NEW IHC WEBSITE - The Irish Heritage Club's Website at www.IrishClub.org has been redesigned with an all-new look and new information, including a Blog, an Irish Directory, access to old newsletters, and information on the various program of the Irish Heritage Club. Check out the new website and provide some feedback to let us know what you think.

Saturday, February 28 - Irish Soda Bread  Cooking Exhibition / Class

Saturday, March 7 - Irish Soda Bread Contest

Sunday, March 8 - Matt Talbot Dinner

Friday, March 13

*St. Patrick's Day Mass for Peace, 10 am

*Mayor's Irish Week Proclamation/Irish Seniors'    Luncheon

*St. Patrick's Landing at South Lake Union

*Green Stripe Laying on 4th Ave

*Irish Flag-Raising

*St Patrick's Day Parade on 4th Ave, 12:30 pm

*Irish Week Festival, Noon - 6 pm

*Mayor of Galway Cocktail Reception

*St Patrick's Day Dash, 8:30 am

*Irish Week Festival, 10am - 6 pm

*Irish Community Happy Hour, 5:00 pm

*Friends of St Patrick Banquet, 6:30 pm

*Irish Genealogy Workshop, 9 am - 5 pm

HONORARY GRAND MARSHALS - Seattle's St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee has announced that Danny & Cathryn Quinn are the Honorary Grand Marshals of the 2015 St. Patrick's Day Parade. Since arriving in Seattle 30 years ago, Danny and Cathryn have been heavily involved in Seattle's Irish community. In the late 1970s, early 1980s, Cathryn served as Secretary of the Irish Festivities Committee, a precursor to the Irish Heritage Club which then organized the St. Patrick's Day Parade and Irish Week Proclamation Luncheon. Danny was one of the original founders of the Seattle Gaels in 1979, and he also played Gaelic Football on the team for about 15 years. He is still involved in the Irish community as an officer and Past President of the Friends of St. Patrick in Seattle. Congratulations to Danny & Cathryn on a well-deserved honor.

IRISH AUTHOR - To mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of W B Yeats, Irish author and writer Carmel Kelly will be in Seattle this March to give talks on Yeats during the Irish Festival at the Seattle Center. Carmel has a BA H.Dip LIS History and Women's Studies from University College Dublin and writes for children in both Irish and English. She regularly tours schools, libraries and book festivals around Ireland giving readings and writing workshops, while also reviewing books for Childrens Books Ireland.

SODA BREAD CLASS / EXHIBITION - On Saturday, February 28, 1-5 pm at St Patrick's Parish Hall, 2702 Broadway E, Seattle, a hands-on cooking exhibition for adults who are interested in the art of making traditional 'Irish Soda Bread'. $10.00 per person, payable in advance. For reservations (required) and other details, visit irishclub.org. 

PATRICK & THE PIRATES -

SEAN-NÓS FESTIVAL - The 8th Annual Sean-nós Northwest Festival is February 14-15 at The Evergreen State College in Olympia. The festival offers two days of workshops on traditional sean-nós singing and set dancing, Irish language, music, and culture. No prior experience is needed. Adult registration costs from $40-$110. Detailed information, including schedules, instructor bios, and registration, is available at seannos.org.

PATS DASH PARTY - Irish Network Seattle, the Seattle Gaels and the Irish Heritage Club have arranged a St. Patrick's Day Dash sign-up party with special discount pricing that's not available online. Join us for the Happy Hour Event at F X McRory's on Friday, February 20, 4-7 pm, to be part of the Irish Community Team and to receive the Irish Team Discount Pricing along with food and drink specials! Additionally, everyone who signs up will receive a $5 coupon good at F X McRory's on Dash Day, along with a VIP Wristband for quicker access to the Dash Day beer garden at the Seattle Center. You can also pick up your bib# and long-sleeve Dash T-shirt, so that all you have to do on Sunday, March 15 is get to the Start Line.

CELTIC HARP CLASSES - A new 5 week term of Beginning and Intermediate Celtic Harp classes start Monday, February 23 in Seattle, and Tuesday, February 24 in Olalla. Organized by the School of Magical Strings, the Seattle classes are held on Capitol Hill at 1655 - 10th Ave E. For more information, visit magicalstrings.com.

FREE BASKETBALL TICKETS - Free tickets are available to Irish Night at Seattle University Basketball at Key Arena on Saturday, February 28 with game time at 7:30 pm vs. Bakersfield. Your friends and family are welcome to attend and all for free. To reserve your tickets, email your name & the # of tickets needed to SUtickets@irishclub.org or call 425-290-7839. Tickets may be picked up prior to game time at T S McHugh's, 1st & Mercer.

