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| Recent Passings
Ronald J. GLOVER, 86, died July 10th and his funeral is tomorrow, July 30, at St. John Vianney, Kirkland, at 11 am. He is survived by his wife Irene whom he married in Belfast in 1950, and by their 4 children and 8 grandchildren.
Mary SEOIGHTHE (JOYCE), 86, who was buried Tuesday in Currane, Achill Island, Co. Mayo, was a sister of Brendan Gallagher of Tacoma.
Janusz N. DOMINIK, 84, who died in Seattle July 10, was the husband of the late Maura Dominik from Co. Mayo whom Janusz met and married in Ireland after WWII.
George Grattan FLOOD, 83, who died July 5 after a long battle with cancer, was the father of Mike Flood with the Seattle Seahawks & Seattle Sounders. |
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a n-anamacha dílse
May their faithful souls be at God's right hand | |
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Read the Seattle News in the most recent Celtic Connection, the voice of Celts around the Pacific Northwest. You can also pick up a FREE copy each month at your local Seattle-area Irish Pub or Restaurant! | |
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| CONSULATE GENERAL OF IRELAND |  | |
San Francisco, CA | |
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| HONORARY IRISH CONSUL | |
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Seattle, WA | |
| ITS NOT TOO LATE! |  |
to renew your membership in the Irish Heritage Club for 2010 | |
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SEATTLE IRISH NEWS
IRISH PICNIC THIS SUNDAY
Seattle's Irish Community Picnic is Noon - 6 pm this Sunday, August 1, at Lake Sammamish State Park (see Kitchen Shelter on map) in Issaquah (exit # 15 off I-90). There's a covered picnic area and charcoal BBQ grills - just bring charcoal. A Hurling game starts at 1 pm followed by Gaelic Football and other games and fun for the entire family - tug-o-war, sack-races, etc. Parking galore. All members of Seattle's Irish community are welcome at no charge and hot-dogs and hamburgers will be provided. We suggest people bring their own beverages and maybe a potluck dessert. For details, email Picnic@irishclub.org or call 425-745-1263.
SATURDAY CYCLE RIDE KICK-OFF This Sunday, August 1, three Dubliners begin a 2-month Charity Bicycle Ride across the USA from Seattle to Washington, DC, to raise funds for and increase awareness of the Irish Cancer Society and the Livestrong Foundation. All money raised will go directly to charity. This Saturday evening, July 31, Seattle friends and supporters are invited to join the cyclists at FX McRory's (419 Occidental Avenue South) from 8-10 pm (after the Seafair Parade!) to start them off in good spirits! Visit www.ycleofamerica2010.com or email Fidelma McGinn.
IHC ELECTIONS - Probably for the first time ever since the club was founded in 1982, all five outgoing IHC Officers were re-elected to their positions at the Irish Heritage Club's Annual General Meeting on July 15. Re-elected were Nanci Spieker, President; Charles Hadrann, Vice-President; Ralph Kosche, Secretary; John Keane, Treasurer; and Frank Gill, Membership Secretary. Re-elected to 3-year terms on the Board of Directors were Nanci Spieker and Suzanne Green and newly-elected Board Members are Joe Murphy and Jean Dobbs. For more information, visit www.irishclub.org.
WINE & CHEESE PARTY - Seattle's Irish business and professional organization, Irish Network Seattle, invites potential members and friends to attend an Irish Wine and Cheese Party on Saturday evening, September 25, 6-8 pm at F X MCRory's, 419 Occidental Ave S, Seattle. The evening will feature wines from five Irish-American Wineries - Irlandés Winery, Owen Roe Winery, Sineann Winery, Owen Sullivan Wines and Sky River Mead, along with samples of Kerrygold Irish Cheeses. For more information, contact info@irishnetwork-seattle.com.
IRISH PLAY - The Discovery Bay Players present Brian Friels' play "Faith Healer" September 17-October 10, Fridays and Saturdays at 7 pm, Sundays at 2 pm, at the Odd Duck Studio, 1214 10th Avenue (near Capitol Hill), Seattle. Tickets $20 at Brown Paper Tickets or at the door.
