|
|
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
TO UNSUBSCRIBE OR CHANGE AN EMAIL ADDRESS, SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM TO Update Profile/Email Address |
|
|
|
CONDOLENCES |
To the Harkin family on the sudden death on November 23 in Portland of Frances Harkin, 71. Frances married Ed Harkin in Dublin in 1960 and they settled in Seattle in 1964. She is survived by Ed, their children Marion, Michael, Kiera and David, and numerous relatives and friends around the Pacific Northwest and in Ireland.
To Mary Shriane of Seattle on the death on November 16 of her mother, Katie Keating, in Ballinabranna, Co. Carlow. On her frequent visits to Seattle over the years, Katie made many friends here and will be missed.
To Nanci Spieker of Seattle on the recent death of her uncle, George McGuire, in North Carolina.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a n-anamacha dílis
May their faithful souls be at God's right hand |
|
|
2009-2010
MITCHELL SCHOLAR
Neil Ferron, a post-graduate student at Seattle University, is a 2009 Mitchell Scholar and will spend 2009-2010 studying playwriting at Trinity College Dublin.
Ferron is an award-winning poet, author, and playwright who graduated magna cum laude from Santa Clara University in 2005. He is the founder and artistic director of 12th Avenue Drama, a small Seattle-based theater company. He also worked in Calcutta for six months in an orphanage run by the Missionaries of Charity, and his plays and writings attempt to balance grace with a social justice message.
The Mitchell Scholarship provides tuition, housing, and stipends towards living expenses and travel, and is named for the former US Senator who chaired the Northern Ireland peace negotiations. |
 |
Read the Seattle News in the most recent Celtic Connection, the voice of Celts around the Pacific Northwest. You can also pick up a copy each month at your local Seattle-area Irish Pub or Restaurant! |
|
|
| IRISH CONSULATE NEWS |
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
| Click to read the latest issue of The Irish Echo. |
|
|
|
|
|
Join The Irish Heritage Club |
|
|
| |
|
IRISH HERITAGE CLUB NEWS
DAIDÍ na NOLLAG - All children in Seattle's Irish community are invited to meet Daidí na Nollag (Father Christmas) at the Children's Christmas Party 1-4 pm this Sunday, December 7 at Maplewood Church Hall, 19523 84th Ave W (on 196th St), Edmonds. Daidí na Nollag arrives in his green robes at 2 pm, but please make sure to advance register children's names and ages by emailing AineM@irishclub.org or call 425-290-7839.
BOOK CLUB - The Irish Book Club has been on hiatus for a while but now plans a get together on Wednesday December 10 at 7pm. You're invited to spend an evening with friends sharing your favorite Holiday cookies or treats while discussing one of Ireland's contemporary writers, John Banville, and his book The Sea. For details as to where, etc., contact Judith at 206-525-5310 or hudit@comcast.net.
PRESIDENTIAL VISIT - Irish President Mary McAleese visits Portland on Saturday, December 13 to dedicate an Irish Famine Memorial at Portland's Mt. Calvary Cemetery, and also to host a reception marking the 70th Anniversary of the All-Ireland Cultural Society of Oregon. The Famine Memorial is a replica of the Cross of the Scriptures at Clonmacnoise, Co. Offaly and funding for the Famine project was organized by Portland's Ancient Order of Hibernians. Until 1869 when the transcontinental railroad was completed, thousands of Famine Irish were among those who used the Oregon Trail to migrate west. Between 1850 and 1880, the Irish were Portland's largest foreign born group, comprising almost 10% of the city's population.
MOTHER'S CHRISTMAS - The 2009 Nollaig na mBan (Mother's Christmas) Dinner at 6 pm Sunday, January 11 at Mick Kelly's in Burien is sold-out. To get on the wait-list, contact CandaceD@irishclub.org or 425-745-1263.
MARCH GENEALOGY CONFERENCE - Genealogy experts from the Ulster Historical Foundation in Belfast, including Foundation Executive Director Fintan Mullen and the former Director of the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland, Dr. Brian Trainor, will be in Seattle on Sunday, March 8, for an all-day Genealogy Conference, with illustrated lectures about Irish and Scots-Irish genealogical archives and genealogical research covering all parts of Ireland. The details of the Conference Program as well as location and cost have not yet been finalized, but for tentative reservations, contact 425-290-7839 or Genealogy@irishclub.org.
IRISH WEEK 2009 - Seattle's 2009 St. Patrick's Day Parade will held on Saturday, March 14, and the Irish Festival will run at the Seattle Center Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday, March 14, 15 & 17, while the Dash is on Sunday, March 15. The dates for all the events of Irish Week 2009 are listed on the Irish Week 2009 website.
