28 June 2010
Bloody Sunday: Saville Inquiry’s Report Confirms British Army Responsibility
by Rory Fitzgerald
The word “sorry” has never cost so much. On Jan. 30, 1972, British paratroopers opened fire on unarmed civilians in a civil rights march in Derry, Northern Ireland. Fourteen were killed; seven were teenagers.
Only now, in 2010, have the events of that winter’s day finally been put to rest with the publication of the Saville Inquiry’s Report. The inquiry was set in motion by Tony Blair in 1998. After 12 years, 30 million words of testimony and £191 million, it tells us what everyone here in Ireland already knew:
“On balance,” it says, the British soldiers fired first, on unarmed civilians. “In no case was any warning given before soldiers opened fire” and none of the soldiers “fired in response to attacks or threatened attacks by nail or petrol bombs.” The soldiers later “knowingly put forward false accounts in order to seek to justify their firing.”
Lord Saville’s findings also confirmed that many of those shot were fleeing the troops or assisting the wounded.
May 27, 2010
It is with a very heavy heart that I announce the passing of John Dunn. John was an integral and crucial member of the Tucson Irish community and the St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee. His intellect and drive was only surpassed by his sense of humor and joy of laughter. He was a man of strength, dignity, and honor; a real friend in the truest and most noble meaning.
This has been an unexpected and devastating shock for his mother, Carol, and his brother Steve. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation towards the final arrangements.
Steve and Carol Dunn
2123 N. Edison Terrace
Tucson, 85716
Tá tú i dteagmháil léi le saol an oiread sin, agus gach duine a bhíonn tú ag shaibhriú. An chuid eile i síocháin i mo dheartháir. Beidh tú go deo beo inár gcroí. Bí ag faire amach ar Neamh go bhfuil sé ar tí é a fháil bríomhar. Le grá mo chara a ardú mé pionta agat!
February 19, 2010
The Killdares put on an amazing concert at the Historic Hotel Congress. Not only did the crowd have a blast, but the event was a real success for the Tucson Irish community as a whole. A BIG thanks needs to be given to the Tucson St Patrick’s Day Parade and Festival Committee, as well as the Tucson Celtic Festival Association. All of their hard work paid off for a great event for all those in attendance.
January 24, 2010
The Hugo O’Conor Chapter of the A.O.H. was honored to meet with Dr. Tim Campbell, Director St Patrick’s Centre Downpatrick, Co. Down, and Jane Mullaney Anderson, Executive Director of the Milwaukee Irish Fest, to discuss the Friends of St. Patrick organization. The Hugo O’Conor Chapter’s previous President, Brett McAteer, had met Dr. Campbell previously at the St. Patrick Centre, and was anxious to meet with Dr. Campbell again in order to discuss how the Hugo O’Conor Chapter could partner with the Friends of St. Patrick and the Young Ambassador Program in order to further expand and nurture the legacy of St. Patrick.
The Tucson St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Festival Committee sponsored a luncheon in honor of Dr. Campbell at the Hotel Congress. The Irish Cultural Center of Phoenix sponsored Dr. Campbell’s trip to Arizona. Tom Boyle provided green, white and gold carnations for the attendees. Irish dancers from the Maguire Academy of Irish Dance provided exceptional entertainment for the attendees.
Dr. Campbell spoke about the importance of putting the legacy of St. Patrick into action within our own community. He suggested a food drive for the Tucson Food Bank during the month of March in honor of St. Patrick as one example of how to put St. Patrick’s legacy into action in our own community. Dr. Campbell stressed the importance of educating our community about St. Patrick, and the influence that he had on the Irish people and the world as a whole. Dr. Campbell also stressed the importance of focusing on the similarities between individuals as opposed to the differences. We all have the same basic needs of food, shelter, and love. Brett McAteer further confirmed the commitment and partnership of the Hugo O’Conor Chapter and the Friends of St. Patrick organization.
