falls into. It’s

been described as a supernaturalthriller, but it’s not really suspense-ful; nor is it a comedy, nor is it a lovestory, exactly, nor is it a horror film– but it does have elements of each.For those reasons it may be a toughsell to the American public, but dis-tributors at the festival were jostlingto land the rights to release the filmlater this year, and you have toadmire the tenacity with whichMcPherson holds on to his ownartistic vision. IAWidower Michael Farr (Hinds), who, in an effort to

find solace over the death of his wife, befriends LenaMorelle (Hjejle), a writer who specializes in the supernatural, during a literary festival.

Iben Hjejle and Ciaran Hinds in a scenefrom The Eclipse.

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On weekend mornings westrolled with our mother,ankle-deep in the low tideand looked back to see therow of houses, the tower

and the little scarves of smoke coming upfrom the chimneys. Two enormous redand white power station chimneys brokethe horizon to the east, but the rest was agentle curve, with gulls on the air, themailboats out of Dun Laoghaire, the scudof clouds on the horizon. When the tidewas out, the stretch of sand was corrugat-ed and sometimes it was possible to walka quarter-mile amongst isolated water-pools and bits of old refuse, long shavershells, bedstead pipes.

Dublin Bay was a slow heaving thing,

like the city it horseshoed, but it couldturn without warning. Every now andthen the water smashed up against thewall in a storm. The sea, having arrived,stayed. Salt crusted the windows of ourhouse. The knocker on the door was rust-ed red.

When the weather blew foul, we sat onthe stairs, Corrigan and I. Our father, aphysicist, had left us years before. Acheque, postmarked in London, arrivedthrough the letterbox once a week. Nevera note, just a cheque drawn on a bank inOxford. It spun in the air as it fell. Weran to bring it to our mother. She slippedthe envelope under a flowerpot on thekitchen windowsill and the next day itwas gone. Nothing more was ever said.

The only other sign of our father was awardrobe full of his old suits and trousersin our mother’s bedroom. Corrigan drewthe door open. In the darkness we sat

with our backs against the rough woodenpanels and slipped our feet in our father’sshoes, let his sleeves touch our ears, feltthe cold of his cuff buttons. Our motherfound us one afternoon, dressed in hisgrey suits, the sleeves rolled up and thetrousers held in place with elastic bands.We were marching around in the over-size brogues when she came and froze inthe doorway, the room so quiet we couldhear the radiator tick.

“Well,” she said, as she knelt to theground in front of us. Her face spread outin a grin that seemed to pain her. “Comehere.” She kissed us both on the cheek,tapped our bottoms. “Now run along.”We slipped out of our father’s old clothes,left them puddled on the floor.

Later that night we heard the clang ofthe coat hangers as she hung and re-hungthe suits.

Over the years there were the usualtantrums and bloody noses and brokenrocking horse heads, and our mother hadto deal with the whispers of the neigh-bours, sometimes even the attentions oflocal widowers, but for the most partthings stretched comfortably in front ofus: calm, open, a sweep of sandy grey.

Corrigan and I shared a bedroom that

Let the World Spin

Colum McCann’s new book Let the Great World Spin(Random House; publication date: June 30, 2009) weaves anarray of stories and voices bound together by a tightropewalker, inspired by Phillippe Petit’s real-life tightrope walkbetween the Twin Towers in 1974.The following excerptexplores the early life of two brothers in Dublin.

Let the World Spin

Photo above: Sandymount Strand, DunLaoghaire, Co. Dublin in the 1950s.Right: Colum McCann and his newbook.

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looked out to the water. Quietly it hap-pened, I still don’t recall how: he, theyounger one by two years, took control ofthe top bunk. He slept on his stomachwith a view out the window to the dark,reciting his prayers – he called them hisslumber verses – in quick sharp rhythms.They were his own incantations, mostlyindecipherable to me, with odd littlecackles of laughter and longsighs. The closer he got to sleepthe more rhythmic the prayersgot, a sort of jazz, though some-times in the middle of it all Icould hear him curse, and they’dbe lifted away from the sacred. Iknew the Catholic hit parade –the Our Father, the Hail Mary —but that was all. I was a raw,quiet child, and God was alreadya bore to me. I kicked the bottomof Corrigan’s bed and he fellsilent a while, but then started upagain. Sometimes I woke in themorning and he was alongsideme, arm draped over my shoulder, hischest rising and falling as he whisperedhis prayers.

I’d turn to him: “Ah Jesus, Corr, shutup.”

My brother was light-skinned, dark-haired, blue-eyed. He was the type ofchild everyone smiled at. He could lookat you and draw you out. People fell forhim. On the street, women ruffled hishair. Working men punched him gentlyon the shoulder. He had no idea that hispresence sustained people, made themhappy, drew out their improbable yearn-ings – he just ploughed along, oblivious.

I woke one night, when I was eleven, toa cold blast of air moving over me. Istumbled to the window but it was closed.I reached for the light and the roomburned quickly yellow. A shape was bentover in the middle of the room.

“Corr?” The weather still rolled off his body.

His cheeks were red. A little damp mistlay on his hair. He smelled of cigarettes.He put a finger to his lips for hush andclimbed back up the wooden ladder.

“Go to sleep,” he whispered fromabove. The smell of tobacco still lingeredin the air.

In the morning he jumped down fromthe bed, wearing his heavy anorak overhis pajamas. Shivering, he opened the

window and tapped the sand from hisshoes off the sill, into the garden below.

“Where’d you go?” “Just along by the water,” he said. “Were you smoking?” He looked away, rubbed his arms

warm: “No.” “You’re not supposed to smoke,

y’know.”

“I didn’t smoke,” hesaid.

Later that morning ourmother walked us toschool, our leathersatchels slung over ourshoulders. An icy breezecut along the streets.Down by the schoolgates she went to oneknee, put her armsaround us, adjustedour scarves and kissedus, one after the other.When she stood toleave, her gaze was caught by some-thing on the other side of the road, by therailings of the church: a dark formwrapped in a large red blanket. The manraised a hand in salute. Corrigan wavedback. There were plenty of old drunks inaround Ringsend, but my mother seemedtaken by the sight and for a moment itstruck me that there might be some secretthere.

“Who’s that, Mum?” I asked. “Run along,” she said. “We’ll sort it

out after school.” My brother walked beside me, silent. “Who is it, Corrie?” I thumped him:

“Who is it?” He disappeared towards his classroom. All day I sat at my wooden desk, gnaw-

ing my pencil, wondering — visions of aforgotten uncle, or our father somehowreturned but broken. Nothing, in thosedays, was beyond the realm of the possi-ble. The clock was at the rear of the roombut there was an old freckled mirror overthe classroom sink and, at the right angle,I could watch the hands go backwards.When the bell struck I was out the gate,

but Corrigan took the long roadback, short mincing steps throughthe housing estates, past the palmtrees, along the seawall.

There was a soft brown paperpackage waiting for Corrigan onthe top bunk. I shoved it at him.He shrugged and ran his fingeralong the twine, pulled it tenta-tively. Inside was another blanket,a soft blue Foxford. He unfoldedit, let it fall lengthways, looked upat our mother and nodded.

She touched hisface with the back ofher fingers and said:“Never again, under-stand?”

