BOOKER WINNER - On Thursday, October 13, at 7 pm at the Seattle Central Public Library, 1000 4th Ave (Microsoft Auditorium), acclaimed Irish writer and Booker Prize winner Anne Enright reads from her new novel The Forgotten Waltz, which is set in contemporary Dublin. Enright lives in Dublin, and her most recent novel was the bestseller The Gathering that won the 2007 Booker Prize. The reading is presented in partnership with the Irish Heritage Club and The Elliott Bay Book Co. For details, email Booker@irishclub.org.  

McMANUS BOOK - Fr. Sean McManus, founder of the Irish National Caucus, will have the Seattle launch of his book My American Struggle for Justice in Northern Ireland on Saturday, October 29, from 2-4 pm at F X McRory's in Pioneer Square. For almost forty years, Fr. McManus has been at the heart of the Irish-American campaign of lobbying Congress for justice in Northern Ireland. The book is his account of how he mainstreamed Northern Ireland on Capitol Hill. ".. a compelling inside view of the pursuit of peace and justice for Ireland."-Irish Voice. For information, contact Joe Martin at 206-322-8155 or joemartin@speakeasy.net. 

LOCAL BOOK - Best wishes to Seattleite Kathleen O'Connor who recently published Embracing Two Lives, a tribute to her 13-year-old son, Remi Miles, who was killed in a car accident in 1991. The collection of poetry is comprised of verses written before and after Remi's death and also includes some of his poetry. See a Madison Park Times review. 

IRISH DANCING - Baile Glas Irish Dancers have classes forming for the fall trimester in Seattle's Crown Hill and Capitol Hill neighborhoods, and beginners aged 5½ to teens are welcome. Email baileglas@netscape.net or call Maggie Corrigan TCRG at 206 324-6141. A listing of Seattle area Irish Dancing schools can be found at irishclub.org. 

FIDDLING CLASSES - Seattle's master fiddler Randal Bays offers Irish fiddle classes for young people, starting Saturday, September 24 at Phinney Neighborhood Center, 6532 Phinney Ave N. Students will learn Irish fiddle tunes plus bowing and ornamentation in the traditional style, building a repertoire of jigs, reels, hornpipes, etc. Participants should at least have basic violin or fiddle skills. Contact fiddleclass@randalbays.com, or call 206-523-1836. A listing of Seattle area Irish musicians can be found at irishclub.org.

JUMPING CONNECTION - A member of Ireland's showjumping team in the Nations Cup at the 138th Dublin Horse Show last month was Seattleite Jennifer Crooks. Jennifer and her husband Mike ran Evergreen Equestrian Center in Kirkland for many years before moving in 2008 to Sandpoint, Idaho where they now run Stella Farm. Both of Jennifer's parents were born in Co. Roscommon.

SOUNDERS BEWARE! - Major League Soccer's L A Galaxy has signed a two-year deal for Irish international forward Robbie Keane. The 31-year-old Irish captain has played 108 games for Ireland for whom he has scored a record 51 goals. He is also the 10th-highest goal scorer in English Premier League history, and scored after 21 minutes during his first game with the Galaxy.

CONGRATULATIONS

• To Maureen Barrett and Mark Smith who were married in Lynnwood on August 20. Maureen's mother is from Leitrim and her late father from Mayo.
• To Mike and Jennifer Keane who were married recently in Montana. A native of Galway, Mike lived in the Seattle area in the 1990s before taking up farming near Broadview, MT, about 6 years ago.
• To Nuala Vaile and Sam Kaeding who were married on June 17. A native of Dublin, Nuala has lived in the Seattle area for over 30 years. 

MISCELLANEOUS

- All-Ireland Hurling and Football Finals are telecast live from Dublin at Fadó Irish Pub, 1st and Columbia, downtown Seattle. Call Fadó at 206-264-2700 for games, fees, etc. Or watch the games online using Overplay's Virtual Private Network.

- Scottish Heritage Night at the Seattle Mariners is Friday, September 16, at 7:10 pm. Reduced price tickets and free t-shirt.

- Órla Fallon, former Celtic Woman member, at Tacoma's Broadway Center, Saturday, October 15.

- Celtic Thunder Heritage Tour 2011 at Seattle's McCaw Hall on Sunday, October 30, 7:30 PM.

- Seattle's Mass of Remembrance in the Gaelic language will be Friday, October 28, 7:30pm, at St. Patrick's Church.

- Mark your calendar for Sunday, March 11, 2012, an all-day Irish Genealogy Conference with presentations by the Director of Ancestry Ireland, the Ulster Historical Foundation in Belfast.

For the latest information on all the Irish / Celtic music and dance events in the Seattle area, including concerts, céilis, set dances, highland games, etc.,visit www.HOILANDS.com.

NEWS FROM IRELAND

At the Galway Races, Colin and Jack Geary of Seattle's Owl 'n Thistle Pub w/ Irish Presidential candidate Michael D Higgins (r)

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION - The closing date for nominations for Ireland's presidential election is September 28, and four candidates have already been formally nominated: Gay Mitchell of Fine Gael, Michael D Higgins of Labour, and Independents Seán Gallagher and Mary Davis. For the first time ever, the Fianna Fáil party will not nominate a candidate in the election to replace current President Mary McAleese. Voting will take place on Thursday, October 27, between 7am and 10pm.