IRISH PLAY - From October 15 - November 14, The Act Theatre presents The Lieutenant of Inishmore, a gleefully gruesome comedy from the Oscar-nominated Irish author Martin McDonagh. It's about a merciless Irish terrorist and the thing that matters most to him in the world: his black cat. The NY Times calls it "appallingly entertaining". Irish Network Seattle hopes to arrange a special Irish showing with reduced-price tickets - email info@IrishNetwork-Seattle.com if you're interested in participating.
IRISH NIGHT - Last year's "Irish Night at the Glen" raised over $17,000 for St. Mary's Food Bank. The 2nd Annual Irish Night will be Saturday, November 20th at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 722 E. Union St, Seattle, with all proceeds going directly to St. Mary's Food Bank. For more information or to get involved (donate auction items, etc.), contact. John O' Malley at 206-547-1612 or jomalley@mail.com.
Free Mariners Cap |
IRISH MARINERS NIGHT Half-way to St. Patrick's Day, Irish Night at the Seattle Mariners is Friday, September 17, 7:10 pm. Enjoy Irish music, Irish stepdancers, bagpipers, a FREE Seattle Mariners Irish Heritage Night cap and reduced price tickets at www.mariners.com/Irish.
The bombardment of Fort McHenry |
STAR-SPANGLED BANNER Written and produced by Kim Cooney from Bellevue for Independence Day 2010, this YouTube video describes the involvement of Irish-Americans at Fort McHenry and the unfurling of the Stars and Stripes. It ends with Kim's performance of the Star-Spangled Banner sung a cappella to the melody of a beloved Irish ballad instead of the traditional tune which used to be an English drinking song. "The Star-Spangled Banner" by Kim Cooney, lyric tenor.
IMMIGRANT SUPPORT - Seattle's Irish Immigrant Support Group (IISG) points to a recent CNN report that highlights the plight of the estimated 50,000 undocumented Irish in the US. IISG urges support for comprehensive immigration reform.
MISCELLANEOUS
- Sunday, August 8, Van Morrison at the Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington.
- Seattle's Irish Book Club next meets on August 10 to discuss The Bodhran Makers by John B. Keane. For more info, contact hudit@comcast.net.
- Gaelic Football and Hurling games from Ireland are telecast live at Fadó Irish Pub, 1st and Columbia, downtown Seattle. Visit Fadó for telecast times, fees, etc, or call 206-264-2700.
- For $10 monthly, you can belong to Overplay's 'Virtual Private Network' gaining access to online live GAA games that are normally restricted to Ireland. Visit Overplay VPN for details.
For the latest information on all the Irish / Celtic music and dance events in the Seattle area, visit www.HOILANDS.com. |
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NEWS FROM IRELAND
HEALTHY BANKS - Ireland's two biggest banks, Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks, passed the recent EU-wide stress test to assess the ability of European banks to withstand a double-dip recession and a sovereign debt shock. The tests were aimed at bolstering confidence in the sector by removing unfounded suspicion from healthy banks.
STATE SALE - The Irish government has appointed a group to investigate the possibility of selling state companies and assets in an effort to cut Ireland's national debt which currently stands at €83.98 billion. State companies on the block could include the Electricity Supply Board with its power plants, networks and energy business; Bord Gáis (the Gas Company), even some airports, etc.
LITERATURE CITY - Dublin has been designated a city of literature by the cultural arm of the United Nations, UNESCO, "because of the rich historical literary past of the city, the vibrant contemporary literature, the variety of festivals and attractions available and because it is the birthplace and home of literary greats".
LITERARY DUBLINERS - Among Dublin's internationally recognized writers are Jonathan Swift (Gulliver's Travels), Oliver Goldsmith (The Vicar of Wakefield), Richard Brinsley Sheridan (The School for Scandal), Oscar Wilde (The Importance of Being Earnest and The Picture of Dorian Gray), Bram Stoker (Dracula), James Joyce (Ulysses), Samuel Beckett (Waiting for Godot), Nobel Laureate George Bernard Shaw, poet James Clarence Mangan, and orator and statesman Edmund Burke.
AIRCRAFT ORDERS - At the Farnborough International Airshow, Irish aircraft leasing company Avolon ordered 12 Boeing 737-800s, with a list price of $1.2 billion, and on its way back to Seattle, Boeing's 787 Dreamliner spent some time at Shannon Airport. At the airshow, Canada's Bombardier Aerospace took an order for ten business jets worth almost $650 million which was good news for the company's substantial operations in Belfast.