Out with 2009 / In with 2010
We have been undergoing some major changes that are exciting. During our December 2009 meeting, we elected new Officers for the coming year as follows: Brian Ashe, Pres., Fred Shipman, V.P., Tom Boyle Organizer, Jerry Sullivan, Treasurer, Dick Curtin, Sentinel, Brett McAteer Historian, and Paul Craven, Recording Secretary.
Some members have been serving food to the needy at Sacred Heart Church
On 12/19/2009, we celebrated our annual Christmas at Merilac. Christmas celebration at Merilac went off without a hitch.
An extra special thanks needs to be given to the following individuals who helped MAKE the celebration at Merilac:
Sue Smith for her ingenious shopping and the presents she picked out for the babies and mothers at Merilac.
Several very dedicated members are expanding the Irish Community in Tucson by developing a Sisterhood of Irish and Irish-American, Catholic Women, by organizing The Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians chapter. We are all very excited about the things to come, and the way in which this sisterhood will positively impact and enrich our community.
With the New Year in full steam, we are currently gearing up of our St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. Several community events are also on the schedule which would appreciate the patronage by the AOH members.
Stay tuned because 2010 is off to a grand start for the Hugo O’Conor AOH and the emerging LAOH.
The Legacy of the San Patricios Lives On
The Legacy of the San Patricios Lives On
By Robert Salas
To the Mexicans they were heroes.
To the Americans they were traitors.
They were recent Irish immigrants fleeing poverty and famine in Ireland who, motivated by discrimination in their own ranks, a shared religion, and sympathy for the cause, fought on the side of Mexico in the U.S.-Mexican war of 1846-1848.
Irish-American band Black 47 also wrote a song “San Patricio Brigade,” which includes the following verse:
The Mexican people
They treated us great
We danced at their weddings
And sang at their wakes
We fought in their battles
And where’er we’d go
Hiya le mad Irish
San Patricio
Top 10 reasons why Halloween is an Irish festival
By
Niall O’Dowd
How Irish is Halloween? Take a look at our top 10 reasons and you’ll know for sure.
Make sure you don’t read this in a darkened churchyard at the dead of night. And if you see a red-headed woman turn back!
1. Halloween was invented by the Irish. It is based on the feast of Samhain (sow-in) the Celtic day when the spirit world and the real world intermingle. The dead walk for one day and mix with the living.
2. Bram Stoker who invented Dracula was Dublin-born and heavily influenced by the old superstitions and ghost stories he heard.
3. Many of those legends still abound. For instance, seventh sons of seventh sons are said to have magical powers. If you are born the seventh son of a seventh son they will place often a worm in your hand, If the worm dies you have the magical healing powers.
4. Mothers had to guard their children from the fairies. If a child was left unattended the fairies would take it and leave a changeling behind. WB Yeats wrote a beautiful poem called the “The Stolen Child,” about the fairies luring a child away to the “waters and the wild.”
5. Never cut down a fairy tree. Trees in certain areas are known as fairy trees where the little people are said to reside. If you cut it down it is bad luck forever. This is taken very seriously. Highway projects have been held up because of fairy trees.
6. Turn back if you see a red-headed woman. Fisherman in many areas will not go fishing if they meet a red-headed woman on the way to their boat. It is said to be a sign of very bad luck.
7. There are jumping churches in Ireland,. In several parts of the country there are churches that locals swear ‘jumped’ and moved overnight. One in Ardee, County Louth is said to have jumped in the last century when an excommunicated person was buried within its original walls.
8. Leap Castle in Offaly is the most haunted place in the land. Family struggles plagued the clan after the death of the chieftain, Mulrooney O’Carroll inside the castle in 1532. One of the family was a priest. He was holding mass for a group of his family (in what is now called the “Bloody Chapel”). His rival brother burst into the chapel, plunged his sword into his brother. His ghost and that of others who died mysteriously there are said to haunt the place since.
9. The headless horseman lives! It is said that after sunset, on certain festivals and feast days, one of the most terrifying creatures in the spirit world, the Dullahan, can be seen riding a magnificent black stallion across the country side. Wherever he stops, a mortal dies. Clad in flowing black robes, the Dullahan has no head on his shoulders.