ECONOMIC FORUM - Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny has invited US Vice-President Joe Biden and former President Bill Clinton to attend the Global Irish Economic Forum at Dublin Castle on October 7-8. The Forum is intended to boost the involvement of the Irish Diaspora in Ireland's economic recovery. More than 300 global business leaders from 30 countries are expected to attend to advise the Irish Government on priorities for economic renewal, job creation and the restoration of Ireland's reputation abroad.

ENERGETIC IRISH - Despite the recession, record unemployment and falling living standards, four out of five adults in Ireland are happy all or most of the time, according to a national household survey conducted by the Central Statistics Office. 61% of adults also felt "full of life" all or most of the time, while 54% said they had lots of energy.

SATISFIED IRISH - In surveys of lifetime satisfaction, Ireland typically ranks in the top dozen. By almost any relevant measure, Ireland is as affluent as its western European peers. Its life expectancy exceeds that of the US and is above the EU average; crime rates are low; incomes are high; the air is clean; and there are as many cars and houses (per head of population) as in the US or EU. 

FAMINE MAPS - The population of Ireland declined by two million people during the Famine years and many areas have never recovered. Now that decline is charted on a locality-by-locality basis, taking census data from 3,452 electoral districts from 1841 to 2002, and mapping the changes in population at ten-year intervals over 160 years. Two resulting historic atlases are now online: The Irish Famine Population Data Atlas 1841-2002 and The Atlas of Irish Famine Data 1841-1851. Visit ncg.nuim.ie/historical-atlas.

IRISH HEROES - The Irish American Hall of Fame, the creation of Chicago's Irish American Heritage Center, is designed to honor the contributions made to society by Irish Americans in the categories of arts, business, public service, sports, religion, education and science. Inductees to the 2011 class included actress Maureen O'Hara, industrialist Henry Ford, boxer Jack Dempsey and former US president John F. Kennedy. To nominate a candidate, visit the IAHOF website before September 30.

OCEAN RACE- The 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race starts on October 29 in Alicante, Spain, and nine months later will end in Galway, Ireland, around July 6, 2012. The islands of the Azores in the Atlantic, Fernando de Noronha off the Brazilian coast, Cape Town, Abu Dhabi, Sanya (China) and New Zealand are all included on the new-look course that covers over 39,270 nautical miles around five continents and four oceans. Over 300,000 visitors are expected to attend the festivities in Galway surrounding the race's finish. 

"Coffin Ship" Famine Memorial

FAMINE COMMEMORATION - Ireland's official 2011 Famine Commemoration Day ceremonies on September 10 will be led by President Mary McAleese in Clones, Co Monaghan. Clones was among the hardest-hit areas during the Famine with the population of Monaghan and neighboring parts of Fermanagh dropping by one third between 1841 and 1851. 

FAMINE MUSEUM - Strokestown Park House in Co. Roscommon is an 18th century Georgian Palladian mansion which has been faithfully restored with its original 19th century furnishings and fabrics. In 1847, the worst year of the Famine, the landlord at Strokestown, Major Denis Mahon, paid ship passage for 1,000 of his tenants to travel to Canada. Over a quarter of the emigrants died en route, and many more were deathly ill upon arrival. Another 600 tenant families involving about 3000 persons who refused to leave for America or Canada, were evicted onto the roads where hundreds died of hunger. That November 1847 Mahon was assassinated by persons unknown and his former home now serves as Ireland's National Famine Museum.

ULSTER COVENANT - The Orange Order plans to mark the centenary of the Ulster Covenant next year with two parades, one on July 12, and a second on September 28. The Ulster Covenant was signed by almost 500,000 people on and before September 28, 1912, with the most passionate signatories signing in their own blood. All were indicating their opposition to the establishment of a Home Rule parliament in Dublin. The Home Rule Bill did actually pass the UK Parliament but its implementation was postponed by the outbreak of the First World War. The subsequent Irish Rebellion led to further postponements, meaning that the Act never took effect.

FORD PLANT - Bill Ford, the great-grandson of the man behind the automobile revolution, said recently in Cork that he would not rule out the possibility of reopening the Ford plant in Cork that was closed in 1984. While in Cork, Ford and his family had a private lunch in the house of Hazel Buttimer, the Fords' closest living relative in Ballinascarthy. William Ford left Ballinascarthy for America in 1847 during the Famine, and his son Henry later changed the world.

DRUNK DRIVING - Ireland's new breath alcohol limit of .05%, down from .08%, takes effect this month. The number of Irish motorists prosecuted for drunk driving has fallen from 28,000 in 2008, to 21,153 in 2010. Click for more information on drink driving offences in Ireland.

- The Wall Street Journal says that the Irish economy is growing.

- The US is Ireland's largest trading partner, and goods and services worth over $30 billion were exported to the US in 2010, over 15.6% of Ireland's total exports.