LONDON IRISH - The London Irish Rugby Football team will be in Seattle in May for some games versus the Seattle Saracens Rugby Football team. LIRF is one of London's most famous clubs, founded in 1898 by a group of Irishmen who formed a club for expatriate Irish. Even though many of their players today may have few Irish connections, the club plays in green and white colors, and their mascot is an Irish Wolfhound called Digger. The team competes in the top division of English rugby union, the Aviva Premiership. More details later.

LANGUAGE TEACHERS - The North American Association of Celtic Language Teachers hold their 21st Annual Conference from June 4-6 at Portland State University. This year's theme "Celtic Languages: From the Viking Age to Modern Times" will explore the effects of the Viking 'invasions' of the Celtic Nations beginning in the 8th century. The Association is a non-profit professional organization whose goal is to bring together Celtic language teachers and researchers in Canada and the United States and to foster contacts with others who are interested in promoting the teaching and learning of Celtic languages in North America. For more details, visit naaclt.org.

IRISH MUSIC WEEK - Registration is now open for Cascadia Irish Music Week 2015 from July 19-25 at The Evergreen State College in Olympia. Program Director Randal Bays says "Students hear the music all week long, played by the teaching staff and by fellow students. They participate in sessions, attend classes, hear talks by the teachers giving a wider context and historical background to the music. By the end of the week, students come away with some new tunes and a much deepened sense of how the music feels and sounds, as well as advice on technique from excellent musicians." Information and registration details at cascadiairish.org.

LIVE GAA - Watch GAA games (Gaelic Football, Hurling and Camogie) live from Ireland on your computer for €160 (about $180) for a season pass, over 100 games total, by signing up for GAAGO at gaago.ie. If you sign up by February 20, use code SGUS001 and the Seattle Gaels will receive a credit valued at $20 for each pass purchased. Any GAA game shown live on TV in Ireland is available to watch on your computer using this service and the first games of the season were shown starting the weekend of January 31.

PORTLAND PLAY - Little Gem is a play by Elaine Murphy, directed by Gemma Whelan, being performed Monday - Thursday February 9 - 26, at 7:30 pm at Portland's Kells Pub, 112 SW 2nd Ave. For tickets and more information about the winner of the 2008 Dublin Fringe Festival's Fishamble New Writing Award, visit corribtheatre.org.

PASCO MUSICAL - This coming May 1-10, there's a new Irish musical opening in Richland in eastern Washington. Guns of Ireland is being performed by students at Tri-Cities Prep Catholic High School in Pasco and the organizers have also arranged for Dr. Conor Mulvey to be a guest speaker on May 6th in Richland. Mulvey is a Lecturer in Irish History at UCD working on commemoration and the Irish revolutionary decade (1912-23). For more information, visit gunsofireland.com.

HOLY SHADES! - When Irish Heritage Club Board Member and Seattle film stuntman Alex Terzieff (left) was hired to be a stunt double for Irish actor Jamie Dornan in the film "Fifty Shades of Grey", Alex didn't know anything about the film having never read the book. And even though he was hired to be Dornan's stunt double, he still hasn't met the lead actor or actress. While Co. Down native Dornan was shooting in Canada, Alex was shooting high-speed car scenes in Seattle with the second unit, including driving an Audi R8 Spyder at up to 110 miles per hour. So if you do see the film (!), know that it's our Alex and not Dornan who is really driving the car, and the New York Post agrees, describing Alex as Dornan's "sexy double". Alex's mother Heather Murphy is also on the Board of the Irish Heritage Club.

ECONOMIC BOOST - The New York Times says that Irish consumer sentiment has hit a nine-year high. Ireland's rising property prices, low to zero inflation, and recent tax breaks, have benefited the confidence of buyers and provide good news for the government in any future parliamentary elections. Data released this week has also shown unemployment falling further, tax receipts soaring and strong services and manufacturing growth.

IRISH BEEF - Beef from the Republic of Ireland has been approved for sale in the US for the first time in almost 16 years. The US banned all European beef imports following the "mad cow disease" or BSE crisis in the late 1990s and Ireland is now the first European Union country to be approved for a return to the US market. The US had insisted that tough audits and inspections of European beef production facilities and systems would have to be passed before the ban was lifted. This announcement is a huge prize for Ireland given the size of the US market and its demand for premium grass-fed beef, and the Irish beef industry hopes to sell over $100 million worth of meat in the US market in 2015.

DEFENSE AGREEMENT - A historic agreement on defense co-operation was recently signed between Ireland and the UK. Under the agreement, the Irish Army will train British soldiers in peacekeeping operations, while the Irish Army will be provided, free of charge, with equipment that is surplus to the requirements of the British army. Although the British army is one of the best equipped and most experienced in the world in combat operations, it does not have the Irish Army's experience in peacekeeping.