10. The Churchyard Bride is a very interesting legend connected with Errigal graveyard in Co. Monaghan. The Errigal graveyard is said to be haunted by an amorous spirit which appears occasionally to young people whose relatives were buried here; and its appearance always signaled death to those who had the misfortune to encounter it. During funerals the Churchyard Bride would accost the young person who remained last in the graveyard.
August 14th, 15th, and 16th, 2009
AOH to celebrate centenary of Celtic cross on ‘Canada’s Ellis Island’
100th anniversary of unveiling of the Celtic cross at Grosse Ile
By
ANCIENT ORDER OF HIBERNIANS IN CANADA
In August of this year, Grosse Ile, Canada’s Ellis Island, will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the unveiling of one of the largest Celtic crosses in the world to commemorate the thousands of Irish immigrants whose final resting place was the Canadian island.
In 1909, in a ceremony that drew thousands, the Ancient Order of Hibernians in America unveiled a 46-foot-high Celtic cross on Grosse Île atop Telegraph Hill, the highest point on the Island.
On August 14, 15 and 16, 2009, the Ancient Order of Hibernians from across Canada, the U.S., Ireland and Europe will host a three day celebration of the Centenary of the Cross, featuring a variety of entertainment, tours of Grosse Ile, and a rededication ceremony.
The locals in Quebec would come to call Grosse Ile “L’Ile des Irlandais.” Translated, it means the Island of the Irish, but for thousands of Irish immigrants the Canadian island would be the first – and final -resting place in their new home.
In the spring of 1847, the quarantine station at Grosse Île Quebec was ready to receive 32,000 immigrants to its shores. The hospitals were equipped to handle 200 ill.
Just 3 miles long and 1 mile wide, at one point there was reportedly a chain of 40 ships matching the Island in length with more 13,000 emigrants aboard.
By the end of 1847, over 98,000 souls arrived. Most were sick and dying, needing immediate medical attention. The immigrant ships from Ireland carried throngs of malnourished, dispirited people who were ravaged by hunger and disease.
Government and private measures to feed these people in Ireland were inadequate, creating a mass exodus. While many voluntarily left in search of new horizons, others were forcibly “assisted” by pressures from landlords eager to be rid of unprofitable tenants.
The “coffin ships” were in fact cargo vessels, not passenger ships, carrying wood from Quebec City and Saint John’s each summer. The owners did not want their vessels returning to Canada empty.
These poor Irish emigrants endured this passage of several weeks living below deck in cramped bunks, eating little more than moldy ship biscuits and dirty water, ideal conditions for the spread of Typhus.
British laws called for the ships to provide seven pounds of food a week for each passenger, often these laws were ignored. Many ships bought used casks for the passengers’ drinking water as they were less expensive, but these often leaked or stored wines, making the water undrinkable.
Upon arrival to Grosse Ile, hospital personnel on the island administered whatever care they could in medicines and bedside attention. The clergy constantly provided spiritual assistance and consolation to the dying and their families. When hospitals became over- crowded, the military supplied tents to house the infected and their relatives.
As thousands died, burials became unceremonious; individual graves were unknown. One large field became a mass burial ground. Soil had to be transported from across the river at Montmagny in order to fill the trenches so clearly seen today.
Before the year was over more than 5,424 souls were interred on the Island. With breakthroughs in medicine and the tragedy of 1847 now over, the Western part of the Island was not used and the graves became neglected and forgotten.
The Ancient Order of Hibernians in America, appalled by the lack of respect and reverence paid to those Irish brothers and sisters who perished, contacted AOH members across the U.S. and Canada, asking for donations to build a Celtic Cross as a marker for those perished. The response was as generous as it was swift. What started as a small monument became one of the tallest Celtic Crosses in the world.
To join the AOH in commemorating your Irish ancestors and celebrating the centenary of the Celtic cross, make reservations with:
Tom Gargan, National Chair
Email: RESERVATIONS@AOH-2009.COM
Phone: 514-639-0914.
or
Victor Boyle, National President Ancient Order of Hibernians in Canada
Email: RESERVATIONS@AOH-2009.COM
Phone: 514-928-7196.
