Irish Author This Thursday

 This Thursday, October 13, 7-8 PM, Dublin author Anne Enright reads from her new novel, "The Forgotten Waltz," in the Microsoft Auditorium at Seattle's downtown Public Library (1000 4th Ave, at Madison). Set in today's Dublin, her fifth novel is about obsession, passion, love, family ties, marriage and middle age. A former Irish television producer and director, Enright became a fulltime writer in 1993, and in October 2007, won the Man Booker Prize for her fourth novel, The Gathering. The Thursday event is supported by The Seattle Public Library Foundation and is presented in partnership with the Irish Heritage Club and The Elliott Bay Book Co. Books will be available for purchase and signing.

IRISH FILM & MEETING - On Sunday evening, October 23, at 6 PM, at Assumption Church Hall, 6201 33rd Ave NE, Seattle, the Irish Heritage Club will show 30+ minutes of Brendan and The Secret of Kells, the 2009 Irish animated movie that was nominated for an Academy Award. The showing will be followed by a short General Membership Meeting and a Social Hour with light snacks and pop provided. The movie tells the fictional story of the boy behind the Book of Kells, the illuminated, heavily illustrated rendering of the Four Gospels. Dating from the early Eighth Century the book is now held at Dublin's Trinity College. IHC Members and potential members are all welcome at no charge. For information, call 206-427-3027 or email info@irishclub.org. 

IRISH FESTIVAL - The 8th annual Galway Bay Irish Music festival will be Thursday-Sunday, October 20 - 23, at various locations in Ocean Shores and Hoquiam. 23 bands will participate, including the Irish sisters "Sephira" who performed at the Irish Festival at the Seattle Center last March. For Festival schedules and more information, visit galwaybayevents.com.

MASS OF REMEMBRANCE - Seattle's annual Mass of Remembrance in the Gaelic language will be Friday, October 28, at 7:30 PM, at St. Patrick's Church, 2702 Broadway Ave E (just off I-5 at Roanoke St). All hymns and readings are in Gaelic with only the Homily in English, and Mass booklets in English and Gaelic will be provided. This Mass commemorates the deceased members of Seattle's Irish Community, especially those who have passed away in the past 12 months whose names will be read out during the General Intercessions. To submit names to be remembered or for more information, email GaelicMass@irishclub.org. 

US VISAS - Seattle's Irish Immigrant Support encourages Seattle's Irish-born who do not have a US Green Card to participate in the 2013 Diversity Visa lottery which ends on November 5, 2011. 55,000 US visas will be allotted via lottery and winners receive a US green card. The only way to apply is to register online at  www.dvlottery.state.gov, and there is no application fee. People should be extra vigilant about companies and websites that want to charge a fee for processing applications. Any questions, call 425-244-5147.

SEATTLE GAELS - Annual Seattle Gaels 2011 Awards Banquet is Saturday November 5 and their Annual General Meeting is Sunday, November 13 at 6pm at the Wilde Rover in Kirkland. To see some great photos of the Seattle Gaels teams playing Hurling, Camogie and Gaelic football at the North American Finals on the Labor Day weekend, visit kevinbrownphotography.com. For more information, visit www.seattlegaels.com. 

KNIGHTS NIGHT - This year's Irish Night at The Knights, "A Night of Ceol agus Craic" in support of St. Mary's Food Bank, will be Saturday, November 19, at The Knights of Columbus Hall, 722 E Union St, Seattle. The Cocktail Hour starts at 5 pm and the 1st Silent Auction closes at 6 pm, followed by Dinner at 7 pm and dancing until Midnight. It's an occasion for Seattle's Irish community to gather for a night of ceol agus craic - good music and great fun - with all proceeds going to St. Mary's Food Bank. Tickets $60.00, No Host Bar. To donate Auction Items, or for tickets, contact John O'Malley at 206-547-1612 or jomalley@mail.com. 

MARATHON MAN - Former Seattle Gaels Gaelic Footballer John McGuigan is running the Seattle Marathon on November 27 to raise funds for Catholic Vocations through the Knights of Columbus. He wants people to pledge money per mile, as in 50¢ per mile = $13, etc. For more details as to how you can help, contact John at 425-268-8151 or mcguiganjohn@comcast.net. 