AER LINGUS SALE? - Irish airline Aer Lingus is considering a third takeover offer from the International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG), the parent company of British Airways and Spain's Iberia. Aer Lingus holds the fourth largest number of slots at Heathrow, a strategic hub for trans-Atlantic travel. Last month Aer Lingus reported its best quarterly profit since 2008 and raised its full-year outlook, citing strong performance of trans-Atlantic services, including on two new routes from Dublin to Toronto and San Francisco. If the deal is approved, Aer Lingus is expected to retain the name and current shamrock logo.

IRISH REFERENDUM - Only two of 18 recommendations for constitutional change made by last year's Irish Convention on the Constitution will be presented to Irish voters in next May's referendum: to permit same-sex marriage and to reduce the age of eligibility for presidential candidates. Irish Minister for Health Minister Leo Varadkar came out recently as a gay man saying the gay marriage referendum being held in May convinced him of the necessity to do so.

NO REFERENDUMS - There will be no referendums held this year to provide a vote in Presidential elections to Irish citizens living abroad, or on reducing the voting age from 18 to 16, or on removing blasphemy from the Constitution. Ireland is one of only three European countries that has a blasphemy law on the books. The last known blasphemy case in Ireland was in 1855. More than 120 countries have provisions for their citizens abroad to cast a ballot, but Ireland does not currently allow emigrants to vote in either presidential or Dáil (parliamentary) elections.

IRISH YOUTH OUTREACH - One of the proposals of a diaspora strategy review presented to Ireland's cabinet on January 27 was for "an orientation course on what it is to be Irish" for young people with a connection to Ireland, similar to the Israeli Taglit-Birthright scheme which has seen more than 400,000 young Jewish people visit Israel over the past 15 years. Under the proposal, young Irish-Americans would be offered a free opportunity of spending up to ten days in Ireland learning about Irish culture and history. Such an Irish outreach program would provide a powerful new linkage between the Irish Diaspora and Ireland and would also provide a unique chance for young Irish-Americans to bond with each other and with their Irish counterparts.

BEST PLACE - A new study compiled by consultancy firm ECA international lists Dublin as the best place in Europe - and second best in the entire world - for US citizens to live in. The study compared 450 places for 'liveability' for North Americans and measured factors including climate, health services, housing, isolation, social life, safety, and air quality. The ranking is designed for businesses who are sending employees abroad, to calculate how much extra compensation they should receive for the inconvenience. Seattle was tied for 7th on the list.

FOURTH BEST - Ireland has slipped from first to fourth in Forbes' annual rankings of the best country in the world to do business. Forbes produces its annual Best Countries for Business report based on seven information sources measuring 11 metrics including innovation, taxes, property rights, technology and stock market performance in 146 nations. The United States ranked 18th in Forbes' annual ranking.

"ON THE RUNS" - Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has defended his government's decision as part of the peace process to tell some Northern Irish terrorism suspects that they would not be prosecuted. Starting in 1999, more than 200 letters were sent to people known as the "On The Runs," those suspected of involvement in terrorist attacks during the decades of violence in Northern Ireland. The letters gave assurances that they were safe to stop hiding. Blair warned his successors not to put that process in jeopardy by reopening the issue.

POSTHUMOUS PARDON - In 1941, Tipperary man Harry Gleeson was hanged in Ireland for the murder of Mary McCarthy. However evidence recently uncovered through the work of the Irish Innocence Project has resulted in Gleeson receiving Ireland's first ever posthumous pardon. Part of the global Innocence Project network, the Irish Innocence Project currently has 21 law and journalism student caseworkers and interns from Griffith College, Trinity College and Dublin City University who are investigating about 25 cases in Ireland in which it is believed that someone has been wrongfully convicted.

CHARLIE FUNERAL - Irish musician Paddy Sherlock played and sang at the funeral of Charlie Hebdo editor Stéphan Charbonnier in Paris. At the end Sherlock led the singing of Dirty Old Town while parading out after the coffin. The song Dirty Old Town was written about Salford, a borough of Manchester, England, but has been unofficially adopted as being about Dublin, and was made famous by Luke Kelly of the Dubliners, the Pogues, U2, and others. Listen to a verse being sung at Seattle's recent Irish Womens' Christmas Party.

CYCLING FINES - Irish Gardai (Police) can now impose on-the-spot fines on cyclists who commit certain offences, with the number of offences expected to rise over time. If approved, fines of around $60 will be imposed on cyclists who ride through red lights, cycle the wrong way on one-way streets or mount footpaths. Cyclists will also be penalized for riding without lights, or for not wearing appropriate safety gear that identifies them in the dark.

CANADIAN AMBASSADOR - Kevin Vickers, the Irish-Canadian sergeant-at-arms hailed as a hero for killing the gunman who stormed Canada's parliament last year, has become Canada's ambassador to Ireland. Born in New Brunswick, Vickers is the descendant of Irish Famine emigrants and comes from a large Irish Catholic family. "As a Canadian with family on both sides hailing from Ireland, there could be no greater honor," Vickers said in a statement. Both sides of his family have strong links with Co Cork.