Nothing else wasmentioned, until twoyears later he gave thatblanket away too, toanother homelessdrunk, on another freez-ing night, up by the canalon one of his late-nightwalks when he tiptoeddown the stairs and wentout into the dark. It was asimple equation to him –others needed the blanketsmore than he, and he was

prepared to take the punishment if it camehis way. It was my earliest lesson of whatmy brother would become, and what I’dlater see amongst the cast-offs of NewYork – the whores, the hustlers, the hope-less – all of those who were hanging onto him like he was some bright hallelujahin the shitbox of what the world reallywas.

Colum McCann is the bestselling author of the novels Zoli, Dancer, This Side ofBrightness, and Songdogs, as well as two critically acclaimed short story

collections. A contributor to The NewYorker, The New York Times Magazine,The Atlantic Monthly, GQ, and The Paris

Review, he lives in New York City.

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hristopher Kennedy Lawfordreally did not want to writethis book. Moments ofClarity, unlike Lawford’s2005 memoir Symptoms ofWithdrawal, is not his own

story but rather an antholo-gy of narratives, drawn from

interviews Lawford conducted withactors, musicians, TV stars, communityorganizers, and others about the moment(or moments) when they real-ized they were going to beginthe process of recovery fromalcoholism or other addictions.

“Look,” says Lawford, in hisfriendly California drawl, “I’mfifty-something years old. Idon’t need to go and ask peoplefor anything, really, anymore. Imake enough money to supportmyself. And I had to go to peo-ple I knew and say, ‘Would yougive me something of greatvalue to you and trust me to dosomething good with it?’”Reading the book is an intimateexperience, due to the genuinerespect with which Lawfordtreats each of his intervieweesin introducing them as well as the humil-ity, humor and honesty of every partici-pant’s unique chronicle. “I will tell youthis,” he says, “every time I sat downwith every one of these people, I thankedGod I was doing this book. Because whatthese people said to me was so amazing,I could listen to this stuff all day long. Itwas that powerful to me and that mean-ingful to me.”

The first-born son of Patricia Kennedyand actor Peter Lawford and the nephewof President John F. Kennedy, Lawfordexperienced firsthand the temptationsand tribulations of growing up famous inAmerica, culminating in the battlethrough heroin addiction to recovery thathe shares in Symptoms of Withdrawal.Now, he wants to illuminate the destruc-tive impact of addiction on any life. “Ithink that the idea of where we reallylook at addiction in terms of our culture,

Voices of Clarity:

C

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that it’s some sort of product of celebrityand that there are all these celebrities thatare drug and alcohol users, it’s kind ofnonsense,” Lawford says. “This is a dis-ease that affects twenty-six millionAmericans, so they’re people in the innercity, they’re people working in autoplants, they’re people working in hospi-tals, they’re people working inHollywood, and they’re people workingin Washington, that have this thing.”

Nevertheless, he is open about his ownhand in the media-driven fixation oncelebrities in turmoil. “I’m guilty of ittoo. I did a book about moments of clar-ity and 70 percent of the people in it arepeople that you’ve heard of, so I know aswell as anybody that people with notori-ety sell books, and without them in it thisbook probably wouldn’t have been pub-lished.” But for Lawford,the publicity of his ownaddiction and recovery aswell as that of his intervie-wees are a way to raiseawareness about the scienceof alcoholism and emergingresearch studies on the dis-ease.

“To me, those are theinteresting explorations,and the more the mediachooses to focus on [alcoholism] as anillness and some of the more hopefulaspects of that, the better off we’ll be interms of changing society’s attitudeabout this illness, which is what I’minterested in. That’s the reason I do whatI do. There’s so much stigma and misin-formation out there — that’s the onlyreason to be public about this thing,because the more people like me talkabout it, the more people understandwhat it is.”

Lawford has dedicated himself in thepast years to doing just that. This May,he has another book entitled HealingHepatitis C coming out in collaborationwith Diana Sylvestre, executive directorof the O.A.S.I.S. clinic in Oakland,California and a leading medical experton Hepatitis C, which Lawford was treat-

ed for in 2001. He also serves as a PublicAdvocacy Consultant for Caron Drug &Alcohol Treatment Centers, a non-profittreatment provider utilizing clinicalresearch and innovative programs forindividuals and families struggling withaddiction. Caron played an importantrole in several of the stories of recoveryincluded in Moments of Clarity.

For Lawford, his work as a vocal sup-porter of treatment based in research isan integral part of changing assumptionsabout alcoholism and addiction. “I’mhopeful that the more we talk about it,the more this is understood, and themore we understand, the better the treat-ment gets, and as the brain science isgetting better and better, this countrywill begin to start focusing more of itsefforts on treatment and prevention and

education instead of interdiction.”Next for Lawford is a foray into fic-

tion, a pursuit that will undoubtedly beinformed by his experience writingmemoir. “I’m working on a novel that Iwas working on when I got hijacked intoMoments of Clarity, which is a novelabout a guy trying to figure out his rela-tionship with women, about sex and loveand all of that stuff, so it could take me awhile, but it’s an interesting subject. Allfiction, I guess, comes out of nonfictionto a degree, so there’s a lot of my experi-ence in terms of what I’ve seen in theworld in this novel, but it is definitely anovel.” Actor, author, activist, and morethan 22 years sober, ChristopherKennedy Lawford continues to lend hisvoice to public service. Moments ofClarity became a New York Times best-seller in January 2009.

CHRISTOPHER KENNEDY LAWFORD AND HIS INTERVIEWEES

SPEAK OUT ABOUT ADDICTION AND RECOVERY. By Kara Rota

RIGHT: Theauthor with

his uncle,President John

F. Kennedy.BELOW: The

author with hisparents, Patricia

Kennedy andactor Peter

Lawford.

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{review of books}Tom Deignan reviews a selection of recently published books of Irish and Irish-American interest.

RecommendedOver the last decade or so, Brooklyn

has gone from a byword for grittyurban life – the place wherePete Hamill and Spike Leetold their stories – to apunch line referring to thechic hipsters who haveflocked to the borough.

Colm Toibin might seeman unlikely candidate toadd a fascinating new chap-ter to Brooklyn’s literarylife. After all, his novels,such as The BlackwaterLightship, have exploredlife in Ireland, while hismost recent novel, TheMaster, was a fictional take on the life ofgreat novelist Henry James.

His non-fiction books, meanwhile,have also ranged far and wide, fromexplorations of Catholic Europe to gayartists.

But Toibin explores mid-centuryBrooklyn, the era of The Honeymoonersand A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, in his newnovel, which is entitled, simply enough,Brooklyn.

The novel revolves around EilisLacey, who grew up in rural Ireland inthe 1940s. A victim of the sagging Irisheconomy, Eilis goes to America and set-tles in Brooklyn, which one personpromises is “just like Ireland.”

At first, this seems true enough. Eilislooks at the women around her at onepoint and thinks: “All of them [are] olderthan me, some with faint Americanaccents but all of Irish origin.”

But, of course, 1950s Brooklyn is abuzzing, multi-cultural borough.Fittingly, Eilis falls in love with an ItalianAmerican – only to learn about bad newsfrom back home in Ireland, where hersickly mother and sister still live.

Toibin’s book is an insightful look atthe immigrant experience in New York,not to mention something of a love letterto old Brooklyn. We are taken to ConeyIsland as well as beloved Ebbets Field,where the Brooklyn Dodgers used to play.

Toibin renders Eilis’ life with all of theuncertainty and wonder inherent in boththe immigrant and the New York Cityexperience. He also takes on charactersand environments which have been the

subject of plenty of stereotyping, andbreathes much-needed new life into them.