June 30, 2009
International publishing company, Blue Mountain Press, based out of Boulder, Colorado, is looking for inspirational stories and wisdom that relate to Ireland or the Irish culture to be published in an anthology. We are interested in your non-fiction essays, stories, or poems that in some way capture the Irish (or Irish-American) heritage, region, or lifestyle.
Stories and essays should be between 100 and 600 words long. If possible, we’d like you to include a pithy saying at the end, which sums up the inspirational message of your story. For example: “You’ll never plough a field by turning it over in your mind” or “Laughter is brightest where food is best.” The saying can be a traditional Irish saying or something you come up with yourself.
There is no minimum word count for poems. Please note that we’d prefer to receive non-rhyming poems.
If your story or poem is selected to appear in the anthology, you will receive a one-time payment of $50 for anthology rights upon publication.
Please submit your writings by e-mail to bmpbooks@sps.com by June 30, 2009. Please put “Irish” in the subject line and include the essay/poem in the body of the e-mail (we do not accept attachments). Be sure to include your name and mailing address. There is no limit to the number of writings you can submit!
January 10, 2009
Tucson St. Patrick’s Day Parade & Festival fundraiser – Little Christmas
The St. Patrick’s Day Parade of Tucson organization really knows how to throw an amazing shin-dig. The fundraising event, Little Christmas, was an amazing event, and really exemplified the blood, sweat, and tears that the organization members have put into the event. The entertainment was a blast, and made the crowd very proud of their heritage. Mark Luther, the Maguire Academy of Irish Dance dancers, Tir Connaill Academy of Irish Dance dancers, Neil Flint on bagpipes, and the all attendee Ceilidh made the evening a night to remember. Meg also left the audience with goose bumps and chills when she sang Fields of Athenrye. Hotel Congress and the Cup provided an amazing spread of Clam Chowder, Guinness Meatballs, Cheesy Potatoes, Fruit, and Cheese. The whole event felt very high-end!
20 Dec 2008
Christmas celebration at Merilac went off without a hitch.
An extra special thanks needs to be given to the following individuals who helped MAKE the celebration at Merilac:
Sue Smith for her ingenious shopping and the presents she picked out for the babies and mothers at Merilac.
Gary W. Johnson for donating a large quantity of baby food, which was a huge blessing for the folks at Merilac.
Bill Harrington for donating an exquisite Christmas tree, which will be talked about for many years to come.
12 Dec 2008
Ireland’s President, Mary McAleese, and her husband, Dr. McAleese, visited the Irish Cultural Center in Phoenix, AZ. The event was a huge gathering of over 400 attendees, which barely allowed for standing room only.
President McAleese’s speech was very energizing and moving. Her inspiring speech about the Irish Diaspora left all of us ready to continue to volunteer and be proud of our rich heritage. She talked about the “Irish DNA,” and the pride that we have in our culture, which unifies all of us, and drives us to want to be connected to one another. She concluded by saying that it is always nice when she visits a new place, and she knows she isn’t the first Irish person to visit there due to the impact and presence the Irish have had throughout the world. She also commented that the Irish can seem to always figure out how we are all related to one another within 5 minutes of talking.
President McAleese was presented with several gifts on behalf of the AOH – Hugh O’Conor Division. President McAleese was presented with President McAleese two books and two pewter pieces crafted by Brian Donahue. The first gift was the book Los Tres Pequenos Jabalies / The Three Little Javelinas, which is the Southwest’s rendition of The Three Little Pigs. The author, Susan Lowell, is a Tucson, Arizona resident, and I thought President McAleese would enjoy the Southwest flavor of the book. The second book was The Red Captain: The Life of Hugo O’Conor, by Mark Santiago.
The two pewter pieces, the Irish Warrior and the Bagpiper, were sculpted by our esteemed AOH brother, Brian Donahue. Brian is an extremely gifted craftsman, and his art is deeply rooted in his Irish heritage, which is exemplified in every piece.