CULTURE CITY - There was great excitement in Derry when the city was recently announced as the 2013 UK City of Culture. The city has had a huge influence on the arts internationally with native-son writers Seamus Heaney and Seamus Deane, playwright Brian Friel, songwriters and performers Phil Coulter and the Undertones, artists Willie Doherty, filmmakers Margo Harkin and Tom Collins, and actors Amanda Burton, Roma Downey and Bronagh Gallagher. Despite the use of the name "Derry-Londonderry", Unionists and nationalists were as one in supporting the bid which has the potential to bring thousands of new jobs as well as much-needed investment and revenue to the area.
DEATH QUALITY - Ireland has come in fourth of 40 countries in a "Quality of Death" survey that rates countries according to the quality of care offered to dying patients. Among other factors, the survey measured public awareness, training availability, access to pain killers and doctor-patient transparency to determine the quality of care available for those at the end of their life.
CULTURE NIGHT - Friday, September 24 is Culture Night in Ireland when participating arts and entertainment institutions in over twenty towns and cities across Ireland will stay open late and offer free admission. Hundreds of free events, including exhibitions, tours, talks, workshops, performances and concerts, will take place with several hundred thousand people expected to participate. Last year in Dublin alone, over 152,000 Dubliners attended Culture Night events at 124 venues.
DUBLIN WHEEL - Dublin's newest attraction is the Wheel of Dublin which opens this weekend. Similar to the London Eye, it features 42 capsules that can each take eight people at €9 per person for a 13-minute, four revolution trip offering 360 degree views of the city, the Dublin and Wicklow Mountains, and Dublin's coastline.
GPO MUSEUM - A new museum has been opened at the GPO (General Post Office) on O'Connell Street in Dublin.The museum covers the development over the centuries of postal services in Ireland, philately and stamp design, and the dramatic events in the GPO which was the insurgent headquarters during the 1916 Rising against British rule.
PUBS NETWORK - A new network aimed at supporting Irish pubs around the world was launched in Dublin in June. Irish Pubs Global is aimed at the owners and managers of Irish bars outside of Ireland, and aims to create a community of owners and managers for sharing knowledge, building links with Ireland, local and global promotion, and promoting standards.
REEK SUNDAY - The last Sunday in July, called 'Reek Sunday', is traditionally associated with the annual pilgrimage to Croagh Patrick which has taken place for over 1,500 years since St. Patrick in 441 AD fasted on the 2533 ft high summit. Croagh Patrick now has over 100,000 visitors every year with between 20,000 and 30,000 climbing it last Sunday.
NI POLICE - Irish President Mary McAleese was guest of honor at Northern Ireland's police training college in Belfast recently where she addressed 41 new graduate officers, presented the best recruit prize, and reviewed the passing out parade. She told the officers that they enjoy overwhelming community support from all the people of Ireland, and stated, "Northern Ireland is rightly recognized internationally as a model for police reform".
HIGH SALARIES - Irish health specialists earn an average of $225,000 annually while Irish nurses earn more than all their European counterparts except for those in Luxembourg, Norway and Liechtenstein. The starting salary for a just-graduated Irish elementary school teacher is $41,500 annually with the possibility of an additional allowance of $6,400.
12TH HOLIDAY? - A former Tánaiste (deputy Irish Prime Minister) suggests the Republic of Ireland should consider making July 12 a national holiday just like St Patrick's Day, with Irish government ministers attending Twelfth of July parades in Northern Ireland much as they now attend St Patrick's Day parades around the world. July 12 is a public holiday in Northern Ireland commemorating the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 when the English army of the Protestant William of Orange defeated the mainly Irish army of Catholic James II.
KILLARNEY - On the death in the 1990s of Irish-Americans John and Mary McShain, the Irish government became the owners of Killarney House along with most of the 25,000-acre Killarney Park which includes two lakes, the island of Inisfallen and historic Ross Castle. Now the 289 year-old Killarney House is getting a complete refurbishment, including its courtyard, pigeon house and stables.
BAD ENGLISH - Ulster-Scots is viewed by some as a language in its own right, while others regard it as one of many ancient varieties of the English Language. The Belfast Agreement of 1998 recognizes Ulster Scots as "part of the cultural wealth of the island of Ireland", and the British government recognizes Scots and Ulster Scots as regional or minority languages. However, Ian Paisley jnr recently told the BBC that he believes Ulster Scots is not a separate language but is "just bad English".