($25 / 262 pages / Scribner)

FictionIn her first novel The

Walking People, Mary BethKeane covers some of thesame territory as ColmToibin. The book opens with adetailed description of Irishimmigrant Michael Ward’slast day of work as a NewYork City sandhog – a laborerwho digs water tunnels deepunder the earth.

But then The WalkingPeople travels back to 1950s Ireland, andwe learn about Ward’s youth, as well asthe life of the woman who would ulti-mately become his wife.

Keane has produced a highly impres-sive debut, spanning 50 years of familytragedies, triumphs and secrets. Never

sentimental or shocking, The WalkingPeople is an intricate rendering of com-plicated lives, filled with suppresseddesires and glimmers of hope.Particularly interesting are the sections inwhich Keane explores the electrificationof rural Ireland in the 1960s. Meanwhile,as fascinating as Keane’s characters are,her research is also impressive. Thedetails of The Walking People – from thelabors of sandhogs to the traditions of theIrish travelers – ring true. Overall, TheWalking People shows Mary Beth Keaneto be a writer to watch.

($25 / 392 pages / Houghton Mifflin)

In her novel The Swan Maiden, JulesWatson tells the famous Irish story of

Deirdre, who some call the Helen ofTroy of Ulster. Deirdre is the woman

whose beauty may bring ruin to the king-dom of Ulster and its ruler, Conor.Watson, an acclaimed Celtic historian,renders Deirdre’s coming-of-age as aprocess of liberation. She is a child ofnature who rebels when she is treated asa possession. This fierce spirit, combinedwith her beauty, ultimately unleasheswarfare as if it were fated by the gods. Attimes a bit overblown, The Swan Maidenis nevertheless a fine updating of thistimeless tale.

($12 / 540 pages / Bantam Spectra)

Keith Donohue’s first novel, TheStolen Child, was a surprise best-

seller. His follow-up, Angels ofDestruction, opens at the home of an eld-erly Irish-American woman namedMargaret Quinn, who lives with the factthat her child ran away from home yearsago to join a radical group.

One night, when there is a knock atMargaret’s door, an old hope – that herdaughter has returned – is revived. But

instead, it is a nine-year-oldgirl at the door – who justmight be Margaret’s grand-daughter.

Donohue (who recentlywrote an Introduction to anew edition of writings byFlann O’Brien) constructs afascinating story about fanta-sy and reality, politics andhistory, with Angels of

Destruction. ($24 / 368 pages /

Shaye Areheart Books)

Non FictionOn the heels of A Course Called

Ireland (reviewed in the last issueof Irish America) comes another bookabout Ireland, Irish-Americans and golf:Ancestral Links: A Golf ObsessionSpanning Generations by John Garrity.Garrity, who writes for SportsIllustrated, travels to Ireland to seewhere his great-grandfather came from.The ancestral home site is now, it turnsout, home to a new golf course. Garrityalso goes to Scotland, where some of hismother’s ancestors came from.

In the end, Garrity explores how hisfamily – as well as Ireland – was literal-

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ly and metaphorically shaped by thegame of golf.

($24.95 / 292 pages / NewAmerican Library)

For those who loved Touched by anAngel (or even the current CBS show

The Ghost Whisperer), Angels in MyHair by Lorna Byrne will probably be afascinating read.

The author says she has seen angelssince she was a young child growing uppoor in Ireland. Not surprisingly, manypeople believed young Lorna had mentalproblems.

These days, however, people seek herout for guidance or comfort, or to even seeif they can contact a deceased loved one.

Along the way we also learn thatLorna, despite being poor and ostracized,found the love of her life, a blessingwhich was ultimately ended by tragedy.

Suffice to say, Angels in my Hair is notfor everyone. Some may find the mysticalqualities of the book hard to take. But ifyou miss Roma Downey as an angel,Lorna Byrne might just make a fine sub-stitute.

($24.95 / 303 pages / Doubleday)

The Irish role in one of earlyAmerica’s most important and

ambitious construction projects isexplored in Bond of Union: Building theErie Canal and The American Empire byGerard Koeppel. There was once a say-ing – you need four things to build acanal: a pick, a shovel, a wheelbarrowand an Irishman.

All in all, it is believed that as many as5,000 Irish immigrants helped build the

Erie Canal, which linked New York Cityand the Atlantic Ocean with the interiorUnited States. The leading champion ofthe canal was New York governorDeWitt Clinton, the product of a famousScotch Irish political dynasty. For awhile, as the canal project dragged on, itwas called “Clinton’s folly.” But oncecompleted, commercial activity explod-ed, helping make young America a pow-erful nation.

($28 / 480 pages / DaCapo)

Chicago Tribune Magazine writerMike Houlihan has released a col-

lection of his work from the magazine, aswell as work which has appeared in TheIrish American News and on ChicagoPublic Radio.

The product of a large Irish Catholicfamily from Chicago’s south side,Houlihan is perhaps best known for theHooliganism column he wrote for TheIrish American News. These yarns, allgathered in this collection (fittingly titledHooliganism), venture from Houlihan’sdays as an actor and bar owner inRockaway Beach, New York, to hisexperiences as a father and husband.Filled with his trademark wit,Hooliganism is a fine collection from aclassic Irish-American raconteur.

($25 / 216 pages / Dog Ear Publishing)

MysteryThe Irish-American queen of murder

mystery is back. Just Take MyHeart is a new thriller by Mary HigginsClark, and dabbles in the sci-fi notion ofpersonality changes springing from

donated organs.Clark’s story begins with two strug-

gling theater actresses, Natalie andJamie, the latter of whom once had anaffair with a married man.

Years later, Natalie is found dead – following a chance meeting with themarried man.

It is up to Emily Wallace, a youngprosecutor, to sort through the suspectsand motives when Natalie’s estrangedhusband is accused of the murder.

But Wallace herself becomes endan-gered when, as she’s researching for thetrial, she becomes too trusting of a neigh-bor. We also find out that she is a donorrecipient, which may or may not explainsome of her strange recent behavior.Once again, Clark, whose books havesold over 85 million copies in the U.S.alone, has produced a satisfying mystery.

($25.95 / 322 pages / Simon &Schuster)

Meanwhile, Carol Higgins Clark –Mary’s daughter – also has a new

book out – Cursed, a Regan Reilly mys-tery.

Reilly, a private investigator, hasmoved to New York City from L.A. to bewith her husband, the head of the NewYork Police Department’s Major CaseSquad. Soon enough, Regan is drawnback to the West Coast. A friend calls andtells Regan she believes that her entirelife is “cursed.” (The friend was born onFriday the 13th, after all.)

It is a lover who “borrowed” $100,000from the cursed woman, which dragsRegan back into the L.A. underworld –and may also get Regan herself hurt.

($25 / 242 pages / Scribner)

Finally, don’t miss Rhys Bowen’s lat-est Molly Murphy mystery In A

Gilded Cage. Once again, Bowen sets athrilling plot amidst the history of early20th-century New York, when womenwere fighting for the vote and the auto-mobile was just beginning to clog thestreets of Manhattan.

($24.95 / 276 pages / Minotaur)

MemoirJoe Queenan’s at times hilarious, at times wrenching memoir

Closing Time explores his painful Irish Catholic upbringing in

Philadelphia, during which his father often abused young Joe and his

siblings so severely they eventually wanted him to die. Queenan

also explores how he gravitated to the writer’s life, in this memoir,

which deftly balances life’s beauty and horror.