SISTER-CITY VISIT - Seattle City Council President Richard Conlin paid an official Sister City visit to Galway in September. Meeting above for lunch are, from left, Galway Mayor Pádraig Conneely, Seattle City Council President Richard Conlin, Galway City Manager Joe McGrath and Galway City Director of Services Joe O'Neill. Here are some great photos from Richard and Sue Ann Conlin's trip to Ireland. |
|
|
OTHER LOCAL IRISH NEWS, ETC.
CONGRATULATIONS
To Seattle's Ciara Ruggiero (above w/ teacher Tony Comerford) who took top honors in the Under 8 Girls Irish Dance Championships at the Western US Oireachtas held recently in Phoenix. Dancers from three Seattle Schools, the Comerford School, Scoil Rince Slieveloughane, and the Tara Academy, competed at the Oireachtas. Six other Seattle dancers also won awards and qualified for the 2009 World Irish Dancing Championships in Philadelphia next April: Julia Gats and Camille Gix of the Tara Academy, and Kinsey Brimhall, Meeghan Dooley, Greta Gothard, and Willow Gothard from Comerford. In the Céili (team) competitions, five Comerford teams and two Slieveloughane teams also received honors.
IRISH BASKETBALL - Kristen O'Neill, the basketball-playing daughter of Seattle Police Guild head Rich O'Neill, is in Ireland looking for a spot on Ireland's National Women's Basketball team. A native of Edmonds, O'Neill starred at Meadowdale High School and later at the UW. This year, she was signed to a contract with the Seattle Storm on July 1.
NEW PUB - Paddy Coyne's Irish Pub, with locations in Seattle and Tacoma, plans to soon open a new Paddy Coyne's at Bellevue's Lincoln Square.
____________________________ |
AREA CONCERTS / CÉILIS, ETC.
For the most up-to-date information on Irish and Celtic events in the Pacific Northwest, visit www.hoilands.com.
KID'S HOOLEY - A Céili for kids is being held Sunday, December 28, at the Des Moines Community Center, 20827 3rd Ave S, southwest of Sea-Tac airport. Doors open from 4 - 6:30 pm, $5 each, $10 family - potluck, live jam session, dance caller Kathleen O'Grady Graham, etc. No experience required. For details and more information, email mjhoiland1@yahoo.com.
YULETIDE CONCERTS - Magical Strings celebrate 30 Years of Celtic Yuletide Concerts with 10 Christmas shows around the Pacific Northwest through December 21.
MUSIC CAMP - The eighth annual Friday Harbor Irish Music Camp is March 9-15 with classes in the fiddle, flute, concertina, bouzouki, guitar, sean-nós singing, mandolin, tinwhistle, ear training, and Irish ensemble.
FLATLEY'S SHOW - Lord of the Dance plays at the Toyota Center, Kennewick, Wednesday, December 17.
JANUARY TRAD CONCERT - A Traditional Irish Music Concert starring Leo MacNamara, Aurora Burd & Friends on Friday, January 16, 8-10 pm, at the Des Moines Community Center, 20827 3rd Ave S, southwest of Sea-Tac airport. Unplugged/accoustic event - limited seating - expect a sellout. Tickets are $10 - contact mjhoiland1@yahoo.com or 253-854-7513. |
|
NEWS FROM IRELAND FAST-TRACK FLIGHTS - Next summer, Shannon Airport will become the first non-American airport with fast-track pre-clearance for transatlantic flights to the US. At Shannon (and Dublin in 2010), passengers will pass US immigration, US customs and US agriculture inspections before takeoff. Flights coming from or through Ireland can then land at less congested and less expensive US airports, and passengers will be able to check their baggage through to their final destination even if it involves flights with different airlines.
HANDGUN BAN - The Irish government plans to introduce a complete ban on the licensing of handguns in the Irish Republic, and existing handgun licenses will not be renewed. About 233,000 firearms are presently licensed in the Republic, 177,000 shotguns, 54,000 rifles and 1,900 handguns.
WIRETAPPING LAWS - Irish laws are being changed to permit Gardaí (Police), upon court approval, to plant wiretapping devices in suspect's homes, and to use the evidence collected in prosecutions. In certain emergency situations, a Chief Garda Superintendent can also grant approval.
ELECTION ANNIVERSARY - This is the 90th anniversary of the December 1918 Election in Ireland that is regarded by many as the defining act of Irish self-determination. Sinn Féin won 73 out of 105 Irish seats in the British House of Commons, but instead of taking their seats in London, Sinn Féin deputies convened the First Dáil (Parliament) in Dublin, which was followed by the outbreak of the Irish War of Independence. In that 1918 election, Sinn Féin candidate Countess Markievicz was also elected the first woman Member of Parliament anywhere in the world.