TARTAN TERRORIST - Dubbed the 'Tartan terrorist', a Scotsman living in Dublin who claims to be with the Scottish National Liberation Army, was jailed recently for sending hoax bomb-threats to Heathrow Airport.
BOGSIDE PRESENT - 40 years ago on July 24th, 1970, an Irishman hurled two canisters of CS tear gas into the UK's House of Commons, a "present from the Bogside Committee" in Derry. CS gas was regularly used by the British army on civil rights demonstrators in Northern Ireland in the early days of the Troubles.
PEACEKEEPING MISSION - 50 years ago in July 1960, Ireland sent its first contingent of troops to the newly independent Congo on a UN-mandated peacekeeping mission. Since then, 86 members of Ireland's Defence Forces have lost their lives on UN service. Irish troops are currently serving in 8 different UN missions.
HURLEY STICKS - Wood from 20-40 years old ash trees is considered best for manufacturing hurleys, and with a scarcity of ash in Ireland, most of the 360,000 hurley sticks manufactured annually are made from ash imported from Hungary, Denmark and Wales. Since 1990 an average of 670 hectares of ash had been annually planted in Ireland, and starting around 2018, it is expected that most hurleys will be made from Irish-grown wood. Hurley-makers are also asking for a GAA certification system so players and clubs can know the trees being used have not been felled illegally.
NI PARADES - Parades are an important part of Northern Irish culture. According to the PSNI (Police Service), there were a total of 2863 Parades held in Northern Ireland in 2007, the vast majority held in the summer months from June to August. Of these, 2270 were loyalist, 144 nationalist, and 449 neither. There was trouble at just ten parades, of which nine were loyalist and one nationalist.
IRISH NOBELS - Ten Irish people have received a Nobel Prize. One of them was Seán McBride whose father was executed in 1916 following the Easter Rising. He himself was Chief of Staff of the IRA in the 1930s, but was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1974 for his involvement in numerous international organizations and being a founding member ofAmnesty International.
POST BOXES - Roadside wall mailboxes were first installed in Ireland during the 1850s. Until Independence in 1921, all postboxes in Ireland bore the engraved insignia of British monarchs: "VR", "ER" and "GR" (for Queen Victoria, King Edward VII and King George V). Many of those old mailboxes are still in use around Ireland, although they are now painted green instead of red like the Victorian era one above in Coolatore, Co. Westmeath.
IRISH FILM - His and Hers is an award winning documentary of "Irish love stories". The film consists of vignettes by 70 different women, aged from one year old to 90 from the Midlands of Ireland, sharing stories about their husbands, boyfriends and other men they'd known over the course of their lives. Coming soon!
BLASKET ISLANDS - The Blasket islanders never built either a church or cemetery on their Island. Instead, they always crossed the sea for Sunday Mass and, when the time came, to be buried. Because they were not entirely dependent upon the potato, the islanders survived the Great Famine relatively unscathed and some mainland families even moved to the Island during that period.
GAA NEWSREELS - Recently discovered Warner Bros documentary films about "wild Irishmen" playing hurling, made for American audiences during the early 1930s, will be shown for the first time in Ireland next month at the Kilkenny Arts Festival. A 1931 film has footage of All-Ireland champions Tipperary visiting New York while a 1932 film features a combination of moose hunting in Wyoming and images of various New York hurling games.
SEEN KELLI? - Kelli, a 10-year-old Humboldt penguin, was stolen from the Dublin Zoo recently by three men who scaled a fence, stuffed the bird in a bag and made off in a taxi, telling the taxi driver the bag contained a rabbit. However, using a signal from a microchip planted on the bird, after about four hours the gardaí (police) found Kelli wandering the streets in Dublin's northside, none the worse for her ordeal. |
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TID-BITS
The Irish State cost around €53 billion to run, while taxes bring in around only €33 billion, hence the deficit.
Moody's, the international credit ratings agency, has downgraded Ireland from an Aa1 rating to an Aa2, but at the same time adjusted its outlook for Ireland from negative to stable.
Ireland successfully tapped international bond markets last week with investors offering to buy three times the amount of debt that Ireland offered.