($26.95 / 352 pages / Viking)

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{music}By Ian Worpole

There’s a lot of great new musicthis month from Irish artistswith decades of experience andthose just starting out. The first

up is from legendary family The Fureys.Well worth a shout for the name alone,Finbar Furey has his first CD release inthe U.S. in six years, and it’s a gem. Aslead singer and uillean pipe player forThe Furey Brothers, a band he sharedwith brothers Eddie, George and the latePaul, Finbar’s multi-instrumentalism andhaunting vocals were a standout part ofthe Irish music diaspora of the 1970’s.The group’s breakthrough came as theopening act to the Clancy Brothers tourof the U.S. in 1969, and from then onthey became headliners, being voted“Act of the Year” by England’s hugelyinfluential DJ John Peel in 1972.

The Fureys’ innovative sound of pipesand guitar was in fact initially barredfrom Ewan McCall’s folk clubin London as it wasnot traditional to com-bine those two instru-ments, an example ofthe great McCall occa-sionally having anEnglish stick up hisbackside (no lettersplease, I’m English).The sound, of course,was subsequently takenup all around, fromPlanxty to Riverdance.And as with so manygreat players I’ve men-tioned in the past, the Fureys come froman all-embracing musical family.

“Our parents started us off in musicwhen we were very young — my father

(Ted) played the fid-dle and the pipes;my mother playedmelodeon and five-string banjo. Shewas a wonderfulsinger as well. Welived and breathedmusic,” Finbar

writes in the intro-duction to his new CD Finbar Furey onCosmic Trigger records.

By way of introducing the collectionof songs on the CD, he says, “This col-lection of songs are memories from

things I’ve seen, places I’ve been, peopleI’ve spoken to, laughed with, cried with,drunk with, played music with. [Theyare about] life, love, deceit, loneliness,joy and happiness, and I hope they bringback memories to you and that we canshare that moment in time.”

The songs, old and new, are a power-house of singing that contains echoes ofJohnny Cash and even the later BobDylan, but as much as anything, they arethe soul mate of another Irish treasure,Sean Tyrrell, in that they have a depthand passion only those singers that knowtheir native land inside out can achieve.

The Fureysand More

THE LATEST OFFERINGS IN THE WORLD OF TRAD/FOLK MUSIC.

Finbar Furey

IA.72-73.qxd 5/6/09 4:13 PM Page 72


With musical accompaniment from thelikes of Frankie Gavin on fiddle and allthe Fureys on guitars, this is essential lis-tening.

In 2003, Finbar’s song “New YorkGirls” was chosen for the soundtrack ofGangs of New York – look for Finbarwith a handlebar mustache in a cameoappearance singing the song.

With the passing of the baton, Finbar’sdaughter Áine offers up her first U.S.solo release, Cross My Palm, also onCosmic Trigger records.

From the opening track “Sligo Fair”we are in the presence of something veryspecial here, an achingly beautiful voicewith supreme control. Áine moveseffortlessly from dark to light ballads,accompanied by strings or acoustic gui-tars, percussion and bass, always taste-fully arranged, with minimal reverb.From traditional to the contemporarylikes of John Prine’s “Hello in There”and Edie Brickell’s “Circle,” Áine recallsthe likes of Judy Collins, Nanci Griffith,Linda Thompson and, keeping it in theIrish family, Mary Black.

Speaking of family, Áine’s brotherMartin has a couple of delicate and har-monious compositions here in “WalkGently” and “Water’s Edge.” MartinFurey currently performs with the highlysuccessful High Kings, a quartet of virtu-oso performers and singers, and also,with Áine, makes up the duo Bohinta,whose albums have enjoyed greatacclaim. I’m guessing a large part of theoverall sound of Cross My Palm is due tothe producing talents of Barry O’Briain.Indeed, much of the subtle layering andsound quality is created by Barry’s ownmulti-instrumental playing of guitars,mandocello and keyboards. His ownalbum, Carolan’s Dream on Gael Linn

Records, is a masterpiece. Between Barry’s production, Martin’s

compositions, some fine string playersand of course Áine, Cross My Palm isone of the great surprises and treasuresthis year. Áine is hoping to tour the EastCoast of the U.S. soon – look out for her!

Another example of production valuesall wrapped up with musical talent, isguitar virtuoso John Doyle who is oftenmentioned in various forms of adulationin these pages. His latest offering is anew CD with master fiddler Liz Carroll.Entitled Double Play, this is the secondfrom this duo, following In Play. When Ireviewed In Play a couple of years ago, Inoted a somewhat difficult “listeningcurve” in absorbing the complex Carrollcompositions.

With Double Play, the pair have over-come any such difficulties, with muchmore textured accompaniments (organprovided by Compass’s resident key-board genius John R.Burr) and varied setlist. Indeed, there are some great newtunes from Liz; one truly great setincludes a tune titled “Lament forTommy Makem” in honor of the lateTommy. John contributes fine instrumen-tal compositions, but also adds his voice,with three tracks that include the power-ful Ed Pickford song “A Pound a WeekRaise.” John admits to being drawn tosongs of oppression and injustice, as histwo solo albums will attest. I’ve no doubtthat the production gang at CompassRecords, led by John and Liz, quitedeliberately set out to make a moreaccessible album and they have morethan managed that in this brilliantrelease. Congrats also to the pair for theirrecent performance at President Obama’sSt. Patrick’s Day reception. And whilewe’re at it, congratulations also to Alison

Brown, co-founder, with her husbandGarry West, of Compass Records.Compass celebrates its 15th year in thebusiness this year, no mean feat for anindependent label, and brings us the likesof Solas, Lúnasa, Martin Hayes and ofcourse all things John Doyle. Alison isalso a famed banjo player, and her latestCD The Company You Keep debuted atnumber eight on the Billboard bluegrasschart this month, so a great year so far forher and Compass records.

In the last few months the occasionalbatch of CDs has landed on my deskfrom a new label, Mad River Records. Itsan eclectic mix of World music thatincludes a lot of Irish/Celtic. The labelwas founded and is headed up by ChrisTeskey, an 18-year chief operating offi-cer alumnus of Green Linnet Records.His musical know-how has attracted a lotof international talent in a short space oftime, and one of his tenets is that down-loads needn’t be in competition withCDs, there’s plenty of room for both. Asa result, all of his artists are available notonly on CD but also instant download atthe website:www.madriverrecords.com.There’s Malinki, a Scottish/Celtic bandwhose album Flower & Iron I reviewedin the last IA issue, along with accordionfirebrand David Munnelly; the stunningIrish-language singing Aoife NiFhearraigh has re-recorded and releasedLoinneog Cheoil on the label, andAmerican-Irish band Bua offers AnSpealadóir, a rousing mix of songs andtunes from all-Americans who sound likethey’ve whiled away many Irish sessionshere and abroad. Indeed, the sleeve-notesare by Liz Carroll, wishing Irish-musiclovers everywhere the pleasure of hear-ing Bua. Instantly! What a great note toend on. IA

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For a traditional Irish musicband, the Washington SquareHarp and Shamrock Orchestra[WSHSO] is anything but tra-ditional. Faithful to

authentic Irish tunes in method andmelody, this eclectic group bringsan undoubtedly American elementto their music by harkening back tothe forgotten sounds of Irish dancebands of New York in the 1920sand 30s. With the vibrant tones ofthe fiddle, banjo and piccolo, theWSHSO brings the heart of theIrish-American urban immigrantexperience to modern ears.