IRISH SENIORS - The 95 seniors who attended the Irish Senior's Luncheon on September 24 had a great time meeting old friends and making many new ones. Over 50% were born in Ireland which made for some great conversations. Organized by the Irish Immigrant Support Group, the Christmas Irish Seniors' Luncheon will be at Noon on Saturday, December 3, 2011, at F X McRroy's in downtown Seattle. The subsidized cost for this sit-down luncheon will remain $10 per person. We expect a large crowd, so please make early reservations to Seniors@irishclub.org.

CHILDREN'S CHRISTMAS - Seattle's Irish Community Children's Christmas Party with Daidí na Nollag (Father Christmas), is 1-4 pm Sunday, December 4, Maplewood Church Hall, 19523 84th Ave W (on 196th St), Edmonds. To make sure there's a present for every child, we need to know your child's name and age. Please register with Mary Shriane at MaryS@IrishClub.org, or 206-329-7224.

MOTHER'S CHRISTMAS - The 2012 Nollaig na mBan (or Mother's Christmas) Dinner will be Sunday, January 8 at 6pm at Mick Kelly's Irish Pub and Restaurant, 435 SW 152nd St, Burien. For details and reservations, contact CandaceD@irishclub.org. Early reservations are advised as this dinner has sold out every year since 2000!

"SUNDAY'S HORNPIPE" - There's a Seattle-area Irish Radio Program every Sunday from 3-6 PM on KBCS - 91.3 FM, Bellevue's Community College radio station, with Traditional and contemporary Irish and Celtic music, along with news, interviews, performances and stories brought to you by Jim Belcher, Bob Dixson, Mary Kelly, and Kevin O'Connor. For more information, email Mkelly4956@aol.com.

LECTURE SERIES - The University of Washington Alumni Association's 2012 History Lecture Series has an overall title of Revenge and Reconciliation in Modern Ireland. The lectures start on January 17 with Maimed at the Start? The Origins of Unrest in Modern Ireland; on January 24, A Terrible Beauty: Physical Sacrifice and Irish Nationhood; and on January 31, Peace Versus Forgiveness in Northern Ireland Today. For additional information, visit UWalum.com. 

IRISH/CELTIC EVENTS

• Celtic Thunder, McCaw Hall, Seattle, Sunday, October 30. Contact Ticketmaster.
• November 4, 7:30 pm, Paul Byrom, the Irish Tenor who was part of Celtic Thunder, is at Seattle's Triple Door.
• Seattle's Irish Book Club's next meeting is tentatively Tuesday, November 15. Email hudit@comcast.net for details.
• Good luck to Seattle's Sarah O'Donoghue, aka Wile-E-Peyote from Seattle's Fast Girls Skates, who will be a member of Team Ireland at the Roller Derby World Cup in Toronto in December.
• The 11th Friday Harbor Irish Music Week is March 5-9, 2012, in beautiful Roche Harbor. Register for classes in fiddle, flute, concertina, guitar, button accordion, tenor banjo and tinwhistle at fridayharborirish.com.
• 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 information, email JeanR@irishclub.org. 

For the latest information on these or other Irish or Celtic events in the Seattle area, visit Hoilands.com.

ECONOMICS FORUM - 270 business, political and cultural leaders of Irish birth or descent from around the world, were in Dublin last week attending the Irish Global Economics Forum, with all participants paying their own travel and hotel expenses! The forum was an attempt to harness the Irish diaspora's potential, by building links with the estimated 70 million people who claim Irish ancestry, and by tapping into their goodwill, expertise and energy. The key note speaker at the two day forum held in Dublin Castle was President Clinton, and see here the full list of participants.

FORUM RESULTS - A US-based grouping of Irish technology executives is creating a pool of leaders to be available to offer the Irish government advice and guidance without pay until 2016. One hundred top-ranking business, science and technology chiefs among the Irish living outside Ireland have volunteered to serve on the boards of Irish government agencies free of charge.

UPBEAT ECONOMY - In an upbeat assessment of the Irish economy, the International Monetary Fund last week said Ireland's economy was performing surprisingly well and that conditions now were much better than they had been before. However, they warned that Ireland's recovery could still come under threat from the global economic slowdown.

DEPOSITORS BACK - Ending a 12-month flight of capital from Irish banks, foreign deposits have begun to flow back into the Irish banking system, signaling increased confidence in Ireland. Foreign depositors withdrawing cash was a key trigger for the EU-IMF bailout last November.