IRISH WEATHER - Ireland had one of its warmest years in history in 2014. The warmest day of the year was on July 25 recorded at 83.8˚F. Ireland's average temperature in 2014 was 51.1˚F, about 1 degree above the long-term average. Dublin's Phoenix Park temperature station recorded an average annual temperature of 50.9˚F equaling its second highest temperature since records began in 1855 (Seattle's average annual temperature is 53˚F). The coldest day of the year in Ireland was recorded in Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, on December 29 at 19.6˚F. The strongest wind gust of the year was recorded at Shannon Airport on February 12 at 99 miles per hour. The wettest day of the year was recorded in Co. Laois where 2.32 inches of rain fell on August 1.

ALCOHOL RESTRICTIONS - New measures to reduce alcohol consumption are being introduced in Ireland. Restrictions will be imposed on the sale of cheap drink, and warning labels will be required on bottles and cans. Sports sponsorship will be regulated although there will not be a ban on drinks sponsorship. However, restrictions on advertising will, for example, make it illegal to market alcohol in a manner that is appealing to children.

IRISH PASSPORTS - 629,446 Irish passports were issued in 2014. May and June were the two busiest months with 82,564 passports issued in May and 76,314 in June. 3,219 passports were issued through the San Francisco Irish Consulate in 2014. When applying for a renewal of your passport, it is suggested to avoid the busy season!

PASSPORT CARD - A new Irish Passport Card that fits in your wallet will be available from mid-July that will be accepted for travel within the European Union. The Passport Card will be especially useful for young people who use their Passport as identification on nights out. A new smartphone app makes it easy to apply for the card - the app also takes photos to international standards for passports.The card will cost about $40 and is used in addition to the regular passport.

IRISH POETRY - A shortlist of 10 Irish Poems has been chosen from public nominations as part of A Poem For Ireland project. Patrick Kavanagh's A Christmas Childhood, William Butler Yeats's Easter 1916 and Paul Durcan's Making Love Outside Áras an Uachtaráin, are three of the poems chosen as among Ireland's best loved poems of the last 100 years. Between now and Sunday, March 8, you can read all 10 poems and cast your vote on the A Poem For Ireland website.

FICTION LAUREATE - The Irish Arts Council has selected Irish author Anne Enright to be Ireland's Fiction Laureate, making the Man Booker prize-winning novelist Ireland's first laureate for fiction. The New York Times says that "Over a three-year term Ms. Enright will hold university residencies, deliver lectures and take part in public events as she promotes that country's vibrant literary culture at home and abroad. Enright has written five novels, a string of short stories and a book of essays," and her new novel, The Green Road, will be published this spring.

McILROY SETTLES - Irish Golfer Rory McIlroy has reached a settlement with his former Dublin-based management company Horizon Sports Management. The world's number one golfer had sued HSM in a multi-million pound dispute but ended up agreeing to pay HSM $25 million to settle all claims. McIlroy is ranked 35th in Forbes magazine's list of the world's-highest-paid athletes. In his last seven European Tour events, he had four wins and three runner-up finishes.

SEAHAWKS FAN - A diehard Seahawks' fan living in Co. Tipperary, who traveled without tickets to the Super Bowl in Phoenix along with a buddy who was a Patriot's fan, somehow managed to sneak into the stadium and watched the game from seats that normally cost $25,000. They ended up seated beside former UW Husky and Patriots legend Lawyer Milloy, as was reported in The Washington Post.

IRISH MIGRANTS - More than three quarters of a million (771,572) people born in Ireland were reported to be living in 72 different countries in 2013, with 143,571 of those living in the US, according to a United Nations international migration report. The country with the smallest Irish-born population, according to the UN report, was the island of St Helena off the coast of South Africa which has just two Irish-born residents. In 2013, 232 million people, or 3.2% of the world's population, were living outside their country of birth.

BELFAST VIBES - The New York Times says about Belfast: A visit today... is an eye-opening experience in the best possible way. ... The friendliness of the people is what's most appealing in this small and very walkable city, from smiling servers to talkative bartenders to helpful strangers on the street. Visit Belfast to soak up good vibes, to eat well and to drink unstintingly.

LISDOONVARA MATCHMAKER - Under the headline "A Matchmaker and a Festival Keep an Irish Tradition Alive" the New York Times estimates that Matchmaker Willie Daly has facilitated around 3,000 marriages. "A horse farmer by trade, he is one of Ireland's last traditional matchmakers, best known for presiding over the annual matchmaking festival in nearby Lisdoonvarna -- a weeks long autumnal event famed for its all-day dancing and spontaneous, often late-night, marriage proposals."