The band was in high demandover the St. Patrick’s Day season,performing at Irish America’sGlobal 100 reception as well as the con-sul general’s residence and St. Patrick’sCathedral. In fact, they are the only bandever to play at both the old St. Patrick’son Mulberry Street and new St. Patrick’son Fifth Avenue within a twenty-four hourperiod.

Led by Mick Moloney, accomplishedmusician and musicologist and GlobalDistinguished Professor at New YorkUniversity, the band was first formed in

the year 2000. It has since grown as astudent group, with current membersranging from piano player BrendanDolan, a pioneer of the GlucksmanIreland House Master’s Program, toflutist Gail Neely, who, in 2004, pickedup her flute again for the first time sincehigh school after seeing what fun herhusband Daniel was having playing withthe band. With varied educational back-grounds and degrees of Irish ancestryamong them, the fourteen or so rotatingmembers are united by their admirationof the sounds and soul of Irish music.

With a mixed Irish and Scottish back-ground, Don admits, “I’m not exactlypurebred Irish American. My father hada record of The Clancy Brothers back in

the early 60s and I just really loved thatstuff. So pretty much my whole life I’vebeen listening to Irish music and startedreally getting into it when I moved toNew York in 1976.”

A veteran of the Irish traditional bandscene in New York, Don becameinvolved in the WSHSO through his con-nection with the NYU GlucksmanIreland House. For years now Don hasrun Blarney Star Productions, an estab-

lished series of Irish traditional musicconcerts and sessions. The concert seriesoperates out of Glucksman IrelandHouse and attracts an impressive list oftoday’s top musicians in the genre,including Kevin Burke and MartinHayes. A tenor banjo, fiddle and harmon-ica player, Don and friends also congre-gate every Monday night in the backroom of the Landmark Tavern for musicsessions.

A tenor banjo player with a back-ground in ska (he played in a band calledSkavoovie and the Epitones in the late1990s) and a Ph.D. in Jamaican musicfrom New York University, originalmember and current leader Daniel Neelywas once resistant to some kinds of Irish

music.Daniel notes, “I grew up in

Boston. My family is sort of nomi-nally Irish. Growing up, my folkshad Clancy Brothers records anduh, I really didn’t like them. Itwould be more correct to say I real-ly, really didn’t like them.”

Despite this early disdain, Danielwas soon to be converted. In 2001,a friend in a Boston punk rock bandgave him a tenor banjo. It didn’ttake long for him to master theinstrument and bring it into theWSHSO.

The integration of the banjo, a descen-dant of African instruments, into tradi-tional Irish music illustrates howAmerica’s cultural variation has influ-enced the genre. The WSHSO drawsinspiration from old Irish dance bandsfrom all over the United States, includingDan Sullivan’s Shamrock Band inBoston, the Pat Roche ShamrockOrchestra out of Chicago, and the FourProvinces Orchestra from Philadelphia.

After a very busy St. Patrick’s Day season,Daniel Neely andDon Meade of theWashington SquareHarp and ShamrockOrchestra sit down withIrish America to tell usabout the band, theirmethod, and their conflicting opinions of the Clancy Brothers.

By Kate Overbeck

A Tuneful ofTradition

The WSHSO logo, created by Scott Spencer

IA.7-75.qxd 5/6/09 4:14 PM Page 74


It is in these hubs of immigration thatIrish traditional music has evolved.

Meade explains, “All the centers ofIrish immigration had dance bands. Thelineup would be a little different than inIreland, in that you’re in a big ballroom,so you had to make some noise. Sothey’d have saxophone players, they’dhave piccolo players . . . and we take thatto heart too. We now have a piccolo inthe band!”

“It was funny,” Daniel Neely adds,“we have a woman, Kate Bowermanwho’s playing flute for us now. Andwe’re putting together an arrangement ofa song that was recorded for EdisonRecords in 1906 and recorded again bythe Dan Sullivan Shamrock band in 1928or ’29. And sitting there, I go, ‘wouldn’tit be great if we had a pic-colo in this?’ And she pullsone out of her bag!”

Improvisation is funda-mental to the spirit of theirmusic, as is maintaining itsoral tradition. Instead ofusing written music, theylearn by ear tunes fromsome of today’s greatesttraditional Irish musicalartists, including TimCollins, Ivan Goff andBilly McComiskey.Striving for musical syner-gy over uniformity, the

WSHSO embraces the variations thateach player brings to their melodies. Theresult is a performance that is both ever-dynamic and rarely the same.

“Normally, we get together once aweek,” says Daniel. “We go into rehears-al and whoever knows a new tune – usu-ally Mick – will play it slowly, andeverybody will sort of pick it up.Hopefully by the end of rehearsal every-body remembers it and can play itthrough. We record new tunes and sendthem around to everybody so they canpractice at home. We build our repertorythat way.

Aside from the distinctive rhythmsand melodies, Daniel and Don agree thatthe heart of what makes Irish traditionalmusic so magnetic and unique is the

communal dimension.“I like it as a way of

being social with otherpeople,” explains Daniel.“You know, I really likemaking music and I’vedone it for a long time,but I like being able to goin with other people whoI might not even knowand share something withthem.”

Don replies, “I forgothow basic that is. If youplay some other kind ofmusic in New York City

and you want to play with other people,you have to make a real effort to findlike-minded [musicians] to get togetherand become a band or something. Where,if you play traditional Irish music, thereare a dozen places you can go to everyweek where you can sit down with peo-ple, share tunes and play.”

Whether playing in a pub or a musichall, their aim is not just to perform, butto contribute. Ranking among theirmost memorable shows is the IrishMusicians for the Mercy Centre charityconcert at the Peter Norton SymphonySpace on Broadway, where the WSHSOwere part of an all-star lineup ofrespected Irish artists, which includedthe Green Fields of America andCherish the Ladies.

The Washington Square Harp andShamrock Orchestra channels the soundsof the past to celebrate the present, bring-ing an exquisite element to any occasion.With plans to record their first album thisyear, the band remains true to their sim-ple purpose – to “sit down with people,share tunes and play.”

For more on the Washington SquareHarp and Shamrock Orchestra and their upcoming performances, go to

http://www.myspace.com/wshso. For information on Blarney Star

Productions, go to www.blarneystar.com

IA

Donie Carroll and MickMoloney

PH

OTO

:DA

NIE

L N

EELY

Outside Old St. Patrick’s, after the Irish-language Mass. From left to right: Lisa Farber (flute), Liz Hanley (fiddle), Dan Milner (bodhran, vocals), GailNeely (flute), Donie Carroll (guitar, vocals), Linda Hood (flute), Sam Sullivan (mandolin), Daniel Neely (banjo), Louise Sullivan (obscured, fiddle), TonyHorswill (fiddle), Don Meade (fiddle), Liz Kennedy (fiddle). Not pictured: Suzanne Grossman (fiddle), Brendan Dolan (piano), Mick Moloney (banjo).

PH

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IA.7-75.qxd 5/6/09 4:14 PM Page 75


Originating around 880 A.D.,O’Doherty is one of the old-est surviving surnames inEurope. Existing in a huge

number of variations including the origi-nal Gaelic O’Docartaigh as well as (O)Daugherty, Dougherty, Doharty andDocherty, the O’Doherty clan was amongthe most powerful in the north of Irelandthrough the 17th century. Descendant ofone of the sons of Niall of the NineHostages, who ruled at Tara in the 5thcentury, the great-grandson of the Princeof Tyrconnell, called Donal, is said tohold the origins of this name. His famedfeats in battle earned Donal the title“Dochartaig,” interpreted by some tomean the “destroyer” though others argueits true meaning is “obstructive.” Stillothers trace the meaning of the surnameto unsettling Gaelic roots in the words“unlucky” or “hurtful.”