ECONOMIC TURNAROUND - After three consecutive years of contraction, Ireland's economy expanded at a faster rate than expected in the second quarter of 2011, the first time since the recession began that GDP, GNP and domestic demand all grew in the same quarter. Investment spending, which includes building activity, grew for the second consecutive quarter. The growth was broad-based, including manufacturing, agriculture, transport and communications.

MORE ECONOMY - The American Chamber of Commerce Ireland says that the Irish economy is well out in front of other economies in adjusting to the global shocks of the financial/economic crisis of 2008/09. US firms invested almost $18 billion in Ireland during the first six months of 2011, a rise of 49% from the same period in 2010. That puts Ireland on par with the Netherland, Canada, and the UK. US investment in Ireland is now worth more than $190bn, more than the US has invested in Brazil, Russia, India, and China combined. Falling operating costs in Ireland, coupled with the nation's solid productivity performance and Ireland's low 12.5% corporate tax rate, have buttressed Ireland's appeal as a destination for foreign direct investment. Ireland's share of total US investment in Europe is now 8.7%.

LOOKING UP - Ireland's Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny claims that Ireland will be the first of three bailed-out euro-zone countries to opt out of the International Monetary Fund's rescue program. Ireland's 10-year borrowing cost, which reached 14.22% in July, has already dropped to about 7.70%.

TWO-WAY STREET - In 2010, majority-owned Irish companies invested $8 billion in the US, a new record, and now support 120,000 jobs in the US. In 2010, Ireland's total investment in the US hit an all-time high of $30.6 billion, double Italy's investment and well ahead of many emerging market investors from South Korea, Singapore, China and India. The cumulative value of foreign direct investment of Irish firms around the world totaled $349 billion, well above the level of Ireland's inward stock of foreign direct investment, $247 billion. 

MORE NEWS FROM IRELAND

IRISH PRESIDENT - The frontrunner to win Ireland's Presidency on October 27th is Michael D Higgins of Labour, with Independent candidate, Seán Gallagher second. A record seven candidates have been nominated to contest the election and here is information on each of the candidates provided by the Irish Times.

PRESIDENTIAL PERKS - The new Irish President's salary will be $339,621 with an additional allowance of $432,883 provided for entertainment and other expenses related to the office. Under legislation going back to 1973, the personal salary of the president is set at the rate paid to the Chief Justice plus 10%.

IRISH HOMECOMING - A global Irish "homecoming" will be held in 2013 and every town and village in Ireland will be asked to participate. The Gathering will be aimed first of all at the Irish diaspora, then people with an interest in Ireland and people at home. A renewed interest in Irish roots, particularly following the publication of the 1901 and 1911 censuses, will also be accommodated during the Gathering.

RETURNING EMIGRANTS - Ireland's Central Statistics Office Ireland says that while there has been a sharp rise in emigration of Irish nationals to countries abroad, there has also been an increase in the number of Irish nationals returning to live in Ireland. While more than 40,000 Irish people left Ireland in the year prior to April 2011, approximately 17,100 Irish nationals returned to live in Ireland during the same 12 months.

IRISH HERITAGE - The Irish Government's Certificate of Irish Heritage has gone live giving millions of people with Irish roots the chance to be officially recognized by the Irish State. Although the Certificate will be issued by the Irish Government, it is not a certificate of citizenship nor does it give the holder rights or entitlements of a citizen of Ireland. But it does recognize those of Irish heritage in an official way and gives a practical expression to the sense of Irish identity felt by millions. For details, visit www.heritagecertificate.ie. 

WORLDIRISH.COM - A new social networking site for those who are Irish or have an affinity with Ireland - "those who think Irish" - has been started at www.worldirish.com. The brainchild of Riverdance founder John McColgan, it will allow users share information, videos and even link up their other social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

VIKING SETTLEMENT - In the 8th and 9th centuries, the Vikings over-wintered in two places in Ireland, one of which became Dublin, and the other was at Annagassan, Co Louth. Archeologists believe Annagassan may be one of the most important Viking sites in the world as it still perfectly preserved underneath farmland. Recent test trenches and radio-carbon testing prove that Annagassan was founded in 841 and it was here the Vikings brought their long ships to be repaired. According to the Annals of Ulster, the Vikings used this base to raid inland as far as Longford and up to Armagh. Because of the poor tides and shallow waters of Dundalk Bay, the Vikings eventually left Annagassan around 891 and Dublin then became their main location for ship repairs.