IRISH POWER - Samantha Power, the Dublin-born foreign-policy adviser who resigned from the Obama campaign last March after calling Hillary Clinton a "monster", has buried the hatchet with Clinton and is now a member of Obama's foreign-policy transition team. A Harvard professor and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Power married a fellow Obama-campaign worker at a wedding in Kerry last July. Obama originally introduced the couple and on election night he reminded her husband, "You owe me one!"
GEORGIAN ANNIVERSARY - The Irish Georgian Society's 50th anniversary has been recognized by a story in the New York Times. Dublin has five Georgian squares, although only Mountjoy Square is really a square shape. Fitzwilliam, Merrion and Parnell Squares are rectangular while Mount Pleasant Square in Ranelagh has two oval-shaped sides and two unequal length sides. Merrion Square's central park served as a soup kitchen during the Great Famine and today attracts about 100,000 visitors annually.
BROTHER ABBOT - A man who has been a religious Brother for the past 45 years was recently elected the new Abbot of Glenstal Abbey, the Benedictine monastery in Co. Limerick. Since the Abbot must be a priest, Brother Patrick will be ordained a priest next week.
E-BUSINESS AWARD - Litriocht.com, the world's largest online Irish Language bookshop, was declared the best e-business in Ireland for 2008. Last year, Litriocht.com sold Irish language books to people in 55 different countries around the world.
SWEDISH AWARD - Former Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) John Bruton, the European Union's Ambassador to the US, has received the highest honor Sweden can award to a foreigner. He was made a Commander Grand Cross of Sweden's Royal Order of the Polar Star for his service as a former president of the European Council and his work as EU ambassador. Last March, Bruton was the Grand Marshal of Seattle's St. Patrick's Day Parade.
VATICAN PIMPERNEL - The late Msgr. Hugh O'Flaherty was recently honored in Killarney, Co. Kerry, with exhibitions, a posthumous award, a memorial Mass and a road named in his honor. Born in Cork in 1898, O'Flaherty saved over 4,000 Jews, civilians and allied soldiers from the Nazis in Rome during WWII and was known as "The Pimpernel of the Vatican". His international medals and awards include a CBE, the US Medal of Freedom, and honors from Israel, Canada and Italy. He died in Cahersiveen on the Ring of Kerry in 1963.
"FREECONOMIST" - An Irishman living in Bristol, England, plans to become the ultimate "freeconomist" for the next 12 months. Living in a Caravan, he will not use any money but will live entirely off the land and the waste products of society. He will use only solar-powered electricity for his telephone and lap-top.
ALL-IRELAND TICKETS - The GAA is introducing a new 2009 season-ticket scheme. Anyone who buys season-tickets for all of their county's league and first championship game will be guaranteed an All-Ireland final ticket if their county qualifies.
SMILING EYES - Irish people are among the happiest and most optimistic in Europe and also believe themselves to be the healthiest. Ireland ranks third out of 27 countries on an index of mental health which measured how calm, active, rested and interested in life respondents were.
IRISH AMBASSADOR - Speculation regarding the new US Ambassador to Ireland centers on Caroline Kennedy whose aunt Jean Kennedy Smith was there in the 1990s. However, the name of Brian O'Dwyer has also been mentioned. O'Dwyer is the son of the late Paul O'Dwyer, the Mayoman who served as New York City Council President in the 1970s and whose brother was New York Mayor from 1946 to 1950.
EB-5 VISAS - A US Visa program that offers a green card in exchange for an investment of $500,000 in a ski resort in Vermont was launched recently in Dublin. Under the EB-5 Visa Program, the investment provides a green card for the investor, a spouse and any children under 21. After five years, investors and their families are entitled to apply for US citizenship.
LARGE FUNERAL - All 172 of her grandchildren were present at the recent funeral in England of a woman who emigrated from Co. Galway in 1963. She and her late husband had 15 children, 172 grandchildren, 36 great grandchildren and 18 great-great grandchildren. It was the first time all 172 grandchildren had been together at once.
GAA ORAL HISTORY - In conjunction with the GAA in Ireland, Boston College has announced a project to collect oral histories from anyone who has ever been involved in Gaelic Football or Hurling as a player or supporter, either in Ireland or abroad. The collection can include documents, photographs and recordings relating to the social life of the GAA from 1884 to the present. Once completed, the project will create a series of books, websites, radio and television programs, as well as a searchable digital archive to be permanently housed in the GAA museum in Dublin. Check the OralHistory website, complete the questionnaire and email to info@gaahistory.com.