From the 8th to the 17th centuries, theclans in Donegal were engaged in a con-stant power struggle. Cunningly, theO’Doherty clan kept on good terms withthe English after their invasion and wereable to maintain power for some time.By the 14th century, the clan ofO’Doherty had extended their rulethroughout Co. Donegal and came to beLords of Inishowen, the peninsula lyingbetween Lough Swilly and Lough Foyle.Later, the failed rebellion of Sir CahirO’Doherty (1557-1608) would strip theclan of its power in the 1600s.

Sir Cahir O’Doherty was son of ShaneOg O’Doherty and Lord of Inishowen.Unlike many in the clan at the time,O’Doherty sided with the English andwas made admiral of Derry. His relation-ship with the Governor would disinte-grate due to land disputes and accusa-tions of treason. O’Doherty would thenmake a fatal decision to attack and burn

Derry. Following this short period ofrebellion, O’Doherty was executed bythe English army. The confiscation of theclan’s land shortly thereafter caused theclan, which had until then been dominantalmost exclusively in the North, to reset-tle in Counties Mayo and Kerry.

Some traveled throughout Europeafter the fall from power. Eleventh in linefrom the Lords of Inishowen is Dr.

Ramon Salvador O’Doherty who lives inCadiz, Spain. In July 1990, he was cere-monially inaugurated as the 37thO’Doherty chieftain.

There are a great number of prominentDohertys in public service, art and litera-ture. Covering both literature and publicservice is Paddy “Bogside” Doherty whoearned his nickname for his fervent sup-port of revitalizing the Bogside area inthe city of Derry. Chief Executive of theInner City Trust, Doherty has been com-mitted to reviving the Bogside, aCatholic working-class area that endureddiscrimination under unionist rule and

faced high unemployment rates andpoverty. Doherty has penned books onthe subject and continues his communitywork there.

A famed court case and a prisonescape have earned Joe Doherty of NewLodge, Belfast, his fair share of famethroughout Ireland and New York.Doherty, an IRA volunteer, was chargedwith the killing of a Special Air Servicemember in 1980, after which he andseven other prisoners escaped from theircells in Crumlin Road Jail, Belfast. Hewas later convicted in absentia for hiscrime, while hiding out in New York. Heworked as a bartender in Clancy’s Bar,Manhattan and lived with his Americangirlfriend in Brooklyn before his arrestby the FBI on June 28, 1983. Doherty’sdeportation trial became the subject ofcontroversy and debate. Claiming thathis crime was a “political offence,” hefought to maintain asylum status. Heremained in custody in the MetropolitianCorrectional Center for nine years (astreet corner near the Center was namedfor Doherty in 1990), but despite gainingthe support of over 130 Congressmenand Cardinal John O’Connor, Dohertywas returned to Crumlin Road Jail in1992. He was released six years later inaccordance with the terms of the GoodFriday Agreement, and began a career incommunity work.

In a different sect of the politicalworld, John Doherty (1783-1850) had along and successful career in justice,eventually reaching the eminence ofChief Justice of Ireland. He gained a rep-utation in the House of Commons for hisfairness and wit. Though he lost hiscareer to an ill-fated investment in therailways, Doherty is still revered for hiswork toward Catholic emancipation andhis dedication to the justice system.

TheO’Doherty ClanThe history of the clan of Niall of the Nine Hostages

By Tara Dougherty

{roots}

IA.Roots.qxd 5/6/09 4:15 PM Page 76


An alum of Irish America’s Top 100list, Pat Doherty checks ‘peacemaker’ onthe list of accomplishments for theDoherty clan. Then a newcomer to theNew York City comptroller’s office,Doherty took on the MacBride Principlesas his first major assignment. The son ofan Irish immigrant from Derry, Dohertybegan his research into employment dis-crimination in Northern Ireland. He con-tacted various organizations involved inthe Irish question and eventually assistedin drafting the MacBride Principles, a setof fair employment guidelines for firmsin Northern Ireland. A long legal battleawaited the Principles, which were final-ly signed into law by President Clinton in1998. Doherty continues to work for theoffice of New York City comptroller.

In business, Pat Doherty is a Donegalman who has set his sights on creatingthe biggest tourism attraction yet to beseen in Belfast. Doherty’s company isdeveloping the Titanic Quarter in thevery same spot where the infamousTitanic was launched on its ill-fated jour-ney. In this Quarter, Titanic-themed gal-leries and museums will attempt to recre-ate a piece of Victorian Belfast in thebiggest riverside regeneration project inEurope. It is set to open in 2012. Ownershope the anticipated success of the proj-ect will assist in pulling Northern Irelandout of its recession.

In the early 20th century, two Dohertybrothers, Hugh Lawrence “Laurie” andReginald “Reggie,” entered the world ofcompetitive tennis in a hope to combatrespiratory problems. Natives of

Wimbledon, Surrey, the brothers both hadlong successful careers in tennis whichwould lead them to collaboratively penthe book R.F. and H.L. Doherty on LawnTennis, an instructional guide. Laurieplayed at Wimbledon where he won thesingles championship five years in a row,and became an Olympic gold medalist inthe sport. Reggie won Wimbledon singlesfour times, and together the brothers wonthe doubles championship an astoundingseven years in a row. Each racked up animpressive number of championshipsinternationally in Paris as well as the U.S.

The Mamas and the Papas rose fromthe 60s Greenwich Village folk scene andgrew to epitomize the sweet Californiapop sound that paved the way for theWoodstock era. A founding member ofthe four-piece band was Denny Dohertyof Halifax, Nova Scotia. Though theMamas and Papas would dissolve in aseries of love affairs and personal unrest,Doherty continued pursuing music afterthe band’s break-up in 1968. He releasedsome solo work and joined a reconstitu-tion of the Mamas and the Papas in 1982.Doherty also provided the voice forTheodore Tugboat on a popularCanadian children’s show. He passedaway at his home in Mississauga,Ontario in January 2007.

In the arts, even more Dohertys havemade their mark on film, music and tele-vision. Actress Shannen Doherty isknown for her television roles as the vil-lain on the very successful Beverly Hills:90210 and as one of three witch sisters onCharmed. English rocker Pete Doherty

has gained a reputation not only for hissongwriting contributions to the Englishpunk scene but also for his party lifestyleand prolonged rocky romance with modelKate Moss. Chris Daughtry is a success-ful singer whose career was launched onAmerican Idol. Though he did not make itto the final rounds of the competition,Daughtry is among the most successfulIdol alums on the music scene today.

Jack Dougherty, my grandfather, was aprominent patent attorney at IBM. Heraised a family in Crestwood, New Yorkworking full time, attending law schoolclasses at night at Fordham Universitywhere he graduated second in his class,all the while coaching his five sons’Little League teams. He died of braincancer in 1975 and is survived by his sis-ter Margaret Mary, his wife, Roscommonnative Ann McDermott, six children andsixteen grandchildren. Scholarships existnow at Iona Preparatory School in NewYork in his honor as well as awards in theCrestwood Little League Associationwhere he is still remembered fondly. IA

LEFT: The Mamas and the Papas, 60sfolk sensation, pictured (front) MichellePhillips and Denny Doherty and (back)John Phillips and Cassandra Elliot.BELOW: Jack Dougherty pictured in theearly 1950s walking with daughter Mary,holding son Jack in his arms.