- The Financial Times writes about "Ireland's Unexpected Economic Comeback".

- Foreign companies in Ireland currently export goods to the value of about $70 billion a year. They employ 240,000 people and account for 65% of all corporate taxes paid.

- According to Eurostat, Irish prices rose by an average of 1% in the year to the end of July, well below the euro area average of 2.5% and the EU rate of 2.9%.

- Irish budget airline, Ryanair, in July became the first airline in Europe to carry eight million passengers in a single month.

- In 2011, Ireland ranked ninth out of 183 economies surveyed by the World Bank on the ease of doing business.

- Almost 1.8 million people visited Ireland between April and June, 2011, a 15.6% increase on the same period last year.

- Bord na Móna, the Irish semi-state company responsible for the mechanized harvesting of peat or turf for fuel, has developed a new more environmentally friendly briquette containing a blend of sawdust and peat, with no binders or additives.

- The Washington Times describes how Boeing's jet airliner changed Irish emigration.

- A meteor blasted through the sky over the west of Ireland on August 22 and Astronomy Ireland believes that pieces of the fireball may have survived the fall to the ground.

- The Irish Times says that "From Spanish Armada shipwrecks to sunken U-boats and Viking vessels, Ireland's waters are a dream for divers of all abilities".

- Four water sports enthusiasts are planning to waterski across the choppy Irish Sea from Fishguard in Wales to Rosslare in Co. Wexford, hoping to complete the 67-mile crossing in under six hours while raising $50,000 for charity.

- Four women made it to the finals of Ireland's 2011 Young Farmer of the Year competition. Women own 10% of Irish farms, and 54% of them work full time on their farms.

- Brown Thomas, an upmarket department store on Dublin's Grafton Street, this week opened their Christmas shop for business, but they do promise the Christmas music won't start for a while!

- Sinn Féin drivers of cars carrying Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness, have been involved in six car crashes since 2007, more than all other NI government departments combined.

- A Lybyan teacher of Arabic who lives in Dublin with his Irish-born wife and family, led the main rebel brigade into Tripoli. Last week he was appointed deputy leader of Tripoli's military council.

- According to a former senior African National Congress (ANC) activist, in the early 1980s Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams arranged for the IRA to help the military wing of the ANC pull off one of the biggest bomb attacks of the war against apartheid in South Africa.

- Iarnród Éireann (Irish Rail) is developing high speed rail service at speeds of 100 mph, which will result in train travel times of less than two hours between Dublin and the cities of Waterford, Cork, Limerick and Galway.

- A series of photos of Seattle's sister city of Galway and the area surrounding it.

- The Irish Times interviewed Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau when he was in Dublin recently to receive an honorary doctorate from UCD.

- On his recent visit to Mongolia, US Vice-President Joe Biden was presented with a horse which he promptly named Celtic to honor his own Irish heritage.

- Discover some great things to see and do in Ireland.

- Co. Tyrone native James Shields is the only person to have represented three different states as a US Senator (Illinois, Minnesota and Missouri).

- The largest-selling Irish community newspaper in Britain, The Irish Post, has gone into bankruptcy.

- An Irishman based in New Zealand has a wonderful video of a very rare event, Snow in central Wellington.

- Some Irish students in the US for the summer have been detained by US authorities for attempting to modify the date of birth on their passports in order to enter pubs and nightclubs.

- Ireland has 58 embassies overseas, along with seven multilateral missions and 11 consulates general.

- 4,496 properties were sold in Ireland in 2006 for more than $900,000 each. 

Fastnet Lighthouse

- The New York Times writes about the Fastnet yacht race. Fastnet Rock is the most southerly point in Ireland.

 

- TradConnect.com is a new social network for people that play, listen to and enjoy traditional Irish music.

 

- The earliest record of a permanent Viking base in Ireland was in 841 in the seaside village of Annagassan, Co Louth.

 

- Take a video walk along the coast to the Giant's Causeway.

 

- Over the past 300 years, seven million people are believed to have left Ireland heading for America. One million of those left Ireland between 1846 and 1851.

 

- 2743 ships delivered 651,931 Irish Famine emigrants to the port of New York from 1846 - 1851, more than half of the total that left Ireland during those years.

 

- South Dublin County Council promises to respond within two working days to complaints about potholes, graffiti street lighting, illegal dumping, etc., when reported at Fixyourstreet.ie.

 

- The Irish Times lists Pubs Worth a Detour when visiting Ireland.

 

- Ireland's Camogie Association is considering a change from skorts to shorts as part of a Playing Rules Review.

 

- Justice Susan Denham, the first woman to be appointed to Ireland's Supreme Court, later this year will become the first woman Chief Justice.

 

- Tickets to GAA games are now being sold at Fáilte Ireland tourist offices around Ireland, partly to boost attendances but also to offer tourists a more authentic Irish experience.

 

- A Frank McCourt Museum, named for the Pulitzer Prize-winning author, has opened on the site of the school in Limerick which McCourt and his brothers attended while growing up there.