AGE DISCRIMATION - Because an Australian-based Christian Brother complained to the Irish Equality Authority, Irish Car Rentals will no longer automatically charge an "age surcharge" of €25 per day to anyone over 70 and completely deny rentals to anyone over 75. Instead, each rental decision will be based on a safety assessment of a driver's health, driving experience and insurance coverage.
CHILDREN'S WEBSITES - Worldwide Horizons is a website designed to provide easy access to resources that can enrich the lives of young people by exposing them to different cultures and languages. Ireland is one of the countries featured. Epals is a website that helps arrange penpal relationships with schools and individuals around the world, many of them in Ireland. |
|
TID-BITS
· As of January 12, 2009, all Irish residents traveling to the US must register with US Homeland Security prior to departure.
· When Ireland's Taoiseach called US President-elect Barack Obama to congratulate him on his election, he also invited Obama to visit Ireland and especially Moneygall, Co Offaly, where Obama's Irish ancestors left in 1850.
· The Secret Service has assigned the code name of "Celtic" to Irish-American Vice-President-elect Joe Biden.
· On January 20, Irish American Democrats hold the Irish inaugural ball at the Phoenix Park Hotel in DC.
· The Irish President's office has budgeted $1.42 million in 2009 for the centenarians' bounty, a $3,222 payment to each Irish-born person celebrating their 100th birthday.
· The Northern Ireland Executive has reconvened after the North's main political parties, the DUP and Sinn Féin, reached a deal on policing and justice.
· Irish Budget airline Ryanair has announced plans to sell transatlantic flights for just $12.70 (each way before taxes) on flights from Dublin and Stansted (London) to New York, Florida, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston.
· A US survey conducted in 2006 by the University of Chicago revealed that of those who described their first ethnic identity as Irish, 48% were Protestant, 29% were Catholic and 23% were unaffiliated or other.
· Household income in Ireland is the third-highest in Europe, after Luxembourg and Norway.
· More than 37% of Irish people own their own homes outright, carrying no mortgage.
· Despite the increased costs of housing and childcare, there was a 40% increase in marriage rates in Ireland between 1995 and 2006 and a 46% rise in births.
· The Chief Executive Officer of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games is John Furlong, a native of Co. Tipperary.
· Louth-based Cooley Distillery has been named World Distiller of the Year at the 2008 International Wine and Spirit Competition Awards in London. Cooley Distillery is Ireland's only remaining independent Irish-owned whiskey distillery.
· The total prison population of the Irish Republic is 4,000, the highest in its history
· Last January, an Air Canada Toronto-London flight was diverted to Shannon and a passenger with a pilot's license helped land the jet after the plane's captain had the disorientated co-pilot forcibly removed from the cockpit.
· 5% of the working-age population in the Irish Republic today came from countries that joined the EU in 2004.
· There are presently 21 female TDs (deputies in the Irish Parliament) out of a total of 156.
· Figures from the US commerce department show that the Irish operations of American firms made net profits of $48 billion in 2005, the latest period for which figures are available.
· Ireland has the youngest population in Europe with over 40% under the age of 25.
· Ireland's use of renewable energy has doubled in the past five years, thanks to a boom in wind power.
· Almost a third of rivers and streams in the Irish Republic are polluted by run-off from waste treatment plants and farms.
· A Gaelic-speaking woman from Connemara who has been a Maine State Representative since 2002, was last month elected a State Senator, believed to be the only Irish-born State Senator in the US.
· A book published in 1535 was recently discovered in the King's Inns Library in Dublin, one of only 11 surviving copies in the world.
· The Irish Post Office recently issued a set of stamps celebrating Irish stepdancing and popular dances from Ireland and Spain, while another recent set honored Irish musicians by depicting groups Planxty, De Dannan, The Bothy Band and The Tulla Céilí Band.
· Ireland's Gaelic Football All-Star Game is being played this coming Sunday, December 7, in San Francisco.
· The cost of the Saville Inquiry into Bloody Sunday in Derry in 1972 now stands at $285 million. Established in 1998, the inquiry's report is now expected next autumn. | |
IRISH PROVERB
Lá Nollaig go péacach is Lá Féile na Stiofáin ag iarraidh déirce!
A gaudy Christmas Day and begging on the Feast of St. Stephen (December 26)!
|
|
|
|
| |
ARE YOU A 2008 IRISH HERITAGE CLUB MEMBER? Please show support for Irish activities in the Seattle area by making sure your membership is current. Membership is open to anyone interested in "Things Irish". Dues are $20 (single membership) or $30 (family membership), and you can pay by cash, check, or Secure Credit Card. For more information, email Membership@irishclub.org or visit www.irishclub.org. |
|
2008 Members remain in good standing until March 31, 2009 |
|
|