IA.Roots.qxd 5/6/09 4:15 PM Page 77

ACROSS

5 White House puppy (2)6 Ireland's answer to McDonald's (9)7 Iconic fashion mag (5)

10 Jewel (3)12 Hugh Jackman is _____ (9)14 See 38 down (6)16 See 18 across (3)17 Balladeer Percy ____ (6)18 (& 16 across) Latest pandemic,

originating in Mexico (5)22 Ubiquitous NYC breakfast staple (5)23 Pirate Queen (9)26 An Irish cookie (7)27 (& 25 down) Bree’s husband in

Desperate Housewives (5)28 (& 34 down) Irish king who died at

the Battle of Clontarf (5)30 Actively respond (5)31 Traveler (5)33 Ireland’s national theater (5)35 (& 24 down) Actor and godfather to

Liam Neeson’s son Danny (5)37 North Mayo area of great

archaeological importance (5)39 Hitchcock's window (4)41 (& 11 down) Late Slaughterhouse

Five writer (4)42 See 37 across (6)44 (& 27 down, & 29 down). This sea

event hits Galway in June (5)45 See 41 down (4)

DOWN

1 The cow jumped over the what,according to the nursery rhyme? (4)

2 Erin go ___, said this NY Times arti-cle (5)

3 Mayo town where bull ran through a grocery store, as seen on YouTube (10)

4 Ode (3)5 Short for Elizabeth (5)8 (& 20 down) Late science fiction

author (1, 1)9 See 13 down (5)

11 See 41 across (8)13 (& 9 down) Everybody’s been

talking about this Britain’s GotTalent singing sensation (5)

14 Cream liqueur, good in coffee (7)

15 Oil exploration company at centerof Mayo controversy (5)

19 Sport at the heart of JosephO’Neill’s Netherland (7)

20 See 8 down (7)21 Where the dancing took

place in this 1998 film (8)

24 See 35 across (5)25 See 27 across (5)27 See 44 across (5)29 See 44 across (4)32 Wall decoration (5)34 See 28 across (4)36 Eskimo house (5)

38 (& 14 across) Iconic childrens’author, creator of the Famous Five (4)

40 As well (4)41 (& 45 across) U.S. Poet Laureate

2008 (3)43 Latin abbreviation for

‘God willing’ (1, 1)


Please send your completed crossword puzzle to Irish America, 875 SixthAvenue, Suite 2100, New York, NY 10001, to arrive no later than August 17,2009. A winner will be drawn from among all correct entries. If there are nocorrect solutions, the prize will be awarded for the completed puzzle whichcomes closet in the opinion of our staff. Winner’s name will be published

along with the solution in our next issue. Xerox copies are acceptable.Winner of the April/May Crossword:

Nora Egan, San Francisco.

Win a subscription to Irish America magazine

{crossword}By Darina Molloy

April/May Solution

IA94.qxd 5/7/09 7:41 PM Page 78


{sláinte}By Edythe Preet

Just when I think I have my dad allfigured out, a new snippet of infocomes to light, and June alwaysfinds me thinking more about him

than usual. It’s Father’s Day month, hisbirthday was the 3rd, and my parents weremarried on June 16th, now celebratedglobally as Bloomsday, the day LeopoldBloom wandered through Dublin inUlysses by James Joyce, Dad’s favoriteauthor. June is also the prime month forweddings, and Dad was a wedding pho-tographer. He used to say he’d like towrite a book about his wedding adven-tures titled I Shot the Bride with a 4-5,meaning his trusty 4x5 press camera.

Almost immediately on beginning theresearch for this article on Irish weddingtraditions, I chanced upon some eye-opening Irish marriage advice: “Mondayfor health, Tuesday for wealth,Wednesday the best day of all, Thursdayfor losses, Friday for crosses, andSaturday no day at all.” Another Dad rev-elation! For the year my parents weremarried, June 16, occurred on aWednesday, and why they chose a mid-week nuptial instead of the usual Saturdayhad always mystified me.

Finding a life partner to love and cher-ish, for richer or poorer, for better orworse, in sickness and in health is certain-ly the best reason to marry. It appears thatmy father was taking no chances andpicked an auspicious Irish traditional dayto tie the knot.

For centuries, most Irish marriages werearranged to benefit the families involvedwith increased land holdings, power orwealth. A daughter who was not prettycould be made beautiful with a handsomedowry. Love came later, if at all.

Producing healthy offspring was what

brought the sexes together. In pre-Christian times, people believed thatbreeding healthy children was the onlyway to persuade nature to provide abun-dant crops and wells that would not rundry. Sterility was a social disgrace and aneconomic tragedy, and testing a prospec-tive partner’s fertility by trial marriage orbed sharing (“bundling”) was widelyaccepted.

These practices faded during theFamine years, but charms and ritualscontinued being employed to assure acouple’s fertility. Though the phrasetying the knot now means uniting twopeople with marriage vows, folk once

believed the bride could be made sterileby anyone who tied knots in a string dur-ing the marriage ceremony. A protectiveritual involved tying a hen that was aboutto lay an egg to the newlyweds’ bedpost.

Whiskey played a part at every stageof the nuptials. In A Historical andStatistical Account of the Barony ofUpper Fews in the County of Armagh,1838, J. Donaldson described a countrywedding. “The male brings the female tohis relations’ house, and the girl’s rela-tives follow to negotiate the match.When the couple’s families agree on amutually acceptable bride-price, anagreement bottle of whiskey is shared,

A FEW IRISH WEDDING TRADITIONS

AN IRISH WEDDING PROVERBDon’t walk in front of me, for I may not follow. Don’t walk behindme, for I may not lead.Walk beside me and always be my friend.

• A fine day means good luck,especially if the sun shines on the bride.

• Those who marry during harvest will spend all theirlives gathering.

• A man should always be thefirst to wish joy to the bride,never a woman.

• Salt and pepper shakers are alucky wedding gift.

• No one in the wedding partyshould wear green, the colorof envy.

• The newlyweds should alwaystake the longest road homefrom the church.

• It is bad luck if a glass or cupis broken on the wedding day.

• The bride shouldn’t put on herown veil; a happily marriedwoman should do the honors.

• It’s lucky to marry during a ‘growing moon and a flowing tide.’

•When leaving the church,someone must throw an oldshoe over the bride’s head soshe will have good luck.

• If the bride’s mother-in-lawbreaks a piece of weddingcake on the bride’s head, theywill be friends for life.

• A horseshoe nailed over thenewlyweds’ door (pointing uplike the letter ‘U’) will ensurethe couple’s life together willbe lucky.

• A bride and groom shouldnever wash their hands inthe same sink at the sametime – it’s courting disaster if they do.

The Irish boys and the Italian girls: Ambrose Burns, George Burns, Edythe Musacchio, andMatilda Musacchio. George and Edythe are the writer’s parents, who married on June 16, 1937.