VAN AWARD - Belfast-born George Ivan "Van the Man" Morrison first released Brown Eyed Girl in 1967 when he was 22, and the hit has now achieved the rare musical milestone of 10 million plays on US radio. Only 10 songs registered with BMI, the performing rights organization, have ever achieved ten million plays in the US.

MYLES na gCOPALEEN - Irish writer Brian O'Nolan was born 100 years ago last week and his image is now on a commemorative Irish postage stamp marking the centenary of his birth. O'Nolan was notorious for his prolific use of pseudonyms for much of his writing, including short stories, essays, and even letters to editors complaining about his own articles published in that newspaper. His best known pseudonyms included Myles na gCopaleen and his best known novel was At Swim-Two-Birds using the pseudonym Flann O'Brien.

CHE FESTIVAL - A "Che do Bheatha" festival, a weekend-long celebration of the late revolutionary Che Guevara, was recently held in Co. Clare town of Kilkee. Present at the festival were the Cuban and Chilean Ambassadors, along with Jim Fitzpatrick, the Irish artist who created the universally recognized monochrome graphic of Guevara's face. As a barman in 1961, Fitzpatrick served drinks to Guevara when the revolutionary stayed overnight in Kilkee. A descendant of an emigrant from Galway to Argentina in the 1740s, Guevara embraced his Irish heritage and visited Ireland at least twice. His father once said, "in my son's veins flowed the blood of the Irish rebels".

MEDIEVAL BURIALS - A medieval burial ground has been discovered on farmland in North County Dublin, uncovered by contractors working on the largest energy project in Ireland. Radiocarbon tests reveal that the site dates from between 617 to 675 AD, meaning the remains are pre-Viking from a time when Ireland was still being Christianized.

GUSTY DEAD - 'Gusty' Spence, former leader of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) whose declaration of a cease-fire in 1994 was instrumental in ending the cycle of violence in Northern Ireland, has died aged 78. Spence spent 18 years in prison for the murder of a Catholic barman in 1966, one of the key events leading to the troubles in Northern Ireland. Altogether, the UVF murdered more the 550 people, most of them Catholics, and Spence was the organization's father figure.

GENEALOGY RECORDS - ancestry.co.uk, the world's largest genealogy site, recently published more than 40 million Irish birth, marriage and death records. Among them are 433,560 historical Irish Catholic parish records from between 1742 and 1884, 40 million birth, marriage and death records from 1845 to 1958, and Irish births and baptisms recorded between 1620 and 1911. However, some genealogists claim this is just a competitor paid service compared to what is already provided, mostly for free, by much superior Irish-based non-profit organizations like ancestryireland.com.

CONFLICT RESOLUTION - Since leaving office, Ireland's former Taoiseach (PM) Bertie Ahern has been involved in efforts to resolve the long-running conflict in the Basque region of Spain. He had also been on a conflict resolution mission to the Niger Delta and will shortly visit Jordan in an effort to help bring peace to the Middle East. He is operating as a member of a sub-group of the World Economic Forum devoted to conflict prevention. Members are paid travel expenses but no fees.

OLYMPIC TORCH - The Olympic torch will make a cross border trip in 2012 from Belfast to Dublin before heading to London. The torch run will include stops in Portrush, Derry, and Belfast before traveling across the Border at Newry and down to Dublin on June 6, 2012. The following day, the torch will cross the Irish Sea from Larne to Stranraer in Scotland.

SAFE ROADS - Dublin now has the safest roads of any capital city in Europe, thanks partly to the controversial 20 mph enforcement zone in the city center, plus greater enforcement by the traffic corps, the ban on HGV trucks in the city center, and a huge increase in the volume of cyclists which tends to slow down motorists.

BIKE RIDERS - More than 2.5 million trips have been taken on DublinBikes since the public bike rental scheme was launched in 2009. The scheme now has 63,072 subscribers, of whom 37,417 paid the €10 annual fee (mostly Dubliners) and a further 25,655 (mostly tourists) availed of €2 three-day tickets. The average ride duration was 13 minutes - well within the half-hour allowed for a "free ride" before hire charges kick in.