Tourism Ireland has a new program available through August 31, Silver Surfers, which provides 2-for-1 accommodation rates and 2-for-1 admissions at attractions, golf courses, race tracks, restaurants, etc.
Ireland's worst ever road accident occurred in Co. Donegal recently, resulting in the deaths of eight men, seven of whom were aged between 19 and 23. Gardaí (Police) have confirmed that alcohol was not a factor in the accident.
$300 million worth of old Irish punts in paper and coins has never been converted to Euro. The Central Bank on Dame Street in Dublin will still pay $1.63 for every IR£1 turned in.
The number of US students studying at educational institutions in Ireland in 2009 was 6,881, a 20% increase over 2008.
The Liffey Rivers' Irish Dancer mystery series of books features as the heroine a 13-year-old Irish dancer detective.
In 2008 the average gross household income in Ireland was $78.750 while average net disposable income was $63.750.
Ireland had both the highest birth rate and the lowest death rate in the European Union in 2009.
This year St Nathy's Secondary School in Ballaghaderreen, Co. Roscommon, celebrates its 200th anniversary, an extraordinary achievement for a school in the rural west of Ireland.
A new €660 million tunnel under the Shannon River has opened in Limerick.
Irish President Mary McAleese will make an official visit to Russia in September.
Hotel rates in Ireland have fallen back to 1999 levels.
Ireland's largest political party, Fianna Fáil, has opened the party's first office in Northern Ireland, in Crossmaglen, Co. Armagh.
Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness suggests that people living in Northern Ireland should have a vote in the 2011 Presidential election in the Irish Republic. He also suggested that Irish citizens living abroad should be granted voting rights for a certain period after emigrating.
A new report predicts that up to 200,000 people will emigrate from Ireland between now and 2015.
The "most Irish" US president was Andrew Jackson (President 1829-1837) both of whose parents were born in Ireland. The father of James Buchanan (President 1857-1861) was also born in Ireland.
The inaugural Edward Carson poc fada competition is to be staged at Stormont on August 7th, one of many events running during the West Belfast Festival.
Organized by Mercyhurst College in Erie, PA, over 150 delegates attended from 15 countries attended the Global Intelligence Forum in Dungarven, Co. Waterford.
Former Galway Mayor Michael D Higgins is considering a run for the Irish presidency. Current President Mary McAleese is prohibited from running for a third term.
The JG Farrell Fiction Award, for the best novel in progress by a writer resident in Munster, was won last month by Daisy Wilson- Morrow from Co Cork, who started writing while living for 10 years in Seattle.
Books by Irish writers Emma Donoghue and Paul Murray are among the thirteen books on the Man Booker Prize longlist, Donoghue for the novel Room and Murray for Skippy Dies.
Take a guided 2½-hour Traditional Irish Music Pub Crawl through Dublin's Temple Bar.
Despite Bono's bad back, Irish band U2 was the highest-earning band in the world in 2009, raking in $130 million dollars from ticket, merchandise and catalog sales.
U2's rescheduled 360° concert in Seattle will be June 4, 2011, at Qwest Field.
A humpback whale was recently spotted in waters off Dublin Bay, the first sighting of a humpback in the eastern Irish Sea in almost 20 years.
Oideas Gael offers Online Irish language courses and bilingual cultural activity holidays. For Seattle-area Irish Language classes, visit www.irishclub.org.
When Pope Benedict XVI visits Birmingham, England, on September 17, he will beatify Cardinal John Henry Newman who was the first rector of University College Dublin, serving as UCD Rector from 1854-1858.
At the 2010 World Lacrosse Championships held last week in Manchester, Ireland finished ninth out of the 30 national teams participating.
The most popular free attraction in Ireland is The National Gallery of Ireland while the top fee-paying attraction is the Guinness Storehouse.
Lady Heather Prichard Jones, the last surviving child of a member of the Irish Parliamentary Party that was formed in 1882 by Charles Stewart Parnell, was buried recently in Multyfarnham, Co Westmeath.
Chelsea Clinton did her master's thesis at Stanford on the Irish peace process.
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AN IRISH PROVERB
Gheibheann pingin pingin eile.
A penny gets another penny.
Slán
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ARE YOU A 2010 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. | |
2010 Members remain in good standing until March 31, 2011 |
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