Irish Wedding Traditions

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whereupon the bride returns home to pre-pare for her marriage. On the weddingday, the groom’s party rides to the bride’shome, where they are met by the bridalparty. Before leaving her home, the cou-ple take three mouthfuls from a plate ofoatmeal and salt to ward off the evil eye.Then all ride to the priest’s residence.After the nuptial blessing, everyoneretires to an ale-house for the bride’sdrink, from whence they gallop to thebride’s house in a race for the bottle. Thefirst person to arrive at the bride’s housereceives the bottle, returns to the wed-ding party, and gives the whiskey to thebridegroom, who drinks then hands it tohis bride, who also partakes. The bottle ispassed round until nearly empty, atwhich point the bridegroom flings it andits dregs away. They return to the bride’shome, where a cake is broken over thebride’s head while young people scram-ble for bits to place under their pillows sothey may dream of their future mates.”

Since ancient times, a couple’s mar-riage contract has been sealed with a ring,the symbol of eternity. During Ireland’smedieval period it was often a three-partring of two hands clasped over two hearts.One each of the three parts was kept bythe girl, her suitor and the priest, and allsections were united at the marriage cere-mony. The design is very much liketoday’s popular Claddagh ring.

The highlight of every wedding datesfrom ancient Rome. To signify their will-ingness to share all things, Roman bridesand grooms shared a piece of cake. Therest of the cake was crumbled over thebride’s head to guarantee she would pro-duce many children. By the timeChristianity arrived in Ireland, one cakehad evolved into many thin wheaten bis-cuits. They were still broken over thebride’s head, and guests scrambled for“lucky” crumbs that fell to the floor.During the Tudor period, the biscuitsevolved into buns made with spices andcurrants. One bun was crumbled over thebride’s head, some were given to the poorand the rest stacked in a centerpiece, overwhich the couple kissed for luck.

In the 17th century, English royalistswho had fled to France to escapePuritanism returned home bringingFrench pastry cooks with them. On someobscure wedding day, an inspired Frenchchef frosted all the little fruitcakes withwhite sugar icing so they would stick

together in a tiered mound. But they keptthe tradition of dropping the cake on thepoor bride’s head.

By the mid-1800’s, the cake-droppingcustom was replaced by the brilliant con-cept of cutting the cake in slices. At aboutthe same time, milling techniques pro-duced fine white flour, and a new cakeappeared on the scene. The rich goldenpound cake became the “bride’s cake,”while the spicy fruit cake, liberally lacedwith whiskey and wrapped in marzipan,became the “groom’s cake.”

Eventually the two cakes were com-bined into a tiered masterpiece. The bot-tom pound cake layer was sliced and dis-

tributed to all attending. The upper fruit-cake layer was kept until the birth of thefirst child. In some cases, a third fruitcakelayer was saved for the couple’s 25thwedding anniversary celebration! Regularwhiskey drenching allowed it to age asgracefully as the couple themselves.

Any way you cut it, the cake is still thehigh point of every wedding feast.Surrounded by family and friends, thebride and groom ceremoniously feed eachother the first piece, just as newly marriedcouples have done since antiquity. Theancient ritual of sharing a small piece ofcake symbolizes the new life the happycouple will share, and the promise of pros-perity and fruitfulness their future holds.

Over the many years that Dad shot hisbrides, he captured some classic imagesof the wedding couple cutting the cakeand feeding each other that first piece.And he always brought home a piece forme. Slainte! IA


Irish Wedding CakeCOOKING TIME: 4 1⁄2-5 1⁄2 hours NOTE: cake will done when a toothpick inserted intocenter comes out clean. AGING TIME: 2-4 weeks

Grease a 12-inch (30 cm) tin and line it with three layers of greaseproof paper,extending about 2” above the top of the tin. Then tie a thick band of folded newspaperaround the outside of the tin to protect the edge of the cake from overcooking, and havea suitable sized piece of brown paper to put over the cake if it is in danger of over-browning.

Mix dried fruit with halved cherries and the peel with a tablespoon or two of the flourin a bowl. In another bowl, sift flour, salt and the spices.

In a third bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add molasses, zestsand vanilla. To this mixture, add the eggs, one by one with a tablespoon full of flourwith each and beat well. Fold in the fruit and remaining flour plus the brandy. Mix well.

Turn mixture into the prepared tin and smooth down with tablespoon making a slighthollow in the center. You may leave the cake overnight or till ready to bake.

Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees, bake cake in center of the oven for 1-1/2 hours. Reduceheat to 275 degrees F, (40 degrees C, Gas mark 1) for the remaining baking time (3 to 4hours) or until the top of cake feels firm to the touch and toothpick comes out clean anddry. Watch cake as it bakes. Cover if it looks like it might over-brown.

Cool cooked cake in tin then remove paper and turn upside down onto a board. Makesmall holes into the cake with skewers and pour on some extra brandy (approx.1/4 cup).

When brandy is absorbed wrap cake in double layer of waxed paper and then a layerof foil. Store in airtight container and place in a cool place. Cake should be finished atleast two weeks prior to the wedding so flavors will mellow. The day before serving,ice with Royal Icing or Fondant Icing.

Recipe: www.irelandforvisitors.com

RECIPE

Currants 1 lb. 12 oz.

Golden raisins 1 lb.

Raisins 9 oz.

Shredded almonds 7 oz.

Glace cherries 7 oz.

Candied orange &

lemon peel, cut, mixed 7 oz.

Flour 1lb 3 oz.

Salt 1 teaspoon.

Mixed spice 21⁄2 tsp.

Butter 1 lb.

Brown sugar 1lb.

Molasses 2 tbsp.

Orange and lemon zest 11⁄2 tsp. each

Eggs 8 large.

Vanilla extract 11⁄2 tsp.

Brandy 4 tbsp.

plus extra for aging purposes.

AN IRISH WEDDING TOAST

May you both live as long as you want, and never want as

long as you live.

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{photo album}Family Pictures

The girl with the ribbon in the center of the photois my grandmother, Mary “Mae” DuganMcAneny. We had a big reunion of the family to

celebrate her birthday when she turned 95 in 2001. Atthat time she was still in excellent health and living in herown home in Vero Beach, Florida. She vividly recalledher grandfather, Thomas Burns, who lived with her fami-ly when she was a little girl. Thomas came to the smalltown of Rosendale, New York from County Galwayaround 1850. She recalled him speaking Gaelic and read-ing his Bible. Her parents, also pictured in the photo,were both the children of Irish immigrants. Mae’s motherIsabelle Burns was the youngest of 10 children and her

father Daniel Dugan was the oldest of 10 children.Mae passed away in 2004 at age 98. She is missed by

all who knew her. She was a great lady. Her Irishcousins still live near Lough Rea in County Galway andshe visited them in the mid-1950s. I visited the samecousins in 1997. Her grandfather, Thomas Burns b. 1828(who was a twin) was raised in the nearby village ofCuppanagh. The twin remained in Ireland while Thomascame to America where he settled in Rosendale, NewYork. Mae fondly recalled her grandfather speakingGaelic and getting an Irish newspaper.

– Submitted by Mark A. O’Neill Jr., Chevy Chase, MD.

Please send photographs along with your name, address, phone number, and a brief description, to Kara Rota at Irish America, 875 Sixth Avenue, Suite 2100, New York, NY 10001. If photos are irreplaceable, then please send a good quality reproduction

or e-mail the picture at 300 dpi resolution to [email protected]. No photocopies, please. We will pay $65 for each submission that we select.

The Girl with the Ribbon

From left to right: Frank Dugan, Joseph Dugan, Mary Dugan McAneny, Gerald Dugan, Isabelle Burns Dugan, and DanielDugan. Taken at their home in Creek Locks, New York (Ulster County) around May of 1914.

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