SCHOOL STRIKE - On September 13th, 1911, 8-13 year-old schoolboys at Dublin's East Wall school went on strike. Marchers carried flags on a picket line with chants demanding "shorter hours, cheaper books and an end to canings". The strike ended after three days and the strikers were unsuccessful in achieving their demands. The 1911 School boy strike was part of the growing working class militancy in Dublin City.

DEATH CAUSES - Diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes account for almost 90% of deaths in the Irish Republic. Some 29% of all deaths are due to cancer, while cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks and strokes account for 34%. Just 13% of deaths are due to injuries, nutritional conditions and infectious disease.

NEW BOOK - A Troubled See: Memoirs of a Derry Bishop, is a new book by Bishop Edward Daly, the speaker at Seattle's 2003 St. Patrick's Day Mass for Peace. He was the priest captured on TV worldwide during Bloody Sunday in Derry in 1972 while using a bloody white handkerchief to lead civilians to safety.

LAST KNIGHT - The 29th, and with no male heir, the last Knight of Glin, Desmond FitzGerald, has died. One of Ireland's oldest hereditary titles dating to the early 1300s, the Knights of Glin were a branch of the Earls of Desmond or FitzGeralds who came to Ireland in the 1170's as Norman mercenaries with Strongbow. Three of the branches of the Desmond lordship were known as the White Knight, the Knight of Kerry, and the Knight of Glin. Glin Castle, 32 miles west of Limerick city, has been in the FitzGerald family for over 700 years. Since 1991, FitzGerald was president of the Irish Georgian Society and in 2009 oversaw the publication of The Knights of Glin, Seven Centuries of Change.

JOYCEAN AUCTION - An historic copy of Ulysses by James Joyce will be auctioned in New York next month. Originally owned by Sylvia Beach who owned the bookshop in Paris that published Joyce's novel in 1922, Beach kept her personal signed copy until she was picked up by the Nazis shortly after the Germans invaded Paris in 1940. After 6 months in prison, she was released by the French Vichy government after lobbying by an American friend. She subsequently gave her copy of Ulysses as a gift to that friend, inscribing it as a "token of gratitude".

TIDY TOWN - Killarney has been declared the winner of Ireland's 2011 Tidy Towns competition. In their judging, adjudicators consider the built environment, landscaping, tidiness, wildlife and natural amenities. A total of 821 communities entered the 2011 competition and the complete results can be viewed on the Tidy Towns' website.

9-11 MEMORIAL - The tenth anniversary of the September 11th terror attacks was marked at a memorial in Dublin led by US ambassador to Ireland Daniel Rooney and his wife at a Ceremony of Peace and Reflection at the RDS Concert Hall. Irish President Mary McAleese and Taoiseach Enda Kenny were among those present, as were representatives of the New York Police and Fire Departments.

PAINTING REDISCOVERED - "The Return of the 69th Irish Regiment" is a seven-foot high and eleven-foot wide painting which was missing since the late 1940s. The New-York Historical Society recently rediscovered the painting in its archives, and after a year of restoration, will unveil it again on Veterans Day this year. Painted in 1862-1863 during the Civil War, the painting pictures the return of the Fighting 69th to New York after the Union defeat at Bull Run. While the battle had been a disaster for the Union, the 69th, led by Irish Patriot Thomas Francis Meagher, had acquitted itself well and was given a hero's welcome.

PROTECTED NAMES - The European Union has officially recognized the regional importance of the Lough Neagh eel giving it protected geographical indication status. That means no one else can claim to sell eel delicacies under that name. Armagh Bramley apples, new season Comber potatoes, and Waterford blaa bread, are also hoping for the same recognition. If granted, it will mean the blaa can be produced only in Waterford. The blaa owes its origin to French Huguenots who came to Waterford in the 1690s and each morning around 12,000 blaas are produced for consumption only in Waterford. Because there are no preservatives used, it has rarely been sold elsewhere.

RUTH MEMORABILIA - An original Babe Ruth baseball bat, presented by Ruth to a Tipperary hurling star in 1926, is up for auction in Ireland. The men exchanged a hurley and a baseball bat at a civic reception organized by the mayor of New York at the Astor Hotel in May, 1926 for a visiting hurling team from Ireland. The bat is expected to fetch up to $8,000 when it is listed alongside a collection of GAA medals, match programs and rare books.